Naomi Campbell eat your heart out.

Pattern: Tikki's Olearia cardigan (Georgie Hallam)

Yarn: Lincraft Cosy Wool- berry mix- 8 ply

Model: Flanders- doesn't get out of bed for less than some good quality cat food

and some cuddles and pats.

The only modification I made to the pattern was putting in a full length of buttonholes down the front.

At this point in the photo shoot,

the model who goes by the name of "the little goddess"

quit (= threw a tantie)

citing inadequate workplace health and safety standards (= "I don't want to")

Luckily Flanders,

a newcomer to the modelling industry,

an exotic if somewhat hairy beauty,

stepped in to fill the gap...literally.

 

I can knit (if not sing) a rainbow.

"Red and yellow and

Pink and Green
Purple and orange and blue

I can sing a rainbow

Sing a rainbow

Sing a rainbow too"

Arthur Hamilton

Pattern: Big Sister's dress by Tora Froseth

Yarn: Lincraft 8 ply Cosy wool (bright mix)

A cute little pattern

and simple and fast to knit up.

(plus I can add "rainbow" to the list of acceptable colours

in the little goddess' repertoire)

Pets? Lets!

Long before we produced human offspring,

 my husband and I had a baby.

He was a six week old stray,

a brindle Staffordshire,

and he commandeered our lives.

He walked to work with me every day,

we took him out for a walk every night after work before (a consequently late) dinner

and he was our child.

We lost Murphy when our first child was one.

He was only eight years old

but developed a heart based tumour

and had to put be put down.

My husband and I were devastated.

We got another Staffy, Violet,

when our first child was one.

She is now nearly seven

and fits in to our little family pack somewhere above our youngest child

and below the others

(mind you, the way our youngest runs her life,

poor old Violet will be relegated to the back of the pack very soon)

But my priorities had changed.

With the birth of each child,

my days have been taken up more and more taken up with simply coping

and looking after our non-furry kids.

I am ashamed to say that Violet does not live the life that Murphy did.

It was easy to let life get so busy and challenging that

our pets were not a priority.

A couple of years ago,

we lost both our old cats.

I was devastated and missed them badly

but it was easier to say "later"

than get new kittens to toilet train, feed and keep safe

when I had three young kids to toilet train, feed and keep safe.

Today we brought home our new additions.

Violet the Staffy is blissfully unaware of their arrival at the moment

(and when she is, she will be perturbed-

as well she should be.

Two one-half kilogram, six week old kittens will consider themselves significantly further up

the social ladder of our family than a mere twelve kilogram chunk of dog)

I am well aware of the advantages of pet owership, including with regards to children.

Reduced blood pressure and stress levels,

improved emotional and physical fitness,

higher survival rates pst-heart attack,

teaching children responsibility,

lowered childrens' allergies;

I could go on.

Hubby and I need to take the time

to teach our kids to value our pets,

to love them as members of our family

and to care about their wellbeing.

But sod my cardiovascular health- what I really hope to gain from having pets

is a few snuggly cuddles at the end of the day

and a warm little furry ball at the bottom of my bed keeping my feet warm.

Footnote:

Our little boy (the already-destined-to-be-trouble-climbing-the furniture-with-my-claws one)

is called Walloon (which I am sure will become Wally)

and our little girl (the butter-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth one)

is Flanders.

Yes, odd names.

10 years ago my hubby and I travelled around Europe for 7 months in an old Combi

and discovered that Belgium has 2 regions.

Yes, you guessed it,

Walloon and Flanders.

I decided there and then that I wanted to name our next pair of cats after Belgium.

In my defense, I did expect that they would be boys but my 3 year old adamantly chose the little black one,

a girl,

now stuck with a really odd name)

Sis Boom Rosetta Ruffle bag



I actually sewed a little bit this week,

just so that my sewing machine wouldn't disown me.

As an unsolicited comment,

I have to say that the Sis Boom range of patterns

(or at least those that I have tried)

are, without fail, comprehensive,

well laid out

and sew up very nicely.

There are also usually a good number of variations available within each pattern.

My only comment is-

read the pattern through on your computer screen before printing out

as they can be very lengthy patterns
but there is a handy page telling you which pages to print for the size that you are sewing.

I was worried that this might be a little prissy for me

but it is my new favourite bag!

It helped that I used co-ordinates from my favourite fabric range for this year,

Lecien's Flower Sugar.

The other thing that I loved was the size.

I would normally associate a bag of this style to be a cute, smaller purse style.

I made the medium size

(the large size is a tote)

and I can fit a huge amount into it,

perhaps even my 3 year old daughter!

Now off to pander to my crochet hook...

A Frenzy of Knitting

It is a while since I have made up a collective noun

but given my current (and usual) obsession with a new hobby,

this one seems appropriate.

I have had 3 knitting projects on the go

and have had to actively refrain starting anymore.

My crochet hooks and sewing machines lay abandoned,

melancholy (if it is possible for inanimate objects to be melancholy)

and gathering dust.

Pattern: Madeline Tosh Tea Leaves cardigan

Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply Highlands Iona

I am really happy with how I did with this one.

The colour is richer than the photos show.

The only things that I mucked up were the front edges

where I had to pick up stitches.

I picked up too many and as a result there is some loss of shape,

particularly at the neckline.

I am pondering this

but I am expecting to unpull and redo this section

so that I can be really happy with it.

A stripey (but not meant to be stripey) Cassia dress

Cassia dress- Georgie Hallam (Tikki)

yarn- 8 ply wool

...in (fuschia) pink..

(now who do you think chose that colour?)

Notice the stripe through the body of the dress?

*ahem*

It would appear when I was grabbing the balls of wool at the yarn sale,

while elbowing the little old blue rinse set ladies out of the way,

it turns out that I grabbed a mix of different labelled wool which looked the same colour.

Some people (likely little old ladies with a blue rinse) might say that it served me right...

Still learning lessons as I go it would seem.

I am knitting a cardi for myself now because I then I can get away from pink yarn.

Though to be fair, I am doing Tikki's KAL

and the little goddess and I have compromised on a colour change-

red is her 2nd favourite colour.

There are a few patterns around with this ruched pattern particularly around the neckline.

I am kinda in love with it.

First my GarnStudio tunic,

now Tikki's Cassia,

soon the Madeline Tosh Tea Leaves cardigan. (yes Kate from Foxs Lane- you helped me find that one)

then Tikki's Olearia.

I am sure that I will get sick of it at some point...maybe...



Today I am smiling...



...just because the sun is shining on a Spring day.

...just because the roses are beautiful and the bees are busy.

...just because I can sit having a coffee and indulge in some people watching.

...just because.

Separation Anxiety for adults

Hands up if you recognise this scenario.

Mum and dad settle in the babysitter, booked weeks (months!) in advance,

rush out to the taxi as fast as they can without seeming like uncaring parents,

get seated at the restaurant with the first bottle of wine

and sigh in bliss.

An evening without children.

(thedailygreen.com)

First rule of such evenings: There wont be talk about said children. At all. For the whole evening. Nada.

This works swimmingly for a while.

At least 5 minutes.

Until an apparently innocent conversation

about the amazing paintwork of the Sistene Chapel

turns somehow to the topic of toilet training their youngest.

And a funny chat about using the brand new digital camera

inexpicably ends up being a conversation about their child who who refuses to eat anything

that is green...or red...or...any colour really.

Ring any bells?

Hubby and I reminisce about pre-children times

and wonder at what we did with all that spare time and money.

Heck, to be totally honest,

we entertain thoughts about what we would be doing now without kids.

(Don't frown at me. It is only occasionally.

Like tonight where I have projectile vomits coming from all directions of kids' bed)

Divorce rates are increasing in couples over 50.

There are a number of reasons for this

but one seems to be due to suddenly being distant empty nesters

when the kids move out.

(weddingringsreview.net)

My husband and I celebrate 16 years of married life together next year.

21 years of a shared life.

I am somewhat self-satisfied, comfortable and happy

that we seem to be in a good place.

But the "we" is definately taking a back seat at the moment.

First up is the offspring's demands on our time

Anything left over is about sleep and "me" time.

In hubby's case, that means getting up at 5am

and cycling up hills...(yes, apparently for fun)

For me, that means sitting up till late watching movies

or crafting or drinking chai

or better still, all three.

He would get as much excitement and enjoyment from learning how to do a rolled hem

or crochet a multicoloured granny square in front of "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

as I would from pulling on lycra from head to toe

and then trying to stay upright on a bike while reaching the top of a hill.

Big. Fat. Zero.

(blogcritics.org)

(Though I harbour a sneaking suspicion that HE may be entertained by ME

squeezed into a lycra outfit trying to get up a hill on a bike )

Even with the kids,

while family time does happen frequently,

other times we tend to divide and conquer where possible for ease and economy.

So where does that leave us?

Headed for the divorce courts when we should be headed to the travel agent

to book our retirement overseas cruise-of-a-lifetime?

Should the list of modern wedding anniversary gifts read...

1st- clocks

2nd- china

....

....

25th- relationship counselling

?

(superstock.com)

Hubby has single handedly brought back date night.

Each Friday we put the kids to bed

then eat "adult" food,
(you know, with flavour)

watch "adult" telly

(and I don't mean rated R- I just mean not rated G and with a soundtrack along the lines of

"Toot toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car")

and then some "adult" relaxation.

(Big sticking point here as my definition of that is a good book and a good night's sleep.

Let's just say that he uses a different dictionary)

I do hold out strong hopes that this will not be an issue for us.

If for no other reason that we are older parents

and we will probably be in aged care and physically incapable of walking out on each other

before we get the kids out of the house.

Mummy, why do I have to wear sunscreen?

Do you remember,

as a child,

...running under the sprinkler,

playing for hours in the heat of summer,

without regard for water shortage or cost?...

(from mdpropertyinc.com)

...eating whatever food came your way

without worrying about trans fats, artificial colourings, additives or use of growth promotants?...

(image from images.businessweek.com)

...running to catch the plane with your pocket knife in your pocket

and no security checks to slow you down,

not fearing catching any contagious disease from your fellow passengers?...

(from challengefactor.files.wordpress.com)

...flaunting your body in the sun without any fear beyond some painful sunburn?...

(image from cosmosmagazine.com)

...watching music videos on telly where the most offensive thing

to a 10 year old were the flares, tassles and sequins?...

(from esarsea.files.wordpress.com)

...living in a time when the words "global warming" and "carbon footprint"

weren't part of everyday language?...

(from home-air-purifier-expert.com)

...when your folks pushed you out the door in the morning

and you wandered back in sometime late in the day when you'd finished playing with your mates

around the neighbourhood, and were hungry, dirty, tired, and happy?...

(from alignlife.com)

I do.

I remember those times as I answer the question of my 7 year old who wants to know why there is so much security at airports.

I think about them as I explain to my kids why they need to wear hats and sunscreen if

they want to play out in the sun.

I appreciate my childhood as I tell my children what makes some foods good for them

and others, really bad.

I cherish those few times that we can pull out the water slide in the backyard

and let the kids use it for a little while

without concern for wasted water or breaking the law.

I am in wonder that teaching our kids about

recycling, wastage and the conservation of our planet

is a part of their learning process from the word go;

that it is a fact of life.

I am a little melancholy when I remember my holiday days

wandering off with friends to catch tadpoles,

or wander through the neighbourhood fields

as I try to explain the idea of "stranger danger" without scaring my children.

Don't get me wrong.

My kids are having a pretty good childhood.

There are so many opportunities and options today,

improved health and medical care,

increased acceptance of minority groups,

more freedom to live your life as you see fit without being judged

and amazing access to resources and the world.

But I am a little sad that the world has changed forever

and that it is a fact of life that our responsibilites have changed and increased.

Our kids are growing up with

an awareness of what we need to do to look after our planet and each other.

Something that we adults have really only had to learn in the past 10 years or so.

I'd go and treat my melancholy with an iced donut...

if I didn't know about those bloody trans fats.

A hospital holiday (yes, holiday)

I recently had a five day stay in hospital.

Don't panic, folks. Elective and nothing too serious.

But seriously,  I was so looking forward to it.

Packed the iPod,

piled craft magazines into my suitcase,

along with many books,

knitting projects,

 food treats

and some decent tea and coffee bags.

(A bit of a bugger that there was no room left for clothes and toiletries

but they are over rated anyhow)

To have a stretch of time post surgery where I had no demands on my time

from children, husband or normal domestic life,

to be able to knit, read, sit up late watching movies without hubby's disapproval,

it felt like a holiday.

OK So there were a few physical constraints

(post-op recovery and all that)

and mental restraints

(why are nurses so perky and chatty at 1am and 5am

when they wake you up to check and records all those bits and pieces?

Seriously, you wake me up

and expect a coherent conversation when you ask

"Wow. That looks good. What are you knitting?" at 5am?)

But no nasty jabs in the butt or anything

(something from the dark recesses of my childhood memories

when I had my tonsils out as a youngster)
And I do find that, after 3 pregnancies and child birth experiences,
 there isn't much that makes me squirm these days
when it comes to having my body poked and prodded.

(the first photo shows truer colour)

Pattern: Garnstudio and DropsDesign Lin tunic with shirred pattern

Yarn: Panda 8 ply wool crepe (in grape purple)

And to top it all off.

my folks got our last one almost toilet trained while I was away.

There may well be a bonus in their babysitting pay packet this visit.