Appliances, Stained Glass and Knitting, Oh My.

We broke down this week and bought the house a new fridge (a very large monolith that we bow down to every morning)(with the music of 2004- The Movie- playing behind us)


and a new stove. Look at how shiny and new !!

The old ones were getting scary and close to the end of their life span. We bought the old kitchen appliances when we bought this house. That was 18 years ago! I find it hard to believe that we have been here that long. Even when I lived with my birth family I never stayed in one house longer than 7 years!

The fridge has a bottom freezer. Something that I have wanted for a long time.

Next appliances on the upgrade list....washer and dryer. Hoping for front loading.


This is fianlly up. A stained glass that I designed and started 2 or 3 years ago.
I didn't do the bulk of the actual making of this piece. Stained glass is so not my thing.
But it is my Mother's thing. Thank goodness for that.
With flash. I am loving it! Thanks Mom!



On the knitting front.

I have started to do a series of headbands.
They will serve 3 purposes. 1. To show customers how the yarns look knit up.
2. To experiment with various knit,purl surface textures
3. To sell.

Colinette Iona

Nashua Sitar
I have also done a Noro Transitions one but I am going to redo knitting with the beginning and the end of the ball alternately to get a more even look.

Felted pumkins from Knitty. The large one was done exactly the way the pattern said, in 8 separate pieces and assembled. The smaller one was done all in one piece with decreases and increases at the appropriate places.
Cute eh?

Today the family is off to McMichael Gallery to see the work of Robert Bateman.

Stan the Bunny

Meet Stanley.
He is the other pet in our house. I talk about Kessie a fair bit because she is a cute in your face dog who loves to lick!
Stanley gets out to play a couple times a week. Kessie and he have a gay old time running around the living room together. Sometimes Stanley chases Kessie and sometimes they reverse if. Usually Stanley can only take Kessie's attention for short periods of time before he starts getting stressed out though. I think dogs and bunnies are natural enemies so I imagine instinct gets the better of him. Kessie justs wants to play.
When we first got Kessie Stanley was twice the size of her but now it is the other way around. I have tried so hard to get a picture of them together but they are just too fast!

I have knit Stanley a couple of mats that he loves to sleep on. He rearranges them daily! Just a little housekeeping!

Exquisite is moving right along. This bamboo is really sensitive to tension and I find that just a minor variation really pops out at me. I have to knit just a bit more snuggly than is natural to me but but that little extra snugging is helping to keep things more even. Eden Madil is the yarn. It is loosely spun so splits easily. Extra care needed there as well.

September is almost over! Arg!

Colinette Iona

Sometimes knitting up samples for the store is a joy! This pretty hat took approximately 4 hours all together and was sumptuous to knit.
Colinette Iona is a wool/mohair/silk blend. Yummm...

The hat pattern is on the ball band and doesn't even take one whole skein. I am knitting up a small scarf to go with the hat which I will show off tomorrow.

Do you like my display head? I got 2 more like it at Valu Village. For some reason they stock hoards of them around Halloween. What do people do with them? No don't tell me anything gory.

I should give the ladies names but I am not sure if I could tell which one was which. Maybe it should be Blanche 1, Blanche 2 and Blanche 3.

Really too much thought has gone into this idea already. Don't you agree?

All I want is a Dry Towel!

First I would like to show you this wonderful picture of my teenagers. Don't they look mature and sophisticated?

Would you believe that, as much as I love the picture and know I am going to cherish having it as the years go by, it lies. These are teenagers that irritate and annoy. These are teenagers who have hormones and brain cells flinging all over the place.

The boy teenager is starting to want to be out to all hours. He plans his day with little or no thought about the schedule of the family that lives with him. He has Lo-o-o-ng showers every morning using at least 3 towels to dry off.

The girl teenager has started dating. (gulp) She spends many days avoiding me or grunting at me and then thinks I should sit and listen gleefully when she is happy that she was asked out for a date. (I listened and I was).

I have started following her out of the room when she turns around and walks away from me while I am talking. Maybe she will realize that it is just easier to stay and listen once instead of having me follow her around the house.

And now!!! For the latest in exasperation she hoards all the towels that the teenage boy has not used in her room (which by the way is wall to wall laundry).

Ah yes, this Mother cannot just grab a dry bath towel when I want to have a relaxing bath because:

1. there are 4 wet bath towels in the bathroom

2. no bath towels in the linen closet

3. there are 6 (yes 6) bath towels on the floor of the teenage daughter's room. Some are on the bottom layer, some in the middle layer and 1 on the top layer. AND!!!way back in the corner is the red towel that I have been missing for months now and actually have sent her into her room to look for it.

Jim has learned to deal with the problem of disappearing towels by always hanging his on his hook on his side of the bed. (he allowed me to use it today)

I find it slightly annoying that Patrick uses so many towels. But he does leave them in the bathroom and usually hangs them up. Rhea, on the other hand, hoards the wet towels in her bedroom on the carpet. I find completely and absolutely annoying!

I take on the responsibility to at least once a week remove all the towels etc... from the bathroom to wash them. The towels that Patrick uses get washed regularly. Both children wash their own clothes so I do not go into their rooms to gather laundry.

I can deal with what Patrick does but I can't deal with what Rhea does.

Jim altered his ways to get around it. I feel that Rhea should be expected to change her ways to accommodate the workings of the family. Either hang up her towels in the bathroom so they can get washed and dried and put away, or, choose one towel that is her towel and treat it as she wants.

Is it too much to ask? One dry towel?

I have asked the father to talk to her because I am quite wired about it. Probably unreasonably so. (PMS I am sure)

The score so far:

Rhea 6

Patrick 4

Jim 1

Martina 0

All I want is a dry towel!

Monday Morning Sky

This sky just blew me away this morning. I felt like I was looking at the surface of another planet.
It was at 7:00 AM when I was letting Kessie out.

Doesn't it look sort of other worldly?

I forgot to show every one the yarn that my father and his wife brought back for me from their trip to Regina.

Beautiful hand dyed Australian wool from Hawthorne Cottage Yarns.

Hawthorne Cottage Yarns
PO Box 102
Sebastopol, Victoria 3356
+61 (53) 356 057
fax: +61 (53) 362 820
Owner: Sue Flynn
email: hawthorn@ren.bnc.com.au
Hawthorne Cottage is Sue Flynn's design and manufacturing business specialising in excellent and rare English Leicester soft spun yarns in changing ranges of colours. Sue also designs for Willabaa Wool of Ballarat. She produces knitted garments and kits in traditional knitting and indigenous Australian themes of her own development or supplied by local Koorie artist Rubina Burgoyne. Sue's agent in USA is Carrol Woolcock of The Mannings Studio, East Berlin, Pennsylvania, Phone +1 (717) 624 2223. In Australia the nearest supplier of Sue's work is Tanybrin Gallery, Skene's Creek Road, Otway Mountains, Victoria, Phone 052 376 271. Sue has built on her family farming experiences with a merino stud and fashion design studies to become an accomplished weaver, spinner, dyer and designer. She has recently bought a sock machine to add to her range of yarns and patterns. Kits of English Leicester wool and indigenous Australian design themes should be available in USA.


I am knitting a hat with it because the gift came with a pattern for one. I think that the Elsbeth Lavold Classic AL (which came with the gift) was supposed to be knit up withthe Hawthorne cottage yarn but I didn't like how it looked. So, I am knitting it solo. I like how it is looking. Pictures upon completion.

Jim and I spent all day yesterday at Patrick's soccer tournament. They did really well and won every game except the last one which means they ended up in second place. It is probably where they belong since the team they were playing never lost a game all season and Patrick's lost 2 (I think). But the game was very frustrating for a parent to watch because the ref was not calling a fair game. He was showing favoritism to the other team. He was only calling the aggressive play penalties against our team and the other team seemed to able to get away with everything. I was loud and obnoxious. I don't usually get riled up at games but I really wanted to have a good little yell at the ref. A lot of good it would do though. It was as if it had been decided that the other team was supposed to win it all because they had the best season.

Must admit though that we handed them their only loss in the previous game. In retrospect that feels good.

I feel bad because it wasn't the other teams fault and I feel mad at them too. But really it would have been better for them to win fairly. They must realize that the game was not fair and that must niggle.

Ok Soccer Mom is going away now.

Got to get ready for my morning mall walk with Jim

Exquisite

It all started with a bag of Bamboo. Eden Madil Bamboo.
I thought, "Hey, this will be such an easy knit!" After all the slogging I am still doing through Betty it really did seem like a quick knit.

I cast on 133 sts. I ribbed for 22 rows. Easy so far right.

Then I started the next row. The row where there are decreases and the slowley decreasing V of rib starts working its way up the back.

Now counted only 131 stitches.
Crap.
Oh I can fudge around it.
Then read the instructions wrong.
It is ((k4,k2tog) 5 times...not K4 (k2tog)5 times.
Crap.
tink back row.
Do again properly. Should have 123 sts.
Hmm don't.
Crap.


Exquiste. Just Exquisite.

It was suppose to be a no brainer.
I put it down and concentrated on watching the history of Saturday Night Live.
Now it is morning.
I feel like an amateur knitter! I can't let it kick my butt! I am gearing up. I will overcome.
Later.

I have thrummed my first mitten. It ain't pretty but it was easier than I thought it would be. Second mitt may be coming up later today too.

Exquisite Hibiscus flower.
Some things survive just fine if they are left alone. As with this Hibiscus. I have been neglecting my garden horribly this summer.
I had given this plant up for dead.
I was ok with that because it came from my last boss's Mother. If it was going to die I would have that horrible work experience out of my life forever.
It was not to be.
Out popped not one but two beautiful flowers.

Perhaps a reminder to remember the good things about the last 6 years.

I'll take it.

And move on just a little bit more.