New Yarn

I luff seeing the yellow courier van pulling into my driveway;-) I'm trying very hard not to drool all over my purty new yarn (especially considering how much shipping cost!). The most perfect Summer Sky blue Cascade 220 for a sweater for ME...yes, a big girl project! The Kureyon is even more scrummy in real life...perfect for those blonde curls of Kate's (I hope). To be honest, I'm finding the hardest part of this swapsie is figuring out what I want Klever Kate to make me.

Urchin

Urchin beret from Knitty. I felt pretty blah about the yarn which has transferred itself to this pattern. It knitted up smaller than I wanted so doesn't fit M8 as planned. Ah well...yet another hat for the gift box.
The weather is trying to decide if it's Spring or Autumn. I'm enjoying the unseasonal warmth as I don't have to watch my book and yarn funds going up my chimney just yet;-)

A Day on the Water

Last Wednedsay, we had a superb day trip up the coast (soundtrack: American Idiot & Afro-Latino) to join the Kapti Unschoolers group. We made rafts and had a lot of very damp fun launching them down a wee stream. Thanks Linda, Emma & kids. Great to finally meet you & your gorgy girls, Hay!

And it's always a lovely, lovely time spending time with Nikki and the kids where we can all just be ourselves!

A Day at the Races

Our horse-mad weekend visitor thought that horse-mad M8 would like to go to the races. Why hadn't I ever thought of that before considering we live less than 10 minutes drive away from a major racecourse? We all picked a horse from the first race as they paraded beforehand.

A3 picked the only white horse (oi!) in the race, and the jockey's colours matched his hair nicely. He placed second.

Number Four was a popular choice among the young ladies as it had glitter on it's flank;-) It was a case of style over substance and he didn't perform well.

Mama picked Number Nine which came in third.

It's been a lot of fun listening to M8 test Aunty C's horsie knowledge over the weekend and watch her complete excitement at the races.

ANZAC Day

I have a lot of disparate feelings on ANZAC day. These revolve around the clash between honouring the New Zealand men and women who sacrificed their lives on foreign shores and my firm belief that war is an ineffective, cruel solution to conflict.

My maternal great-uncle returned from the Middle East Theatre in World War II with this Egyptian brooch for his mother. Thankfully, his two brothers also returned safely from the Pacific. A paternal great-uncle also returned to NZ from France in World War I but died soon after. It's never talked about and is difficult to find any detail about. I didn't know until my grandmother gave me the brooch recently that all her brothers fought in World War II.

I hope that the recent resurgence in interest in New Zealand's role in global conflicts, the talk instead of silence, will go some way to ensure my children never experience war.

Yet More!

It was the beret pattern that prompted me to buy 101 One Skein Wonders and I finally got around to knitting it this week in The Wool Company Possum Merino Double Knit. Cozy and for me! (Should have blocked it.)

The Indian Summer is over. A southerly swept up the valley this morning so on went our first fire.

And in Good Life news...we have an allotment!! Husband and Eldest went to our community garden meeting this morning. The lupin is about 20cm high and will be dug in in July. It sounds like there's a really interesting group of people involved who all have different gardening methods. Husband was most intrigued with an older German gentleman who seems to know a LOT about gardening and chickens (Chickens! Imagine having chickens up at church! Now that would be cool.)...we're hoping to learn heaps from him. Our current plan is to put a crop of potatoes in our allotment to break up the soil.

Ok...off to find a pair of woolly socks and decide what to cast on next.

And more

Yeah, yeah...I know...it's getting a bit repetitive with all the knitted hats...

But you know, here's how it is. That sense of achievement is often an elusive thing for a mother on a day to day basis. The work we do isn't a measurable results type enterprise. On rare occasions (like yesterday at a cafe) I get complimented by strangers on how well-behaved my kids are. That's nice'n'all (until we get home and they turn feral on me). But we're after something more internal and eternal than how they look to the world. So, while missing the feedback of a salary, good annual performance review, stimulating adult conversation that the paid workforce offers, I get a buzz out of choosing the exact right yarn for the person I'm knitting for, flicking through my pattern books, then producing an item knitted with love that will keep their lovely eleven year old head warm this winter.

(It's another Kim's Hat from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts in Patons Jet...love this yarn big time!)

More knitting

All my knitting lately feels very little and bitsy. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into a couple of grown-up projects this winter when I can source the right yarn for a reasonable price. (Who am I kidding...I'm ordering from a US yarn site this week...shhhhh...)

I'm really pleased with how this headband turned out for M8. I (nearly)6 will get one too. Can't resist putting the girls in a few matching items while they still like it too;-)

The baby hat is a practise run for a big girl's version for Sparkly Kate. It's part of the Seija Set in The Happy Hooker. Kate will be getting something more like this one.

The wool reminds me of a group of gorgeous, crafty, knitty, thinky, funny, lovely women I'm privileged to be a part of. We spent time in Auckland last year dyeing wool together. It's nice to be able to connect memories like that to something I produce with my hands.

Mehndi, nappies & the rest

Excuse the extremely random, waffley nature of this post...that's my brain atm;-)

The girls and I had little Mehndi done on our hands at a recent Indian Bazaar. Fun!

Even though our young man is out of daytime nappies (squeeeeeeee) I still get a buzz making soft, scrummy sherpa nappies for other little botties.

Ah yes, winter is just around the corner. The arrival of the firewood - and disappearance of any discretionary yarn funds up my chimney.

I hope to get a bit more sewing time under my belt this winter as we hibernate inside. Love Lotta's Simple Sewing. Heaps of snazzy, and more to the point, easy projects. I'm also saving for an overlocker - progressing nicely - roll on Mother's Day Sale at my local overlocker store.

I couldn't resist the new Sirdar Hug yarn at my LYS. I bought the sock pattern that went with it with I5 in mind. These were a quick, satisfying knit but, meh, wouldn't do that pattern again. Who really wants to seam socks?

I've been having some even more random and waffley thoughts about my faith while reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. It's a slightly unsettling but extremely exciting, enjoyable read. I have Through Painted Deserts to listen to on my MP3 player at the gym (oh yeah, maybe I need to get to the gym!).

Subversion

"The kingdom of heaven...comes to people who crave not victory or even freedom but justice, who seek not revenge but reconciliation, who strive not for domination but peace, and who are courageously eager to suffer pain for the cause of justice, not inflict it."
Brian McLaren

(Liberty Print Tank brooch by Engolden from Dalston, Grey Lynn)

Productive Weekend on the Needles

A child-free out of town weekend dedicated to knitting and chatting. Bliss!!

Lavender Lace Beanie in Naturally Sensation.
New Directions Hat in Noro Kureyon

Little Green Wristlets in Cleckheaton Country Silk - hand-dyed with Kool Aid.

All patterns from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders.