The post Christmas Blues

Nothing quite deflates like the feeling of having to go back to work while the sun still shines and the schools have yet to drag reluctant students into the classroom for another round of drilling less than thrilling instruction into their heads.
It's not that I don't want to work although it is much more fun to work with a sense of purpose and the beginning of the year can seem a little indirected.  I am trying to read and prepared myself mentally but the lure of the sunshine distracts me and I long to take my work and recline in a hammock sipping on something cold and fruity.
Of course I know the reality is that I would only be able to sit like that for a few minutes before my natural propensity to be doing something active would kick in.

I have at least a new mantra for this year and it's about time.  I always feel as though I am chasing my tail.  I want to do so much and am perhaps often, well maybe always, on the generous side  with my expectations of what can be achieved.  I can knit a jumper, make a clanger, fix some place mats, embroider a birth chart and keep the house immaculate and prepared a delicious home cooked meal.  In the same day!  Perhaps my parents came from some far away planet where time is double the span allotted to earth.  That would explain why I try to fit so much in.
So this year I am not going to say I have no time because I think it's more about priorities.  There are things that I love to do, and there are things I have to do.  it's the things I have to do that steal time away from the things I love to do and I need to better at balancing those and creating a more even distribution.  Yes I love to knit.  I am perfectly content to put on a season of a show I like and then knit away.  But I have to realise that I will never reach the end of the list of things I want to knit, although perhaps I may reach the age when I can no longer knit.  This is sobering.  So I will prioritise the things that bring me pleasure whilst allowing space to do that which must be done.  Of course that means eight hours of work a day.  Ho hum.

I'm going to knit a clanger

No I really am going to knit a clanger I liked the show as a child and then agin when my first three were little before Fireman Sam and Bob the Builder muscled in. I didn't notice though that the clangers were knitted.  I can't think why I didn't notice something important as as that.

What really annoys me is that the Clanger and Soup dragon knitting patterns are available as ibooks in the Itunes store but only in the UK.  Really because nobody in the rest of the world wants to knit a clanger.  Well that's just totally wrong.

First finished item for 2014

I made another skirt.  I know it seems that I have a rare and pretty useless talent for designing and  knitting skirts.  Ok maybe not really that much of a talent considering some of them have been less than wearableI have made several skirts, two of the Bell curve skirt which I now have no idea of their whereabouts so that clearly indicates how successful they must have been. My favourite a black cotton skirt, a greeny/grey cotton skirt, a brown bamboo skirt, which actually has always been less than satisfactory because the length is wrong and I can't find any more of the yarn to fix it. a blue skirt and now the latest creation a multiway.


The blue skirt is made from Sirdar's Snuggly Baby Speckle DK is a cotton-rich blend made with 60% cotton and 40% acrylic and comes in a range of beautifully soft and speckled shades. I decided on a 2x2 rib pattern and away I went. we all know I am not the most patient person in he universe so it will come as no surprised that I grew bored with the skirt and decided it was quite long enough. Having cast off I then crocheted a scalloped edge to the skirt which I love and think adds a feminine touch. I then discovered that the skirt was way too short for a woman of a certain age to wear. Stink. Double stink. but my newly honed crochet skills came to the fore and I simply crocheted the waist band to add length without disturbing the scalloped edging.

The multiway is knit from Elle Stretch which I bought many years ago to knit eldest dear daughter a dress.  We bought several colour-ways as in the shop she couldn't decide which looked best.  I love the simplicity of these skirts and I am pleased with the flounce that I made up as I went along and which I finished with a picot edge.

Xmas cats

 Any one who has followed this blog will know that I can occasionally be a little obsessed with my animals.  They are an important part of me and now that the children are growing up and leaving home these furry friends are even more central to my life.  After Peri died I was bereft.  He left the hugest hole in my heart and my life, more than I would have ever thought possible.  even now almost three years after his death, I still cry occasionally and miss him terribly.

But I was fortunate enough enough to be blessed with two kittens Pearl and Jasper who grew up and produced two gorgeous litters of kittens.  The first litter was a little fraught as we were away for the weekend when Pearl went into labour.  We returned home to just one kitten that Pearl was completely uninterested in.  When I tried to get her to feed the wee kit, she bit his tail and kinked it.  patiently I managed to get her to feed the kitten and he became know as Buster or baby cat.  He is hte darker and larger cat.  Baby cat slept with us from a few days old because Pearl decided if she was going to have to look after this creature then it would only be next to me. Naturally having virtually reared this little fellow there was no chance of him ever leaving.

The second litter was more successful only a little quicker than we had planned due to an accidental leaving of the cats together at the wrong time.  How accidental I will never know but perhaps one day youngest daughter will confess.  This litter produced four beautiful healthy kittens, three girls and one boy. Ollie was promised to a friend from the start and for 8 weeks I kept myself from falling in love with him even though he reminded me of Peri at every moment.  For 8 weeks I managed to believe he was going to live with my friend, but she couldn't take him until he was 16 weeks old and when the other litter mates went, he bonded with us.  So Ollie had to stay too. 

I love all my cats I really do, but Ollie is something special, not a Peri replacement for there could never be one of those but he's certainly up there.

Believe in your dreams

Believe in your dreams, for no-one else will if you do not.  This is harder than it first seems, as humans we are filled with self doubt, or fear that we often fail to follow the paths set out before us.  We deem it selfish or egotistical to do what makes us happy and to an extent it can be.  But if we are always aware of others and their part to play in our journey then we can do both.  I like that idea.  This year I will write my novel.  Furthermore I will take a chance and send it to a publisher because it is my dream and it's not going to come true if I don't take action.

Yesterday I had the privilege and the joy of being invited to a BBQ.  It wasn't a huge affair the friend hosting isn't a great socialiser so it was even more precious to be included in the select few.  I went with a little trepidation unsure how much of a good time would be had, but determined to show my face and show my gratitude for being thought of.  I dragged my very patient and tolerant husband along who is even less of a socialiser than the friend we were visiting.  I was prepared for fraught times.

What transpired was an amazing afternoon and evening filled with lots of laughter and jokes and I meant some really lovely people that I would love to get to know more.  Even better I got to see my husband laughing and joking with the rest of them in a way I haven't seen previously.  It was a special moment.  My heart swells when I see him smile.

Of course this is a knitting blog and it would be remiss of me not to mention knitting that at a later date I rely on to blog about.  So to prove that I am very indeed obsessed with knitting and really do take it everywhere, here's a shot of me up the top of Mount Tongaririo crossing knitting away during a brief stop.

New Year 2014

A lot has happened in a year.  I got married.  Pear had two lots of kittens and we somehow managed to end up with a kitten from each litter.  it wasn't intentional but it was just very hard to let them go.  So baby cat and Ollie cam e to join the already bursting household.  There are days when i still miss Peri intensely and these little critters do their best to cheer me.

Wedding dress

Regular visitors to my blog know I'm just a little on the crazy side. I have always been so even as a wee child. But enough of that.  My current craziness is to knit my own wedding dress.  Not so crazy perhaps there are lots of by beautiful designs on ravelry and elsewhere on the interweb.  But when the date is the 12/12/12 then it gets a little loony. Knitted Wedding dress patterns are more common than I first thought and this one struck my eye. I'm planning on adapting the length and possibly not doing the sleeves but this coat instead.