Motherly Matyrdoms

I took my beloved and full-of-flu G to the doctor today, and then muscled in on his appointment to have my own chest checked out - surely, the stabbing pain/agony I've been getting when coughing and moving around is muscular, right?

 

I was so relieved to hear the doctor's diagnosis I started crying - bronchitis, chest infection and pleurisy! Wow! There's a reason I have been feeling so crappy. I now have permission to feel as lousy as I have been feeling! And I don't have to feel guilty about not doing everything that needs to be done!!

 

Another case of the Motherly Matyrdoms diagnosed and treated.

 

And now I'm back off to bed.

 

Sam xx

Knitting Needle Neediness

I've hit a snag in my Mara shawl.

 

My circular needle is not long enough to hold all the stitches, now that I am at the increasing row for the edge.

 

The lady at the local habby shop hasn't a needle long enough, and I have little chance of heading down the hill to the 'Big Shops' given that I am housebound with a flu-ridden family, G included - not that I'm much healthier that they are, only that my flu is on the mend, whereas theirs is not. And I do mean 'flu'. This virus was not a cold!

 

I've needed my knitting in the last week, its soothing repetition. I'm enjoying the Mara shawl pattern 'mindlessness' when I've been too weak to do anything else, or when stuck on the couch with sick kids. Pick it up, put it down, knitting when needed.

 

And now I am needed for more 'kid on the couch' cuddles. I might have to start another Mara just to keep me soothed.

 

Hmmm. Now there's an idea!

 

 

Sam xx

 

(cough, splutter... )

Strawberry Jam!

One of the (few) bonuses of G's job is that he drives through strawberry growing country every now and again, and yesterday he came home with 2 1/2 kilos of strawberries - for only $10!

Right, then. Strawberry jam it is - a little bit of the promise of spring, using Sally Wise's recipe from her book, A Year in a Bottle.

 

Yum!!

 

I love making jam. When I first made it, Miss M was just a wee babe, and I would make the jam at night so her needs would not be interrupted, and neither would my jam making! Five years on and I'm glad it is easier, but I am still intrigued by the whole process.

 

And now I'm off to cuddle the twins who are today's coughing and spluttering Kids on the Couch. 

 

I hope you are having a lovely day!!

 

 

Sam xx

 

I love a project!

This is our bathroom. Isn't it beeeeauuutiful??? Rather green and very 1970's, isn't it? And the toilet in the next room? It's green too, a perfect match!

Awww. I'll miss it all when it's gone.

We are finally in the process of renovating it, the toilet and the laundry. Hooray!! This has only taken me 8 and 1/2 years to organise; 8 and 1/2 years since we bought this house. I always planned to do these rooms up. I just didn't think it would take me quite this long, though.

Now, that's "A Project"!!!


Sam xx

New Knitting Project

It’s time! I have had seriously itchy fingers since finishing the scarf I made for my Mother!

Hmmm. What to do? What to make?? Sure, I am in a house cleaning “CDT”* phase right now, but I certainly don’t want to clean in my downtime. I need a project, a creative project, and I need one now - a semi-mindless, able-to-knit-while-watching-television project. Nothing too boring, but something that is fun and different from the things I have knitted before.

And this is where ravelry.com comes in – again! Hooray!!

Oh, I do like ravelry! I have to admit that I find the pattern search on ravelry to be rather...er...addictive! I keep saying to myself, “just one more page...”, "just five more minutes”... and then find myself still searching 20 minutes or so later...sometimes an hour later!

And so, after much thought, pattern searching and changes in project ideas, I have settled on the Mara shawl. This is because I have a lot of wool I have frogged** from older pieces, wool that deserves a new ‘home’, wool that is too good to give away. Wool that I just don’t like the colour of anymore but think would make a great present for just the right person.

And the right person in this case is my Mother-in-Law. Don’t worry. She doesn’t read my blog but, then, please don’t blurt it out to her, just in case. I have Misses J and E who will do that for me If I need them to!

So here it is, my new project beginnings, 'artfully' arranged on the back table to try and get some light on this grey, cold day.

Pattern:: Mara

Wool:: Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed DK

Colour:: Paper Rose

I am making one change to the pattern, though - I am knitting it in stocking stitch whereas the pattern calls for garter stitch. I'm just not much of a garter stitch girl, it seems!

What new projects are you working on?

And finally, here is one of my tips to encourage creativity as I missed adding it to the My Creative Space site last week:-

When I have finished a project, and in preparation for beginning a new one, I always like to clean and organise my work table; I start afresh in a freshly tidied space. For me, it works a treat!

Have a great weekend!

Sam xx

*CDT – cleaning, decluttering, tidying

**'frogging’ – don’t you just love that term? It means to unravel from an old knitted piece in order to reuse and recycle the wool i.e. rip it, rip it, rip it......

Spring Cleaning

Why is it that the tiniest whiff of spring can triggers a frenzy of house cleaning?

Normally a visit from my parents is enough to motivate me into tidying up the house. And it seems that I’m not the only one - my very good buddy spent yesterday cleaning out her pantry due to the imminent arrival of her Mother-in-law from interstate!

For me, however, the unseasonally warm weather we have been experiencing has been enough! Even my beloved G has been bitten by the cleaning bug, deciding that a serious case of the “CDT’s” (Cleaning, De-cluttering, Tidying) of our home is in order. We are also attacking other unfinished jobs – filling holes in walls, patching, sanding, nailing, plugging, scraping, and most of all, painting.

Yesterday, a child free day, saw me painting the window frame in our bedroom. We sanded and prepared it over the weekend and I’ll do the final coat of paint on Wednesday. After that it’s on to the next room. Curtains to wash, wardrobe doors to fix...... it is all very satisfying!

And now another questions pops up – How is it that our CDT list keeps growing??? And even more perplexing - Will it ever end?

But I actually know the answer to that one!

Has the Spring Cleaning Bug bitten you yet?

Sam xx

New Season Blossom

This week saw the bud burst of our first nectarine blossoms for the season - I'm surprised we have so many, given that G and I 'pruned' so much of the tree a few weeks ago!

Now, if only I can control the fruit fly enough this year so I can get fruit I can actually eat!

Sam xx

Colour Mixing for Kids

I love this! And funnily enough, so did the twins - colour mixing disguised as biscuit decorating. Brilliant fun!

Idea 'seed' from here.

Sam xx

Family Bushwalk

G and I first met when we were on a bushwalk organised by the Perth Bushwalkers' Association. So it would seem logical that we would have done quite a lot of bushwalking together.

Except we haven't.

So yesterday, Sunday, we took the whole family for a bushwalk - not too far from home - just five minutes away.

And away we went - away from the endless jobs, the football on telly, the washing, the folding, the messy playroom, the distractions.

And it was beautiful!

What did you and your family do this weekend?

Sam xx

Beautiful Bookshelf

We are finally sorting out the twins' bedroom - up until now they haven't had a bookshelf and we haven't had the money to buy one!

So, let's make do! I have a beast of a bookshelf that has been lurking about my studio for 10 years or so. That will be perfect after some love and tender care!

A trip to the hardware shop with some very excited little girls, and piles of paint sample cards later, they chose their colour... with some gentle nudging in a certain colour direction.

And here we are - Ta-dah!

Paint:: Wattyl Satin Interior

Colour:: Boysenberry Cream (I think!)

Soooooo much better than a pile of books propped up in the corner, for sure!!!

Have you revamped any furniture lately?

Sam xx

My Creative Space - Potager Scarf Ta-dah!

The finished Potager Scarf - Hooray!!

Yarn:: Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4 ply
Colour:: Ghost
Needle size:: 3.5mm
Metres used:: 625m

Happy Birthday, Mum!!


Although I prefer a knitting project that I can work on while mindlessly watching telly, I enjoyed knitting this piece. True to the designer's word, it knitted up quickly.

This is also the first time I have knitted with BWM yarns. I will definitely do so again, even though I find their colour range a bit restrictive.

Check out more Creative Spaces here.


Sam xx

Blocking - Knitting

My latest knitting project, finished and blocked.

Blocking - a necessity for a piece of lace knitting, otherwise you can't see the pattern and stitches in all their glory!

Now I just need to gift wrap it....

Sam xx