Summer

Posting remains stalled, the weather has been so amazing that you will more often than not find me outside enjoying the warmth while it lasts. Auckland is enjoying an extended summer, it is 23 degrees (I think that is around 75F) and it is Autumn, the sun is shining, birds are singing and all is well with the world.

Our darling is growing at a rate of knots, almost 4 months old and she has trebled her birthweight! Such a sweetie, she laughs, smiles and coos, loves story time and rolls over.

Here is a close up of the hat, your standard Aviatrix (worsted weight) in Just Jussi Full and made my favourite Frothy Flower in Malabrigo worsted
I added an extra round of petals and embroidered some french knots resembling stamens to hold it in place.

I have a little interview posted on the Knitographer site   talking about Just Jussi and whats up at the moment. Go have a look see, and meet some other lovely knitters, dyers, writers.

New design Tuesday - round up

Today I'm just going to catch you up on where the current designs stand...there hasn't been much knitting this week, my Uncle passed away on Thursday after a brave battle.

My parents, sister and I came to NZ in 1972, my Uncle arrived in 1986 and my grandparents about 12 years later, my sister now lives back in England, my grandparents are quite elderly and my Uncle never married or had children so everything has fallen to Mum to organize, and as always she is doing a stellar job.

Today I emailed Blaise with a link to a macaron recipe I knew she would like, and said that we have to make them soon, she replied "as soon as the crazy has calmed" and my reply "haven't you learnt yet Blaise? The crazy never ends, you just have to learn to ride the waves"

My way of riding those waves is to knit:

- Grellow...actually we are almost friends again, the sleeves are on and I'll be finished this evening

- Nikau revisited...very happy with these, need to write the pattern, found 2 beautiful babes for the photos

- plum blossom...still waiting for me to correct the spelling and punctuation...

- and a newie...Torrent...simple, bright, useful...more info soon!

Have a great week, we will be saying goodbye to my Uncle The best way we know how...with words and memories, hanging out as a family, making to most of each other.

New design Tuesday - the one where I distract you with a jellyfish

Here is the jellyfish of the title...it is really an adult sized Aviatrix ( I used the largest size worsted pattern instructions, but used a bulky weight yarn) with built in scarf, here it is blocking. The combo actually looks really good on, I should get a photo when Blaise comes to pick it up on Thursday. I started it on friday and finished it yesterday, it was good mindless knitting for the stolen moments I was able to grab.

I did not accomplish anything like the amount of knitting I had optimistically hoped this long weekend, in fact very little knitting was done at all, however there was lots of family time, and couple time which more than made up for it. Charlotte's birthday tea was combined with Easter sunday, so most of the family gathered around at our house for a big Indian feast, I love preparing, cooking and eating Indian food, so leap at any chance to go all out!

The Grellow (working title) cardigan has grown a little, I am onto the slip moss st bodice now (this is the newborn size) I love, love, love the i-cord cast on...it is neat, tidy, clever and strong enough to prevent rolling, did I tell you I loved it already? I have tweaked almost every aspect of this cardigan, but will wait until it is almost finished to decide if it needs ties or buttons, ties are nice, but buttons are convenient for parents...we will see.
I also love how this yarn works with the stitch patter, I have found these short colour change yarns ( I have used Koigu KPPM and Shibui sock in this one) respond very will to slip st patterning, it reduces the appearance of pooling, even if it is achieved by one  pooling colour being layered on top of another pooling colour!

More distractions... I have a couple of patterns in a soon to be released book "10 secrets of The Laidback Knitters" - you can read more about the book here, or on the Facebook page and even attend book signings if you are the United States - so exciting! I can't wait to see it.

finishing up

Like my friend Ailsa I decided to spend some time just knitting accessories, nothing too taxing on my poor sick brain (unlike Ailsa I chose particularly simple projects - that woman is a lace legend)

Blaise's hats:

 Ysolda Teague's "Verity"

homage to a hat seen online - couldn't get off the couch to buy new yarn, so used what I had - Lambs pride in Charcoal.

 Panda hat - made up on the needles, better with the brim tucked under (need to get a photo of that!)

Socks for Flash (Ravelry is keeping me honest, the last socks I knitted for him were finished more than 2 years ago)

he has huuuuuge feet,  so I always have to augment the 100g ball with contrast colours at heel and toe, this time I decided to make this the contrast the feature of the socks, so I have a lovely Koigu kpppm in a camo colourway and Patonyle in a dark donkey grey. I'm knitting the socks as 1 sock on 2 circs but knitting 2 at a time (my brain was too addled to work 2 socks on 2 circs) I knit the rib on one sock first, then on the other sock, and continue in this way alternating between them as each component is finished so that at the end I have 2 finished socks! I will immediately cast on another pair when these are finished, I have some lovely Subeam St Ives in a heathered cocoa colourway which will suit the remaining Koigu.

The sock pattern I use has evolved over the years, I worked a 4 x 2 rib pattern in this one, which extends down the top of the foot, this works best for a business sock as it stays up (and the contrast parts are hidden by his shoes!)

My infinity scarf from the previous post, you can't see the sparkles in the photos - but they are there!

The Mister Man pattern is not far away now, boy has that been a long time coming! and I'm still working away at the Plum blossom, I've had a change of heart about the child's size, have decided to work it in a DK weight yarn now...just waiting for the yummy yarn to arrive.

In family news: Holly and Nick (and a bunch of friends) have had to dig their driveway up in order to lay a new water main, as the old one kept bursting for earthquake related reasons. Nick has had to email EQNZ as their house was assessed as "no structural damage"  when it actually has demonstrable structural damage - the assessor wouldn't look at the photos they took after the September quake which show the difference between then and now, which is extremely distressing for them. I do worry about them - this was supposed to be the time of their lives - newlyweds with a lovely old house to renovate, Holly was about to retrain as a teacher as it is much more family friendly than winemaking, and they were planning to start a family. The retraining has been put off for a year due to intakes being cancelled and as for the baby - it's not a sensible option in light of the instability in the land and their lives. I know they will be fine, and there are many people much worse off, I just want them to have a nice life, they are good kids, they deserve it.

where was I?

blogging will resume in earnest shortly, however I have a chest infection and horrid cold currently so have exiled myself to the couch where I am happy with the knitting, ipad, remote, water and tissues oh and a very heavy cat.

The world is a sad place right now, you all know why - and knitting has really helped me to stay calm and centred, I have managed to knit 4 hats and 1/2 a pair of socks while I have been couchbound and expect to be knitting the same sorts of mindless things for the coming week as illness and math are not happy bedfellows.

Please where ever you are in the world - look after one another and stay safe x x

I'll leave you with a photo of my cheery pixie in one of her new hats (and my new scarf)

the hat is a panda hat - made up on the spot as I knitted, she is now tucking the brim under which looks loads better than here. The scarf is the Infinity scarf  from KnitPurl Hunter just perfect in Dream in Color "Starry"

Catch up 2

Today marks a week since the tragic events in Christchurch, today at 12.51pm we will have 2 minutes silence as a nation, if you are overseas you can check your local time here and maybe observe the 2 minutes with us.

I'm having a bit of a down day today, the shock of what has happened has finally hit me (you know - when your head has known for a week, but your subconscious suddenly catches up and you cant stop crying)

Holly is coming up for a few days, I can't wait to see her, I won't want her to leave, but all we can do is support her and Nick and be here for them.

As a family we have made donations to the usual agencies - but have decided to put most of our resources into this fantastic community organisation: The Rangiora express  they are cooking hot meals for the people of the eastern suburbs and flying them in by helicopter - they are awesome.

The Civil defence website continues to be a useful source of information.

and the Student volunteer army is beyond awesome - this is the future face of NZ? fantastic!

thank you for the comments and emails, our family is fine, but if you can find a way to help out - please do so, this is going to be a long haul for the people of Christchurch.

What matters...

is that my darling girl Holly, her husband Nick, their extended family and friends (and the cats) are alive

Holly was in hospital when the earthquake struck, and caused more damage than anyone thought possible

I spoke with Nick, my Mum got hold of Holly, they couldn't reach one another.

Finally Nick made it to the hospital, it took them 5 hours to drive the 9kms from the hospital to home, a distance usually travelled in 20 minutes.

All the while they were worried, the destruction was incomprehensible, Holly had very little pain relief, they didn't know if their home would be standing when they reached it, or if their cats would have become terrified and run away, their gas light moved to empty and no petrol stations were open.

In Auckland my family gathered in our lounge and just watched the events unfold, horrific scenes and so much trauma and death. I knew more than Holly and Nick, I knew that their suburb was close to the epicentre, that most of it was subject to the foul liquefaction and sewage spills. 

Thankfully they made it home safely and their home was spared, even spared the liquefaction, everything in the house was on the floor - including their wardrobes, and they have no power, water or sewage, but they have family down there helping them, and the offer of flights to stay with us for as long as they need to, we are so lucky they have been spared.

We are still having lots of communication problems, and that will continue, the infrastructure has been annihilated in many areas, but we are so blessed to know that they are safe, others are not so lucky.

New Zealand is a small, sparsely populated 1st world nation in the South Pacific, comprised of 3 islands - North, South and Stewart Island. I live in Auckland (see map) the largest city at over 1 million people, Christchurch is NZ's 3rd largest city and is in the South Island.

If you need information or wish to help please go here

My island home

23 years ago when Holly was a toddler, I bought my first house.

I was very young, didn't have much money and didn't want to move out of Auckland, but buying a house meant security for the 2 of us and I was determined.

During the 1980s house prices boomed, I bought at the height of the market so the little money I did have would not stretch far. I had a choice between a brand new box in nappy(diaper) valley West Auckland or a cottage on Waiheke, believe me the choice was not a hard one and one I have never regretted!

Waiheke has a 35 minute ferry to Auckland, which meant a commute was possible, it was safe, child friendly community and we loved living there. Life progressed as it does, there were more of us, then less of us and the girls and I grew and changed. Eventually it became evident that Waiheke was not the place for us any longer - we needed a bigger house, and to live somewhere a little less laidback.

In an ideal world we would have bought a house on the mainland and kept the old house as a bach (holiday home) but since when has the world been ideal? I haven't returned often to Waiheke in the intervening years but it has always been a part of my heart.

Flash and I visited the island on Saturday, I was feeling nostalgic and recent events in our family had left me wanting to show him why I am the person I am and think the things I do.

We caught the ferry 35 minutes + waiting, then a bus to Rocky Bay 30 minutes + waiting and walked for 30 minutes uphill to the old house, now he understands how it must have been for me, getting 3 small children ready and walking to the bus down gravel roads at sun-up winter and summer, and even though when I had a car life was so much easier, I still never saw the house during the daylight during the week commuting to Auckland everyday, but we were protected from the weather!

 I think Flash now understands my frustration with and seeming harshness towards our 21 yr old (step)daughter who has recently moved back home with her baby while she saves to move into an apartment, we gave her a very good car 4 or 5 months ago and she had money from an inheritance, but still has not attempted to get her restricted licence. My decision not to chauffeur her and her baby to work or the train (she starts work at 7.30am) when he is away means that she has to leave home at 6am for a 30 minute walk to the train, my reasoning is that the inconvenience will be an incentive for her to get her licence and drive herself. My experience of living where I did taught me that hardship makes you a stronger, more resilient person, soon our daughter will move into a place of her own and will need to do her own housework, cook her own meals and pay her own bills - she will need to be resilient, and we are not doing our job if we do not encourage her independence.

Anyway, enough of that...life is not always sunshine and lollipops with such a large family!
The other reason for visiting the island was to walk the sculpture trail called Headland it is a stunning walk - through bush, across farmland around the clifftops above Matitia bay, the sculptures are often arresting, vibrant and exciting and the walk is pretty strenuous, we were glad we thought to pack lots of water and I was very grateful for the umbrella which shielded me from the worst of the late afternoon sun.

Flash found a friend

and I found one of my kids favourite haunts

we walked, talked and plotted firstly camping there and eventually buying a section or cottage (it's on the 5 year plan...well at least if it is on the plan it's more of a reality!), ate great food and  had a fantastic, adventure filled day, the kind of day we hope to have more of in the future.

Looking forward

 This New Year I made no resolutions, I drank champagne and watched the fireworks and just enjoyed the end of 2010.

The year did end well, Holly's wedding was everything I ever wished for her and more, Christmas was noisy, fun and festive and the sadness of Blaise leaving home for good was tempered with the work of making her bedroom into my new workroom.

I'm so excited to have this new space, the entire time we have lived in this house (4 yrs now) I have shared the upstairs lounge, firstly with Flash as an office space, then when Maria moved out and Flash turned her room into his office, as a den/ workroom so that Flash could watch TV while I worked, now that I have this decent sized space all to myself we finally get a nice clutter free upstairs lounge and a door can be closed on work at the end of the day (that's what I'm telling myself...)

I scrubbed and filled, sanded and undercoated and finally painted the room a lovely blue my furniture was already white, beech and cream - so I felt it was important for the room to have a colour, it is cool without being cold, an enveloping colour, a sanctuary. I finished it off with floor length charcoal slub satin drapes which add a touch of glamour to an otherwise useful space.

I haven't "worked" in this room yet, it was only finished yesterday, but today I sat on the couch looking out on the 9 frantically flowering gardenias who love the dappled sun outside the window in one direction, and the pool and crazy summer vegie garden on the other side, while I sat and watched and thought about what I want to say and do this year, while I sipped vanilla mint tea out of a pretty cup and breathed the scent of a green tea mint candle (you get the theme here?)  I tore fabric into strips, knotted them and then rolled them into balls, the first cushion I made using fabric strips knitted up on large needles turned out so good I've decided to make more, and I have this pink lining fabric from Trelise Cooper's workroom sale that I have wanted to use for ages, the print is so pretty, but quite frankly the fabric is rubbish, it crushes and snags on everything, so I bit the bullet and repurposed it. I'll run a strand of dk weight cotton with the fabric, cast on 60 sts and knit until the fabric runs out, then I'll add another end of the dk and knit the back. I love how the knots work themselves to the front of the fabric, it's rustic and tactile, the smoothness of the silk and the unfinished look of the fraying knots. The other ball is strips of blue tulle to be worked the same way.

As for the things I want to do and say...for a start lots more designs should be percolating through now that most of the crazy is over, this year needs to be one of consolidation, of settling in and nesting, enjoying friends and family, and home.

What are your dreams for this new year, this new decade? or are you carefree as Frasier, only dreaming of birds!

absence

I haven't been knitting much...or blogging much...and here is the reason why

this has taken up a lot of my thinking and doing time, hours spent on the phone reassuring the bride to be (about the details - not about the groom! he is perfect) and finally a trip to Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand for the entire family which required the co ordinating skills of a sergeant major.

Holly is the first of our 5 girls to marry, the wedding was a credit to her and Nick's style and imagination, I can't wait to see the rest of the photos, the photographer trialled a very cool new technique and I'll post the link to the results when they are up.

We are home now, leaving the newly weds to settle into married life, they are leaving for a 3 week skiing tour of Japan on New Years Eve, we will miss them at Christmas - but have my sister and Maisie and Mackenzie from England here to keep us busy...hopefully I have a chance to get some design stuff out of the way before the big day...at least I have all of the presents bought and wrapped, and the food pretty much under control!

(thank you for the lovely comments about the Blurb book...looks like a few of you have taken up the idea...it really is easy and so effective...one day I will create a book containing all of my designs to pass on to family as well, and yes the Owen Bartlett plate is special...that's another trip I have to make...so much to do!!)

Henry

A bright spot in an otherwise dark week has been the release of my Henry pattern (only on Ravelry at present) this great sweater knits up quickly in worsted/ aran weight yarn, has minimal shaping but uses rib and cable to give a great fit. It's nice to design something a bit more tweenage boy friendly, although it is just as nice on girls (think horseriding and hiking)

Last  week has us visitng my Grandad in hospital after a massive heart attack and now  follow up complications mean that he is back there for a while...Flash has the 'flu...and Holly and Nick live in Christchurch...they came through the initial quake on saturday morning  intact and started feeling survivor guilt very quickly as their house was fine, yet the in-laws (Nick's parents)  house has a huge crack running through it, the driveway ended up in the road and the backyard disappeared - they have no power and no water.

Yesterday morning's 5.1 aftershock was literally under Holly's street - and now Holly and Nick have no chimneys, and were sleeping in the dining room to stay safe. I feel so bad for them, they say it is the aftershocks that are doing them in - the lack of sleep and the constant state of alertness is taking it's toll.

It's the big things - the old buildings being demolished, the shattered lives of friends and relatives and the little things - the lists that need to be made for insurance - for wedding dress fabric bought and paid for but still at the shop - which may no longer exist, the cats who have started peeing in the house out  of fear.

I sent a big box of love yesterday - cookies baked by Blaise, treats, things to do and watch and enjoy, things to take their mind off the neverending aftershocks and relax for a moment, and wool...of course.

My friends in Christchurch our love and thoughts are with you.

and the winner is...

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to think of names and enter, there were so many fantastic ideas, the thoughts and feelings attached to the word brought up so many emotions and further ideas.
I made a (long) short list which I then checked on Ravelry to see if there were any duplicates, unfortunately losing some more names in the process, 6 of us then sat and brainstormed and yelled and laughed at one another for a couple of hours until we had a result.

* suddenexpression with "Mr Man"!

 I'm definitely going to use this method of naming my patterns in the future  - so keep an eye out and come back and try again.

here is a photo of the cover of the pattern - and this is why the name worked so well...a percentage of sales from this pattern will be donated to the Movember campaign (this is a link to last year's campaign - the next starts up in September) - raising funds for prostate cancer research, see how we put a wee mo' on Cody? (don't worry, the other photos of him are au natural) the name just seemed right, we had a consensus.


I'm not sure when the pattern will be launched  - it still needs a bit of tweaking - but it won't be long.

*please email me with your email address justine@justjussi.com

Grace

The past 2 weeks have been difficult ones for our family.

My Father-in-law Les (Pop) passed away last monday.

Flash was in Wellington on one of his regular business trips and had planned to fly to Dunedin and spend a night catching up with his Dad on the Wednesday as he had a meeting there on thursday.

 Flash couldn't get an earlier flight to Dunedin, the first flight they could get him on was the one he was booked on, there was a brass band convention and hairdresser and netball competitions in Dunedin - the flights and hotels were heavily booked - I felt terrible that I couldn't be with my husband and that he couldn't be where he needed to be, but eventually we managed to find ways to get everyone there and find them places to stay.

Dunedin is cold, Mosgiel - where Pop lived and was buried is even colder.
I couldn't find a decent hat to wear to the cemetary and decided that knitting one was the best idea, I chose the Grace beret pattern I had made for Blaise, and paired it with Naturally Harmony 10ply wool in charcoal. I worked the first few rows the night before my flight, then while waiting for flights and to keep my hands busy while we sat in Pop's kitchen and talked about what needed to be done, while Flash wrote the words that needed saying, while we had an extended breakfast as family members arrived and were appraised of plans (thank you so much to the staff at Nectar in Princes st who were kind and lovely and made great coffee and food.)

I tinked and re-knitted rows that had gone off course and an hour before the service I put it on my head and called it done, Flash loved it, I loved it.

Pop has died peacefully in his sleep, at his home of 52 years. He was seen off with a fantastic service put together by his 3 children, over a hundred people attended to celebrate his long and active life, when you have to go you can't ask for much better can you?

 Knitting the Grace beret had kept me graceful during times when I wanted to react to comments made in grief, when I needed something to concentrate on, counting to do in order to keep tears at bay, something concrete to hang on to, to keep me centred for Flash and the girls.

Unfortunately it didn't stop me from catching cold! so since I have been home I have spent my quiet (Flash is returning today after settling his Dad's affairs) evenings knitting on my versions of Shelley Kang's Sock yarn  blanket it's another one of the baby blankets I am knitting to get a head start on the flood of grandchildren we expect in the next 10 years - and I'm glad I got a head start because Flash's son Michael let slip that his partner is 5 weeks pregnant - so here we go again!

I love this blankie, it is so addictive because each square is complete, so you get lot's of finishing success. I am making this one 8 squares by 8 squares - perfect size for a cot - so thats 15 rows of little mitred squares - and I'm a 1/4 done after 2 nights! I'm using the pinker shades of my sample dyed organic merino superwash, and bits and pieces of DK from other projects. I don't know if I will ever have the patience to knit this in 4 ply - but it would be a great way to use up the box full of sock yarn ends I have...we will see.

Have you seen the kids?

Flash had a "significant" birthday recently and all of the girls came to celebrate with us (actually they spent a lot of time helping out, serving drinks and cleaning up) we had a wonderful time and finally managed to get a snapshot of the entire family (yes I know Michael is missing but I figured we could photoshop him in later)

So, you probably need to be re-introduced

from Left to right , Flash's girls through to mine, with running commentary of current status:

Melanie - managing a womenswear store in Welly

Maria - 7 months pregnant with the first grandchild, working in a research lab

Blaise - (all together "awwwww") 2nd year at Uni

Charlotte - studying business and improving her fishing technique

Holly - making wine and planning her wedding

I'm so proud of them all - time goes fast - cherish every moment.

And in knitting news? I'm going out of my head trying to make a small allover fairisle pattern stay tidy during tapered sleeve increases. I have tried all of the big names in knitting and cannot find a workable answer...seems everyone just accepts that somewhere along the way the pattern is going to go a little wonky and the best you can do is keep the area of wonkiness as small as possible. I have spent almost 2 days trying to make it perfect and am about ready to declare defeat. I'll keep you posted with my solution.

A helping hand

those wonderful folks at Ravelry have been at it again - this time you can now search or browse pattens tagged with "help for Haiti" where the designers have pledged part or all of each sale to help the people of Haiti as they deal with the aftermath of the horrific earthquake in their little country.

now is a good time to have a look through your Ravelry queue, purchase a pattern that you would have bought eventually and help the people of Haiti at the same time.

I have pledged 20% of my gross sales (before any fees or charges) until further notice, which will be paid fortnightly to the emergency response fund of Doctors without Borders whom I support for their ability to just go in and get the job done without any religious, nationalistic or monocultural underpinning.

and on a totally personal note - I won't be here for a few days, I'm going to hospital to have my left ovary removed - it has gone feral and I know I will be a healthier, slimmer and much happier Justine without it, and to answer some of the questions I have been asked recently:

Q. what if you want to have more babies?

A. as the 41 year old Mother of 3+2 delightful adult children I do not see pregnancy in my future, however if I lose my mind completely and decide to give it one last go - I still have my nice, tidy hard working right ovary.

Q. so now you will get the menopause?

A. No - it's just one ovary - the other takes over the job of both ovaries and will no doubt make a much better job of regulating my womanly hormones.

Q. What knitting are you taking to hospital?

A. I'm so glad you asked! I'm taking worsted and DK to make a couple of Aviatrices - I'll be playing with the pattern at the same time so that I can write up more sizes. I may take the Moth wing hood with me...but I doubt it, I do not fancy my chances with even basic lace while recuperating - but you never know.

see you all in a few days!

Milestones

I have been blogging for 5 years - my bloggiversary was January 1 - but I always forget!

I don't do it anywhere near as much as I did, but enjoy it all the same. I still love sharing ideas and meeting new friends.

This week has been taking up with the purchase of our youngest daughter's first car. I know that I go on about Blaise and her accomplishments - but she is just such a delight and has never caused us a moment's trouble (worry yes, very much so, but trouble no) she has almost finished her driving lessons and is about to sit her restricted licence (so can drive alone or with 1 passenger who must hold a full licence) so decided it was time to go and buy a car.

Flash and I searched Trademe and the caryards with her - we all started humming the Jaws theme as we walked into the caryards - but it was good experience for her, the sharks would talk to Dad, who would then point at Blaise and say "she's the one to talk to" they would show her cars way outside her price range and then say that she looked so cute in it that maybe Daddy would like to fund her into it....yeah right, Blaise is an independent soul, she had a set amount of money saved and more put aside for repairs and that was that - no "Daddy money" no credit, she is a Uni student - she doesn't need debt.

We searched and searched, very little fit any of the criteria - so we returned to Trademe and found a wee Honda that ticked all of the boxes - price, size (she is a tiny girl, she needs a tiny car), fuel economy and age.

Flash and Blaise spent a whole day washing, scrubbing, waxing and polishing - it looks like a totally different car now, with 4 new tyres, cute red rims and new brakes, her birthday is coming up - I'm thinking she needs a Tomtom!

I love this photo of the two of them working so hard together.

While they were up to their elbows in oil, suds and wax, I was painting the smaller deck off my studio,now it is all fresh and protected from the elements - the perfect place to enjoy my morning coffee as it is bathed in the morning sun.

Here is the comfy chair

and the relaxing view

where I have sat and thought and planned...wedding shrugs for the flowergirls...have of course morphed into many many ideas and now I have a new e-book planned...let's see how it pans out.

The family is getting bigger

Nick proposed to Holly (my eldest) at Cardrona overlooking Queenstown, on his knee, in the snow.

The ring is beautiful, handmade with a champagne diamond - they are a darling couple and I know they will build a beautiful life together, they are young - but Holly has always been one to grab life with both hands and wring exciting experiences from it - she won't be stopping anytime soon.

and she's wearing my hat

Busy busy

WIP update:

Flash's vest is 20% finished - not certain if he will get it this winter, we'll see!

I started a Baktus this morning, using my hand dyed handspun superwash merino (above) in the "60 seconds" colourway (you know the ad - lichen, moss and mildew - just spray and walk away!) I blame Ailsa for this - her Baktus was so lovely and versatile, I just had to make one for myself. It is racing along, very addictive and great tv knitting.

and this is a version of the Ruffle lace scarf I cast on 200 sts and am working in garter st, increasing every 4th row, using 2 skeins of Madil Kid Seta in the the 681 colourway...love this yarn despite the imaginative colour description, it makes other Mohairs feel like a brillo pad.

I'm also working on a mitred square baby blanket - no photos yet.

I have finally finished most of my secret projects - phew! I can start sharing my work with you again soon.

but not forgotten

I think of my blog everyday, sometimes I even write...and then delete...

I have a calendar stuck to the wall in front of my laptop - it's a countdown to something so wonderful, so exciting - but I can't share yet, the calendar lists a lot of hurdles I must jump before I get to the "good thing"

Blaise had a consult with a new (to us) orthopaedic surgeon yesterday, he had a lot of good news (we can see him at Starship hospital until she is 20 years old now - the last time we saw someone was 6 years ago and we were told she could go there until she was 15 then she would have to go to the adult hospital) he spent a lot of time assessing her emotional and mental health as it pertains to her body image and came to the same conclusion as her family "she's cool" he commented "you are probably the shortest 18 year old I have met in a while" and she replied "yes, but I'm cute!" which sums her attitude up nicely.

We are going back to see him in a year, and from the looks of things she will probably need another op, the lumbar curve is at 21 degrees, but the thoracic curve has moved from 38 to 45 over 6 years, Blaise is stoic - we'll do what has to be done and move on.

Vintage is almost over, today is Holly's last day - tomorrow she goes home to Christchurch - sad for us, but exciting for her, now that she has a home of her own there and a brand new neice - Pippa, who was born last weekend (yes, I have knitted her a pink homespun merino Aviatrix (here for non-ravellers), and am half way through a green homespun one)

(some Aviatrix related stats which have me excited - 144 projects, 1236 "loves" and 2151 downloads!)

speaking of free patterns, I'll share my philosophy here:

- I share patterns that I have made for friends or family because they are cute or because I have been asked to, so I usually only include 1 or 2 sizes.

- I do not usually include schematics and sometimes I expect the knitter to make some calculations or find out some information for themselves, unlike most of my "for sale" patterns - which include masses of information.

- I do not re-size or re-write these patterns.

- I do reply to emails and assist knitters with these patterns - as with any of my patterns.

some people think that a free pattern is a good representation of a designer's "for sale" patterns, I can't agree - I do put time and effort into my free patterns, but nowhere near the weeks I put into my "for sale" patterns, if I did all of the things I have listed above I would have to charge - and some designs (like the Aviatrix) are just to cute, and too much fun to knit not to share them.

Never really finished

we have had a big couple of days

Holly graduated with a Bachelors degree in Viticulture and Oenology

(for the rest of us that just means that she can grow grapes and make them into wine - the commerce part of her degree means that she can sell the wine to you once she has made it, and the management section means that she can boss other people around ...being the older sister she was already pretty good at that!)

the parents, grandparents and great grandparents flew down to Christchurch in order that their hearts may swell with pride and love at this sight.

As the folk who follow me on Twitter already know - there was some frivolity, yarn buying, doughnut eating and general conviviality, Sol Square went off big time, and Cafe Valentino were very obliging when asked if we could re-seat our huge party downstairs due to not wanting to see my 80 plus year old Grandmother slide down those stairs, and there was a proposal of sorts - Holly's boyfriend Nick asked my permission to propose to her - I gave it happily and no doubt there will be an engagement later in the year.

A big couple of days.