Show weekend

This weekend is the Canberra Show weekend. I am going for the first time in 20 years, with my sister, her hubby, 1yr old and 2yr old. Mum and Dad are also going, and are generously giving me a lift. No point taking 3 cars when 2 will do. I can't wait to see the craft with Jacqui's knitting and Quiltingmick's crochet. The other thing I am interested in is the cats. I would like to check out the different breeds, and maybe pick one that I will like at the end of the year when I get a replacement for Katie. I am hoping the donut van will be there as well....mmmm donuts! (one of the essentials in life).

I received my replacement knitpicks on Wednesday, thanks to my great neighbour Pedro who kept an eye out for the postie. He is the best neighbourhood watch that anyone could have. I am very lucky in my little complex, there is usually always someone around. You tend to get that when there are 3 nurses, someone that works for themself and retirees. One of neighbours is selling, so will be interesting to see who moves in. Anyway, back to the subject ofthe knitpicks. I have to say I am very happy with the service of Knitting Inspirations. They send by express post, so that meant that I made my order last Tuesday, and I got the replacement needles by Wednesday. Gotta love Express post, especially when the things are from Perth. Helen did such a fab job, she even put all the needles and cables into the appropriate sections of the binder. I can't wait to finish my wrap so I can start something on the knitpicks, I have done about 12cm of the back, only 21 cm to go and I can start on the other front. Than I just have to choose which kind of decrease to use (on the right side, so needs to be left facing).

I don't know what my next project will be, but it will definitely be from the stash. It should probably be from some of my older yarns and patterns, and practice something a bit techo. Even if it is just something I wear around the house, it will be useful to try new techniques. I really should dig up the jumper I was making a couple of years ago. I think it was almost finished, from memory all I had to do was sew on the sleeves, or maybe I had done that already. It is in the chaos of the sewing room, but I think I know where.

This weekend is supposed to be an 'all about me weekend', one where I do stuff like patchwork and knitting and a bit of housework. I decided a while ago that when I am not on call for a whole weekend to use that time to spoil myself and do crafty stuff. It nearly happened this weekend, but am doing call tonight for one of my mates who has something on. I won't be having much time next fortnight, I think I am on call heaps.

Wasting the weekend away

It is amazing how easy it is to achieve absolutely nothing on your days off. This morning I went to pick up a parcel from the post office. My knitpick needles had arrived. I used the parcel as motivation to get the bathroom and toilet cleaned (except for the shower, that can wait till tomorrow). When I did open the parcel, I was a tad disappointed. The beautiful ring binder is faulty, the rings don't close properly. Pages will either fall out or get caught on the partly open rings. Not very happy. I have put a pic below, but it doesn't show it very well. If the dodgy binder (worth US$20!) is not bad enough, one of the 4mm needle tips is bent! I have heard so many great things about knitpicks needles, but I am very disappointed with their quality control. Am waiting to hear back from the shop I ordered them from, hopefully I will be able to get an exchange at no cost to me. I know if you are in the US and buy direct from Knitpicks they will send you a replacement immediately.

Since my morning disappointment, I have wasted time on the computer (what's new!). I have been trying to decide whether or not to download the latest microsoft updates. I am a bit wary of these, last year one of the updates killed Mum's computer. Apparently it was a common problem. I have already had enough issues with this puter. I removed itunes after I found out that it had changed registry settings and made the computer think that the dvd drive no longer existed. I want itunes so I can easily listen to podcasts, but am not game enough to put it back on the little machine.

While I was busy wasting time, I clicked onto my blog to update it, and found that it looks a bit weird. There is no little bar running across the top of the page with the dasboard or sign in links. There is a little 'info icon' hiding behind the title. Very strange. I think I will clear my cache etc to clean up the computer a little.

On a happier note, my new technique for outwitting the birds has worked. The rotten buggers keep eating my strawberries as soon as they turn ripe enough to pick. I started to rearrange the leaves and the strawberry stems so that the strawberries were hidden under the leaves. It worked, I was able to enjoy a strawberry after hanging out some washing.

The forgotten Cucumber

I have been a little disappointed with my vegie garden. I did have lots of little baby cucumbers growing, but they all died. I have given all the vegies some phostrogen (tomato food) to make them all flower and fruit - hopefully that will do the trick. When I was watering the vegies yesterday I went around to the back of the pots by the fence and found this...the forgotten cucumber hanging down behind the pot. That will make some nice salad.



I have now got more tomatoes than the measly 2 that I thought were all that I was gonna get. One of them is starting to turn red, so am dying to eat that one. My pumpkins are doing the same thing as the cucumbers, dying as babies. I picked one the other day, so will have to try it. LOOOVE pumpkin. I noticed lots of little white flying bugs under the pumpkin leaves yesterday, will have to find out what to use to kill them, maybe they are the cause of them dying before they get bigger than a 50 cent coin. I have learnt one valuable lesson, as soon as you think about picking a strawberry, do it - otherwise the birds will enjoy it instead.



Canberra Needlework were having a closing down sale the other day, 50% off everything. I went into the shop and felt so guilty, I hadn't been in there since before I bought my house. I sorta felt like it was my fault, even though I only made really small purchases in the past. I walked out with 3 patterns, a pigma pen and a clover chaco marker in my little pink paper bag. One of the bag patterns is for a bag with round handles. I will use the round handles that my Nan gave me years ago. They have been sitting in a box looking for a better home - I am so happy that I have found the perfect home for them.



Here are the pics of the yarn that I got for $2 a ball at the Cassidy's sale. The red will be for something for Niece2, she looks great in red. The blue sirdar snuggly will be something for me, when I figure out what I will make with it. It is 10 balls of DK yarn, I am not sure yet what I will do with it, have been searching all pattern books and mags.





Speaking of mags, I have been sorting out my magazine stash. I have nearly emptied the bottom shelf of my bookshelf. Here is a photo of all the mags that I have culled. I have been doing it in all my spare time over the lat week and a half. I have a system where I write on the pages which mag and issue they are from. I have also started to write what the block is to make for easier filing. At the moment I have them sorted into folders under categories like: angels, cats, bags, techniques (ie quilting, batting, labels etc), stars, triangles and squares. I will have a bit of a reorgansation and put each category into alphabetical block order...one day. I have the pattern sheets tossed into cardboard magazine holders. I need to organise them properly so that I can find the relevant template when I need it.

Should be stitchin

I should be doing some stitching or knitting today. I have been a bit slack, but have been so busy working or going to visit with the family that I haven't had much chance. I have to sit and do the armhole in my wrap vest. I have finally worked out the pattern (I think), it is a bit confusing the way it is written. I went to Cassidy's yesterday to see if they had any yarn left, and picked up a few things. I will take some photos later.

I have been to pick up Katie's ashes this week. I have to say again how great they have been at the Kippax Vetinary Hospital. I got a letter in the mail last week with handwritten notes from everyone at the vet. It was a lovely letter that I will keep with Katie's pawprint. Thanks to Dr Calista for helping Katie with her artwork. She was so supportive, so was Yvette and Pip, they made Katie's last day easier for me. I wouldn't have had Katie for so many years if it wasn't for the team at Kippax. I think I will take a few weeks off at Christmas and get a kitten. It can get used to the place before I have to go back to work.

Here is a photo of my "this way and that" quilt that I am making at the moment. It is a quilt as you go project, started in a class with Judy Turner at Addicted to Fabric in 2006. My Mum did the class as well, she has finished her quilt. Judy is a great teacher, I saw the quilt at the teachers meeting at Canberra quilters and decided that I had to do it. Judy's quilt had a charm pack on one side, and one fabric pieced with seam covering strips on the other. I saw the Cottage Charms range by Nancy Halvorsen at Rosemont in Tuggeranong, I bought the charm pack for one side, but couldn't decide which fabric to use for the other side. I ended up choosing four fabrics, the ones that you can see above in the washed out picture. The photo below is a bit better for colour, but is blurry.

With this quilt, you work on both sides at once. It was a challenge using 4 different colours on the front, so what I ended up doing was putting a yellow front with a yellow back, red/pink back to back etc so that I would end up with a good mix of red, yellow, blue and green without having to constantly check the back of each piece. Then I had to deal with the different patterns on the back. I had to make sure that I didn't have checks, stripes etc too close together, and that I had a good random mix of the patterns. I am up to the stage of sewing on the long seam covering strips to the rows, then hand sewing the strips on the back. Then all I have to do is binding, and throw a label on it. I think next weekend can be put aside for this project. I can't wait to be able to toss it on the couch, it matches it beautifully. I haven't used my machine since I moved into my place, so I hope it still works.

Coffee is calling me, so had better go have some. I am on call for work today, and I hate being called when I am due for a coffee!

Happy Hotest 100 day

Today is Triple J's Hottest 100 day, which is the day when they play their listeners favourite 100 songs released in the last year. Usually when you vote you go into a draw to win CDs released by all the artists. This year you can get tickets to all the gigs supported by Triple J. That would be pretty cool. I have listend to the Hottest 100 for the last few years, it is always held on Australia Day. I have only missed a little bit of it last year when I was on call and had to go to work for a caesar. Usually I hang out near the radio doing some stitching, it is great to listen to some great music, and see where my fave songs rate. Already I am disappointed that one of my favourite songs for the year, Sun Dirt Water by the Waifs only rated in the 92. I think last year 7 of my 10 picks were in the top 20

This afternoon my stitching group is having a get together to celebrate the Australia Day weekend. I have just rescued the potatoes from the stove - I am making potato salad. Here are some pics of the knitting WIP that I will be taking with me.

It is a wrap vest from the zhivago booklet all wrapped up. It is one piece, and has holes for the arms. I bought the yarn from Yarns Galore at the craft show in Canberra last year. I was determined that I was going to buy myself something for a special project, and I found the perfect one. There was a lady from Threads and More modelling her vest (pattern 5 in th booklet), she said you can flip it upside down and wear it that way as well. It looked great. Yarns Galore had a blue version on their stand, and I found this gorgeous pink yarn to knit it in.

The yarn is Diamond Luxury Collection Natal, 75% baby alpaca, 18% silk and 7% polyamide. I am knitting it on 5mm circular addis. It has the most beautiful feel. I am not very far into the wrap, I am about to cast off to create the first arm hole. It is very easy to make, all knit stitch. The hardest thing is counting the stitches, because it is knitted in one piece.

Tomorrow I am going to be celebrating my 2nd nieces first birthday. It is going to be heaps of fun. She shouldn't be one yet, but she came early. Her big sister is 2, and loves birthdays. She loves to sing happy birthday, have presents and eat cake!

When I had my birthday at the end of last year, I pulled my fave present out of the bag with Niece1 watching. When I spread it out to get a good look at it Niece1 immediately layed down on it and said "pretty quilt". She has really good taste. The gift was a large piece of a Ricky Timms fabric, big enough for the backing of a quilt. My Mum and I saw it in Braidwood when we went for the Airing of the Quilts in November. I think it is 4m worth.

I had promised my Mum that I would put up a pic of her scrumtious sponge cake. It is the yummiest birthday cake you could have. I am yet to attempt to make one, it fits into the category of foods that your Mum makes that you know will not taste as good when you make it.
My mouth is watering just looking at the picture of the cake. Luckily her contribution today is cream puffs - yum.

Gotta love colour

On Friday my sister and I did a class with Helen Godden. She was teaching us how to dye fabric with Genesis Creations Liquid Radiance, an Australian fabric dye. It was a really fun day, and it was cool to see the different effects of the techniques. I could not replicate what I did, cos I can't remember what colours I used. I think next time I play with the dyes, I will have to take step by step pics and notes. My big sis and I will be playing with colour again, cos we couldn't resist buying the starter set.



This one is a shibori, and the one below looks a bit like a gerbera. Love the colours.

The one above uses the techniques of scrunching and squashing - isn't the terminology cool?
The next one has yellow (my least favourite colour), and uses epson salts to give the effect of coral, don't know how well you can see that in the photos.

Tie dye to look like a garden above, and grading on a slope below. If you are clever you can create sunsets, or landscapes. I just played with colour.

This last one was supposed to be a flower. I wasn't that happy with my technique, but the photo looks pretty good. If I had Helen's skill, I could do some more focussed painting to give a centre, and quilt it to really make it look like a flower. Maybe one day.



Another experiment that my sister and I will try is dyeing on a warm dry day. The day that we did the class was cool and cloudy, with showers in the afternoon. The rain was very inconvenient when we were trying to dry the fabric. Apparently warm dry days = bright colours, cool days = softer colours. The dye is really cool cos it works on cotton, polyester, silk or wool. If I never get round to knitting socks, I could always dye a plain pair, lol.

Lonely days

I probably shouldn't have named my blog "The Cat Rules". Unfortunately my darling Katie went to sleep last week, it has been 10 days now. The poor thing was really crook one morning, so I got her to the vet as soon as I could, but I had a feeling that she wasn't going to be coming home. She had liver and heart failure, and probably wouldn't have lasted the night so she was put down. I didn't like the idea of her possibly dying alone. It was sad that Katie got crook so quick. She was good last month when she had her checkup, but her previous health problems caught up with her.



The crew at the Kippax Vets were great, especially Calista. They had helped me keep Katie healthy after being diagnosed with thyroid disease. She went to Sydney and had radiotherapy, which cured her of any thyroid problem. Unfortunately, thyroid disease can mean that you then get heart disease. At the start of the thyroid hassles, Katie got so crook so quickly that she went into heart failure. We cured that too. Then last year she got diabetes, which went into remission after 2 weeks of insulin (luckily, it is very hard to give regular injections when you work shifts).



She was a very expensive cat, and a very loved cat. It is lonely not having her here, I miss hearing her meow when I get out of the car in the garage. Calista (Katie's vet), and the other girls at the vet were wonderful. It was so hard making the decision to give the green medicine, but I had to. My poor baby was so crook that she didn't feel any different after the injection to what she did when she was alive. I had been regularly stopping patting her to make sure she was still breathing.



I think at the end of the year I may get another cat, but at the moment I will enjoy my memories of Katie. I am sorry if this post doesn't make much sense, but I am still very sad, and typing through tears.

Thanks to Michelle for showing me how to add photos where I want them