Who would've thought...

...that these could solve the penis issue for my boy??


I know it's a 'typical' boy thing to touch their penis but Izaak was doing it more and more and more. As he gets older it becomes more socially unacceptable and it had started becoming an issue at school as well. I know that this is sensory/autism related and as a nail biter, I know what it's like to have a habit that you are doing but don't conciously know you are doing and I think that is exactly what was happening with him. Subconsciously, whenever he was getting stressed/anxious the hand would wander straight to the pants.


Many moons ago a speech therapist suggested that we get a bracelet for him that he could fiddle with when the anxiety/stress became an issue. We did but he wouldn't wear it because it pulled at the hairs on his arm so it lasted all of about 10minutes before it was off and in the bin. The penis issue has gotten worse and worse over past weeks so when we were looking for hair ties and spotted these old phone cord type thingies in the hair isle I immediately knew I needed some. And knew exactly what I was going to use them for. He headed off to school today with 2 wrapped around his wrist and with me talking alot about not touching himself. I pick him up at the gate this afternoon with great reports from his teacher that the penis issue wasn't an issue at all today. I'm going back to the $2 shop tomorrow to buy the rest of the stock - just in case!!


Fingers crossed the penis issue is over for good now!

I'm off and running

I'm embarking on a new fitness regime given that I was feeling fat, frumpy & grumpy with myself. My work pants were getting tighter and tighter (and I even went up a size!!) and I was puffing going up just a few flights of stairs at work so I'm starting on the fairly infamous couch to 5ks running plan. The general idea is that in 8 weeks time I'll be able to run 5 kilometers.

This week is week two for me and today I did day one at the gym and felt really great!! I actually could have run for longer than the program directs me to but I want to succeed so I'm sticking with the schedule. As I'm doing it at the gym, on a treadmill, I can monitor my progress. Today I walked the walking sections at 7km/hr and jogged at 8-8.2km/hr. Over the 30mins of the program I covered 3.55km.

Weight wise I'm now down about 5kg since I started back at the gym just over a month ago which fits with my realistic weight loss goals (0.5gr-1kg per week). Apart from the weight loss I'm enjoying feeling stronger and fitter. I'm doing the weights class at the gym and have put my weights up over the past two weeks and it feels so good to be able to get through the class. Similarly, my cardio fitness is improving and it feels great!!

I'm posting this here as a sort of public pledge - that I will complete the program and will continue on my fitness regime. I'm counting on this blog and my fellow bloggers/readers/commentors to keep my honest and on track!!

My other life...

...as a nurse can be seen over here, however, due to the content I've restricted access to it. If you'd like to read it, comment here or email me. I'm happy to share ;-)

More of the same...

...cute kidlets that is

I feel like we are in this love-hate relationship at the moment. One minute I am tearing my hair out at them tearing each others hair out and the next we are all the best of friends and life is going swimmingly. I know this is normal family relationship stuff but I wouldn't complain if life calmed down a little and we had less of the up and down.

OBDM - Yarn Day Round Up

So these are the goodies that made their way home with me....

Firstly, this yarn is not for me but for an autumn swap I'm participating in over on Rav so I hope that my swap partner will be suitably impressed with this yarn - I certainly am!! It's from Carrie over at Fibrewebs and the pictures do not do this yarn justice - the colours are absolutely gorgeous!!

Secondly, as a uni student for up-teen number of years my wardrobe consists of a ridiculous amount of jeans so when I spotted "blue jeans" I decided it would make a great little lace scarf/small shawl with the added bonus that it would go with everything already in the wardrobe.

This green just jumped out at me from Fibreworks and it'll either end up as socks for the young man of the house (whose autistic tendancies towards green would be thoroughly thrilled with!) or again, another small shawl (thinking 198 yards of heaven/travelling woman). Yet to be decided....

I did a round of the markets, had some lunch with Charley & then had dessert with some chocolate covered strawberries (oh so delicious but oh so naughty for the waistline!!) and then decided to do another quick round in case we saw something outstanding that we'd missed on the first trip. We went to say our goodbyes to fellow crafters Carrie & Michelle (who were also having shoe wars with my daughter!!) when I spotted this skein from Carrie but was restrained. Earlier this month I had a girly get together and had gifted a skein of Noro to Carrie as I was unimpressed with the colours in the ball and so she dropped this one into my shopping! Argh!! Lovely. Just lovely to have friends who are so nice and giving! Not sure what this one is going to be yet although the three sister scarves are calling my name!!

In the meantime I need a project which I can just haul everywhere - therapy appointments for Izaak, car trips & associated waiting for school to start/finish etc. I had found a lone skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn in the stash and was trying to come up with the perfect one-skein pattern which would also show off the gorgeous colours and long colour repeats of the yarn. Lots of good suggestions were made by friend on Ravelry but eventually I went with the simple, tried and tested, old fave of many - the one-row lace scarf. Not far in but am loving it. Simple TV knitting as well as the haul-around knitting project. Although the yarn is quite scratchy, the slow colour changes more than make up for that fact - especially since this isn't something that is going to be worn close to my skin.

I know I'm biased....

.... but these two are just adorable!

I'm excited...

.... tomorrow is the Old Bus Depot Markets - 2010 Yarn Day.

This will be my third year in attendance and each year that I've been I feel like my knowledge and purchases have been just that little bit better each time. My first year trip can be seen here and is a testament to my newbie purchases. I can honestly say that the Blueberry ridge did indeed become a beanie for my mum which I am almost certain she has never worn. All other purchases were either overdyed, swapped, gifted, destashed or chucked out. I made less purchases last year (mainly 4plys for shawls) and again, 1 skein I sent out in a swap, 2 are still sitting in the stash and 1 is still awaiting it's dye bath. So why am I going in this year?

Well I've decided I deserve a reward for myself. In the past few months I have knitted quite a few laying garments and accessories and all of these have been from stash. So far..
** Tappan Zee from Lincraft Balmoral Tweed
** Estelle from Cascade 220
** Mondo Cable Cardi from Lincraft Cashmere Blend
** Vortex Shawl from some stash baby yarn
and tonight I finished a Just Enough Ruffles from some Rowan Kid Classic which I am really looking forward to wearing to the market tomorrow. So, given how much stash I've used up in the past few weeks/months I feel that I deserve a treat.

I am setting the rule though that I'll only be buying yarn which I can see a clear purpose for and which I can use in the next few projects ie - no buying just cause it's pretty/different/'my' colours. I have managed to pick up a six-pack (sounds like a beer buy!!) of Bendigo 8ply in Cranberry which is a colour I love from a fellow Canberran Raveller which I'll be collecting tomorrow as well.

So what's next on my crafting list?? I've been super inspired by Michelle's Noro Shawl and am going to attempt something similar with a skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn from the stash. I am planning more FO posts on the above mentioned projects but need to find the time and octopus arm skills to get some decent photos. Will be back soon with the market haul - of course that fit into the rules....

Tappan Zee

When I saw the Tappan Zee in the latest issue of Knitty I knew that it was the perfect layering piece for my autumn/winter wardrobe. I went stash diving and came up with a bag of this mossy green balmoral tweed from Lincraft which I was concerned wouldn't come up to gauge but this yarn blossoms beautifully with blocking and my swatch came up right on gauge!

I knit the 40' size which is the perfect fit for me but modified the pattern to have buttonholes right through and I also eliminated the diamond pattern from the hemline. I also extended the length of the body given that I'm quite tall. Again, with blocking, it came out perfectly. The buttons are just a regular everyday Spotties find but I think they go well with this.

Worn for quite a while now it just gets better with wear. Looking at Rav too I was really excited and quite proud that 51 people have favourited my version of this pattern. Yay for me!!

Mothers Day - Shmuthers Day

Yesterday was Mothers Day and while I saw and heard of lots of mums getting brekky in bed, pressies and being thoroughly spoilt my day was not like that. My day started with my children having round four of world war twenty-two. Followed by a number of messes created by children. Morning tea with my family which was painful. Then my computer died. Again. Dinner burnt. It was crap. A totally crap day. Crap.

Slacker!!

Gone for three months and all I'm offering is a dot-point list... Anyway, since last post I/we...

• Have become single again - dramatic, hurtful, yukky - enough said about that other than the kids and I are fine and I think that it was all for the best.
• Knitted a whole heap of stuff which really deserves its own post but there are 3 cardigan/jumpers finished & being loved
• The little lady has learnt to write her own name & is now starting to read - she is only just four and a half and has taken it upon herself to learn to read. Not sure how I feel about that but will explore at a later date
• The boy child is embarking on lots of new academic programs although is driving me and everyone else crazy with some of the behaviours lately. We are about to start working with a new therapist so it will be interesting to see what happens on that front.
• I am absolutely LOVING work - it makes me feel amazing. There is definitely an amount of emotional drainage as well as tiring physically but loving, loving, loving it. Great staff, interesting cases. All good on that front.
• Have finished my probation period with work so I am now a fully fledged member of the working mother community now!
• We have hired a nanny/sitter which is working out beautifully - kidlets are happy with her, I'm happy and she's happy - what more could we ask for?
• Nanna has been & gone for a visit - involved lots of cakes & eating out, knitting, chatting, crosswords, tea & snuggles. I hope that the kids remember and are creating memories of these precious times that we have with her.
• I finished my mums birthday quilt (again, separate post coming)
• I've started back at the gym - my legs/butt are killing me. So far this week I've done a pump, step & hook up (boxing) class. Aiming for 3 classes/sessions a week but will see how that goes with work commitments/children etc.

Doesn't seem like much but life seems to have been crazy busy!!