Stash enhancement

From the top....
1) The Yarn Cafe - Bluefaced Leicester 4ply Superwash Sock. Colourway - "Evoke"
Plan - Forest Canopy Shawl
2) The Yarn Cafe - Shetland Chunky 14ply gradient dye. Colourway - "Sunset"
Plan - Neckwarmer?
3) Waratah Fibres - Laceweight 2 ply. Colourway - "Tranquil waters"
Plan - Summer lace knitting project
4) The Yarn Cafe - Single Ply Merino Worsted. Colourway - "Rocky Creek"
Plan - ?????

I am awesome

Sometimes I doubt myself.

I doubt my ability to be 'me' without another half, my ability to just get out of bed in the morning and function as a human being, I doubt myself as a student - being able to do the readings, prep for the classes, get assignments in on time, juggle prac and classes, my skills and knowledge in a clinical situation. I especially doubted my ability to be a responsible, fun loving mother to my two children. I never had these doubts until 18 months ago but they have plagued me in a very random and frightening way on and off ever since.

Well... today is not one of those days.

I had my mid-semester assessment today. According to my clinical supervisor and feedback from the various RNs that I've been working with, I am performing at a level well above that of which is expected of a 2nd year student. As a 2nd year I should be getting P2/P3s and I got some P1s!!!! She said that I was the stand out of the students in this group. I was really really happy- this placement has challenged me and I've had some shitty days - literally! but I think I may have found my future nursing area. So my learning goals now are to increase my patient load to 3. I'll be the only 2nd year with such a big load! Not sure how I'm going to go with that - It'll be a good challenge for my time management skills. So... yep.... my study doubts were quashed and I was feeling fairly emotional.
I pick up Izaak, one of the other teachers stops me me to say that she is really impressed at how much Izaak has improved. His anger has calmed, his academic skills have risen sharply and that he is a well mannered, polite little man. I wanted to cry.
Get to family day care to collect Charlotte and her carer is trying to write in a folder which keeps folding over onto her so Charli goes over and holds up the folder. Her carer starts telling me that of all the children she has cared for (she has been a carer for 22 years!) Charlotte is the most helpful in that she often sees things and does things to help that children don't generally see. She also comments on her manners and how well her table manners are. I really want to cry now.

So I'm not a hopeless housekeeper, dodgy partner, shitty student and neglectful mother so up yours... I am in fact bloody awesome!

The weekend in pictures

Sniff...sniff.... she's growing up!

I bit the bullet and got Charlotte's hair cut last week. I loved her long-ish hair and it had beautiful little ringlets at the ends but it was getting in her eyes alot and it was starting to look dead and icky on the ends so we tripped off to the hairdressers and my little lovely has a whole new look.....

I think it makes her face look much rounder than she did before but it isn't getting in her face now which is so much nicer and I don't have to have a fight about wearing it up all the time so it's good all round. The hairdresser was lovely too and I now have a little envelope with all the clippings from her first proper haircut. My little girl is certainly growing up!

Tagged

Wow! A nomination and a tag all in the same week - I am feeling loved!

Georgie has tagged me for a meme so here goes.... seven random thoughts about me

1 - Charlotte is having her surname changed at the moment and I seriously, seriously thought about changing her whole name. I always liked Jorja for her but her dad didn't. Now that isn't an issue so I did think about changing it. Perhaps trying to undo almost 3 years of life with one name and trying to convince her she was/is someone else didn't seem worth it.

2 - I was trusted with looking after my mum's fish when she went on holidays about 2 years ago. For the first few days I remembered to go and feed them then life got crazy and I totally forgot. The day before she came home I went over and the poor little thing was dead. I got worried. So I went to the pet shop and bought a replacement and hoped for the best. The replacement fish died last week and she commented on how long he had lasted - she never cottoned on!!

3 - My 2nd toe is longer than my big toe. We're not talking a little bit either but a really big bit.

4 - I absolutely can not sleep if my feet are covered. I feel like I'm suffocating and I have nightmares if I do. I freeze in winter though so I have an electric blanket, sheets, blanket and doona on the bed with my toes sticking out the end. Comfy.

5 - I can't remember the last time that I went to the movies and saw something that wasn't animated. It seems these days I only go when I'm taking the kids to see something. This is something that really needs to be rectified.

6 - I *have* to wear matching underwear. It feels weird if I'm not.

7 - Something very very exciting is happening on Saturday night. Not sure how much I want to say but I'm excited. And going frock shopping. And having my eyebrows waxed. That hasn't happened in years but I'm hoping it will be worth it ;-)

Now for seven people that I'd love to know more about....

1. Dyelicious
2. tiKKi
3. Quilting Mick
4. Dee
5. Trudi
6. Keely
7. Susu

Looking forward to seeing how others respond to this.

Now I'm really really going to go and do some knitting and cleaning ;-)

Being thankful

I am thankful for so many things in my life - thankful for my two beautiful children who light up my life and make it worth living every single day, thankful for my family who continually support, love and respect me, despite our differences, thankful for the food on my table, roof over my head and warm bed to sleep in because I know I have more than many others. I'm also thankful that I walked into a local club a few months ago to stitch and bitch where I've met lots of wonderful women who have become friends, lunch partners, spinning teachers and a wealth of knitting and yarn information.

I'm also feeling rather special today because Caffeine Faerie has nominated me for this

and in the spirit of the award I'm following the rules as follows...

1. The winner can put the logo in his/her website/blog
2. Add a link to the person who gave you this award
3. Nominate at least 7 other websites/blogs
4. Provide links of the nominated websites/blogs
5. Leave a message at each website owner that you've nominated

So I'm going to nominate some of my favourite blogs

1. Bec
2. Cassandra
3. Georgie
4. Life in the mad house
5. Dee
6. Michelle
7. Twitchy Fingers

OK - I'm off to start playing with some gorgeous green laceweight yarn that I picked up at Waratah Fibres yesterday and get stuck into cleaning up the house!

Happy Birthday Izaak - v2.0

Version 2 of the little mans birthday. A family dinner at mum and dads. It has been quite a week with Charlotte's hospital visit, Izaaks school birthday then family dinner. I think we're just about birthday-ed out!

The cake was well received by both of my nephews....

as well as the birthday boy and his sibling...

Motivation - and loads of it!

I feel so motivated to really get stuck into my crafting over the weekend so tonight we are having a cleaning bee - ready for a whole new mess over the next 2 days!!

My Utiku order arrived this week, 3 gorgeous skeins of 8ply variegated yarn which is simply scrumptious! One is for a gift, another for a scaled down clapotis and I don't have a plan for the 3rd. Only problem - I can't decide which one to use for what!! From top to bottom these are 'Russet', 'Blueberry' and 'Seaweed'.

I also got some Bendy 8ply for Catriona - a very cable-y (is that a word?) tank (non-Rav link)

Today I also picked up some balmoral tweed - (a bargain too at just $1.49 per ball!) in a lovely charcoal colour which I'm planning on double stranding for Abrazo. When this came out quite a few people picked this as being very "me" so I think it will be my main knitting project for the weekend.

There is also some sewing in the pipeline during the weekend - it's clearly moving towards warmer weather and there isn't much from last summer that still fits the little lady so I've been going through the patterns and fabrics in the stash to see what I can come up with. A quick trip to spotties had me coming home with some bargain denim which will become a new pinnie and some cottons which are planning on becoming a matching top/pant set. I also picked up a pattern at Lincraft for a top for myself and having a squizz through the stash revealed this cotton which I think is going to work.

I have also had some book purchases arrive - both of which I think are going to be very useful in the coming months and beyond. I've already started with a project from the 1 skein book but it's for a swap so I'll stay quiet about here just in case! Now just to get to work and get things finished!

Happy Birthday Izaak

I can't believe that my little man turned 7 today!

7 years ago I arrived at the delivery suite to be induced because I was overdue (41+5) and was obviously carrying quite a big baby. Induction didn't do anything for me and after an epidural plus quite a few hours with the drip in I was 10cm and ready to deliver but it was not to be. Wheeled into surgery an hour or so later and my little man was born into the world.

He was a lovely, calm, placcid little baby who wasn't fazed by anything and would always love a game. He grew into a happy little toddler who loved to play and was always busy doing something although was capable of a wicked tantrum or two when he thought there was a need. He was diagnosed with autism and it was possibly the most devastating day of my life. While we knew that something was wrong having it confirmed and given a name was awful - I grieved (and still do) the boy/man that I will never have and I worry about his future but for now he is a loving, happy little man who loves cartoons & movies. He's making leaps and bounds at school and doing well socially as well as academically. He's my best buddy and I hope that we'll always be close and a really important part of each others lives.

I made a cake for the little lovely to take to school. I think I did an OK job too! The piccie from the book...

and my version - of course he wanted a green cake!...

I didn't have any pipe cleaners so they turned into bugs stuck in the webs instead. The kidlets didn't seem to mind and Izaak seemed to enjoy himself.

We've got a family dinner tonight and present time so he's rather excited! He got to choose whatever he wanted for dinner so I'm picturing having to eat Maccas or something equally disgusting for dinner when he decides that lasagna is what he wants. So I'm off to bake anothr cake and get the lasagna into the oven.

Happy birthday Izaak! You make me feel so much - worry, happiness, laughter, joy, frustration, anger, love, excitement, pride - and I feel so blessed that I'm your mum. I look forward to our years ahead and my role in helping and watching you develop into a responsible, loving, wonderful member of our family. Love ya buddy!

Thank you

Thank you so much to everyone who sent us messages and thought of us during Charlotte's surgery this week.

Our hospital trip went as well as expected and she is now recovering. Still not back to my usual happy little lady but she has moments of sunshine before the pain kicks in and she is unhappy then for a while until the pain relief kicks in. Another week or so though and she should be 100% recovered. I think the biggest thing so far is that she doesn't snore anymore. Which means I'm not sleeping very well because before the op I knew that she was OK because I could hear the snoring but now I seem to be waking quite frequently and checking to make sure she's still breathing!

The facilities were not what I was expecting for more than $1500 a night but the staff were faultless. The theatre nurse who did the hand overs words were most accurate when she said "Charlotte has come out of the anaesthetic quite..... anti-socially...." and the staff just took it all in their stride to comfort both of us. They were all fantastic and definitely made the stay as good as could be expected.

Edgy Edgar Eventually Ended

Just wanted to quickly post the finished product.....

I need to weave in the ends then it's done.I've decided to gift this to Izaak's teacher. I felt bad when 2 weeks ago I gave Mrs Toone her clappy and I had nothing for his classroom teacher so I think this one will fit the bill. Quick piccie, modelled by the boy before I wrap it up ready for tomorrow. I definitely like this pattern and I am thinking an acrylic one for my sister might be good. I don't have crack scales (as a good friend likes to call them!) so I don't know how much yarn I used but I ended up with 11 repeats which is a short scarf/long cravat length. We're going to town so I might duck into Lincraft and grab one of those pins to give her more options to wear it.

Knitting Progress

What a productive day yesterday - I think my mojo may be back.

I had a few random bits of Noro laying around from other half finished and fully finished projects so I balled it all up and decided I needed to do something with it.While I really like the Edgar my laziness had stopped me casting it on because it looked too hard and I hadn't read the pattern through. Last night I did and it is SO much easier than it looks! I'm not sure how much yarn I've got or how many repeats I'll get through but I'm hoping at least 12. I've done 6 so far and I'm really like the colour changes - luckily too the balls I have are all from similar colourways so I've joined bits here and there where the same colourway is happening.

Now my dilemma is whether to thoroughly love and adore this one for myself or be super efficient and organised and gift this to my sister fr christmas. She loves scarves and has quite a few. The thing is that she really doesn't understand or appreciate the time that goes into a handknit item and I'm fairly sure that it will get tossed into the washing machine at some point.

Take 2 of Charlotte's rainbow dress is coming along beautifully as well. Last night I cast on with the black and got the shoulders off. Today's aim is to get the bodice finished and start on the skirt. I'm thinking that when this is finished I could duplicate stitch a heart with the rainbow yarn onto the bodice. Will contemplate that later though... The black yarn is Carnival Soft 8ply acrylic and while I'm not generally an acrylic fan this stuff is really quite nice and my fingers aren't icky from knitting with it so definitely a good choice.

We're heading off to the Carillion for a family picnic today for fathers day and the kidlets are excited about getting a chance to ride their bikes. I'm excited about getting out of the house and away from the mounting housework and washing! I'm also thankful for the distraction. I'm nervous/terrified about tomorrow. I know that Ts&As really isn't a big thing. Hundreds of kids have them out every year but it's something about my wonderful, darling little honey being put to sleep and having machines breath for her while pieces of her body are being removed that makes me nervous. All my education is saying that things will be fine but it's that old head vs heart thing. I know it will be OK but I'm still really really nervous about the whole thing. I know that it needs to be done and it will make life better for all of us but now I just wish that it was over and done with - I'm not good at waiting, never have been so I know that today and tomorrow morning are just going to drag on and on and on. Hopefully I'll get loads of knitting done!

The best laid plans.....

never seem to work out!!

After picking up our hire stuff for the snow trip the kids had to try it all on and roar around the yard at Mums with the toboggan giving each other rides. The sharing/caring sibling routine is still hanging around so they were actually giving each other turns and pulling themselves around the yard. We went out for dinner with my parents and then headed home to sleep at their place for an early morning departure. In the car Izaaks says "mum, my tummy is icky" - I didn't really think much of it and he went on for a while. Got to mums and just got out of the car when he vomited everywhere. Overnight = at least 6 more.

Result = No snow trip for us ;-( I'm really disappointed because I was really looking forward to going and to see what the kids thought of it all but I was also disappointed because the hire stuff is not cheap and we weren't going to be able to use it. We hired from Jurkiewicz which I've been to alot for camping gear and the staff are always nice and friendly so I gave them a call this morning and just after mentioning the 'gastro' word they were already offering refunds and credit notes. I'm really happy so I've now got a gift card to re-hire in a fortnight when we'll try again.

So today is being spent on the couch watching DVDs and just generally chilling out. Poor little man rarely gets sick so it's awful when he does and he really doesn't understand what's happening. As a mum, the hardest times for me are when my children are sick. I wish I could be sick for them because they look, sound and feel miserable and there isn't anything I can do about it! Anyway, fingers crossed he keeps the bugs to himself and doesn't pass it onto the little miss.

For me... I'm going to spend the day working on the rainbow dress v2.0. Fingers crossed!

Welcome back mojo!

After all the recent knitting disasters in my life I feel like I need to take a leaf out of Izaak's book and have some quiet reflection or Charlotte's book and blame it all on someone else (apparently her doll did a wee on the floor, not her! lol!).... Then I had some time on my hands because.... wait for it..... my two little lovelies happily played together for more than an hour the other night. It was so lovely to see them interacting, sharing, chatting and just being really sweet to each other. They don't fight that much but given we live in a little space when they do turn it on it's pretty feral. Apparently they were making a movie... well that's what they told me anyway!

So I decided to take the opportunity and cast on a new little something. It needed to be quick, easy and destined not to fail and I don't think I've done too bad....

This is the kids seamless sweater pattern by Shellee Floyd. I really like her designs for kids - simple, not fussy and no seams! The yarn is Panda Concorde which I got for $2 a ball at Big W - not too bad for $6 I say. I cast on 70 (pattern is for 60) because I'm such a tight knitter and I also added a few increase rounds into the body because Charlotte still has quite a pot belly. I could have gone up a needle size but I haven't washed it yet so it might grow a bit yet. I'll definitely be doing more of these and I've got some Bamboozle in the stash which quite likely will become one of these. Next time I'll make the body a smidge longer and a smidge wider to accomodate the big belly.

On the uni front all is travelling well. I'm actually in front with my assignments because we're off to hospital on Monday and I know I won't get any work done while the little miss is off so I've tried to do a bit in advance. I actually feel like I'm on top of things at the moment. Prac is going well. I'm really enjoying it and the last 2 weeks I feel like I've found my feet. Thank goodness!

On the family front - we're off to the snow on Saturday and then a family lunch for Fathers day on Sunday. Monday we're off to surgery (well Charlotte is, I'll be pacing the hall at the hospital), Wednesday is little misters birthday - I can't believe that he is going to be seven. Where did that time go?? Thusday is an integration meeting to talk about Izaak and his future schooling - there is a possibility that a place is coming up at the Autism unit but I'm not sure if I'm going to move him or keep him where he is happy, well accepted and doing really well. Charlotte has finally gotten the hang of her spacer as well so medicating her has been heaps easier in the past few days. It feels like so many things are coming together (in a positive way) at the moment - I hope that it can last a little bit longer. Fingers crossed.