Wonderful Wednesday....

What a fantastic day!

Mum is off work this week because of her high blood pressure so we spent the day together which is great because generally I have the kids with me or my sister tags along so just the two of us was bliss!

I'm attempting my first ever woodworking DIY project - a box for the TV to sit on with space underneath for the DVD player. I've got the timber (pine) and dad's drill & screws but I need to go back to Bunnings in the next few days for a saw of some description!

We hit the op-shop today too - originally to drop-off some things that mum and dad didn't need from the move but as usual I found some things that were great bargains and that I thought would be useful. I've tried to be alot more careful lately about what I actually am spending this family's small amount of disposable income on and thinking about what we "need" as opposed to what we "want". Anyway, I digress - so although there were lots of clothes that were good prices (i.e $1 for all orange tags!) and were the sizes the kids need they really do have enough clothes so after walking around browsing and having quite a collection of things for them I put them back! I did get some Tupperware (1 large & 2 smaller round containers for $11) and a really nice green cabled jumper that is super warm and lovely to wear ($7) I do have to say though that my biggest bargain to date for this week would have to be my coat. Coming home from a friends the other day I called into the op-shop at Phillip and saw a red coat. Really excited I check the size.... 14... perfect.... check the tag.... $10.... perfect!! So I now have a black, grey and red coat for the winter & am pretty much set now.

A big thanks to my mum too - of course I am biased but she really is an amazing mum & nanna to the two little lovelies!! While out today, mum bought a set of towels for each of the kids, a set of sheets and a DVD for each of the kids! I hope that she realises how appreciated she is! Life would definitely be alot harder without her in our family. If that wasn't enough she's coming over tomorrow night to look after the lovelies so that I can go to stitch and bitch again. I really hope tha I am as close to my own children in a few years as I am to my mum through my adult life so far!

Boogie is done!!

Last night I finished the knitting of my Boogie vest ... and .... well...

I don't like it :-(

I made a mistake and had cast of the wrong end because I had made an earlier mistake in 0ne of the side cables so I undid the left side right back to the split and re-knit it. Then made the cast off mistake so fixed that. But I don't like the way that the front just sort of flops? I've taken some piccies but I can't find the cord for the camera so will upload them soon.

Anyway, I'm seeing mum today so will seek some more opinions on what to do from here but there are a few really nice ones on Rav that have used a V neck and decreased up the sides so I'm thinking about frogging back to the split and doing that. I HATE frogging, it is so depressing but I think it will be worth it. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who can't overlook the little bits that didn't come out how I wanted them too so I figure I'm better off frogging and going with the V than keeping it the way that it is and being unhappy with it.

So here it is....


On the uni front... I did my assessment yesterday for the clinical aspects of this semester and I scored P1's and P2's which I was really happy with. 2 P3's but that is more to do with the placement (community) that I was in rather than my skills/abilities which my assessor wrote on the form so that was good. Now I've just got 3 exams (12, 18 & 23rd of June) then I'm a free woman for a few weeks!

Oh and the preferences for next semester came out - paed's, perioperative or psych unit. I'll be happy wherever I go but would dearly love to get paeds as I'm doing a child and adolescent health unit and I think it would tie in really well but I just have to wait and see....

Thanks mum & dad

Our TV has been dying a slow and painful death - the sound went first then the picture started going a bit strange. DVD player also died :-(
Mum and Dad moved over the past week and bought some new appliances, furniture and stuff. I went to help them pick stuff and my wonderful, wonderful parents have bought the kids and I a new TV (one that actually works! yahoo!!) and a new DVD player (again... it actually functions!!). I also got a new, smaller crock pot which is great because the one that I have at the moment is too big and because it's only the 3 of us I never put enough food in there - the manual says that it should be half to 2/3 full to work optimally - but the new one is just the right size for my little family.
Thank you mum & dad !

It never rains..... it pours.....

That saying pretty much describes this week for us! We haven't had anything on for weeks & weeks so of course this past week has just been crazy.

Tuesday I went to my first stitch & bitch which was fantastic! Met some lovely ladies & saw some very impressive projects! Definitely will be going back.... and back... and back. The looks from other people in the club were quite amusing too - Looking through the windows at around a dozen ladies all sitting and knitting! The ladies were a wealth of information and I was gob-smacked when one was able to pick the yarn I was using jut by looking at it!!! from a distance!!! I cast on for my Boogie vest and although I initially had reservations about the colour of the yarn I'm now really happy with it. Have finished the back over the week and will be casting on for the front later today or tonight...



Wednesday I took the kids to the theatre to see the Possum Magic musical - just magic! They both thoroughly enjoyed themselves - Charlotte even got up out of her seat at one point to dance to the music. It was a really nice evening out - quick (started at 6:30 and finished at 7:30) but enjoyable and I was really surprised at how well Izaak coped with the large amount of people there were and being children it was quite busy with everyone walking, running and jumping around just before the show started. I got a few brochures on other things happening at the theatre so it might be a regular thing??...


Thursday we headed up to Sydney for Charlotte's sleep study. All I can say out of the trip is that she is just such a little trooper! Didn't complain at all and was polite and chatty to everyone despite having electrodes pulled on and off her tummy/face/head. She didn't sleep as deeply (and therefore didn't snore as much as usual) as she does at home but I'm hoping that they at least got some idea of what's going on with her. So we are now off to the paed in 2 weeks to get the results. Dr Teng (paed sleep specialist) did comment on how abnormally large her tonsils are so I think they will start with taking those out. Izaak stayed with mum & dad overnight which was a drama as well because it was the day that they were moving house! and the night that was back-to-school night and Izaak had to take his grandparents back to school for an expo and to show them what he has been learning at school.

Friday we drove back from Sydney and I missed one turn near the airport! Rather than u-bolting it and trying to get back to where I needed to be we decided that we'd take the scenic route! Quite soon after making this decision though I realised it was athletics carnival day at school and I was trying to get back in time for Izaaks race. We left Sydney at 6:30am and got home at 10:30am, missed the race by about 10 mins. Bad mummy award for me!

On the knitting front I have been quite productive. I've cast on the Boogie vest, frogged both the toddler vest & cable bag that were on my WIP list finished my Lopi. I have felted it but can't say that I'm overly happy with the result... The handle doesn't stand up like I would have liked it to so this one might be getting gifted. So between finishing my clappy and frogging the other 2 projects the WIP list now stands at - Work vest, Knitting Needle Bag, Buttony Cardi & Boogie Vest. So... this is the Lopi....

A round of applause for....

CLAPOTIS

I have met the deadline and my lovely is about to have a bath to make her lush and lovely for tomorrows outing. I finished this afternoon and I have to say that apart from the 2 mistakes I made I'm really happy with my knitting in this! The colours have come out beautifully and the size is just right. I did contemplate doing a few more repeats to make it a bit longer but to be honest I got to the point where I just wanted it done and off the WIP list!

She feels so soft and squishy that any reservations I had about doing this in mohair and having it close to me (my neck!) have been quashed. She's soooo warm that I can see me wearing her alot as the crappy Canberra winters starts getting colder and colder!

The other two little lovelies in the house were more than willing to be models for a change so I thought I'd make the most of it! So..... drum roll please.... here she is.....

Nothing exciting...

Just wanted to share a few pics of the kidlets from tonight - they are both really tired so it will be dinner, bath & bed here. Izaak had a session with the occupational therapist today which went really well but she certainly got to see him at his worst! Hopefully Penny (the OT) will have some ideas/suggestions for home & school to help calm him down and get some more work done. According to Izaak he had a good afternoon at school too so lots of positives from today!

Clapotis is just past it's 9th repeat - only 3 to go! It seems to be flying along at pace now that I'm making a concentrated effort to get it finished. I went for a quick trip to spotlight today for needles in a size I didn't have and just HAD to buy some 8ply in 2 shades of blue for these... http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/PATTpedicuresocks.html which I really like but am resisting casting them on until the WIPs are more in control. Also got some new fabric for some cushion covers - I'm over the bright spots and want something to tone in with our chocolate coloured lounges so I found a print on the $2 throw-out table that wasn't too bad and 2 solids to match. These are the fabrics photographed on the lounge and I'm happy with how they tone in...

UFOs....

I am sick of looking at the basket of half finished projects around here so I am motivated to get some of this stuff finished and have decided that I AM NOT casting on anything new before I get some things finished.


So.... at the moment there is.....



1 - Clapotis

2 - Knitting Needle Bag

3 - Buttony Jumper

4 - Cable Bag

5 - Toddler Vest &

6 - Work vest for me

I am determined to finish my clapotis first and then to decide what's happening with the others. I'm relatively sure I'm going to frog the toddler vest - Charlotte really doesn't need it so I think I'll frog it, re-wind and re-knit it into something else.


In terms of my clapotis I'm loving the yarn, loving the colours and the striping, just need more time & motivation to get through it. As of yesterday I had done the set up, increase and one repeat of the straight sections and to this particular minute I'm now up to 5 and a bit repeats (6 to go! and then the decreases), I'd love to get this finished for a tupperware party next weekend so my goal is to finish the 6th tonight and then do 2 repeats each night which leaves Thursday and Friday to do the decreases and finishing, I'll be pushing it but there are a few things that I want to cast on (see the new stash below! & the swap on Ravelry is starting!) so that should be motivation enough!


So.... this is my clapotis so far....