MishiBaby

Sock yarn afghan

2010-07-09T08:24:00.001+01:00

P1130609
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

This sucker is SLOWLY growing but at least it is. I realise that it will take a while, a LONG time but I'm ok with that. I can't wait to see it finished.

Blog is moving....

2009-09-12T04:05:00.001+01:00

So I've finally decided to move my blog over to Wordpress. I've had a separate Hong Kong blog over there and find it a bit nicer than Blogger.
Please continue to visit me over there!

http://mishibaby.wordpress.com/

A white lace blouse

2009-09-09T03:52:00.002+01:00

A white lace blouse, youthful and fresh for the young lady!
( Wit kant bloesie, jeugdig en vars vir die jong dametjie!)

This pattern is translated from Afrikaans and dates from around 1940's. If you have any questions regarding the pattern, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Measurements: Chest - 36" - 38"

Needed: 8 balls Nr 50 crochet thread, 1 pair of no 17 knitting needles with corks on the back (?), 1 crochet hook size 6, 5 small white buttons

Pattern:
The blouse is knitted in the same pattern throughout except for the collar.
1 Pattern repeat measures 1,5” wide and 7/8 in length.
Pattern length = 18 stitches divisible by 2.

First row: k1, *k1, yo, k1 (p3, k1) 4 times, yo*. Repeat from * ending with k1.
Row 2 and all wrong side rows: k1, p to last stitch, k1.
Row 3: k3, *yo, k1, (p3, k1) 4 times, yo, k3. Repeat from * ending with yo, k2
Row 5: k4, *yo, k1, (p3, k1) 4 times, yo, k5 repeat from * ending with yo, k3
Row 7: k5, *yo( k1, p2tog, p1) 4 times, k1, yo, k7, repeat from *ending with yo, k4
Row 9: k6, *yo, (k1, p2tog) 4 times, k1, yo, k9, repeat from * ending with yo, k5
Row 11: k7, *yo, k1, (p2tog) 4 times, yo, k11, repeat from *ending with yo, k6
Row 12: as row 2

Front

Cast on 236 stitches and knit the pattern above until 24 pattern repeats have been completed in the length.
Sleeves – Cast off 4 stitches at the beginning of the next few rows until the width of one pattern repeat has been cast off (18 stitches). You should have 11 pattern repeats left over the chest area. Knit another 7 repeats in length. For the neck, as soon as the 31st repeat has been knit, knit 5 pattern repeats of the row, cast off one full repeat (18 stitches) knit to end of row. Continue for the left shoulder. At neck edge, cast off 3 x 3 and 5 x 2 stitches on alternative rows (thus cast off on knit rows only). Continue knitting another 3.5 pattern repeats in length ending with a wrong side row. Next, knit to the start of the first pattern repeat, turn, knit to the start of the 2nd pattern repeat, turn, knit to the start of the 3rd pattern repeat, turn, cast off all stitches. Complete right shoulder in the same manner reversing cast off stitches.

Back

Cast on 218 stitches. Knit in pattern until 24 pattern repeats have been completed in length. Complete sleeve decreases as per front in other words, cast off 4 stitches at the beginning of the next few rows until 18 stitches have been cast off. Knit another 4 pattern repeats in length and split knitting in two in the middle for back opening. You may need to cast on/ increase and extra stitch on one side to have an equal number of stitches. Knit these sections separately for another 6 pattern repeats in length. Cast off for shoulder as per front. Repeat for other shoulder. Using crochet hook, crochet in sc around the edge of the opening for a few rows leaving 4 buttonholes at the top of the opening.

Sleeves
Cast on 200 stitches. Knit 5 pattern repeats in length. Cast off 4 x 3 stitches at each edge. Cast off one stitch at the beginning of each row until sleeve measures 7 pattern repeats. For a neat edge, leave out the yo at the ends of the shoulder to ensure a neat edge. Cast off 3 stitches at the beginning of every row until sleeve measure 9 pattern repeats. Cast off remaining stitches.

Collar

The collar is knit in 2 parts. Cast on 92 stitches. Knit in stocking stitch with the wrong side to be used as the right side. In every knit row, kfb of the 3rd and 3rd last stitch. Continue until collar measures 2.5”.Cast off. Repeat for another collar. On bottom edge, pick up and knit all stitches. Next row: p1, (yo, p2tog) to end, p1. Next row: knit. Cast off. Fold the edge in half and sew in place. Steam collar and sew to neck edge.

Sew all pieces together.

Where have you been?

2009-09-09T02:50:00.002+01:00

Well... for starters, this little monster was keeping me very busy.

Her name is Calypso and she is a miniature pinscher. She's chocolate in colour and about 4 months old. And man, has she been keeping us busy. We've been inbetween apartment for the last month, moving from the serviced apartment we were staying in, to our new apartment on Hong Kong island. It's a great place, facing the harbour with beautiful views at night. We were very lucky to get something quite modern (with a stove!) and a sea view. And as we finally had a place of our own, we decided that it was time for a new addition to the family of the 4 legged kind. She's a hoot! Funny as hell, runs like a show horse, eats hardly anything and is scared of buses. She's also very very small. Much smaller than she looks on the photos. And a result, she is shivering constantly if the aircon is on. And so I spied a knitting opportunity! Yeah!
This is the hooded dog sweater from Bernat

It fit her perfectly except around the neck area which was a bit droopy. So I bought some thin elastic and laced it through the neck. Works much better now. She has such a thin little neck it's no wonder! I really liked this pattern. It was easy to knit. Super quick-only one afternoon and it fits without mods. I want to knit this one again but in a thinner yarn, maybe even a sock yarn.

Finished projects the last month:

FINALLY!!!!!! Looking so nice but WAY too warm for the Hong Kong weather. Hopefully I can put it to use in winter with a white shirt underneath.

Fat Bottom Bag by Julie Armstrong Holetz. I LOVE this bag! It holds more than it looks. Mods: I crocheted 10 extra rows( with 10 extra repeats) to make the bag a bit bigger. This was knit in Lily Sugar n Cream in a very cool camoflage colour. Look-it now holds my wallet, camera, travel card( MTR), keys.

I even managed to get the dog into it! Most people lined their bags. Right now, it's not really bothering me as it is nice and stretchy without.

These are Dzonba - The Himalayan Slipper by Tracy Hudson. I'm loving how this turned out ( FO pics to come) but had to make a few mods. Despite what the designer states, these are TINY! And I don't have monster feet. They are really small. Granted that they stretch but even then, they cut into the bridge of my foot. So I cast on an extra 10 stitches and it made all the difference. Fits like a glove and looks great. They only took about half a ball of sock yarn so I may try to squeeze another pair out for myself (they were a gift).

These are the Whale Cat Toy Pattern by Vicki Mikulak. Great pattern. Knits up in 20 minutes. Easy as pie and looks like a fish too! Calypso already stole one so the rest will be destined for the Lifelong Animal Protection shelter on Lamma Island. More of these to come.

Next up I started a great sweater from Phildar. Though I haven't had a good start! I'm working on Gilet Kimono #012-T8-502 by Phildar Design Team. I bought the Spring 1 catalogue along with yarn for the following projects:

I picked the same grey colour for this. The yarn is great. Quite thick so I can see this one going very quickly!

Again, I picked the same colour. This is a thin cotton, slightly shiny, yarn.

At lastly, the bane of my life:

This was just doomed from the beginning. First I didn't have the needles. THen I couldn't find the right needles. Eventually cast on then couldn't figure out the pattern. They say to increase 3 stitches at the beginning and end of the row. But then you can't keep in pattern. So I stuggled with this for a while-a very long while. Sweating and swearing all the way. So i'm fudging it. I'm casting on 3 stitches at the end and beginning. Where it interferes with the pattern, I just increase one and cast on 2 instead. So fine, got that sorted. Knitted about 2,5 inches and then realised that I never upped needles size after the ribbing! WHHHAATTT!! F*&^% that! I just switched at the end of the row mid pattern. There's no way I'm going back to the start for the upteenth time! Please PLEASE let this go better from now on. The pattern is knitting up very nicely so I can see the potential. ps...been having problems with the chart too. I think that this will take a while though I really want to finish this soon.

Gosh....so much to do, so little time....here in Hong Kong you suddendly have a social life! So knitting time goes out the window. I'm trying though, I'm really trying. Even knitting at work when no-one is around! Naughty very naughty.

I'll leave you with a pic of Calypso and her friend Lucy.

A Make-up Artist's Secrets - SheerLuxe.com

2009-08-04T07:41:00.001+01:00

A Make-up Artist's Secrets - SheerLuxe.com

Shared via AddThis

Vintage Pattern: Maryke

2009-07-15T07:32:00.002+01:00

OK, first vintage pattern translated from Afrikaans. This pattern is from the book: Die Breiboek vir die Huisgesin, nr 2. Dates from approximately 1940. I've translated word for word so if anything seems confusing, give me a shout and I'll look at the original pattern again.

Keep in mind that vintage patterns use old needle sizes so look for todays equivalent here
I'd love to see some pictures if anyone knits these up!! Good luck!!

Maryke

A practical pullover in light pastel colours for fresh autumn days

Measurements:
Length: 21”
Breast: 36”
Underarm: 18”
Middle: 27”
Gauge: 7 st = 1”
16oz 4ply wool; 1 pair no. 10 needles, 1 pair no. 12 needles, 1 set double pointed needles no. 12, 1 zip 14” long, 1 set of shoulder pads
Pattern 1 = k2, p2
Pattern 2 = With right side facing: 1st row - * k1, slip 1 st purlwise with yarn in front*, 2nd row – purl. Repeat these two rows but alternating the slip stitch and knit stitch every other row.

BACK
Cast on 89 st and knit 4” in pattern 1 on size 12 needles. Switch to size 10 needles and knit pattern 2 until work measures 12,5”. Next cast off the middle stitch and knit the two parts separately for the back opening. When the work measures 17,5” excluding ribbing, cast off for shoulders as follows: on every other row, cast off 7 st 4 times at the sleeve edge. Then cast off remaining stitches.

FRONT
Knit as for the back without the neck opening. When the front measures 15”, cast off as follows: first cast off middle stitch. Then cast off on neck edge on every alternative row: 4, 3, 2 x 2, 2x1 st. When the front equals the back in length, shape shoulders as back.

SLEEVES AND SIDES ( knitted as one piece)
Cast on 44 st on size 12 needles and knit in pattern 1 for 2,5” as follows: slip 1, k2, p2, to end on every row.
Now start increasing as follows: There are 10 increases on a needle every 2” on size 10 needles.
1st row: slip 1, k2, m1p (pick up yarn between stitches and twist, purl stitch), p2, k2, p2, m1p, k2, m1p, p2, k2. Repeat until 10 stitches have been increased on the row.
2nd row: knit/ purl all stitches as they appear i.e. knit a knit stitch, purl a purl
Repeat the increases a total of 7 times every 2” in pattern for a total of 10 stitches per row. The last row should be: k2, p9 (114 st on needles)
Knit in pattern until work measures 17”.
Increase as follows for side panels: Cast on 5 stitches at the beginning of each row and knit in pattern k2, p9. Increase 12x5 stitches on both sides until 60 stitches have been added. Knit 6 rows without increasing. Cast of 5 stitches at the beginning of every row 20 times until 34 st remain. Bind off remaining.

FINISHING
Block. Seam shoulder seams. Attach the side panel section just above the rib section with right sides together. Then seam underarm seam and rib together. Pick up 17st at each side of back neck edge with double pointed needles. And 66 on front neck edge. Knit the 100 stitches in pattern 1 for 1,75”. Bind off and attach to inside of neck. Using a crochet needle, crochet a row of tight stitches around the back opening and sew zipper in place. Sew shoulder pads in place.

Recent knitting

2009-07-15T06:35:00.002+01:00

Last night I finished my Cowl. What an easy and beautiful knit. The yarn has really made the project. The yarn is from Vinnis Colours Bambi - a cotton and bamboo mix. I have noticed something similar on Ravelry called Be Sweet. I think it may be the same supplier. Anywoo, the cowl...

It's unblocked but that sucker is soaking right now. And I just need to get a button. But other than that, I'm very happy.

Second little project was this little guy..

I just needed some instant satisfaction knitting. No clue what to do with him though! Hahah!!

And just off the blocking mat....

Front done, back done, sleeve done. Just one little sleeve to go!!

Of course, I made the stupid mistake while in SA to make dishcloths for all the mothers/ mother-in-laws. Now I'm suddenly getting requests from all fronts, wanting more dishcloths. Meh!! Lucky for me, I was in a swap with 2 very nice ladies from the US. I requested both sock yarn and Peaches and Cream cotton. I pick my own colours which was nice. I still need to photograph the one package but this was the other one.

Just look at all the lovely sock yarn!! Yeah! Weirdly enough, you can't find sock yarn here in HK. Only very thin crochet cotton mostly. Now granted, with high daily temperatures, people probably don't need knitted sock. But I'm sure in winter, they'll come in handy. Anyway, they have been bagged and put away for when I finish my super queue on Ravelry.
I'll have to look for some nice sock patterns. And the leftovers will go to my sock yarn blanket.

ps..little kittens on the roof disappeared last week. I was really upset. But momma cat brought them back this week. Both are looking well. I also got a quick look at momma who is a tabby.
Enjoy the week. I'm going to translate the first vintage pattern now.

Vintage patterns

2009-07-07T03:47:00.002+01:00

Seeing as I'm sitting at home, I decided to slowly start translating my book of vintage Afrikaans knitting patterns and will be posting them on the sight as I get through them. There are some really nice designs and I've already queued one on Ravelry.
I've done quite a bit of knitting while in Hong Kong.

Oh I've just seen a street cat and her kittens on the roof of building next door. I'm very worried as the kittens look about a week old and it's a straight 9 floor drop down. There is nothing to keep them from falling off! EEKK! I think I might call the SPCA right away. It's probably a feral cat but gosh. Those kittens won't live if they fall. And they are under a sheet metal roof in the 30 degree sun. mmm....look I managed to get a picture. Damn you! Why do I always spot the cats and dogs in need!!!!!!

This is momma with one of the babies. There are two I think.

And they are on top of the white building on the left ( with the washing).

A lot of knitting!

2009-06-28T07:30:00.003+01:00

Phew. WIth so much time on my hands, I've been able to do a lot of knitting and even found a local knitting group in Hong Kong. I finished my little shrug.

It fits like a dream and is exactly what I needed. The colour looks very black on the pictures but it's more of a charcoal. Really nice. I may make another with one less repeat in the width to make it narrower.

Then I've started another new project from my queue on Ravelry. That is the Spiral Cowl by Keri McKiernan. I'm using some Vinni's colours Bambi that I bought while in South Africa. Its a cotton/ bamboo mix in a lovely seagreen/ turq colour. The pattern is a nice mindless one and very similar to the 1000rpm socks.

I'm really like this yarn and the stitch definition apart from the fact that it has stained my Denise needle tips. :-(

I've also managed to finish a shopping bag from some local unknown yarn. I think its a cotton/ acrylic blend. You can clearly see the cotton and then something shiny inbetween. The pattern is the Monteagle Bag by Ann Hahn Buechner. Many people seems to have difficulty with the pattern. It had a bunch of new stitches that I've never used or heard of before. But I found this exciting rather than daunting. The base has a cross over stitch which is ended off with a horizontal stitch.

Next is the complicated stitch for some people. Its a weird twisted knot. You wrap the yarn around the outside of both needles 5 times. This leaves bunches behind which is later pulled out.
This is the before with bunches...

And this is after it's unravelled...

And this is the bag before unravelling and after unravelling. See how it grows!

And the finished bag in use.

I love this bag and again, will probably make it again but with a lighter weight yarn.
And I've committed to finishing my vintage sweater. I really want to get it done. Right now I've finished the back and one sleeve. And I've cast on the front and knitted about 4". So really working it. The sock yarn blanket is on going.

Knitting update

2009-06-16T03:54:00.002+01:00

I've made major progress on the shoulderette. I have about an upper arm to knit and then I'm done! Yeah!! It will be perfect for the aircon here in HK. You walk outside and it's 32 celsius. Go walk into a store and the aircon blasts at 18 degrees! This will cover my upper arms and keep my nice and snuggly. Most people even walk around with long sleeves outside. I don't know how they do it! It's too hot!

Anyway, so will try to finish this guy in the next 2 days.Then I've also started on the sock yarn blanket. It's really addictive making the little squares!

Only problem is I might run out of left over sock yarn. I have tons of little balls in storage in the UK with the rest of my stash. I'm going out to visit a LYS or maybe two today. Hopefully they have some sock yarn.

My also reorganised my queue on Ravelry. I have allocated all my current stah ( which isn't much) and allocated patterns to all of them.

The Rockstar is off to Macau today for meetings with clients. Lucky him!

Oh and look what I found!!!

HELLO KITTY STORE!!!

Enjoy the week!

Project pics

2009-06-10T08:22:00.002+01:00

Ok, promised pics of the shawl and new shrug.

I'm particularly pleased with this shawl. Probably because I'm fond of black and the geometric patterns speak to me! But alas, as usual I have promised it to someone else. Always the same story. I promise one day I'm make myself a nice shawl too!

And secondly, new project.

Nothing much to see yet though I've made a lot of progress since yesterday. I think i'm going to wear it a lot!

I'm baaaaaccckkkk!!

2009-06-08T14:06:00.002+01:00

Yup. I'm back and writing from Hong Kong. Follow my adventures on the HK blog.
So due to the whole process of moving to another country, knitting took a bit of a back seat the past few weeks. Today, I picked up the needles again and finished the Matilda. Looking good. I just need to block the sucker-not sure where yet as we're in a small serviced apartment- but will find a place. Maybe under the equally small dining table. It's looks fab though. Then I will send it on to South Africa to my SIL.

After a week here, I've realised that aircons on full blast tend to leave me a bit cold. Compared to the 32 degree C outside, a full cardigan simply doesn't work. So I've started a little shoulderette with HK bought yarn-yup, found a lys here-and am about 4" in. Looking good.

Re the lys, an experience if any. The first was Tailor and Alteration which, as per previous reports, is tiny! Shelves are so close together that you can't lift your arms to pick something off a shelf. And my handbag on my shoulder kept knocking things off. So had to put my handbag down and carry on without!! I bought 6 balls of Mondial superwool in a charcoal grey. Thought i'd move away from my usual black. Ha!
The second shop is near our apartment. Its called Filo Kilo. It is one of those shops where, the moment you step in the door, you have an instant tail. This chinese lady followed me throughout the store. And it's not a big or cluttered store. She could probably keep her eye on me from the till area. I was looking for some cotton akin to Peaches and cream. But no luck. So I settled for some random yarn in a peach/orange colour. I really need it for a market bag. Not my choice or taste but would have to do. I'm thinking of doing a large order of Peaches from the US or UK and save on shipping that way. Either way, the 4 balls of peachy yarn cost me HK$40 for all 4! Cheap as chips. Less than £4 for all 4.

I've also emptied my stash on Ravelry and started again with the stash that I have with me. I figured that this would be a good time to not accumulate past my current projects. I read somewhere on Ravelry that someone filled her whole queue with projects made from her entire stash. So I will try to allocate all my current stash to projects and will complete ( I HOPE!!!).

So will get onto that tomorrow inbetween job hunting/ passport renewal and chinese supermarket shopping! Yikes!

Hong Kong Blog

2009-05-28T13:56:00.001+01:00

OK the new Hong Kong blog is up and running. We're leaving veeerrryyy early tomorrow morning.

Check us out at http://thehktimes.wordpress.com/

Hong Kong continued....

2009-05-21T08:07:00.001+01:00

I'll be starting a blog for all non knitting related things and our life in Hong Kong soon...keep 'em peeled!

HONG KONG!!!

2009-05-21T07:53:00.002+01:00

OK so it's official! We're moving to....HONG KONG! YEAH!!

It's been in the making for the past six months and we've been sitting ducks in South Africa ever since. Visas took quite a while as well as company registrations, etc.. So we finally got the good news that they were approved yesterday and we'll be flying out stat! So far our family and friends have been crying and/ or upset at the news. They all knew of the proposed move but as it's taken so long, they've probably hoped it wasn't happening anymore. But alas, news is in and we're leaving in a week.
I have so much to organised and to pack. We've had to buy quite a few things while here as we were unprepared for the weather. So I'll probably leave some clothes here. I've been taking pictures of patterns in books that I've bought and still want to knit. That way I will have them on me instead of a heavy book.

As yet, we don't have anywhere to stay and don't know anyone either. I'm both scared and excited. We're just waiting for the visas to arrive here and then have to book tickets, book hotel, start saying goodbye, etc.

Of course my knitting to-do list is now obsolete. I'll only get to finish the bedsocks and maybe the Matilda shawl( though I can take it with me). But free time will be few and far between.

And in all the excitement, the Rockstar fell ill yesterday. Nausea, gas, fever. I don't know what it could be as we've been eating exactly the same things except for a little tub of yoghurt that he had. He couldn't celebrate properly yesterday. Hopefully he feels better today. I think it will be toast with peanut butter and herbal tea for him this morning. He didn't eat at all yesterday.

Anyway, planning to start feverishly today! EEK!

So much to do...

2009-05-19T12:42:00.002+01:00

OK so suddenly my life is a list of knitting priorities! When did this happen...
So in order of 'delivery date', my list of knitting at present:
1. Aunt Alm's Dorm Boots by Brenda Zuk for a male friend ( who requested them!), my mother, my SIL and the Rockstar who stole the finished pair for said male friend. I've completed a pair for my mother.
2. The Matilda shawl for other SIL. This one is my second in line when my fingers get bored of the bedsocks.
3. Winter jacket for Tammy the dog. I'm thinking of using Side Button Down Dog Sweater by labpugglechi as Tammy struggles so buttons would make things a bit easier.
4. Leftovers Baby Socks by Matthew Hesson-McInnis for little Megan and Zoe. Knitted with leftovers.
5. A scarf for Zoe though I haven't decided on a pattern yet. Her mom requested something bright. I'm kinda thinking in the line of a rainbow but...
6. Just threw out about 9 pairs of the Rockstars old boxers but decided to recycle rather. So will cut them into strips for a possible bag.
7. I have some lovely turquoise Vinni's bamboo yarn and would like a neck shawl thingy for myself.

Clearly, I'm the least important as seen on the list. But hey...as long as people like hand knits I won't complain.
Oh and as a very long term project: Sock Yarn Blanket by Shelly Kang. Love this!

Otherwise, not much going on in South Africa. Weather has been unpredictable. Today it's about 23 degrees c but was absolutely storming on the weekend. We had a quiet giggle as everyone seems to think it's freezing though only 17 degrees and nothing compared to UK winters! Such babies! haha! So today I'll be taking advantage of drier weather and will be doing the washing..yeah...

Oh and the Rockstar has suddenly decided that he is fat. So booked a personal trainer today ( I got roped in too) and we'll be starting on Monday. So expect a lot of moaning about sore legs and arms and the rest of it.
Furthermore, got roped into a cut and 'creative colour' tomorrow at the local hair salon. Now that should be interesting!

This is autumn in Paarl, South Africa. Lovely!

And a night shot of the vineyards with Stellenbosch in the background. Take on a looooong exposure.

Enjoy the week!

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T15:08:00.001+01:00

P1060220
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T15:05:00.001+01:00

P1060223
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Hi!!!

Animal Shelter - Puppy

2009-05-12T14:57:00.001+01:00

P1060227
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Animal Shelter - Kitties

2009-05-12T14:55:00.001+01:00

P1060233
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Very wild little kitties!

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T14:51:00.001+01:00

P1060239
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T14:47:00.001+01:00

P1060240
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Whatcha got there??

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T14:39:00.001+01:00

P1060242
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

She's my favourite! Just look at those eyes!

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T14:36:00.001+01:00

P1060243
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Puppy madness in the puppy camp..

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T14:33:00.001+01:00

P1060244
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Pick me PICK ME!

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T14:28:00.001+01:00

P1060245
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Older boy in the run

Animal Shelter

2009-05-12T14:26:00.001+01:00

P1060249
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

All this guy wanted was to get onto you somehow. Wether he's on your lap, shoulder, leg...he just wanted hooman contact!

Animal Shelter - Shepherd

2009-05-12T14:17:00.001+01:00

P1060261
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Quite a sad dog but beautiful. I think a bit lonely too!

Animal Shelter - Foxy and fluff

2009-05-12T14:14:00.001+01:00

P1060265
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

This is Foxy the foxterrier and Fluff the maltese. Fluff has very little hair due to a skin infection. Foxy is very loving.

Animal Shelter - Mini puppy

2009-05-12T14:08:00.001+01:00

P1060272
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

This mini fluffball decided to take a nap inside my track top. So cute and super hyper! I thought she'd never calm down. She's about 3 months old and was picked up on the street-one large matted hairball.

Knitting update.... pic heavy

2009-05-08T16:58:00.002+01:00

I've completed the test crochet shawl-Dragonfly, and it has turned out quite nice. I've decided that it will go to a friend who is desperate to learn how to knit so hopefully this will be a bit of inspiration.

The pattern wasn't that difficult though my arm does hurt if I crochet for a while ( I have a wonky arm). Anyway, so pain aside, I've changed tack and switched patterns. The shawl for my SIL will now be the Matilda by Kate Blackburn ( as stated in previous posts). I've started and really like the pattern.

In my next post I'll be bombarding you with puppy pics. I've spent another few days at the Animal shelter volunteering/ socializing with the dogs and cats. So be ready!! Cute overload!

Misty evenings 2

2009-05-08T16:48:00.001+01:00

P1060207
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

Misty evenings

2009-05-08T16:47:00.001+01:00

P1060208
Originally uploaded by kietiekat

This was taken from our balcony at about 11h30 at night on a loooong exposure. I accidently took one with the auto flash on and am sure I blinded a bat! Yikes! Sorry!

Plodding along...

2009-05-05T12:37:00.003+01:00

I finished the Dragonfly shawl last night after a mad rush mainly cause I have so many requests from knitted items, I can't keep up. Right now, its blocking on a towel and old futon and was pretty much dry this morning when I left. But I wanted to make sure that it was dry as a bone before taking the pins out. The actual pattern has evened out nicely with blocking-more than I had hoped. I have to admit that I was worried about my tension as I substituted the yarn for a thicker sock yarn available locally. No chance of finding lace weight anything over here. But my fears were unfounded when I blocked it out. So pics to follow as soon as I can get around the painter to the camera in the room. ( Painters = headaches). We been sleeping in the lounge ( the Rockstar on the couch and me on said futon) in the hopes of getting away from the toxic paint fumes. It's really been a headache ( no pun intended).

In the meantime, I've started another shawl for my sister-in-law. This time I'm knitting the Matilda by Kate Blackburn. I really like the geometric look of this pattern as opposed to the more organic patterns in the Swallowtail for example ( though I DO like the Swallowtail, don't get me wrong). She has requested a black colour. I started the shawl last night and have already made a major mistake, and being lace knitting, resulted in me frogging back further than I wanted. I struggled to pick up the yo's. I'll have to resort to lifelines again-just to save my sanity. So far though( about 4" in, it looks great.) This may be one of those shawls that I would rather keep for myself. Meh....
The weather is changing for the worst. ( Worst in South Africa being minimum 12 degrees celsius). We are pretty lucky in that we are out in Paarl which tends to have it's own micro climate. When it rains in Cape Town CBD, its normally a few degrees hotter over here. And the frogs have noticed the change in weather too. They have stopped singing for us...I liked them!

Oh and I painted my nails black just for the hell of it...feeling very rebellious today! HA!

Pics

2009-04-24T13:57:00.002+01:00

Now that I have some kind of signal, I'll post some pics of WIP/ FO's. We'll see how long it lasts ( that signal that is!)

The Dragonfly shawl at present. It measures about 70cm right now from tip to tip but I still have another repeat to go, then edging and blocking.

Another dishcloth. This one has rows of alternating colours knitted with 3 very small balls of leftovers. Great way to use up stash.

so......slow......

2009-04-24T11:52:00.002+01:00

OMG!! Internet connection is sooooo sloooowwww! It's driving me bonkers. I attempted to upload some new pics of a new shawl that I am testing but alas, foiled AGAIN by a slow ( or whatever the problem is) connection. Nothing, nada, zip. Not uploading even 1%. It's frustrating coming from a country where everything works and then coming here where nothing works...meh...

Anyway, I'll just have to tell you about the new shawl. I found an Interweave crochet in a local book store-surprise surprise! I don't usually buy overseas magazines here as they are hugely overpriced. This one cost me a whopping R100. In comparison, local mags are about R25 - R30. But as I pages though, I noticed a shawl pattern that is crocheted. It's the dragonfly shawl. The pattern calls for a very fine weight yarn but I decided to use the Elle Sock Wool that I used before for the Swallowtail shawl. I'm testing the pattern first before I gift this one out. For now, its fairly easy, even for myself who don't usually crochet. I did go down a hook size as my yarn is a bit heavier than called for. But I want to finish and block it out first. It does seem a bit condensed but the Swallowtail grew quite a bit after a blocking. So I'm hoping that this one will spread out a bit too. The actual pattern on the shawl is nice too. And progress is way faster than the knitted shawls. I've only about 15 rows to go before the edging starts. So will probably finish it by next week as we are busy this weekend.

I've also been taking some pics of sunsets around the house. More to follow once I get a stronger broadband signal...( I wish!)

FO's

2009-04-20T14:35:00.002+01:00

So with the intermittent internet access, I will now bombard you with a multitude of FO's. I'm still trying to destash in a big way and with everyone requesting dishcloths, it seemed like the way to go. In addition, having always wanted to make a tawashi.

Tawashi

Dishcloth - Peaches & Cream Ballband pattern

Bath mitt - Ballband pattern Sugar & Cream

Next my Ipod Nano perspex cover broke on queue and I had to scramble to find a pattern to knit. The Rockstar is quite precious of electronic things and would kill me if I dropped it sans cover. So I found an Ipod sock cover from iPod Sock by Jillian Neary. I've had to mod the pattern as the origional is meant for a much larger Ipod. I cast on 28 sts and k2, p2 to desired length. Fits like a glove. I used some left over sock yarn and the colours go well with my red Ipod.

Phew...what else...

Spiral socks with one skein of Noro sock yarn. These are for me! Yeah!

See my flickr or Ravelry projects for more pics of these.

And lastly, we rescued this little puppy from a local squatters camp. She very thin but has the best personality. Unfortunately I cannot keep her due to circumstances ( more about that when I have concrete news) so she will have to go to the local animal shelter ( unfortunately a kill shelter). So I'm posting pics of her in the hopes that someone will fall in love and adopt her. She white with black nose, eyes. Probably going to be the size of a spaniel ( not too small but not a large dog either). She was washed and given flea killer. Though I've been picking ticks from her coat. I think she would make a great pet. She isn't food aggresive ( I checked) but is very thin. She still has her puppy teeth so is still quite young. Please PM me if interested.

And finally, sleepy puppy after a very eventful day which included her first wash, more food that she would believe and seeing the inside of a house for the first time.

Enjoy the week!! mx

Am I sane?

2009-04-15T11:07:00.002+01:00

I kinda feel like I'm not 'here' lately...weirdly so-there's no emotion at all. I am devoid of anything.

At the same time, I feel obsessed with a movie that i've seen. I don't know myself like this. Constantly thinking about the characters, the story, the music...what is going on? Have I lost it? Must be...

Vintage patterns

2009-04-09T12:51:00.003+01:00

On our wine tasting tour through the Stellenbosch winelands I came across a little Wool Shop. What are the chances. She didn't have a large stock of yarns, only a few brands really but she did have some ancient pattern books. Most of them are from the 1940's and in Afrikaans ( like dutch) but the patterns are fantastic and the pictures even more so!! I've attempted to document the books and will load all the pics onto my flickr account. Clicking on the images should take you there directly. I'm happy to translate the patterns if anyone wishes to knit anything.

Fishes and prisons part 1

2009-04-09T12:06:00.002+01:00

Kirstenbosch, World of Birds and a Jackass

2009-04-09T11:57:00.003+01:00

Pics Day 1

2009-04-09T11:52:00.002+01:00

The view from Table Mountain and the mountain from the V&A Waterfront

I ain't dead...

2009-04-09T11:07:00.002+01:00

Knitting News

Heeelllllooooooo

No, I’m not dead. Just been very busy. With a long list of things to do, internet access was also a huge problem. Anyway, seems like I have some sort of connection now, though not regular.
So with so much news tell, I’ve not idea where to begin. I’ve been knitting up a storm. I finished one pair of socks with my last 2 balls of Drops Fabel, brought with from the UK. They knitted up beautifully! I’m so thoroughly jealous but they were destined for a friend. So I’ve had to say goodbye with a tear in my eye to those lovely socks. The pattern was easy and the effect much more impressive than the technique. It’s way easy to memorise. The thing that I liked the most was that it looks like cables, but it’s not.
I’ve started another pair of socks. I’m trying to use up my small stash that I have already accumulated here in South Africa. Most of these did come with me on the plane but I do have a few balls of local acrylic ( yukky!) and the yarn for my vintage knit. Anyway, the socks. The yarn is Noro Sock (like for the Ziggy socks) but I’m using a different pattern this time. These will be for me too. Again, very easy pattern and the effect, combined with the colour changing Noro is fab. I’m turning the heel on the second sock as we speak so will probably finish it late tonight or tomorrow.
The nice thing about both these pairs of socks is that I learnt new techniques in both. YEAH! In the first, there was no ribbing. Instead, a turned hem that is knitted in. I’ve never done that before. But the top looks nice and neat.

I also learnt a short row heel-loving this so much more than a normal heel. There are no decreases for the instep. And seems much quicker. YEAH 2! And lastly I learnt a new toe on the Noro pair. A pointed toe decrease based on antique patterns. YEAH 3! Who’d think that you could learn this much! I’m really chuffed.
What else have I done…..I’ve crochet a little cat – Virgo Kitten- for my little niece Megan. She turned one and I needed a present. This kitty crochet up easily. Pattern was easy to follow and the kitteh very cute. The only thing I can complain about is the fact that you can’t find any nice dolls eyes here. So I’ve had to embroider the nose and eyes. I’m not happy with them but had no other choice. Either way, the kitteh is cute. She’s been checking out the lake and ducks today!

Phew! Once my last pair of socks are done, I’m going to try to finish my vintage knit. It’s calling me from my knitting bag! Hahahah!!

Other news

I had a visit from a friend from the UK. Amy was in my knitting group while we lived there. She came through to South Africa for one week and stayed with us in Paarl, in the winelands. We had a massive itinerary covering the whole of Cape Town.
Day 1- settling in to South Africa and the warm weather.
Day 2 – Table Mountain, V&A Waterfront, Bus ride covering most of the CBD and over the mountain to Camps Bay
Day 3 – Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, World of Birds, Jackass Penguins at Boulders Beach
Day 4 – Wine Route wine tasting at Fairview, Graham Beck, Boschendal
Day 5 – Aquarium, Robben Island ( where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned)
Day 6 –Cape Town markets visit
Day 7 - Last day lunch and flight back to UK
Did I mention it as really hot here?! I have a proper driving arm tan, complete with white watch strap tan! Not COOL! But there isn’t much that you could do about it.
And for now, I’m out of work and enjoying the leisurely life of the unemployed. Knitting my days away. Oh and listening to the Twilight audiobooks. Love them! Their just so damned expensive. THANKS FOR NOTHING ITUNES!

Goodbye...

2009-03-07T15:26:00.002Z

Goodbye to my friend Kleinman. I miss you already...

So much news...

2009-03-06T17:17:00.003Z

Well the past few weeks have been both uneventful and hot. Right now, its 31 degrees celsius and the time 19h24. Cape Town has been sweltering in a heat wave this week that has fueled that largest and longest lasting fires in 9 years. As we speak, one has been raging for a week and is still out of control. Todays heat was just too much. I popped out of the air-conditioned office to get some cash for lunch and walked into an oven. I haven't experienced such heat in a very long time. Its the kind where it feels like you are breathing through a hairdryer. The actual air is hot. There were some community service delinquents sweeping the streets as punishment and for the first time, I actually felt sorry for them.
To make matters worse, no wind. That means smog, visible smog which hangs like a blanket over the city.

The good thing is that it makes for great sunsets. We set out to Blouberg beach and I took LOADS of pictures. Some of them included these...

My absolute favourite one is of the kids playing...it looks so carefree and fun!

ps...I may just go for a swim right now...its just too hot in here!

OK I'm back!

Knitting news - I've finished yet another string bag for a colleague and the idiot that I am, forgot to take proper pics. So my mobile camera will have to do. I could kick myself.

I am so in love with bag but had to give it away. ::jellis::
I still have bit left from the balls of cotton so may eek one out for myself.

My vintage knit has progressed a lot. I have just about finished the back and it looks fab. The pattern is so easy to remember and I will definitely progress a lot faster on the front. I can't wait to finish it.
I'm still having problems adjusting to not knitting so much anymore and do miss it. I feel like I'm having withdrawal symptoms or something.

have......to.....knit....please..............!!!!!!

We will also be moving house temporarily due to family coming to visit. And have in the progress, managed to UPGRADE!!! We will be living in a house of some friends of ours who live in the UK. The house is situated in Paarl which is a lovely town within the wine district of Cape Town. We have been to the house and am quite excited to get away from the parents in law and have some time to ourselves. Additionally, my friend, Amy, from our UK knitting group is coming to visit!!! So I have taken time off work and will be doing the touristy things with her. Cue loads of pictures. She arrives in 3 weeks time. She has made a wishlist of places to see which include the penguins at Boulders beach, Kirstenbosch gardens, the Cheetah outreach at Spier, the V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain, Robben Island ( where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated) and so on. So if you have ever wanted to see any of these, hold on to your horses.

Tonight we're off to act like youngsters and are hitting the town to see a local band. Hope we don't stand out too much! Haha!!

Sadly, I have to visit the vets tomorrow for the last time with my cat Kleinman. Unfortunately, his sight has deteriorated so much that he is becoming a hazard to himself. Constantly falling off counters, beds and walking into walls and doors. I'm horrified to have to take him but have no other choice. He is on his own most of the day and what if something happens? I'm really not looking forward to it! Sad day indeed.

Kleinman has been my best friend for 18 years and a trouper! I will miss you.

2009-02-28T07:54:00.002Z

Create your own rock band record cover as follows:

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7daysThird picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop, picassa, or similar to put it all together.

Here is mine:

Fun hey?! I think it makes a great band album cover! Now i just need to work on the 'music'. Haha!

Ps...

2009-02-21T09:56:00.002Z

...If anyone can help me sort out my pics on my blog, I'd love you forever!! I can do many things but haven't forayed into code yet. My pics keep jumping off the page and I have no idea how to fix them. Annoys the living daylights out of me...HELP!!

A bit of this and a bit of that!

2009-02-21T09:08:00.003Z

This week was just another week of knitting, work and driving, more on the driving later. I'd finished my shopping bag last week and have been using it to take my lunch to work. And word definitely went around that I made it. Random people have been coming up to me saying 'are you the one that knits?'. The office manager was so interested and asked me to make one. This one took a bit longer this week-for some reason it took ages to crochet even though it's a straight forward pattern. Anyway, so I finished it last night while watching Wall-E( very cute movie). I still have to take pics of the finished project. But here it is in progress.

I really like the finished product and am actually a bit jealous. I'd like to keep it! I have a tiny bit of the yarn left so maybe I can eek one out. The bag is great as it will stretch and I've already had so much shopping in it!
I've also always wanted to make the BYOB from Knitty. But that requires a lot of yarn-maybe another day.

I also finished another bag - IT'S BAG MANIA!! This one is the Mineco 1. For this one I picked sunset colours.

In this picture it is also unfinished. I added two short handles. This pattern was a bit disappointing to me. Well, not the pattern really but the nature of the pattern. The actual knit was easy to do, yarn was fine. But the bag unfortunately doesn't stretch sideways but lengthways. So what you are left with, when full, is a long orange sausage! Weird! I'm not sure if I like it? Or maybe next time I'll add a few more pattern repeats to make it wider. I still like the look of the bag though. mmmm.......

Work is still going fine, though a bit quiet. I'm not saying anything in the hopes of keeping the job for as long as possible. It's money right?!
Driving to work has been interesting to say the least. Having lived in the UK for 6 years, you tend to forget certain things and also don't really drive in the UK. So when I got this job, I had to drive from the suburbs into the CBD of Cape Town along the highway. It crawls at a snails pace every morning, slow enough for me to drink my mug of coffee in the car! WHOO!
BUT...I totally forgot about another factor of South Africa. Taxis! Now these aren't your usual black/ yellow cabs that spring to mind. No, these are minibuses, operated by any Tom, Dick or Harry ( and lately Sue). They don't belong to any kind of Taxi organisation which regulates them in any way. In fact, if you have a minibus, you could operate one. So Tom decides to drive a taxi. Basically, he decides on the route that he wants to drive and off he goes. Taxis do not, i repeat, DO NOT follow road rules. If someone inside wants out, they stop, anywhere. Middle of an intersection, middle of the highway, ANYWHERE! They love their horns and will use them to annoyance. Every taxi has a spotter. Basically a bloke hanging out of the open door, spotting for passengers to pick up. He also acts as the horn, indicator, traffic coordinator. So if Tom wants to turn right in peak traffic and there is no space, the spotter will start shouting at cars, directing them aside to make space for the taxi to pass. The taxis are generally packed beyond any legal limit. A taxi accident usually involved quite a few dead and injured-partly due to the number of passengers and partly due to the fact that they aren't serviced at all-so have faulty brakes, no indicators, etc. So, you get the picture! These taxis exists in their millions like swarms of bees. This week the cops had a crackdown/ road block. They generally try to have these stealth road blocks to eliminate unroadworthy taxis and drivers with no licences. Also, many of the minibuses were stolen from families to use as taxis. At this road block, you always see loads of confiscated taxis, passengers walking to work and shouting drivers...oh, and about 500m before, taxis desperately trying to make u-turns to avoid the roadblocks.
Well, in order to keep the public informed, I documented some footage i.e. pics and video of these hooligans on the road. The pics were taken on my mobile while driving so excuse the quality. I forgot to up the image sizes.

Exhibit 1

What you're looking at is an intersection on a busy road in the middle of Cape Town. The road that I am on, is a two lane road. Can YOU see the two lanes on the opposite side? Cause I can't? Judging by all the taxis, they are making 5 lines!!! Crazy!

Exhibit 2

I have now crossed the intersection into the two lanes..can you spot the two lanes...apparently there are 3? I must have missed that 3rd one!

Exhibit 3

Maybe I should change lanes like this?!

And finally, exhibit 4...

I'm trying to cross the intersection but there are cars everywhere?!?!?! WTF?!?!?! It's green for me but I can't cross!

So you see, it's a miracle I haven't had road rage yet!
Life in Africa sure is interesting....

We went for some sundowners and took these of Table Mountain. Beautiful, isn't it!

The lights are the bottom is Cape Town.

Have a great weekend.

This week....

2009-02-12T04:42:00.006Z

This week I started the hypnotherapy study. My chosen study was on stress. Of course, I’m not easily influenced. But decided to give it a go in any case as she needed the volunteers. I basically don’t have to do anything different other than knit with the added mp3 to listen to. So picture this…I’m sitting there, knitting and listening to the following…”feel the smooth tools in your hands and how easily they move through the yarn. You are in control, you are in control every day, take 3 deep breaths and feel your body relax, blah blah.” Funny thing is, I found myself breathing deeply almost instantly when someone cut me off in traffic. So maybe it works? Who knows? I have a whole month of listening and knitting to do. And technically should be relaxed BIG TIME! Hey, if it works, I score. If the whole month is going to be like today, then I can deal with being relaxed! The scarf for the study is about 2” in and I actually like the pattern. There is enough variation not to bore you to death and easy to memorise. I doing the 1 row handspun scarf pattern from the Yarn Harlot. Get it here. The yarn is also working well with the pattern and even the Rockstar likes the pattern.
My vintage sweater is still on the sidelines for a bit. Oh, I nearly forgot. I made a shopping bag over the weekend, well over 2 days, to be exact. It’s the Crocheted Eco-Friendly Carryall by Patons and is an easy crochet string bag. Maybe a bit boring but the finished product is nice. I already have 2 others who want one too. But first I’ll have to look for some cotton type yarn that is local. The peaches colours aren’t really what they want. ( Boo to them!) So the bag is one of those that expand and EXPAND and E-X-P-A-N-D-S. You can stuff any amount of stuff in there and there is always space. I used the white, turquoise and lime green balls. I think I used one whole ball of white, half a blue and nearly all the green. I may choose another pattern for the other two-I can’t decide.

And on urgent request, I made the intended dishcloths from the Lily & Cream. One down, one to go. I haven’t used any specific pattern-just made up my own simple pattern of k3, p3 to create the block effect.

In SA news, we took my mother to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. We arrived really early for some breakfast at the restaurant. It is really lush there. Green lawns, indigenous plants and trees. They have laid it all out very well. One section is all about useful plants and have little stories of their traditional uses. Other are dedicated to proteas, Erica and cycads. Very nice. Here are a few pics to drool over.

Maybe I’ll work on the vintage sweater tonight. I want to see some serioud progress on this and won’t allow it to zzz in my bag.
Oh and a little video. Cape Town is also known as the Cape of Storms due to strong winds from time to time. This was taken yesterday. Note that the car was stationery ( i.e. not moving due to peak traffic) and the camera was resting on the steering wheel ( hence not moving either). The movement that you see is due to the gale force winds!! And it was a stinker yesterday-over 30 degrees. Go figure. ( Oh I just realised that you can hear my Mandarin podcast on the video. Hahaha!! )

Lots of news

2009-02-06T18:26:00.003Z

The reason for my prolonged absence may be blamed on the very poor internet connection in South Africa. Two people can't be online at the same time else the whole thing conks out. So unfortunately for me, the Rockstar's work commitments win every time and I have to step down...anyway, the Rockstar is out! YEAH! Blog update time.

First, knitting updates. I felt so bad about my Ziggy socks which remained unfinished and finally sat down to finish the last sock. I was at the heel, so it was quick knitting. Why I never finished it, I'll never know, but I'm glad I did. They look great! The colours are so bright and vibrant and I don't care that the two socks don't match. I love them!

Initially, I wasn't sure how much of the Noro sock yarn I would need, and bought two skeins. But i've only used one! Bonus! So I might use the other for a bright shawl...just need to find a nice pattern. I'll have to trawl the Ravelry pattern pages. Unfortunately for me, I don't have web access at work AT ALL! So any form of time-wasting isn't possible. ( Though I think some others have been given privileged access.)

I also finished another set of Fetchings. I found an ok yarn at Woolworld. It's called Tweed-so really it green with some flecks of different colours. But I've come to like it a lot. I bought enough yarn to make a scarf for the Hypno study, which starts tomorrow. That reminds me, I have to print the pattern. And if I come out all weird on the other side, I'll expect you'll to tell me! Ha! Anyway, back to the fetchings. The pics aren't the best due to night photography. I finished them late at night and they had to be handed over the next morning so I had no other time to take proper pics.

The vintage knit is progressing well, though sidetracked for a while. It will have to sit on the sidelines a bit longer while I participate in the study. But I think that I will still set time aside to work on it as well. I really need to take some updated shots. Maybe tomorrow. I've also started a quick crochet project. It's a mesh shopping bag made from the gifted Sugar and Cream. I'm using the green for the base and handles and white for the body. Pics to follow as soon as there is significant progress ( or a finished product).

In South African news, things have literally been hotting up this week. Temperatures have hit the 35+ mark and the city is boiling. Don't get me wrong, sun and heat is nice, but too much is too much. Cape Town has a very dry hot summer and the sun beats down. Even at 5 in the afternoon, it still has a sting to it. The unfortunate thing about the heat, is that any grassy patch become dry and yellow. And that has meant a total of 77 fires this week. Smoke is still hanging on the skyline and everyday a different field has burnt down-mostly due to reckless drivers who throw their cigarettes out of the car window. Yesterday was a particularly exciting day. We witnessed a fire run wild in a span of minutes. It started out as a small fire next to a major high way. Our building in the city is quite high up and give great views across the city. Hence us seeing the fire. Well, next thing we knew, we could see massive flames, licking up trees, fueled by the wind which suddenly changed direction, blowing the fire towards houses. By that stage, the whole city was enveloped in a fog of smoke and we couldn't see a thing. I was really worried for those homes. The helicopter was called out, flying overhead repeatedly with water to dowse the flames. They eventually killed the fire and thankfully the houses were saved, but by mere inches. Apparently owners were guarding their homes with hose-pipes. Here are a few very bad pics of said event though you could probably see better pics if you google it.
The first is of the start of the fire-it escalated very quickly after this, filling the air with smoke. Note the houses on the right- still far away.

The second pic shows the aftermath.

Note the area around the houses.
While this may not look as bad as the California fires, it is right in the city and on the mountain, which is covered in hundreds of species of Fynbos.

Anyway, life in Africa continues ( just). My only saving grace is having a job. The Rockstar is about to murder his own parents-it's called Cabin Fever!

And one last shot of Cape Town from the office. Straight ahead, right above the roof of the building in front, is the Castle.
I still love the Castle. It's magical at night.

Anyway, I'm off to knit....see ya!

Look what I got!

2009-01-31T16:58:00.003Z

You know how sometimes the world is full of crazy, selfish people...well, NOT ALWAYS!

As you know, I had to move back to South Africa after a long stint in the UK, thus leaving my whole stash in storage ( the HORROR!!). Well, I once knitted both my mother and MIL some dishcloths. Last week my mother asked me to knit some more. Now the dilemma is that here in South Africa, availability of yarn ( the nice stuff) is very limited. Forget about getting Peaches n Cream or Rowan ( well maybe if you are willing to pay extortionate prices). Anyway, there is a group on Ravelry called RAK or Random Acts of Kindness. This group is used to request items that you couldn't normally find so lets say you're into Manga and live in the North Pole, you could request it on there and someone, on the other side of the world with an excess of Manga, will send you some for free.
And that is just what happened to me! So sans stash or lys, I requested some peaches n cream ( or equivalent). And what do you know.....2 packages arrived today! Check out my great gifts!

The first box is from Memeinmoi or Lauren all the way from the US!

TAADAA!!

A LARGE ball of wound Peaches n Cream in a peach colour!

And the second box was from Susan, also in the US.

TAATAA!!!!

WOWIE!

A massive 12 ( TWELVE!!!!!!) balls of Sugar n Cream in some gorgeous colours!
Wow guys, thank you!! I will be sending you something in return from South Africa!!

To think, all I wanted was one ball to make a dishcloth!

I'm in lurve!

In other news, I will be sidelining all other knitting for a few days as a colleague requested some mitts for her teen daughter. I figured, let her pick the pattern herself ( you know, hormones n all...nothing I would pick could possibly be cool enough) and she chose Fetchings. Nice! I love those. So I visited my LYS and bought 10 balls of Elle tweed Aran in a green colour ( which she wanted, of course). I know, Fetchings do not need 10 balls. The others will be used for another purpose.

Kathryn Beck, who is a fellow Raveller is conducting a study on Hypnosis and Knitting/ Crochet. So I signed up, why not! There are a few different catergories that you could apply for...I chose 'Stress'. So basically, Kathryn has chosen 4 knitting and 4 crochet patterns, all scarves, from which you should choose. I have chose the Yarnharlots One Row Handspun Scarf. And that is what the rest of the Tweed will be used for. She will be sending me an mp3 which I have to listen to whilst knitting on my scarf for a certain amount of time per day and keep a short diary. So I already knit everyday and figured that I have nothing to lose.

If you are interested in signing up for her study, go here to read all about it.

Oh and I bought Zoe a knitting dolly today whilst at the LYS. That should keep her busy for a while!

Breaking the law, breaking the law...

2009-01-29T18:39:00.002Z

Breakin the law, breakin the law

OK, hands in the air….I am breaking the law!!!
In the mornings, I have a 45 minute drive to work and it is mostly bumper-to-bumber slow moving. During such times, I was thinking of all the time that is wasted for knitting purposes. And then it hit me….hey, I can knit in the car on the way to work!!! Totally against the law but I managed to finish a whole heel of a sock in two days. Maybe not as fast as I would usually but then, it wouldn’t be done if I didn’t have it with me. How, you ask?! Well, as traffic rarely moves about 20 km per hour, I knit whilst looking up every second or so. When traffic moves, I just pop the clutch and move forward whilst steering with my knee. I perfected the knee steering many many years ago which allowed me to eat ice-cream in the car without making a mess. Obviously I have to be very careful and mindful of the traffic cops. But hey, it’s working for me! [don’t tell anyone!]
Right now, guilt has set in and Ziggy ziggy has been calling my name from under the bed. So finish it I bloody well will! Seeing as I am on the other side of the world, I have no excuse to have hibernating projects. I have nowhere to put them. So they have to be finished!!! But you know how it is…new projects and yarns beckon and old projects seem boring and uninteresting. I may need to start a new project soon for a colleagues’ 13-year old daughter. She needs some mitts for the mornings for school. I’ve forwarded her some ideas from patterns on Ravelry, which she will show to her daughter tonight. Then the hard part starts…where to find good yarn in this place.

Hey, btw, have you met Penny “laser eyes” Polony?
No……well, behold…

I warn you, don't stare into those eyes too long! This is her in her midnight shenanigans!

In other news, the weather is still great-25 plus. You actually welcome a drop in temperature once in a while. And the office is air conditioned so you can’t go sleeveless, then it’s a bit chilly, but when you wear a short sleeve, you have to sit in traffic for 45 minutes in the blazing heat (MIL’s car doesn’t have aircon!!).
Also, 2 package slips have arrived from the post office. Wonder what it could be especially since one if from the Virgin Islands?!! I don’t know anyone there. It could be a RAK ( Ravelry group called Random Acts of Kindness). I posted a wishlist for some Peaches and Cream ( or similar). My mom wants some more dishcloths and for the life of me, can’t find any cotton that resembles P&C in colour or quality. So here’s hoping.
I also picked up this great Hello Kitty Pez holder!! YEAH! I love Hello Kitty. I’ll keep it forever!

Oh what a night....

2009-01-27T18:00:00.002Z

Ok sorry... the only reason for my blog title is because I have that song in my head! Dagnamit!

Anyway, this week has been another busy one. Work is continuously entertaining. My one colleague, who is also a temp, was even offered a full time job. I on the other, have other plans, but more on that some other time.

We spent some time with the family and little Zoe who broke her leg. She still has about 5 weeks to go in the cast and can be a handful at the best of times. And seeing as it is a full leg cast, she can't move at all. Queue BORED CHILD!! ALERT ALERT! So I decided to take some cheap acrylic and two crochet hooks with when we went for a braai (bbq). It was such a hit and kept her busy for hours. I tried to teach her a bit of crochet but in the end, she was happy to just wind and unwind the ball. End of the night I packed it all in and went home. And the next morning, I received a message saying that Zoe wants to know where her wool and 'stokkie' (crochet hook) it!!! I've created a monster!! So I have promised to bring her a new one. I'll see if I can find a more child friendly set that she could enjoy. Maybe a knitting spool/ dolly.

My vintage project is coming along well and I am now on the second pattern repeat-so about 10 inches in and it is looking great. I'll take some pics on the weekend in the daylight. I'm really looking forward to wearing it.

The craziness that is South Africa!

2009-01-20T19:32:00.002Z

So,
- I have a new job
- which allows me to speak to a lot of different people all over South Africa
- which reminded me of the craziness of South Africa!

OK, so much of South Africa is very traditional. And in my daily chattering with store staff, I have come across the many MANY crazy names here. Due to the nature and culture of many families, children are often given an 'english' name in addition to their more traditional 'african' name. So if your traditional name is Sipho, you may also be called Simon. HOWEVER, it's not always that simple. Much of South Africa is also illiterate, which leads inevitably to very strange names for children....and so I present you with my list of names encountered in ONE WEEK of work, listed 5 to 1, 1 being my favourite.

5. Dykie
4. Beauty
3. Given
2. Hawpygirl (geddit? happygirl!)

And my personal favourite.....

1. Alphabet

I kid you not!!! If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't believe it. Someone named their child Alphabet. WOW!!! Oh special mention goes to Velaphi. Velaphi is Xhose (african language) for 'Where do you come from?'....Yikes?!

And my african name you ask......Nomathemba ( meaning 'the one you can trust!)

Progress pics

2009-01-20T19:26:00.002Z

Ok so I finally have one pattern repeat and Amy shouted at me for knitting in English style...((sorry))...hastily changing back to continental... :-)

And me bestist friend Kiki with her gifted Swallowtail!

Nothing to report

2009-01-19T16:56:00.002Z

Things have been a bit busy if boring on this side. We did have an eventful weekend but at the same time, quite tiring. On Friday night we had some friends over for a braai (BBQ) of Springbok and krummelpap - a type of porridge that you eat with your bbq. Both were absolutely excellent. Though the Rockstar ate WAY too much and ended up feeling sick. Talk about eye too big for his stomach. On Sunday was a family day. It was SIL's birthday so we had ANOTHER braai with friends and family. This time the Rockstar managed to drink wine in the sun all day and ended up looking like a tomato!! Rooky mistake!!! We are after all South African and KNOW that you don't drink in the sun!! So Body Shop Body butter is his new friend to keep his crispy skin nice and supple. And to top it all off...it's his birthday today. So we're off for a meal with family at a portugese/mozambiquan restaurant called Braza who serve great fish and meat dishes in pans. NICE!! Can't wait. I've had a shocker of a day so definitely need the time-out today. The new job is great as it keeps me busy but I also have to speak to some very irate people. :-((
Bleagh!!

Things are moving steadily for my vintage knit. I've done about 3 inches by now and am just waiting for a full pattern repeat before I take some new pictures. I have to admit, I have cheated and am knitting english again. Continental was just taking SOOOOO LONG! And I like to see the pattern form in my hands. So anyway, new pics to come soon.

Cape Town today is a bit windy and the tablecloth is on the mountain. A sure sign that the wind is coming-though make no mistake, it's still bloody hot!

p.s. I'm learning Chinese, Mandarin to be exact. I look like a right idiot repeating words to a podcast in the car in peak traffic. What must the other people think???

zài jiàn
goodbye
再見

It's so hot ( but I have to work!)

2009-01-12T18:06:00.008Z

This weekend has been a scorcher! Over 34 degree C. It's so hot that you can see the heat in the air, can't touch the steering wheel of the car or eat an ice-cream ( it melts too fast!). It's so hot that the ceiling fan broke from working overtime! Blew up in a ball of smoke. And in all this lovely heat, I have to work. I finally got a job as a banking designate at a local clothing chain. Nothing to write home about but it's a job. And they have a canteen! WHOO! I've never worked anywhere that had a canteen. What a luxury! Anyway, in other news...

I went to visit my mom over the weekend which meant that I got to see Mannie again. He's looking fine, eating again but still painfully thin and clearly blind in one eye and mostly blind in the other. Poor thing walked into a closed door and I couldn't help but laugh!! I'm terrible!!!! Most of the blood in his eye has been absorbed and you can see his eye again. This is what is looks like now.

p.s. he's been to the vets and all is well. He did say that Mannie was blind in the bloody eye and almost totally blind in the right. So no wonder he's been walking into things. Poor thing. But he's still eating and the doc said that's all that matters!

And Snowie was having a good old sleep so I snapped away. She's actually a model because she is deaf. So you can take loads of pics without the need to sneak up on her. But you should see her jump when she is sleeping and you touch her!! My mom has had to teach her hand signals so make her understand that it is feeding time/ come in time/ naughty kitty time/ etc. etc..

Knitting wise, I’ve finally started a pattern from my book ‘A stitch in time’. I’ve chosen ‘It cannot fail to please’ AND have decided to knit the whole thing in continental. Look out for the post in about 2 weeks time that will have the heading WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING??!! For now though, I’m optimistic. I’ve knitted a tension swatch that was spot on stitch count wise. I’ve chosen a nice dusky pink colour and the yarn is slightly thicker than the suggested yarn but I still get the right stitch count. So not bovvered. The stitch definition is very nice. I think I could wear this in summer or in winter over a white shirt.

Right now I’m itching to work on it but I just HAD to paint my nails and they are taking AGES to dry. Hopefully the whooshing air as I type will dry them out quicker. I found this magic marker pen by Sally Hansen which draws the white part of a French manicure onto your nails. The tip is quite thick and idiot proof. I know cause I’m an idiot. And my nails look nice! Well, I think so in any case! Hahahah!!

Travelling and knitting

2009-01-05T16:42:00.003Z

Well, apart from some difficulties with the inlaws (don't ask), we've been enjoying the last remaining days of the Rockstar's holiday. We decided to go on a roadtrip up the West Coast of the Western Cape. I certainly haven't been that way for nearly 15 years so it seemed like a good idea. We left fairly early on Saturday, took the R27 and off we went. Out first stop was at Yzerfontein. The little town, if you can call it that, consists mainly of holiday homes and since Yzerfontein is a mere 45 minutes away, it's the perfect weekend getaway. Many houses are HUGE for holiday homes which of course had us drooling. And all have sea views. ::jellis:::

From there, we drove on to Club Mykonos near Langebaan. Now I remember ads on the tv for Club Mykonos when I was really small. They usually involved some bikini clad babe with 80's hair, jogging down the pure white sand towards a hunk in trunks. In fact, all it is, is an expensive holiday resort. Next to it, we found the Boesmanland Plaaskombuis (translated as Bushman land Farmers kitchen) and since at this stage, we were quite hungry, we decided to give it a try ( I was sceptical!)

But we found the most enjoyable restaurant on the beach front ever! All food served are made and tastes just like my Granny used to make. You walk into an informal dining area. The tables are made from old wooden cable reels. These guys are about 2 metres across. And chairs are old tree stumps with cut-up blankets as seat covers. All food is served in tin plates and mugs-LOVE IT!
So the food...
All food is made the traditional South African way in a black 3-legged pot-called a potjie. But these suckers are HUGE! Every household has their own potjie but not nearly this big. Each pot then held a different item ranging from greenbean stew (Groenboontjiebredie), rice, vegetables, lambshank (lamsboud), stewed sweetpotato (stowe soetpatat) etc etc....Tables also held a local fish called snoek or pike, ribs, prawns. Then at the one end you have the bread made in a woodfire stove and at the other end the dessert: koeksisters and melktert (milktart). YUMMYYY!! I can't remember the last time that I ate that much. Literally! It's an all-you-can-eat buffet so just help yourself. And we did!
So here are the evidence...

On the road again (random South African country side)

A LARGE seagull outside the restaurant..

A Stop sign got some bullet action..the little sign says: We either have shooting or hunting fever!

A sign outside has various directions on it...some to the moon, some home, others wherever!

Inside the restaurant

Oh yes! The good stuff!! From top clockwise: Stewed sweetpotato, greenbean stew, rice, lambshank and firebaked bread-still warm!!!!

Coffee is served from the fire-we call it moerkoffie-no idea what that translates to.

The food pots

And for dessert: Milktart on the left and koeksister bites on the right - the Rockstar even stole some extra koeksisters and he doesn't even have a sweet tooth!

And finally, outside the restaurant

And now for knitting. I finally finished the second Swallowtail. I made a few mistakes-some of whom I could fix and some I couldn't, which didn't make me very happy. Oh well. The overall picture is nice. It is much larger than my first Swallowtail mainly because I knitted an extra set of repeats up to row 19 to accommodate a mistake. And just those extra four repeats have made this guy almost twice the size of my first. That and I think the yarn is a bit more giving. The sucker is blocking as we speak and in length, covers an entire single bed!
Here he is unblocked

And then with my first Swallowtail (which is blocked) over it to show size (still unblocked!)

Now he just needs to dry out and he'll be on the plane to London on Thursday! YEAH! I hope K likes it! I've tried it out and want to keep it! ::jellis again::

Anyway, in other news Kleinman isn't eating-not so good news. Here's hoping that he is just too hot and bothered to eat and not sick. :-((

Gotto go make some dinner. Fajitas!!!

((sigh)) Inlaws

2009-01-05T16:41:00.001Z

That's all that I'm saying about that....

((sigh))

Phew!

2009-01-02T17:10:00.002Z

The news wasn't so bad. My mother rang me 2 days ago to say that my old man cat, Kleinman, has a bloody eye. So I think nothing of it as the cats and dogs play a lot and he probably got a scratch....it's happened before. But then I get another text to say that the eye is now black?? WTF?? So I went there yesterday. His whole eye is black! Literally! No pupil, no white, no green, nothing! So I start thinking that something is really wrong but being the 1st, no-one is open. My mother rang the vets this morning and got an appointment for this afternoon. By this time, I was dreading the worst as Kleinman is a grand total of 18 years old. I had a bad feeling on my stomach all day, thinking that I may have to agree to putting him down.
Anyway, the news wasn't that bad. Basically, he has high blood pressure which caused a blood vessel to burst and bleed into his eye...thus not on the outside, but bleeding into the eyeball. That is why his eye is black. All the fluid within his eye is blood. He also has a noisy heart but other than that, in good health. So he now has medication and a repeat visit next week to see how he gets on and what the eye looks like. Unfortunately he will probably be blind in that eye. But his eyesight was getting worse in any case. I've noticed how he follows you by sound rather than sight.
So a big PHEW! Mannie (Kleinman) lives for another day!
Meet the man...

Feeling worried...

2009-01-02T09:41:00.001Z

I'm feeling so worried and sick to my stomach at the minute. I may have to make a big decision later today and don't think I can. :-((

Phew..

2008-12-31T10:45:00.003Z

All those pics took a while to upload. I'll add some more of Franschhoek (for those who are interested) tomorrow and will take some pics of the swallowtail and crochet creepies later.

More photos...

2008-12-31T10:34:00.003Z

Ghostly me...

Dinner (BBQ) on the stoep

The Rockstar acting all cool at a streetside cafe

My cranberry cooler...

Knitting, of course!

First morning coffee

Franschhoek Photos

2008-12-31T09:55:00.002Z

The 'Treehouse' cottage

The porch or 'stoep' (pronounced like stoop but with a short oo)

The view

More View

My weekend away..

2008-12-28T20:00:00.003Z

As we have been spending so much time with the in-laws, who are driving me crazy, we book a weekend away. We decided to go up to Franschhoek. Franschhoek is pretty much a tourist destination. House prices are purely aimed at foreigners with pounds/ dollar to spend. The town is so named by French Hugenots who were given land by the South African government and literally means French Corner. Many wine farms still have french names. What I like most of the town is how they are preserving the old Cape Dutch building style. These styles are my favourite-I would love to live in one some day!! Anyway, so we went away for the weekend to Klein Dassenberg. We booked the Treehouse for 2 night and I must say, what a good choice. The cottage is set back in the trees against the mountain. It has a great veranda and is so tranquil. At night, the only thing you could hear was the frogs, crickets and owls. We sat outside the whole evening with a nice woodfire and chatted the night away.

So knitting-wise, I managed to get quite a lot done. I'm nearly done with the second Swallowtail but don't want to post any pics as it is a gift for a friend...so wait and see. I made a mistake in that I knitted one repeat too many and so couldn't make the 'nupps' lace section fit. After much calculating, I knitted an extra few repeats and it all fitted. So this one will be slightly bigger than the other one but hey, rather too big than too small.

Tonight is New Years and we'll be having a proper bash at a friends..which means too much to drink! HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYBODY!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T20:37:00.002Z

Merry Christmas everybody!!!!
I hope this year brings much joy and happiness and is a LOT better that the past! ( well for me in any case!)

I know that I have been missing from my blog a bit. But rest assured, I have been busy! VERY BUSY!! For starters, the second swallowtail is well and truly over halfway. I need to take some pics of it but haven't gotten round to it. I have run into a major problem though as I have a lot more stitches for some reason....will have to figure out what the hell happened there. I may have knitted one or two rows too many. Anyway, other than that, it is knitting up beautifully. The stitch definition is good with the sock yarn. And the colour is quite nice too. Between navy and purple. Also on the knitting front, I received a gift all the way from the UK. A very good friend missed me so much and bought me a book....It's called Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden. The book is full of these great little caracters of otherwordly dimensions! There are ninjas, Nosferato ( my personal favourite!), a devil, a corporate zombie, etc.

I just HAD to start ( I'm so lame!) and have made a devil so far. Nosferato is halfway. They are about 3 inches big. I think I want the whole collection.
Meanwhile I wore my own Swallowtail a few times this week and have gotten so many compliments and even managed to get another two people to knit again!! BOOHAHAHHA!!

Well, I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow. I know that I will definitely eat too much, in true Christmas spirit!

Merry Christmas!

South Africa Photos

2008-12-16T17:13:00.003Z

My new niece M! How cute!

Results!!

2008-12-16T16:53:00.004Z

Result no.1 - Well after a very long wait I finally have my results from uni! I PASSED!!! YYEEEAAAHHH!!! I now officially have a BA (Hons) Business Management. Thank goodness. It was 4 very long years of studying and working to get through this and I've made it. Though I can honestly say that the knitting was a HUGE help. It kept me sane through all the stress.

Result no. 2 - I have finished the swallowtail!! YEAHHH!!! I started this guy on the plane and it is now blocked and ready for wearing! Bring on the cold weather.....well, maybe not yet..

Proof of said swallowtail

I can't believe I actually did it. So I am now starting another one in a plum colour for a friend. The yarn is a lot different that the Kauni. It is some sock yarn bought locally for a bargain. Didn't I blog about this already....I may be losing my mind. It's the heat over here! It was another scorcher. 28 but probably more like 30+. My brother and family came over for a swim. The kids enjoyed it tremendously as they don't have a pool at home. Needless to say I spent most of the day in the sun. And my lily white London skin didn't take too kindly to the african sun....even after factor 40 baby sunblock! I'm a bit pink on my back...ok...a LOT pink!! My inside tip for sunburn is: buy a BIG pot of the Body Shop Coconut Body Butter and lather it on every day and night. That stuff takes away and sunburn and prolongs your tan. It really works! Promise! I've run out so will have to make a trip to the shop tomorrow to get some at an extortionate price....things here in Africa is a lot more expensive than in Europe. Even if you are buying with pounds.

Seeing as I have so much time on my hands, I've also completed a bit of Xmas knitting. I made two sets of dishcloths and matching potholders for my mother-in-law and her sister. I only intended to knit the dishcloths but had some of the Peaches and Cream left after...not enough for another dishcloth. So I fiddled a bit and came up with these potholders.

They're not something that I would use personally but the mothers will like them. Pity I didn't bring more Peaches...though I didn't have any space in my suitcase in any case. We had to pay for overweight suitcases!

Next I'll post some random pics from the past week here in South Africa. If anyone wants to know where they were taken, give me a shout!

Still sick :-((

2008-12-10T21:08:00.003Z

Can you believe that I still have a cold! It's just a runny nose but it's starting to get on my nerves! I tried to spend some time in the sun today but eventually got so annoyed with my runny nose that I left it.
So that aside, I'm nearing the end of my shawl! YEAH! I have started the final lace section of the shawl but about an hour ago realised that something isn't adding up. I've messed up somewhere ( it was inevitable, wasn't it!) and will have to frog back about 4 rows. Luckily there are about 2 rows of straight knitting between the 2nd last and last sections so it will be easy to rip back! PHEW!
I've enjoyed knitting it so much that I went to a local yarn store today and bought 4 balls of sock yarn in a lovely deep purple. I plan to knit another Swallowtail for my best friend who loves purple and I know that she will wear it. It actually wasn't to expensive in relative terms. In South Africa, we keep comparing prices in £ terms...i.e. R400 Oh it's only about £35. So these balls cost R25 equalling about £1.60. Nice and cheap! Anyway, that will have to wait until I have finished my own Swallowtail.

Teeth wise, they are still giving me problems...I've read that crowns do ache for a while. But I'm seeing the dentist again tomorrow to replace the temporary crowns with the real McCoy. I'm sure that it will be another FUN-FILLED session....NOT! I do hate the dentist. Bleagh!
I won't post pictures of the new teeth for fear of looking like a saddo with no life! Hahahah!!

Oh well, all things considered, the sun is shining, it's hot in South Africa and I am on holiday.
Hope you are on holiday too!

Middle of the night stories

2008-12-09T00:58:00.003Z

It exactly 2:58 am and I am up with tooth ache. It's painful enough to have woken me up and kept me up. :-(
I am in the process of receiving a new capped tooth and have a temporary one in place. Since receiving the temp, I have had pain around my two front teeth ( the teeth to be capped). So I'm sitting here in the early morning hours in a very quiet house, googling tooth ache and crowns. Luckily the Nurofen that I have taken, seems to be kicking in so I'll hopefully be able to get some sleep. So while I wait for the full ibuprofen release, I'll update you on my shawl.

This has so far been one of the most enjoyable knits to date. One other may be the pinwheel sweater that I made. The shawl has knitted up so quickly and easily and me irrational fear of lace seems silly now. I'm even thinking of making another for my best friend left behind in the UK ( I miss you K)
The colour changes in the yarn has been great. And so has knitting with the yarn. The stitch definition is nice and I think that after blocking, will look even better. Maybe I should use some sock yarn next time around? mmm......

I've completed the main lace body section and have started the dreaded 'nupps'. I struggled with these the first time round but by the second time, I knitted them REALLY loosely and the p5tog were easy enough. So if you are intending on knitting the Swallowtail, make sure you knit the nupps even looser than you think is necessary. You'll thank me when you have p5tog.

The nubbs can be seen here. They are those two bobbles at the tops of the image.

((Can you believe my stomach is rumbling?? At this time of night?? I feel hungry!))

Anyway, tomorrow I may head down to the beach with a friend and hope that it won't worsen the last leftovers of a cold I picked up...(Imagine having a cold in 35 degrees heat). We'll probably head down to Blouberg.

I need to write an update of our outing to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. They have jazzed up the harbour which includes a snazzy shopping centre and various restaurants and shops. Very nice. Will do so tomorrow...

For now, I'm off to bed......again.....
Tooth is numb now so will hopefully get some sleep....that's if the mosquito leaves me alone....PAH!

It's 35 today!

2008-12-06T08:49:00.003Z

Yikes! It really is 35 degrees in the + today. I'm contemplating going for a swim or heading to the mall for the air conditioning....maybe I'll do both. First mall and then swim.
Anyway, yesterday I got a call from a very old friend from primary school. So I drove out to meet her in Stellenbosch. Being a farmers wife, she doesn't have much to do and so, volunteers at the local Animal Shelter. So she invited me along.

The Animal Shelter outside Stellenbosch is totally donation funded and it shows. The few building that they have are kennels to keep either dogs or cats with babies apart from the rest of the population. Puppies and dogs are kept in large open pens which is semi covered with a tin roof on one end and a sand floor. The cats were in a closed off area-still open to the elements.

Now I have to say, everything were very clean and the animals had food, water and shelter. But it is quite clear that they only have money for the basic needs of the animals. We went to socialise with the puppies and most of them are quite dirty from living in sand. Though so full of energy and love!!! I have a puppy hanging from every piece of fabric on my short! PUPPY COAT! There was this one that was definitely not well and all he wanted was to sit on your lap. Not normal puppy behaviour. He was also the ugly pup and I contemplated taking him home...which of course, isn't practical as yet.

The kittens were all gorgeous! MAD MAD MAD! One little kitty even hissed at me and he was small enough to fit in my palm! He definitely has balls! It wasn't as sad as I thought it might be...the only thing that surprised me was that all the cats given up for adoption, were all lovely, very friendly and beautiful. One little black mama was so small, not even 8 months old, and already has a litter of the most gorgeous smokey grey babies. The same with the dogs. There were two huskies (very dirty) but very loving and the most beautiful white staffi.
I won't preach today, but I will say that if you want/ need a pet, don't forget to check out your local shelter. The animals all need homes and not all shelters are no-kill. And they may even have some pure-bred dogs/ cats if you're so inclined.
I'm thinking of volunteering at my shelter for a while. I heard that they don't even have a pc. And I'd like to do something about that.

Moving on shiftly....
I've knitted about 13 repeats of the lace pattern on the swallowtail. According to the pattern, I should do 14, but most knitters on Ravelry have increased the size. I'd rather have a too large shawl than a too small shawl. So I will be knitting another 5 rows. Apparently you should increase in increments of 5. Thus if you were supposed to knit 14 rows, you can also knit up to 19, 24, 29, etc... that way the edging lace pattern matches up. I haven't had any major hitches yet (touch wood!) and am surprised that I actually like knitting lace. Meisje (on Ravelry) told me that it would be fun! I believe you now! (Ek glo jou Meisje!)

So I'm off to the mall for flapjacks ( the American kind not the British kind) and some bottomless coffee....mmmm....

Here's a nice picture taken from the car yesterday...typical roadside fauna and flora around Stellenbosch.

eta..mmm... once again I am being thwarted by a very slow internet connection in South Africa....I'll try uploading the pics again later....so annoying.

eta..ha! Got it!

ps. Penny says HI!

Welkom ( aka Welcome)

2008-12-03T14:26:00.000Z

Hallo and welcome to South Africa!

It’s very hot here today-about 27 degrees and I am about to jump in the pool! OK enough gloating!

WOW!! What a hardcore two weeks. We finally flew out from the UK on Sunday evening, arriving in South Africa on Monday morning. We flew premium economy (thank you Virgin) which was a blessing! The extra legroom really made a difference.

I’ve spent the last two days making some random purchases, such as hangers and sandals. Why I didn’t bring all my sandals I’ll never know! I’ve clearly forgotten how hot it gets here! So I just bought some cheap black gladiator sandals.
Just a short walk around yesterday was eye opening. Food is very expensive in the grocery store but restaurants are cheap. I bought the same amount of food that I would usually buy in the UK and it cost a whopping R1400-about …mmm….just realized that there isn’t a pound sign on this keyboard??!! OK so 110 pounds for a week’s worth of food! Damn expensive! I’ll have to scale down the Rockstar’s diet massively.

Knitting wise, I started my Swallowtail on the plane and managed to knit a good 5 inches on it. So far so good. I am actually enjoying knitting it and everyone is very impressed! I’m sure that once I make a HUGE mistake 100 rows down, I’ll lose my cool and toss it in the pool!!!

I may have a few less posts while I’m here due to limited internet access but I will surely keep everyone updated as to the goings-on over here. And I’ll have a bit of local pictures and news too!!

Cheers!
I'm off to take some pics!

Innocent Veg Pots

2008-11-27T08:54:00.002Z

Forgot to tell you about my new best friend.....Innocent Veg Pots.
These babies come in 4 flavours and are simply delicious-Moroccan Squash Tagine, Tuscan Bean Stew, Pea and Broccoli Rice and Thai Coconut Curry. My personal favs are the Squash Tagine and the Thai Curry. These are soooo good and have no colours or preservatives and no meat either. So if you are a vegetarian, these are perfect. I'm not but still like them. From the Innocent website "It's a meal of chopped up vegetables, pulses, wholegrains and sauce that give you 3 portions of vegetables in each pot. With no colourings, flavourings or nasty things you wouldn't add yourself."
I've been stuffing myself with these. Probably because I know I won't have these again.
MMmmmmmmm.......

....sneaks off to have Tuscan bean stew.....

Only 3 days to go! Yikes!

2008-11-27T08:27:00.006Z

Yup, only three days. How quickly has time flown by?? I feel like the last two weeks have been a mad rush. We have had a full diary for the past two weeks-literally seeing a friend every night! And last weekend was our official going away party. Crazy! We spent about 1 hour walking through London looking for a cab home at 1 in the morning. And of course, I NEVER wear high heels but on Saturday I did!!! My feet were killing me! I'm such a wuss! But they are nice shoes though!! Let's see if I can find a pic...

They are the Betsey Cage sandals fom Oasis and are on sale right now for £30. Like I said, I don't usually buy or wear high heels but I liked these so much that I couldn't stop myself! Of course I realise that I will regret that decision every single time that I wear them! Hahahah!!

I've not managed to get much knitting done with all the social events. But did finish sock no.1 of my Ziggy's. It looks nice except that the sock isn't very stretchy. Slightly tight on my foot but I'm sure it will loosen with wear. The colours worked out great though. I've just cast on sock no.2 but probably won't get much further until we are actually in South Africa.

I am taking my Denise needles on the plane and will start the Swallowtail. It's such a looooooong flight-12 hours!!! So I'm sure I will get some knitting done. We splashed out this time and will be flying premium economy with Virgin so that should make a HUGE difference in comfort. If you haven't flown economy for 12 hours, then DON'T! I've done it countless of times and it's never been fun. Just very long and very cramped.
These last few days are going to be crazy busy. I still have to swap my clothes with some in storage as the weather in South Africa is the exact opposite of the UK. It's currently about 30 degrees C there! WHOOHOO!! So I have to leave my coats, hats and scarves and get the bikini and sandals out. I don't know when I'm going to do everything.

Oh I've also finished a horrible hat for a friend. He just wanted a Liverpool FC hat as he is a supporter. It's red and very boring and knitting acrylic. Really not nice. I've clearly become a yarn snob as I couldn't stop moaning about the quality of the yarn. Don't get me wrong. I use acrylic for toys etc...but for wearables, it's just horrible (IMHO!)

And look at this crazy monkey on the bed last night...

Honestly, how am I supposed to sleep!!! :-)

One week...

2008-11-22T11:15:00.004Z

Yup, one week left before the big move. It's really gone way to quickly and suddenly we're nearing our flight date. Things have been very busy...winding things up at work and seeing everyone for the last time. We've literally not had a evening at home this week and won't for the next week. My diary is FULL! WOW! I'm definitely going back to SA about 10 lb heavier and with a damaged liver! hahahahha!!

Today I decided that I feel like a change...so I got a fringe!! (or bangs for the US readers) I'm not sure whether I like it yet but the Rockstar likes is, which is a surprise! So I guess I just have to get used to it. What do you think? (bad pic!)

I don't mind really. It's just hair and will grow back. And between you and me, it's hiding the wrinkles on my forehead!!!!! SShhhhhh...

Knitting has taken a back seat for a bit though I did finish little Rufus the dogs' sweater. It looks gorgeous!!!

He won't hold still for me to get a good picture. It took ages to make though as the whole thing is cabled!!! Man! Did I swear. It takes quite a lot of time where I could have knitted a plain sweater in a week this took about 3. But it does suit him and he seems to like and accept it. So that's a good thing. It's also turning pretty cold in London so he will need it.

Last weekend we also went to Norfolk for a friends birthday. I'll load some pics at a later stage but it was a great weekend. We stayed in a converted barn on a farm. Somewhere close a farmer was shooting the living daylights out of rabbits and partridges-ALL DAY!! Bloody gunshots! BANG BANG BANG!! And the road was littered with spent cartridges. It was annoying hearing something being killed every 2 minutes.

Anyway, gotta go. The Rockstar is bugging me....

Weekend break to Wales pic heavy

2008-11-10T19:41:00.019Z

This last weekend we decided to drive to Wales before we leave the UK. The Rockstar has always wanted to go-maybe he feels a connection. Anyway, so we hired a car on Friday morning, got up at the crack of dawn and made the trek up. It was a 6 hour drive which is pretty long and seeing that I had to do all the driving.
Most the drive up was uneventful until we actually entered Wales and suddenly the landscape changes, hills appear and everything is greener. And with all the leaves changing on the trees, it really was spectacular!!
This was one of the first really awesome sights that we saw!

The wind was absolutely HOWLING though and moi decided to get out to take a picture! I nearly died! WOW!!! It was sooo cold and windy and the camera actually blew right out of my hands, giving me a nice bruise on my hand. But beautiful!! The Rockstar couldn't even get out of the car as he was on the receiving end of the wind and couldn't get the door open! Pahahahaha!!

So I hopped back in the car, heating on full blast and continued on our drive. Our destination was Llanberis which is on Lake Padarn. We stayed here....

Good old fashioned B&B with a great breakfast and Henry...

Oh I did love Henry!! He was the friendliest cat ever and just wanted to visit and flirt and play! And he's so photogenic too! Just look how sophisticated he looks with his legs crossed. A real gentleman!!!

So after arriving we went down to the lake.
The area was well known for it's slate mining for many years. Hence everything here is built of slate. It also give the water in the lake a lovely blue hue. After the mine closed, the village was pretty much deserted until a hydro power station was built into the mountain using the water from a lake above and below to generate power. We went on a tour of the power station which was pretty interesting. Unfortunately we weren't allowed any personal belongings due to safety reasons so no pics. But you enter the facility through a tunnel mouth and then just drive down and down and down into the belly of the mountain. Great tour guide! Even if you weren't interested in power generation at the start, this guy had us listening intently. Really good!!
Across from the power station and lake, is Dolbadarn castle.

Great place for views across the valley and a great castle too!

We then took a drive across the lake to the actual slate quarry. It's rather forlorn now, deserted and almost sad, but still beautiful. There is a slate museum that tell the whole history of slate mining in the area as well as the old hospital...

and the mortuary...eeeeekkkk....

Pahahaha!!
Oh and this is the actual quarry. It's really gorgeous in there.

The next day I persuaded the Rockstar to go to the Trefriw Woollen Mills not far from Llanberis. They manufacture products from welsh wool. So naturally I had to buy this...

It's woven from the local wool.
And OF COURSE....

2 Skeins of pure Welsh wool in aran weight and colour ocean...beautiful. It's a bit hard but I'm sure I can sort that out. I just love the colour though!!!
The store did have a small section devoted to knitting with some yarn, looms and the like..

They also had some antique swifts from Scandinavia and the UK.
Sorry for the bad pic but they were high up in bad lighting.

From there we headed north west to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.......WOW!!!! It's the name of the local train station and means St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave. I did try to pronounce it but we just cracked up with laughter. Go to wiki here to hear what it should sound like. There weren't much else to look at and we headed out to Caernarfon next.

There we found a LARGE castle right on the waters edge. It was here that Charles, the Prince of Wales had his investiture-big word!! I had to look that one up myself! Haha!
The castle is pretty awesome with towers on the corners which you can climb. And some really REALLY green grass in the middle.

And lastly we rushed over to Portmeirion- an italian style resort village in Wales??!! It's strangely continental-as in European as opposed to the UK with all the brightly coloured buildings and lain-out gardens.
We had a great sunday roast at the hotel before driving back.

The drive back was another story on its own as we were hit by torrential downpours and flooding roads. I was driving with my nose practically against the windscreen, trying to see the road and on the look-out for floods. Needless to say, it took us over 7 hours to get home!!! YIKES!!
Anyway, so I leave you with this....

PAH!!! BLOODY INTERNET IS CRAP! OK I will load these last few pics tomorrow...it's just not happening tonight.

Love (1,000,000)

2008-11-05T10:14:00.001Z

I love this...

2008-11-03T11:21:00.004Z

I just saw this and loved it!

I love how there is knitting everywhere in the picture! It feels like one of those where's wally things where you have to find/ identify something..I mean...there are about 4 hats, various necklaces, long sleeve knits, short sleeve magoodies and strange ruffly things. Who knows what else lurks in the recesses of that outfit.

This weekend has been kinda weird. I realised that we are actually a very happy, easy going couple and that some people may have more relationship problems than they think. Which is kinda scary for the person in question.We quite happily watch TV without fighting over remote controls and which program to watch. I like to knit in front of the TV so will watch any mindless crap. The Rockstar likes MTV, which isn't too bad considering that he doesn't like football (YEAH FOR ME!!) But witnessing friends fight over petty nonsense this weekend has really made me appreciate the Rockstar and the fact that he accepts me stash, needles and all!
OK enough of that...

I'm at work counting the days until I leave here. Have I told you my boss is an idiot?? I have a mountain of filing to do which belongs to him. Nothing gets my beef up more than someone that shoves their work onto me. He literally took his 30cm high pile of paperwork from his in tray and dumped it in mine?!! AND there is another pile waiting for me on the floor next to my desk. I'm so seriously pissed off but know that my time here is limited so I should just do it already. But I'm still pissed! I'm not a secretary or PA to him at all. But he's not here today-working from home(!). So I Absolute Radio on streaming (Garbage is playing now-Stupid Girl. How appropriate.) and will be going for lunch soon before tackling the heap of madness.

So whilst wasting time I have come across these. You might have noticed that I like Hello Kitty.
This snazzy cardigan

I like this Darth Vader-ish coat

WANT WANT WANT (1,000,000,000)

I'm baaaaaccckkkk!!

2008-11-02T20:07:00.006Z

Yeah baby. One nightmare move over and time to move on..literally! That was probably the most stressful move ever since we had to get rid of many things that we didn't want to pay shipping for. In the end, we just donated most to the local charity shop. We also managed to get rid of all the furniture, which was my biggest worry. I just didn't have the energy to break down the furniture and carry it down four floors. Luckily for us the landlord has taken it over from us and is returning our whole deposit! Whoo!! Well, we did leave the flat in a perfectly clean condition after working like a slave. Once again, the difference between man and woman was very apparent. While I cleaned the living room, bathroom, toilet (separate room), spare bedroom and main bedroom, he cleaned the kitchen only!!!! Took his time!! I eventually shooed him out and finished the job myself!

Anyway, we are now settled in with friends not far from our previous flat. While I'm writing this, I can hear a multitude of fireworks going off. You'd swear I lived in a war zone! We have a pretty nice room and actually feel like we're in a hotel. So now we have a month left before d-day. I have 6 days of work left and I CAN'T WAIT! YAH!
As our friends have taken us in, I have offered to knit their little dachshund a sweater-he's always cold. His name is Rufus. I have quite a bit of Lion Brand Wool Ease left in green. I've started the 102-43 Knitted dogcoat in ”Karisma” with cable pattern by DROPS design in a medium size but will have to lengthen it for obvious reasons.
Pics...

It's quite a pretty pattern but filled with cables of all sizes and types. So only one month to finish this.

Yesterday we went out for a meal in London at Spaghetti House -best Italian pasta house! And I saw this...

That's right! It's a WALL OF YARN!!! Granted it's machine knitting but it's still yarn! It was in the Benetton window I think and really impressive!!!

And finally I bought these....how awesome!!!

All I can say is....THEY TASTED GREAT!

Bath (Pic Heavy)

2008-10-27T19:52:00.003Z

Oh wow!!

2008-10-27T19:24:00.004Z

I'm soooooo very tired!! We have been packing for the last week as well as trying to get rid of furniture that we aren't taking with us. To be quite honest, I wish I can just go already. The house looks like a bomb has hit it! There are boxes everywhere!!! I am even living out of box!

Problem is that it's winter here and summer in South Africa and with a weight limit of 20kg per bag, you are really limited in what you can take. I'm even worried about my cosmetics. You really can't find any nice make-up over there so I might just start stocking up on that too!
Knitting wise, I've finished a baby set for the bosses new baby-as yet unborn but due either today or tomorrow. The reason for the gift is that I was trying to get rid of excess yarn. So I made a little newborn set.

The little mitts are gorgeous and really easy to make. They are the Newborn Norwegian Sweet Mitts by Jennifer Hoel.
I've also progressed on the Ziggy Ziggy Sputniks although knitting has taken a back seat. I would probably have finished them by now if we weren't moving. So I'm about to start the toe decreases.
My biggest problem so far is planning knitting for the next month and probably the next 3 months for that matter. Most of my yarn has been vacuum packed (but I can still get in there!) I was planning to continue on the Continental knit afghan that I started a while ago. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I needed something more portable. So the afghan will be ditched for now. I do really want to continue on it but again packing restriction is my problem. SO! I am going to start my first lace shawl-I'm thinking the Swallowtail shawl by Evelyn A. Clark. It looks great and I bought some Kauni in a blue/ black/ grey/ purple variation that I like a lot. It should keep me busy for quite a while as we wait for our stuff to be shipped. I'm excited and scared at the same time but Meisje on Ravelry has been a great support and told me about lifelines. Why have I never heard of them!!
Next I will post some pics of our daytrip to Bath. WHAT A GREAT PLACE!

Phew!

2008-10-23T18:19:00.001+01:00

I'm not dead...just packing like CRAZY!! Posting may be a bit erratic for the following few weeks. We have so many farewell parties, goodbye coffees etc that I have to keep a diary to keep track. We are leaving our flat next week :-(
So I'm desperately trying to get rid of excess furniture and household goods. Not proving very easy.
I'm tired...

Ziggy ziggy sputnik

2008-10-16T09:47:00.002+01:00

OK so here you go..the Ziggy monster that I have created. I'm so chuffed with how it is turning out and they are ALL FOR ME!! Yeah!!!

I had to laugh though! I started these last week Saturday after I got back from the Knitting show at Ally Pally. I was soooo tired and my eyes were burning but I was resolute. I wanted to start them. So I cast on that night, knitted the rib and started on the zigzag pattern. The next day I couldn't understand why I was one stitch short...mmm...
And then found the reason....

One dropped stitch!! It's so bloody obvious I can't believe I didn't see it before??!! How tired was I really??!! I've knitted so much of it already that I'm not going back so will just have to sew it in and pretend it never happened.

I'm also quite proud of my friend K who I have been teaching to knit. She has been doing so well. I started her off on some Amigurumi as she has a short attention span. And this week she started her first sock! I feel like a proud mother!! Here I am teaching her to turn the heel on her first sock.

Her cast on and ribbing is a bit loose and sloppy but I'm sure it will get better on the second sock. She also struggles with 'gaps' between the needles on the knitting. I told her to knit her first pair for herself as she will probably make mistakes. She is so excited and am loving knitting them so WELL DONE K!!!

So I have to start some serious packing today but am feeling a bit lazy. But we only have 2 weeks left. It feels so lovely and bright in Wimbledon today and I realise again that I will miss it.
Have a look at a lovely misty morning this week. The cranes are at the Wimbledon tennis courts where they are building the new roof.

Pictures

2008-10-14T22:40:00.002+01:00

The Hyperbolic reef

Alexandra Palace outside and in..

And me...

The Knitting and Stitching Show

2008-10-12T22:49:00.006+01:00

Yesterday was the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace. I volunteered at the UK Handknitting stand, teaching people to knit or crochet.

I pretty much spent the whole day on my ass, knitting away on the Rockstar's socks. They actually proved quite a hit with everyone walking past. I managed to help quite a lot of people with sock related questions such as turning heels. And everyone seems to think that knitting socks is hard. Not in my opinion of course!!!
Anyway, so there I was knitting away and these people with cameras turn up to photograph....Jennifer Stafford aka the Domiknitrix and speed knitters Miriam Tegels and Marie-Alice Morisset. I'll tell you! You haven't seen knitting until you see these two in action!!!! Sheesh! My eyes were properly popping from their sockets! It's just a blur of hands and suddenly a row is done!
Here are the speedknitting ladies in action...

And then to top it all off...the domiknitrix walks over and compliments me on my Shalom sweater!! Double sheesh!!! Nearly pooped my pants and couldn't remember the pattern name. I felt like such an idiot!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY!! She was so nice though. I felt compelled to add her to me friends on Ravelry. Which I did....
Anyway, I spent the rest of the day helping them...

Oh I nearly forgot a photo of the Domiknitrix..

And then for everyone who either asked me about my sweater or complimented me on it.....THANK YOU!!! I was immensely flattered!!
Of course I couldn't go to a knitting show and not buy anything! Duh! So I got some Noro sock yarn and some Kauni in a black/ purple/ grey. The Noro has already been cast on. I wanted to knit the Ziggy socks from Knitty.com but after having a look through the pattern, I realised that they are colourwork. And after my past experience with too tight colourwork, I was naturally not keen. So I instead chose the popular Jaywalker pattern and combined it with the Noro Striped Scarf from Jared Flood. The scarf pattern uses one ball of yarn, wound into two balls. You then knit every two rows in alternating balls. So what you get is a striped effect with colour changing along the way. I've started it up and am about 2 inches in. Despite a rough start last night due to overly tired eyes and baby-poop for brains, I managed to correct the crap( excuse the pun) from last night. So far I have blue and green alternating rows. I'll take a picture tomorrow. The Kaui is part of the stash building project.

Hey, did I mention Alexandra palace is gorgeous?! Looky here..

mmm...I seem to be running into upload problems...will post them later.
Right now, I'm off to bed after showing some real crazies around the flat. Where do these people crawl out from?

So...

2008-10-09T19:58:00.005+01:00

Did I say I liked my camera....

I LOVE MY CAMERA!!! It really is awesome!! Today I bought a camera case and extra battery. I wanted a case that wouldn't scratch the screen when you put it in. So I got a Lowepro pouch that zips open around the top and flips open quite far. So no nasty zippers in sight. And I've been taking some pictures of pretty silly things just for the sake of taking a photo!
So here are some random pics from today...
On the night bus, the sunrise this morning and a local visitor

How worried are you about the global economy? We're not sure how it will influence us in South Africa as yet as things tend to take a while to get all the way to the end of Africa. But workwise, the Rockstar is seeing the effects already. No clients are coming in and the office is dead. Really not good news. I'm just glad that we didn't buy a flat or house as mortgage rates would surely double or triple.

Anyway, I'm halfway through the Rockstars second sock. I'm turning the heel. The yarn is softer than I thought and knits up lovely. Even the colourway is lovely. Why oh why didn't I buy another skein???? IDIOT!

Tomorrow I need to start packing some stuff and getting rid of some more. I need to be ruthless. Less crap and keep the most useful...easier than it sounds!!

Yeah! New camera at last!

2008-10-06T20:56:00.002+01:00

I finally managed to buy a new digital camera...we figured that we probably won't be able to afford one when we are back in SA so would have to buy one now while we can. Anyway, without further ado, I present my new camera....

It's the Panasonic Lumix TZ5 with 10x optical zoom, 9.1 megapixel and all sorts of other fancy things that I know nothing about! Haha! Anyway, it works like a charm and looks really nice too!

This means that I can finally retake some of my terrible project pictures from before.

I've decided to finish off those hibernating projects that are hiding in the bottom of my basket. I don't really fancy moving them with needles and all. So I finally made the straps for my Lelah top. I made 2 icord strips and attached them with press studs on the inside edge. I wanted to have them removable. They are also fairly loose which allows me to use one strap as a halter neck too. And here it is courtesy of the new camera.
This is cross back from the front

This is the back with cross straps-my arms look funny here-kinda sinewy

And the halter neck from front

Not bad I think...

And the rockstars socks are half done. I finished one last night and he already wanted to wear it. It's really knitting up nicely and I'm quite jealous!! Damn!!

And I RECEIVED MY KAUNI!!! YYAAAHHH!!! It's bloody gorgeous!!!

MUST KNIT NEW YARN......
MUST KNIT NEW YARN......
MUST KNIT NEW YARN......

DAMMIT!

The state of the nation

2008-10-04T09:31:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I heard/saw something so amazing that if I wasn't there myself, I wouldn't have believed it!
I was in a clothing store yesterday, browsing. There were two girls in the store too. One was standing next to me, browsing, the other staring in a mirror not far off. The one staring in the mirror came over and conversation went as follows:
Mirror girl: Hey, guess what. If you close your eyes, and open it again, those black bits go from very large to very small quickly! ( and here's the best bit) I thought it was a myth!

WWHHHAAAATTT!!! The black bit? Myth?
Man, what is up with the education system in this day and age? I remember learning about the eye and pupils and light reaction. And I was in a normal state school. Crazy! I feel for the future of the UK.

Pedi socks DONE!

2008-10-03T17:33:00.004+01:00

Man, I'm getting really fast at knitting socks! These guys are for a friend who requested some socks similar to mittens where the top folds away. And VOILA...

I also ordered some Kauni from Scandinavian Knitting and man, these people work at the speed of light. I ordered it on Wednesday and got it today! Nice one guys!!! And the yarn is so bloody gorgeous I could cry. I bought the ever popular Rainbow and also a purple-pink version. I really want to make a shawl but not to wear as a shawl. I want to wear it for a scarf...does that make sense?? Anyway, the yarn is really gorgeous and I really have to stop myself from starting something new. I really don't want to start anything new as I will have to start packing up soon. So with the pedi socks done, I started another pair of sock for the Rockstar as I've promised him a pair a LOOOONG time ago! ( guilty as charged) The yarn is from Fleece Artist called Nova socks and is a variegated sock yarn in black, blue and green. Secretly I would have loved this for myself but I promised....boo...
I also splashed out on some Koigu. It wasn't cheap but I figured that if we leave the country, I might never get a chance to try it EVER!!!! Now we can't have that, can we??!! Seriously now, my stash build is coming along nicely....( Mr Evil finger in corner of mouth)

Anyway, here is the Rockstar's lunch from today...

Very rock n roll!

Isn't it weird...

2008-09-30T17:16:00.004+01:00

...how the mind works..
Sitting here working on my assignment, my mind unconsciously drifts towards our whole visa situation. And suddenly you find yourself looking the world around you through different eyes and I realise the following:

Things that I will miss in the UK:
*My best friend!
*Public transport
*Availability of yarn
*Beautiful buildings
*Wimbledon common
*Cosmetics in every brand you can think of
*Clothing in every brand you can think of
*Summer in London (when it's around, that it!)
*Quaker Oats
*Ikea(!!!!!!!)
*Nice chocolate

And things that I won't miss:
*Miserable weather
*The District line - especially in summer ( and it's equivalent the 93 bus)
*My work
*Definitely the Home Office!
*Chavs
*Crap Friday night tv

Still, even though there are things that I won't miss, I still feel like I will miss ALL of it! The good and bad. And the ability to moan about the bad and laugh about the good. It still feels unreal that we have to pack up and leave. Tonight will be the first viewing for the flat! :-( And we really loved this place.
The rockstar is intent on throwing most of our stuff away or selling. He'd better not eye my yarn!! That's going with me! I've already increased my sock yarn stash! BOOHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
Still there is still hope for another development but it's still too soon to say...

Oh and I've dyed my hair back to brown. I had a terrible regrowth that would drive a hair stylist to tears but I refused to pay £90 just for a roots touch up! HONESTLY!!! It's only like 2 inches of hair!!!! I should add extortionate salon prices to my bad list!
Good old £4 box of hair colour from Boots and I'm a brilliant brunette again! WHOO!

OK I'm positively shaking from hunger...no really..I'm shaking..so I'm signing off.

Say gello to my leetle friends...

2008-09-28T22:34:00.002+01:00

These guys came to visit yesterday....

And the sunset later that night...

Norman Family Aghan update

2008-09-27T09:19:00.005+01:00

I've completed another 2 squares on the afghan-square 4 and 5.
Pictures here..

It's coming along nicely. I'm definitely happy with square 5. My tension is getting a lot better and the stitches are even-well, even enough for me to be happy in any case!
I've still not done much on my assignment. I've been too sidetracked by the visa situation. But hand-in is a week away so I will have to do some serious research from today. There may be some new developments for us but it's far too early to tell you lot about it...so you'll have to hang about a bit longer.

Anyway, here's a good example of the day to day weather changes in London.
Last night was a beautiful evening in Wimbledon...

And here is what we woke up to this morning...

What a difference!
I saw this awesome spiderweb on the balcony.

Thank yous

2008-09-26T16:57:00.002+01:00

Just a quick one to thank everyone who has replied/ sent a message on Ravelry. I guess that's the great thing about Ravelry...just when you think you are alone, you realise that everyone is right there! The rockstar's employer may have found an alternative but it is still just an idea. And even if the 'idea' materializes, we would still need to go to SA for the interim. Anyway, thanks again everyone! ((hugs))

ps...got absolutely bugger all done on my assignment today. Shit!! I only have a week left and an empty assignment....gotta get it together FAST!

Bad news continued...

2008-09-25T10:03:00.004+01:00

So bad news have been confirmed. We have to move back to South Africa in the next two months. :-((
This week has been a week of soooper emotions...sad, cross, rattled.....
Thanks to Her Majesty's home office, we are deemed not clever enough to join society in the UK. Our visa has been turned down and we have no other options left but to return to SA. We originally left to better ourselves and find a better life. Living in South Africa has it's advantages such as weather and space, but crime and work prospects were definitely not an up. We have been so unhappy and uncertain the past week. Just the thought of leaving our home of 6 years and all my friends, including my best friend, behind is just too much. That's not even thinking of packing up a house, shipping and all the other nonsense that goes with moving internationally. I'm trying to keep things together as I still have an assignment to complete for uni. Thankfully, it's my last one so I won't be losing out on my degree though I'll miss out on the graduation ceremony.
Oh well....all things considered, we had a great time in the UK and will miss it sorely. We've considered it our home and made every effort to integrate ourselves into society. Unfortunately the South African name is blighted by individuals who take the immigration system for a ride and so we were dealt with accordingly.

On the bright side, we get to see family again and will go back in high summer. I'm not going to stop blogging or knitting though!!!!! NEVER!

Anyway, on to happier things...

A friend had her birthday on Tuesday and I made some very speedy Fetching as a gift. I have to say, these are super fast to knit and really easy. Even the rockstar wants a pair-though I'm not sure he will need them in SA (it's just too hot!)

I've also finished off my handwarmers by adding some felt leaves. The colouring of the yarn made me think of leaves changing colour just before winter comes.
I also finished up Hello Kitty by adding some whiskers, a red felt heart and some seaming on her jeans. She's so gorgeous!!

I've also finished another square for my afghan-sorry no pics yet. Continental is ok. I'm still struggling with my gauge but will keep plugging on. It's still early on so I'm sure it will sort itself out.

So over and out for now....

Good news

2008-09-21T14:56:00.002+01:00

I've passed another two subjects at uni, so I am literally on the home stretch. My final assignment is examining contemporary development in the business environment, focussing on British Airways. Pah...I'm tired already and haven't done NEARLY enough...plus we are moving office as of tomorrow so this week will be a loooooooong and hard one...

Bad news

2008-09-19T09:25:00.003+01:00

Isn't it strange how people handle bad news in different ways? We got some bad news...life changing news in fact. Weirdly enough, I took it quite well. I think that secretly I was expecting it. The rockstar, on the other hand, went from disappointment to wondering why to red fury. Unfortunately it's not something that we can do anything about. We gotta take it lying down. Oh well......
I'm working on my last assignment for uni so am trying to concentrate and not get distracted by this. I just need to pass this final one. Hold thumbs...

Call an ambulance!

2008-09-17T09:33:00.004+01:00

This weekend I did the unthinkable...I burnt my fingers! Which meant no knitting!! AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!! I pretty much erased my fingerprints on all but one finger on the left hand, leaving lovely blisters. So how did I do it, I hear you ask? Well, I was helping a friend at a corporate event, running food to and from the kitchen/ marquee. Someone had just taken a metal dish containing chicken from the grill, where it was keeping warm, and placed it on the counter. And I, stupidly, tried to pick it up. It didn't hurt really. I just realised that I suddenly wasn't feeling anything in my fingers?! And let go. Then realied, WHOA! HOT HOT HOT! Quickly doused my hand under cold water. But 2 hours later I was still in agony. It just wouldn't stop burning. Of course it doesn't help that I carried on working, serving food to 300 people, trying not to cry out loud...'one or two pieces of chicken, sir?'
Anyway, 2 sambuca shots didn't stop the pain, neither did some ibuprofen, at which stage I was starting to zing!
I was sent home.
Anyway, I think that I've recovered fairly well. My fingers don't hurt anymore. They just feel like I have plasters on them-kinda dead to the touch. But I'm sure that will go away as soon as the skin comes off.
So....knitting was out of the question and I turned to crochet. I'm busy with some amigurumi-Hello Kitty to be exact! I LOVE HELLO KITTY!!!

One day I'll go to Hello Kitty land...one day.....

Anyway, last week I finished some hand warmers from my Iknit day yarn. I used my own made up pattern of k2p2 all the way, with a small thumb. I just have to weave in some end but here they are...

Their exactly what I wanted-something basic. I left with a whole bunch of yarn though so will have to have a think about what I want to do with it.

And here is my lunch for today....mmm...bento.....

I ain't dead...

2008-09-12T18:33:00.008+01:00

...just working too hard. Well, seeing as I haven't blogged for some time, this will probably be quite a long one. Last week was Iknit London day with the Yarn Harlot. I went along with the rest of the gals of the Wandsworth knitting group on the Saturday. Oh what fun! When we arrived there was a queue pretty much around the block consisting of ladies of all shapes and sizes-and a few men too.

Once inside after getting properly wet thanks to London weather, we were greeted with a ton of stalls bearing yarns and assorted. There were so many charity knit projects on display and some were actually quite good...such as....
Ingrid Wagner with her giant knitting needles.
Myself, Amy and Louise all had a go on some smaller versions..

The knitted sheep and cupboard.....

Later the afternoon there was a great vintage knits fashion show and I must admit, for someone that tends to prefer modern items, many of the vintage knits were absolutely FAB! I can't wait for the accompanying book to come out. I can definitely see myself making many nice things from it.
Here are few pics of the show including some dapper gentlemen enjoying a cuppa...

I especially like the red balloon sleeve top..mmm....

And finally the day was finished off by a classically funny talk by the famous Yarn Harlot!! I must admit, she was hilarious!!
At the presentation, I saw the following....
A man knitting socks, CONTINENTAL STYLE!!!! I was in awe...and he was wearing hand knit socks too!

A spinner...

And a whole row of knitters...

Phew....I'm tired now...

More sunsets...

2008-09-04T22:59:00.002+01:00

Sunset...

2008-09-04T22:57:00.003+01:00

MishiBaby

Sock yarn afghan

Blog is moving....

A white lace blouse

Where have you been?

A Make-up Artist's Secrets - SheerLuxe.com

Vintage Pattern: Maryke

Recent knitting

Vintage patterns

A lot of knitting!

Knitting update

Project pics

I'm baaaaaccckkkk!!

Hong Kong Blog

Hong Kong continued....

HONG KONG!!!

So much to do...

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter - Puppy

Animal Shelter - Kitties

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter

Animal Shelter - Shepherd

Animal Shelter - Foxy and fluff

Animal Shelter - Mini puppy

Knitting update....** pic heavy**

Misty evenings 2

Misty evenings

Plodding along...

Pics

so......slow......

FO's

Am I sane?

Vintage patterns

Fishes and prisons part 1

Kirstenbosch, World of Birds and a Jackass

Pics Day 1

I ain't dead...

Goodbye...

So much news...

Ps...

A bit of this and a bit of that!

This week....

Lots of news

Look what I got!

Breaking the law, breaking the law...

Oh what a night....

The craziness that is South Africa!

Progress pics

Nothing to report

It's so hot ( but I have to work!)

Travelling and knitting

((sigh)) Inlaws

Phew!

Feeling worried...

Phew..

More photos...

Franschhoek Photos

My weekend away..

Merry Christmas!!

South Africa Photos

Results!!

Still sick :-((

Middle of the night stories

It's 35 today!

Welkom ( aka Welcome)

Innocent Veg Pots

Only 3 days to go! Yikes!

One week...

Weekend break to Wales **pic heavy**

Love (1,000,000)

I love this...

I'm baaaaaccckkkk!!

Bath (Pic Heavy)

Knitting update.... pic heavy

Weekend break to Wales pic heavy