YULE TIDINGS

It's great when you find something that is exactly what you have been looking for, the white Gnome is this years new Christmas decoration. I would have liked him to be a little bigger but he's perfect in every other way. I love all white critters and my collection is gradually growing. This years Christmas is on the small scale with lots of small presents for my niece Lilli and Swedish gingerbread for every one as well as the usual cash. I haven't blogged for ages, I've been extremely tired there's been a lot of lack of sleep and after a while you become a little zombiefied  and unable to speak in sensible sentences. This morning I found the tea towel I lost last night in the freezer! why? how? who knows.

Spring is definitely here,  it's a warm and beautiful day. I can only manage a short post as my online connection keeps disconnecting, the phone company just can't seem to be able to fix my telephone line. Furgus is letting me take his photo while being scratched all without biting, he still has his watch it crazy eyes.  My new book arrived! I usually buy second hand but it was cheaper to buy new how odd.  I've just watched  "Julie and Julia"  the film about the blogger Julie Powell and the cook Julia Child,  I didn't read the book about the blog but her blog is still there to read.  The bottom photo is the boned, stuffed and encased duck that was part of the last dinner in the film. I'll add the link to Julie Powell's old blog when my computers feeling more co-operative.

APPLE GREEN

My first mitten has been languishing in my knitting basket for quite awhile now.  I've been unable to knit due to the extreme Furgus scratch and bites on my right hand, payback for the teeth cleaning vet visit (that cost $288.00 by the way). He managed to cut right through the skin and I had to have two tiny stitches, my hand is still stiff and a bit numb but has healed perfectly. There have been heaps of leeks in the vegetable garden and my garlic is growing well. I planted small patches all over the garden rather than one large plot as it can get mildew, I'm hoping that this will reduce the size of the loss if I have any problems. I think I must have been channeling  cindy2paws  when I chose some new kitchen bits and pieces, love apple green in the kitchen.

VIVA LE TOUR! WITH HANSA MITTENS

It's been almost  two months without blogging, here's just a sample of the hectic last month.  Family member in intensive care after operation then goes home then back in hospital again,  phone line down for over a week! can you believe it, all calls redirected to mobile then internet connection down, that was fixed pretty quickly thanks to netspace. This month I decided to join the ravelry  Tour de France 2011  knitting kal, my project would be one pair of mittens using two colours Scandinavian style.  Colour selection was tricky the fingering balls I liked were just too expensive for a first project as there was going to be some frogging going on. On the second trip to my yarn shop and armed with at least ten different patterns all I came away with was another set of needles and several balls of black. I had some green DK that had four strands of yarn so I spent the evening unplying and rewinding to make a ball of fingering in a nice easy to see green.  All of my procrastination took up the first week of the tour, mitten on needles actually being knitted was on the first of the mountain stages. I chose the Hansa Mittens by Tuulia Salmela because of the nice pointy top and the gusset thumb, the colour pattern isn't  too  hard for a beginner. The bottom photo shows the gusset, Tuulia Salmela can be found on ravelry as Tuulia and her blog is   Knitlob's Lair-Louhittaren Luola . Will I get both mittens done by the end of the tour?  I don't think so but I'm sure I'll have one done. We had to take Furgus to the vet today he's having his teeth cleaned it's the first time I've had to leave him there. His meowing was so sad but the nice vet after hearing his cat home story let me leave my mohair scarf in his cage. There's always a risk with anesthetic so I'm waiting for the O.K. call.

GNOMUS MAXIMUS

My Gnomey Hat is finished and as you can see it's a little on the large size. The original pattern has a longer  piece at the back and ear flaps. I decided to simplify the pattern so it would be an easy first hat project, I carefully wrote out every row and measured exactly where to start the decreases. While I was knitting flatmate and I watched The Last Of The Mohican's so instead of stopping and measuring I just took a wildly incorrect  guess so we didn't have to have a break from the film. The band has stayed flat after blocking and the lopi-kid mohair mix (x1strand-lopi,x2strands-kid mohair) has made a soft, warm and thick fabric. I've offered to make the flatmate one in any colour of his choice but sadly he's declined. After digging around in my stash I found some lovely red mohair perfect for a second Gnomey the first swatch is off the needles I have about one more to go to get the gauge. 

The wonderful pattern used is the Gnomey Hat by Eskimimi Knits

Swedish Christmas decorations wearing little Gnomeys. 

FELTED BOOTIES

The slipper booties are finished and they're warm and toasty. I gave them one hot wash but I think they could do with more felting.  There's still quite a bit of fluffiness and I would like them to be a little denser. The next item on my Winter list is a gnomey hat,  I'm still working out yarn combinations (from stash) to make the correct gauge.  I wonder how many sets of needles you need to have in your knitting kit so when you want to start a new project you don't need to go and buy more. The pattern has a gauge of 13 stitches  = 10cm  I'm knitting 16 stitches so it's either new needles or thicker yarn.  I thought one strand of Lopi plus two of mohair should  be about right and be super warm and soft.  I'm not sure if a black gnome hat would look like a gnome or a witch? red would be nice and is a traditional colour but it has to be from my ever growing stash.  So more digging around in plastic boxes and trying to remember what I actually have squirreled away.
Pattern link   Felted Slipper

KNITTED SLIPPER BOOTS

The weather has been cold and wet, time to start wearing my ugg like boots (Skecher's). It seems I still have trouble with the top of my foot aching whenever I wear a firm shoe. I've tried to knit slipper boots before but the result was not very successful. They were to big and the wool did not felt well, I did several test squares and they felted fine so it must be something  about  the whole kitted object versus a flat test square. I even tried boiling them for an hour or so but that just made the house smell like wet sheep. After a pattern search  I found the perfect pair. The photo shows the boot before the added top band.

Felted Slipper Boots by Biscotte

I've used two strands of Lopi so they are extra thick and firm, I've also closed the front slit, picked up stitches, joined and knitted around the top to make them longer. All I have left to do is the top on number two, Furgus loves to help by killing the wool balls and any hand he can reach. On Sunday I cooked a very simple and totally satisfying dinner, sausages with potatoes and last of the summer vegetables from my garden. The cold weather has almost completely stopped the zucchinis and I only managed to freeze a small bag of peas, the rest were enjoyed raw.  Flatmate brought home a CPR practice kit with a very creepy plastic man, I wonder who designs these sort of things. To top off another week of live micecapades Furgus gave me an extra special gift one young live rat. The one thing I have a phobia about, stand on the table screeching kind of phobia. You know when Furgus has something alive by his meow so I went into the kitchen ready to deal with a mouse instead there was a panicked rat. I jumped onto the kitchen table while Furgus played with it, I was screeching and pointing , the rat was screeching and that made me screech even more finely he took it outside. Three hours later I found the rat in the kitchen again this time almost dead but not quite so the poor thing had three hours of Furgus torture. I wrapped it in a tea towel and it had pleading grateful eyes all I could do was ask flatmate to deal with it when he got home from work.

 

ZIGS AND ZAGS

On Thursday we went on  a drive to Mount Field and on the way flatmate was pointing out landmarks it's sort of a game, animals are included we have to see at least one native animal a trip, anyway he called Mount Direction and I thought what a good name for my mittens. I think crazy zigzag for the top, something like a mix of zigzags from the photo above and stripes on the palm and a gusset thumb with stripes. On the walk to the waterfall we spotted a pottaroo  but all I managed to photograph were little glowing eyes and native fish. The little mouse is one of the many Furgus has been playing with inside, it's a native mouse and they make a whistling sound to communicate. They don't seem to eat meat and they're not garbage mice so saving one or two doesn't seem so bad.

EARTH HOUR

To night is the start of Earth Hour and this is my lounge room at 8.30 PM,  a small gesture and a cute bunny. Furgus has invented a new game called catch a mouse and let it go inside, then sit back and watch as I run around trying get it outside! there have been three today so far.  I'm sure he likes to hear me squeal if the mouse jumps on me. I've started to knit again, for some reason over the last year I just haven't had the thinking energy to start or finish a project but the last two days have been great and I've been working on swatches for mittens.

LIONS AND TIGERS

On Sunday we went to Zoodoo with a couple of friends to see the white lions, they're only half grown and the male already weighs 160 kilos. Zoodoo actually let you into a caged section so you can take photos without the glass in the way. They came right up to us the male charged the cage playfully and just before he was looking right at me when I managed to take his photo it was just like a domestic cat  pouncing. They also did the same with the tigers and they even let you hand feed them a piece of meat with a pair of tongs. I'm not big a fan of animals in captivity but  Zoodoo is part of the breeding program to save the gene pool, also if they don't want to play or eat in front of an audience then they don't have too. None of the big cats seemed to mind people watching them and the white lions were showing off and playing with toys. The photo of the tiger below you can just see the caged section where you can go in and see them up close, that's right where I took his photo when he looked at me. Furgus is completely better and spent an evening guarding the remote control. His open mouth means will bite hand, arm, fingers so I just had to leave him to it.

PINKEYE POTATOES

I've had mixed results so far with the vegetable garden but just look at the lovely  pinkeye potatoes. I might be the only person who can not grow a pumpkin or a yellow zucchini or even the most easy of all vegetables, Blackjack zucchini (for the whole season I have only managed three full sized).  I can now say I grow my own pinkeye's so all is not lost after all. I gently cooked them in water without salt, then tossed them in some butter, snipped chives, a small amount of chopped mint and freshly ground black pepper, totally yum.

FELT FRIENDS

 

I just could not resist this little craft book by Naomi Tabatha and it's in English which is good because I have a bit of trouble deciphering Japanese how to pictures. The stitching is so neat and small, this will be the hardest part as my hand stitching is still a little uneven. It's raining today so I have the perfect excuse to start sewing I'll try a kitty first as the shape isn't as complicated as some of the others. Furgus came home with a bleeding paw on Wednesday night and he would not let me look at it. He hissed, snorted and growled as I chased him around the kitchen and the floor ended up looking like a crime scene. So a trip to the vet was booked, it's so sad that whenever we put him in his travel box he thinks he's going back to the cat home and gets really upset. The sore paw turned out to be a bite, the nice lady vet gave him an antibiotic injection instead of tablets, it lasts for fourteen days so much easier. Furgus was so well behaved at the vet he didn't bite and he only snort-growled once when his teeth were looked at. A little extra spoiling when we came home made him a very happy cat.

AMELIAS NEW DRESS

This is my gorgeous new monitor an Acer S221HQL, also brand new speakers and keyboard, this has made such a difference no more squinting at the screen next, on the list is a new printer. My computer had a couple of problems including sound which  I thought could be the speakers but it turned out to be more serious, wiped motherboard drives not by me but a well meaning family  member. I've found a great computer fixer in the Hobart area called  Computatune.  Greg Burns will come to your house plus he's very reasonably priced, new customers about $60.00 ish for the first hour he can do anything with Windows.

The only crafting I've managed has been a dress for my Blythe doll,  I'm a grown up with a Blythe doll fascination and I would secretly like to have more Blythe's but I'll have to save all my gold coins again before  I can buy one.  I wasn't a girl that liked Barbi or dolls it was our dog and cats, books and drawing instead. Someone gave me a large china Shirley Temple doll when I was little, her teeth used to glow in the dark and I couldn't go to sleep unless she was covered up. The cover always seemed to fall off during the night and I was sure she was a haunted doll because she would always end up back in my room even when I hid her outside.
Mental As Anything were in Hobart last Friday night so some friends and I decided to go and see them. The venue was a little scary ( older bogans) so our group felt a little out of place, but the band was great. Martin Plaza is much shorter in person and they can still belt out a song in tune. There was sing-a-long fun for everyone.

PEAS PLEASE

Fresh from the garden purple podded peas and a couple of mammoth snow peas. This will probably be the last of them as the plants were damaged in the freakishly strong winds  we just had. I was lucky and got to spend a day at the beach Cremorne and then Clifton (below) , totally perfect beach  weather the water was warm and almost no wind. I spent most of the time covered head to toe and with a layer of super extra strong sunscreen designed to attract a thick layer of sand, probably part of the sunscreen rating. 

 

This is my favorite way to serve meatballs,  you can do this with any sized meatball I just like small ones. The  basic recipe is called Bitkis, they look a little yellow but that's just the grated carrot . All you do is arrange  the meatballs in a single layer or leaning one against the next for larger patties. Cover with  cooked tomato  sauce  I use the plain bottled tomatoes from the supermarket. Add some garlic slithers, fresh thyme sprigs (push into sauce) . Spoon some firm plain yoghurt, decorate with some parsley  and cracked pepper heat until  bubbling, serve with some mashed potatoes.