The end is in sight

Is it well sewn? No.

Does it sit flat and even? No.

Are the colours harmonious and complementary? No.

Did the cat drop a flailing, screeching wax-eye onto it just as I was finishing? Yes (but it's ok, I saved it).

BUT...I am almost done! I don't care about the many imperfections. I am going to finish it and give it to our little girl as a birthday present one year. And because it isn't perfect she can mangle it and drag it about and I won't mind. I am just thrilled to bits that I will have actually finished it and it won't sit in pieces under our bed forever mocking me. Note that the messy and uneven edges will be snipped to a nice tidy line. Straight sewing evaded me.

So today I went to the little quilting shop in Onehunga and the lovely ladies helped me buy the things I need to finish it without smirking or laughing at all, and I am even in time to join in with one of their classes for a couple of evenings so they can help me finish the backing, actual quilting, and binding. I am not-so-secretly proud of myself over the fact that I am nearly done with this!

Mojo

I have finally got back into my knitting. I'm sure that while you're off galloping around Europe this is the last thing you will be interested in, but oh well! Here are the latest little knits...

The bonnet is lovely and soft to touch. It's made of bamboo fibre which I hadn't used before, but will definitely buy again. I am making a dent in my stash at the moment though rather than buying new wool, so that's satisfying!

I have also become motivated to finish knitting the socks I started (and promptly lost interest in) at the beginning of the year. I am now powering towards the toe of the first sock! Which means I turned a heel successfully. Excellent. I am enjoying knitting something different, but the annoying thing is that I have a whole second sock to knit if I want to be able to wear them! Damn pairs. Whether or not the first one fits will determine the fate of the second sock.

Hope you are having a great time in France! Miss you xxx

Swap number 2!

I took part in another knitting swap this month and just got my parcel a couple of days ago...wool! Yay! Plus chocolate and tea and some really pretty stitch markers. Just wanted to show you (gloat?). I like these swaps. It means I get new wool without guilt and often it's stuff I haven't seen for sale here.

I'm baaaaaaaack....

Woah, where have I been? Sticking my head in the sand due to the crappy weather we've been having over the last few weeks, I think. But finally today the sun made an appearance, and on a late afternoon walk I spied that the temperature was a balmy 18〫C. The ever-persistent wind was even warm.

Despite the weather, the spring flowers have been abundant for some time. The other day I cycled through the cemetery and stumbled upon a lovely field of colour. The daffodils were particularly sweet in their little clusters with their faces turned to the south, awaiting a kiss from the sun.

I am knitting furiously to get the cabled scarf done and in the post in time for my brother's birthday on the 25th. Tomorrow night I'm hosting knitting group, which isn't exactly a recipe for productivity, but hopefully I'll get there! Photos to follow.

Progress of sorts

I have made it to the sleeves on the cardi I am knitting. I don't know what has happened to my poor brain, but I am making so many mistakes and I just can't work out what I am doing wrong! Lots of little snarls and holes which I have never had trouble with before...ah well. I still like how it's coming along.

And also, I did some shopping at the Dimples sale last week, went with a friend who is in the know and found some very cute things. These little ladybird booties were my favourite purchase.

Finish Fail

I took this (bad) photo of my cross-stitch thinking I had finished...then noticed that I haven't done the word 'three' underneath to match the other 2! Sigh.

I bought the pattern book for these a few years ago and intended to make all 12 of the designs. That isn't going to happen. I don't actually enjoy cross-stitch all that much, mainly because the end product is impractical and can't be used for anything. So I am stopping at 3 and will have to try and work out what I want to do with them. I'm thinking little cushions. Maybe.

Ny cykel (och mer stickning)

I bought a bicycle during the weekend. Isn't she cute? Try as I might, however, I'm unable to adjust the seat and handlebar height on my own - where's my handyman when I need him? She's a bit rusty and noisy, but I'm excited to explore the Swedish countryside with her over the summer. The weather has been so nice here recently - still cold, but really sunny and light until late.

I like to come back from class and sit with tea at the dining table with the sun streaming in. The light this afternoon was so lovely I thought it might be nice to take some pictures of the gorgeous Rowan pattern book I picked up today. It's full of inspiration for the warmer weather and I love every pattern in it. I'd like to make that sweet little top in the last photo for summer cycling...

And my Saroyan is finally blocked. You can see the ridge in the decrease section in this picture - quite disappointing, but I still really like it. It's so warm - I was nearly expiring when taking pictures!

Retail relief

To keep myself busy while Tim's away, I settled on a cabled scarf pattern for my brother's birthday and needed some new wool. So I met a few of the knitting group girls in Malmö this fine Saturday morning at Fröken Garn. Unfortunately, once there, everything they had was far too beautiful to even contemplate giving to my brother.

Instead I bought a skein of chunky baby alpaca in a brick orange colour for me and two little balls of Norwegian milk yarn. Yep, yarn made out of milk. The very idea that yarn can be spun out of milk astounds me. Ullrika, in the group, had recently been using it to make a gorgeous baby cardigan and she said it was lovely to work with. It's so soft. And now there's a baby coming who might appreciate it too...

I could only find one skein of the alpaca. Given that I'm finding the neckwarmer you made me so useful, I think I'll try something like that. It'll be a super quick knit.

So long Saroyan!

I have washed and blocked my scarf/shawl and it came up nicely, I think I may even wear it today. I have decided not to dye it, it will go with more in this colour. Got very bored with the pattern by the end, but your finished product and the fact that I badly want to do some baby knitting motivated me to get it done! I could probably have done one or two more repeats to give it a little more length, but it covers my shoulders and is so warm...good timing. It's getting cold here!

This little cardigan is what I am going to cast on today. I am going to use some of my Debbie Bliss wool in forest-green that I got in that swap last year (you have seen the stash, I don't need to buy anything!)

I am going to make the little bird mobile too, I think it's really sweet and I need a quick project. It also has the added bonus of using up some of my quilting fabric too. Damn quilt. That is still on my 'to finish' list. Do you have a new project lined up?

I heart my stash

I went through all my wool this afternoon just to make myself aware of what is in there again! I love my wool. I had such a nice hour looking through it all and remembering where and why I bought it. I have my lovely wool from Peru, although I actually bought nicer Peruvian stuff at Mascos! There is the gorgeous ball of Danish wool from you, 2 skeins of organic cotton in a lovely pale green for a soon-to-be-little-person, and quite a bit more besides. A LOT of my wool is from Mel. I'm not sure introducing me to Southseas was a sensible idea.

I am finally on the decrease section of my Saroyan, so hopefully (illness allowing) I will be finished within a week. Then I can start something new!

Birthday...almost forgot this year!

Thanks for the birthday wishes! That food looks good. I will just get you to make it for me when you come back : ) I will keep an eye out for the post! Seems like the Swedish get their mail delivered faster than us...so maybe it won't take 7 weeks like mine did. Tsk tsk.

I had an ok day, had to work, but home now and relaxing. I have started a new cross-stitch and will reveal the cutesy pattern in due course. Having dinner with the family tonight and day off tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to you!!

What I would like to bake for you if I could. Hope you have a wonderful day!

(From here).

Nimble fingers

Finally I have the energy again to tell you about my weekend! (Really I wasn't that tired, but procrastinated as usual).

Remember how I told you a few posts back about Juliane and her beautiful dolls? Well, she taught me how to make one! She invited me to her doll-making class in Höör over the weekend, and by the end of it, I was holding a gorgeous doll, albeit bald, made by my own hands (with rather a lot of help from Juliane...) The class was held in a Waldorf kindergarten, which was the perfect pastel-y place to pass the hours hand sewing, eating cakes and chatting with my classmates. It was so much fun. I'm so proud of what I have created:

I'm just putting one photo here, but you can link to Juliane's website to see lots more. I actually haven't finished crocheting the wig yet - this one is just borrowed for the photo.

(Now I just need a little girl to gift her to - come on Tim!)

It arrived!

I love it. Thank you so much. It's absolutely perfect for the weather right now too - cold enough, but not so freezing that I need a scarf wrapped four times...

Excuse the twee way my head is cocked to one side - a dumb habit - and the super tired face. I had a really busy weekend, which I'm going to tell you all about, but right now I just need a nap!

xoxo

Free at last

I have finally finished the tiny vest that has been lurking in my project bag for months. Yes! I really like it, it's so tiny and cute. Plus it was knitted sideways so no seaming! I have made some progress on the saroyan too, although probably not as much as you...I am now about 4 repeats into the straight section, although worryingly my giant ball of wool is rapidly shrinking and I am hoping that I have enough!

Here comes the sun

Though the snow was very beautiful, I am happy to see the sun at last. I thought you might like to see a few snapshots of our walk in the park yesterday, plus a little video Tim made of himself cracking ice. It looks perilous, but the ice pond couldn't have been more than 20 cm deep!

Along with the sun, the daily temperatures have risen. But after dark it drops again and becomes icy, as I unfortunately discovered last night when running to catch the bus. Fell hard on my behind.

Final Number Fourteen

I'm quite enjoying these chore photos...maybe I'll keep going. The house would certainly benefit!

Jag heter Fiona...

...och jag kommer från Nya Zeeland. First Swedish class today - it's great to have some focus to the day at last. I'm going to try to work hard on this and enjoy it.

Is this my last picture? If so, I'm sorry it's such a bad one. Despite, or perhaps because of, the total lack of structure to my days, it has been hard for me to stick to the 10 am deadline.

Number Thirteen (without superstition)

Dishes are more fun to photograph than actually do. But I have had a productive morning. Applied for another 2 jobs and dropped in a cv for relief teaching at a local school. Here's hoping. Time to clean the house now.

I'm late, I'm late...

Gosh, I am so late with this and it's a dumb one too. I meant to take my camera on our visit today, but unfortunately forgot. Very unfortunate, in fact, because we had the loveliest day.

We went to visit Juliane and Fredrik's house, surrounded by strawberry fields (though these are covered in snow right now), in the countryside near Höör. Juliane is in the knitting group, but I hadn't met her before as she spends half her time in Berlin. She is a doll maker (take a look: frokenskicklig) and was previously a professional puppeteer! Fredrik is a sound engineer and has the craziest studio full of retro sound equipment in their little country cottage. It was Juliane's birthday and she had invited some of the knitting group and other friends and family. Everyone was delightful and there was an incredible array of cupcakes and the like. We didn't want to leave and hope we can visit them again.

It was just how we wanted Sweden to be.

Shopping Success!

After 4 completely unsuccessful outings I have finally bought some new clothes! New-old clothes from the recycle boutique in town. It turns out that you need a sister who shops more or less continuously to point you in the right direction! I got 8 different things, including a denim jacket (I know, 1990s flashback) from Diesel and a NZ designer skirt to wear to E&G's wedding next weekend. Wohoo!

Plus, Masco's was fab and I bought 5 skeins of this beautiful alpaca-merino-silk blend. Mmm. Luxury knitting.

Number Twelve

Had a quiet morning doing some knitting. Have got 2 more repeats to finish off the increase section, I like how it's looking so far. Is yours quite curly? I suppose blocking will fix that. Sick of all my wool at the moment so am paying a visit to Mascoes (sp?) today and having a coffee with my sister while I'm in town. How did the Swedish lesson go?

Stuck in the mud

Mini banana cake with chocolate cream glaze. For dessert tonight. I followed the recipe out of the Swedish book - but banana cake is the same in any language, of course! This little tin accompanied a larger sized one, so the main cake was baked in that, but it ended up too dry. I think this little guy will be just perfect though.

Saturday morning re-do

So, I have finally got going with the scarf! I started using 6mm needles but it looked loose and gappy so I have done the same as you and gone down to a 5mm. This is much better, and means I get to use my bamboo needles rather than the steel ones which sound like teeth grinding together when you knit. I should get another couple of repeats done today, it's a good pattern isn't it?

So far I have only had one moment of confusion on the last row, where I thought 'bind off 3' meant the next 3 stitches, not including the one already purled. Oops.

Number Eleven

I contemplated doing a massive heap of tissues shot, but decided that it might fall under the over-sharing category. Mmm. Bed. It's even nicer today because I had to call in sick to work (I did this yesterday so that Sara could find cover. Supposed to be assisting today at an enormous Korean wedding where the bride has 5 different outfits. Just couldn't do it. Not a good look to be blowing my nose and sneezing at the back of the church really). This book is good. I almost couldn't read it because the cover illustration creeped me out so much, but it's interesting.

4〫C

It's like Brambly Hedge round here!

Today we went for a walk to the "hill" - a park that's a bit higher than the rest of Lund, and from which, on a clear day, you can apparently see Denmark. Skåne, the province, is very flat, but Lund apparently has the greatest height discrepancy in all Sweden - the difference between the highest and lowest points of the town is the most pronounced here. By NZ standards, however, that difference isn't much...

The big melt has begun, but I doubt that this is the last we'll see of the snow.

Number Ten

Morning tea. Had to assist a friend at a photo shoot all day today, and I'm SICK, blergh. So I plodded through and was very happy at 10 (how convenient) when some lovely person brought me a tiny pot of tea. Aren't nice people nice?

In other news, my car failed its warrant. Damn. $400 worth of repairs need doing, got 2 new tyres on the way home today, that was exciting.

Has your present arrived yet? Hope I sent it to the right place! I will post some photos of the saroyan tomorrow, have been a slacker. Sorry! I'm off to soak in a hot bath for a while now. My head is all stuffed full of cottonwool and steam feels like a nice idea.

5 pm photo

Late because internet has been playing up.

This is a book of Swedish cakes and cookies. In Swedish. I bought it today at a book sale, along with a Swedish/English dictionary. The Dalahäst mini cake tin is Ikea.

Number Nine

Chore day today. Have just finished 5 hours worth of errands which included a trip to Pak 'n' Rage. Am tired. Have work (after school care) in 45 minutes and all I want to do is sleep.

Late but not forgotten!

Number Eight

My get-the-kids-attention stick with little bells. Works like a charm with the younger kids and means I don't lose my voice by the end of the day. I wonder how many words I use during a teaching day? I have never done so much talking.

This is all I got

I'm happy with how this is coming together. The pattern is really easy to follow for an idiot like me. And this wool is perfect for the project.

Number Seven

At 10am I was teaching PE and so didn't get a chance to stop for a photo (20+ 9 year olds without the boundaries of a classroom meant a fair bit of behaviour management). But this is outside where I was teaching, cute little kiwi school that it is they have native flora and NZ themed decorations.