Thursday, February 9, 2012

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Sorry about the socks Dad!

It seems that my pre planning the year in socks may have hit a snag already, I had made a pair of socks that I thought would be perfect for my dad, so I popped them away in the sock tin until it was nearer to his birthday in March, but then my Pop sent me a late Christmas card (he is just a few months shy of 100 so for him to even send a Christmas card is something else) and my mum mentioned that he loves to receive mail. So later that day I sat down to hand write a letter, it has certainly been a long time since I wrote a long letter to anyone and it did seem a wee bit sad that letter writing was something that is fading from the world, but after a two page extravaganza of life according to me I thought that it would be nice to put something extra in his envelope, I searched my brain for ideas, his favorite foods, chocolate, licorice and plain chippies were all provided at Christmas so he was still well stocked for those things, he loves crosswords but sadly he can no longer see that well and it makes him a bit tearful that he can not do them without really squinting and giving himself a headache, and then boom it hit me, he feels the cold even when it is hot for everyone else, a pair of socks would keep his tootsies warm and cosy, so into the tin I delved and I found the socks that were supposed to be my dad's. They are pure wool and blue -his favorite- and they seemed to be perfect so in the post they were popped and a couple of days later he was calling all the nurses and doctors in (he lives in a care facility because he has some medical issues) to show them all "the beautiful hand knitted socks just like my mother used to make for me" everyone has had to come and see them and acknowledge the awesomeness of the sock. One of the nurses has even arranged for name tags to be sewed into the cuff so they are not "lost" into one of the other patients rooms. He was so chuffed with his socks that I have already planned another pair for him for his birthday in August in his favorite footy teams colours, along with his normal supply of chippies and licorice of course!

I have made great strides in LovelyDaughter1's birthday socks and hope that I can finish the second today so that I can make a start on the first one tomorrow, the yarn has some amazing blues, oranges and purples in it and with luck and my phone actually working tomorrow I might be able to actually  take some pics to share! But for now I have an afternoon of knitting planned, the chores are all done and I have nothing to do until it is time to make dinner so I think that a Sunday afternoon of me time is called for, I hope it is for you too!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Year!

How scary to think that we are already into the year 2012, I remember watching the Jetsons when I was little and I am pretty sure that by now, according to cartoons, we should be living in funky sky houses with robot maids and flying cars, but no we are not really much more forward than we were last year or come to think of it at the start of this millennium. It is strange to think that when the Jetsons was created the thought of living in 2012 was almost as far away as the moon and yet here we are plodding along with our little selves still making mistakes and still not owning a flying car!

I do have a half a ta-dah, perhaps I should call it a ta or a -dah depending on if you, like me, knit the second sock first and the first sock second. So this is my -dah for today, it is the second sock of a soon to be pair for my dad's birthday.


I decided that this year I would make everyone a pair of socks for their birthday, I wasn't particularly making this pair for my dad but it soon became apparent that these babies were for people who have mahoosive hoofers and the only person I can think of who has big hoofers is my dad, so they have been placed into his birthday pile.  I do have a slight problem with LovelyDaughter1's 16th birthday just a scant 4 weeks away but with some luck I should have dad's other sock off the needles soon and hers begun before it is time to panic.

Have you ever seen something so strange that you have thought "Now I've seen it all!" well today whilst doing our regular weekly shop I discovered this sitting in the supermarket, now remember we are only just into January, and Christmas wrapping paper is still lurking under the lounge chairs waiting for the dog to attack it and shred it into little bits,


Yes, they are Hot Cross Buns!!!! in January!!!!! and to add to further discombobulation to my brain there were Easter Eggs chilling by the milk!!!!!! Even LovelyHubby was a little taken aback by the earlyness of this Easteryness, what on earth are the supermarkets thinking, Eastery bits and bobs while they are still getting rid of the left over Christmas stock!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Wow!

If love was measured in Christmas gifts then I would possibly be the most loved person in the world, this is my "pile o' love"


This is not including a beautiful jumper that the girls gave me because I was wearing it! I am most loved! Some people, so it has been said, do not enjoy getting "smellies" as I call them, or scented scrubs, rubs and body lotions, but I love getting them. I get enough to last me right through to my birthday when I get more, so I can pretty much get through the whole year smelling be-oo-tiful.

We started our Christmas day with our usual trek to the beach for the kids to have a quick dip, we usually have pancakes but I was really not well enough to do pancakes and a big lunch, so it was toasted fruit bread smothered with butter and a cup of tea, for me it was my beloved fancy tea from the picture above in my new Doctor Who cup, also as seen above. The waves were massive and the kids only went in briefly but it was enough to still count as a Christmas dip!



We then came back home so that I could begin the cooking for our traditional Chrissy lunch, which was tummy filling and good for leftovers for Boxing Day, even the dessert, my grandma's trifle, made it into the next day so that we could all enjoy it again! The calories don't count if you stretch it out over two days, or so my grandma used to say, I never had the heart to tell her that I don't think it really works like that, but it was still scrum-diddly-umptous!

After lunch it was time for feet up and another cuppa, fancy tea in my new cup, and some quality time with my knitting. I was able to finish up my sock and actually started another one almost straight away, but I didn't care for the original pattern that I picked because it just didn't seem to sit well with the wool that I was using so after frogging the original and choosing another pattern I have the beginnings of another pair of socks.




You can't quite tell but the new socks have little "bow ties" on them, I must see if I can borrow a camera to take the photos instead of relying on my little phone!

I hope that your Christmas was as wonderful and loving as mine was.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas!

It seems hard to believe that Christmas is here already, I am aware that we have had almost 365 days to get around to doing something about it but life kept getting in the way! We did do the smart thing this year and begun buying gifts as early as September, every time we saw little things we thought the little lovelies would like we would pop them into our trolley and put it into a pile that has gradually grown to epic proportion, but the smaller things like food shopping and baking that can only be done in the few short days before C-Day has crept up quietly and is now leaning over my shoulder and whispering in my ear that I had better get a move on.

The lovelies have all been to their other parents houses these last few days which has left Lovelyhubby and myself with some time on our own, what did we do with this precious and very hard to come by time? We sat quietly in the living room watching the big t.v, knitting and reading blogs or in Lovelyhubbies case finishing a battle on his PC game sitting in the big comfy chair, and eating simple dinners except for one night when we sprang for a large special fried rice from the Chinese takeaway across the road.....yes we seem to have grown old up when we weren't looking!

Today I did manage to make 2 vanilla cakes, one is in the freezer next to the banana cake I made the other day, and the other is the base for my famous Christmas trifle, the jellies are in the fridge jellifying and the Christmas biscuits are all iced and sitting in the container ready to be devoured, minus the few that Lovelyhubby, the dog and myself munched on with our cups of tea tonight, we had to have them, quality control purposes you see.....it was for the good of the nation that we tried them....and they were yummy.....but again, it was only for quality control! Tomorrow I have to make the stuffing, peel the vegetables, make potato salad and coleslaw and put all the trifle fixings together to make the actual trifle, I have special fancy glasses for the trifles, we all stuff ourselves silly on trifly goodness and this may be the reason why I only make it once a year! The only things left to do on C-Day is pop it all into the oven and let it do it's own thing, make the gravy and remember to make the pancakes in the morning for our annual eat pancakes on the beach on Christmas morning excursion.

My mum received her cushions the other day and she was beyond wrapped with them, my dad still hasn't quite come to grips with how I made them but he seemed pretty impressed that something he helped to create can do something "pretty clever."

I hope that every one's Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, or whatever your celebration is, is a happy family filled day of joy, if you are travelling be safe and remember it is always better to be late than be the late, at least that's what my grandma used to say.

Merry Christmas xoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Turning a corner and seeing Harry


This has been a very busy time for us all, we have had LovelyDaughter1 graduating year 10 and passing all subjects, LovelyDaughter2 finishing year 9 and passing all subjects, LovelySon1 finishing his first year in high school passing all his subjects and then LovelySon2 finishing his year 8, after transferring to his new school half way through the year and passing all his subjects and receiving an award for his efforts.

We have had poor LovelyHubby battling the flu which has taken a rather nasty turn into pneumonia which has managed to knock him off his feet, his medication looks like something a horse should take, but with luck he should begin to turn the corner and begin to feel better very soon

In between taking the kids to various end of year events and looking after poor LovelyHubby I caved into the uber strong urge to knit some socks and have turned the heel of the first sock:



I am making the Hermione socks, the pattern is easy to follow and looks great but it is not easing the sock craving, it has made it worse, I have already got two more skeins ready to make into balls for another pair and ordered a ball last night from eBay for yet another pair, people may be getting socks for Christmas next year at this rate!

I have, as of last night, finished the front of Harry Potterpuff, I have the back part of the cushion to make and then the simple seam closing to do but then it is in the mail, finally, to wing it's way down to my mum for Christmas, thank goodness for next day delivery from our postal service!!! Without further ado here is Harry in all his bright pink glory:


His glasses look blue in the pictures but they are actually green. And here he is with his Snape Potterpuff buddy:


I think that my mum is going to like them.

I hope that all the Christmas rushing about is over for you all and that you are able to enjoy this last week before the large man in red delivers his cheer. Stay safe.
xoxoxoxoxoxo

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Ta-Dah with Christmassy sparkle

This is how I spent around 8 hours yesterday afternoon, for the rest of the evening I sparkled every time the light hit my face making me look very much in the Christmas Spirit.


I had to make 15 cards to cover my list, and I am more than sure that I have managed to forget someone!

We also made a kitchy Christmas tree using ornaments that we had made at home and using a can of gold spray paint and a branch that I picked up on one of our walks, the kids and I liked it but LovelyHubby is still a little dubious.  I have always felt guilty about chopping down a tree for just a few weeks of Christmas joy so I do not buy ones that are not in pots, but this year they are asking an extreme amount of money for a tiny tree that does not look like it will hold one ornament let alone a bunch of home made ornamental goodness.


It does look a lot better in the light because you can see all the gold shimmer but we had rain today so I still couldn't get a better picture, hopefully tomorrow will grant me a better photo!

I have also done a little more on Harry so he is coming along, all be it slowly,  and I am fighting a huge urge to make some socks, I haven't made any in a long time and I am finding it a hard battle to fight. I may cave in tonight and cast on a pair......


Maybe Harry could be a Mother's Day gift instead of Christmas and then I could, without guilt, cast on my longed for socks.

I hope your Sunday evening is a calm one with lots of cups of tea and good t.v. viewing, may I recommend Mildred Pierce and Boardwalk Empire, both wonderful shows that are great to crochet or knit socks too!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoo