Post 641 Nature and Knitting

 

It was a long weekend for the King's Birthday.  I spent it very quietly, trying to advance the gigantic Berwick cardigan to a point where I could try it on and survey the damage. It was a relief to venture out to dinner and crosswords on Saturday evening. 

As supermarkets don't open on Public Holidays, I ventured to Frewville on Sunday to stock up on a few things I was running short on. Of course, I came home laden. 

I had plenty of time to admire sunrises - Sunday to the left, Monday below.

I paid a bit of attention to the balcony plants.

The Aeonium is flowering, as well as the pale Schlumbergia

My efforts to fill the abandoned barbecue tub with nasturtium plants has had only mediocre results. Three plants are still alive, but hardly thriving. After Katherine mentioned getting Nasturtium seeds from the Digger's Club, I remembered the Diggers' shop in the Botanic Gardens, so I pushed myself out of the apartment on Monday afternoon and visited.

It is really uplifting to walk through the gardens with so many families enjoying them. 

I bought 8 different varieties of nasturtium seeds and some fertiliser, pausing on the way to photograph a pair of ducks posing in front of the fountain.

They were still there on my way back, allowing me to capture them from the other side.

I have only planted half of one packet of the seeds. It's worth a try, but Spring might be better.

Somewhat in contrast, on the way home from Pilates and the Queen St Cafe on Thursday, I managed to capture a rainbow over the western parklands, where the road into the city curves to the right. I'm not sure what promise the rainbow is making to the parklands - a sacred border around the city mile, declared in 1837 and currently being controversially developed to extend a golf course and car racing track. 

While at the cafe I had just signed a petition against the development. I'm hoping the rainbow is a promise to the trees!

 I have made a lot of progress on the Berwick cardigan. It is slower going than I'd like, but I just keep plugging away. Apart from swimming I worked on it all day today and most of the weekend. 

I have completed the front bands (they are still on stitch holders), joined the shoulder seams and cut the right-hand steek. 

It's still a bit hard to tell, but I now think I will be able to wear it. 

Although it is wide, it will drape, and the fronts will cross over. They can be held with a shawl pin if required. I think the shoulder drop means the sleeve will only need to be about 24cm long. In the photo I have completed about 10cm.

It will be touch and go with the grey wool. I have about 350 gm left. It will finish the sleeves, but I don't know that it will also be enough to pick up 718 stitches around the fronts and bottom and knit 6 rows of rib. I don't want to order more wool until I know I need it - so I'm knitting like my grandmother - every available minute!

Tomorrow is WES Group, so not much knitting!

Post 518 Adventuring

I posted last week from Adelaide Airport while waiting to board my plane to Canberra, the first flight I've made since March 2020. It was a smooth and pleasant flight, taking off over the sea, then swinging around over fairly bare terrain and cloud for most of the flight. I used to fly to Canberra fairly regularly, and had forgotten the regular pleasure of descending through clouds to the unexpected vista of lakes and land that surround the city.

It's lovely - and a large part of (for me) the attraction of our National Capital.

Creeks and roads wind through the hills, eventually revealing isolated farms, and then the lakes emerge in the background, with a glimpse of carefully located wind farms.

I had forgotten the joy of it.

The best part, of course was being there, spending time with Alison and Karl, catching up with a couple of friends. I have quite a few friends in Canberra and I'm glad I decided not try to see them all. I want to do things mindfully. There'll be other times.

Canberra does wildlife fairly well. There were bird sounds from dawn to dusk, currawongs, miners, and plenty of sulphur-crested cockatoos.

I spent a few hours meeting friends in the Botanic Gardens where we shared deck space with this Eastern Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii). 

 The flowering gums along the path to the carpark were doing a fine job of attracting the bees.

I also visited The Crafty Frog, to spend the voucher Alison and Karl gave me for Christmas. They have an enormous selection of wools (which I avoided) and an excellent selection of threads I needed.  I came away with a treasure trove (right).

The book on Brioche knitting is a find. I've wanted to try this, but without a focus. This has very clear instructions, including how to cast on and rib for Brioche, how to work it in the round, tips for finishing, and, surprisingly, a section on developing ideas and designs.  It looks as if I won't be reducing my knitting projects any time soon!

The best find, however, was the ebony needles. I have been pretty committed to bamboo needles, which are much kinder on my hands than plastic or steel. at The .Crafty Frog had about half a dozen sets and I was intrigued so bought 2 sets in a size I could use on the project I had with me. It took about 10 minutes for me to decide these were the best needles ever.

They are hand made in India, smooth and silky to the touch. I want to use them always, and within 24 hours of being home, had found a supplier of interchangeable sets and ordered them. They are not easy to find. I suspect they are not being made in any quantity, if at all. If you are a knitter, and stumble across them, buy them!

We went to Pollen, a bit out of town, for lunch on my birthday, which was also my last day in Canberra. It was a delicious, leisured meal in lovely surroundings.

The flight home was a bit bumpy, but without drama. Our entry into Adelaide at sunset provided - in contrast to our Canberra entry 3 days previously- cloudless views of the city. Although both flights descend over hills, Adelaide is drier, more heavily populated, and jammed between the sea and the hills.

And of course there's the Oval.

I had forgotten the routine and pleasure of air travel. I had expected, but didn't experience, disruption and hassle. 

Security checks at Canberra on the way home did pick up two doubtful items in my luggage, a credit-card size steel all-purpose opener-of-everything piece of merchandise I had slipped into my handbag because I didn't know what else to do with it, (great idea if you are not flying anywhere!), 

and a bag of cotton reels that had belonged to my mother, passed to Alison and are now coming to me. As commonplace as these may be to some of my generation, it is hardly surprising that current airport security staff want to examine a 'bag of cylinder-like objects' showing up on their computer screen!

Since arriving home, I've caught up on sleep, been to my Book Club, had coffee with Panayoula and managed to get to Aquafit today. 

I've made quite a bit of progress on the prayer shawl, ordered some more bookmarks (yes, I know) using the photos above of the cockatoo, the lizard and the bees, and finished the tote bag of native plants. Detail in my embroidery blog.

The Duftin Tote Bag kit was waiting in my letterbox. I'm a little daunted by the punch needle component in cotton, not wool, but a piece of test fabric is included, so if I don't like the test piece I will embroider instead. 

As I predicted last week, the frangipani was blooming to welcome me home on Friday night and has further opened in the hot weather we have had since. It is a hybrid of the pink and white varieties and does have scent!

Temperature here is a bit warmer than I prefer, but it would be churlish to complain in what has been a simply fabulous week. 

Now I'd better get back to researching Mexican embroidery!  🙏