Post 260 Counting stitches and figures

I began relatively early this morning because the cleaner was coming. While he did all the work I sat down to try to to finish the Counted Sashiko. It is a really interesting process. It reminds me of Sudoko.

You lay a geometric foundation and the pattern emerges as you add the stitches in various directions.  It's very mathematical, very beautiful and very satisfying.

It also requires great accuracy. I didn't get by without unpicking.

It was a lovely Adelaide morning, bright and warm with a little breeze. I took my stitching and lunch out on the Eastern balcony. 

Before long I had company.

Blush made herself comfortable on the balcony rail. She stayed quite a while.

I spent a bit of time photographing some of the succulents. Yesterday at our Sit'n Stitch we discussed embroideries of succulents. This is certainly a harmonious colour palette.

When I finished lunch round 3 pm I decided it was time to focus on gathering my tax information together. It took me nearly six hours - adding up small amounts, trawling through emails for receipts. I think I finally have it together, except for my private health cover summary, which is usually mailed to me, but hasn't arrived in print or electronically this year. I will have to log on to their website - a tedious job for tomorrow or Monday.

I recovered from the six tax hours by finishing the Counted Sashiko bands. It is straight - I can't do better with the camera angle.

I would like to have finished the border too, but I am not sure about the instructions, So I'll wait to sort this tomorrow. 

I need to cut a couple of fabric and 4 cardboard circles - but I think I'll do that tomorrow morning before I go. Tomorrow is forecast to be 37C and windy. Good day to be stitching in the Guild's air-conditioned Gallery.

Post 259 Sitting, Stitching, and a bit of flying.

First job this morning was to check the blocked shawl. Yes, it was dry! Pins removed, it came up well. I wove in the two threads at the beginning and the end and there were two places where I made a minor adjustment to the tension using a thread of the wool.

I'm very happy with the result. It would definitely pass through a wedding ring. That isn't likely to be an issue if Katherine wears it to a wedding tomorrow!

Myrtle seems to have found a new way to indicate she would like some fresh seed. This morning she took up a position beside the seed container, right outside the door. And waited. There were still a few grains of yesterday's seed on the ground, so I resisted. 

I gave in when she brought reinforcements.

Seemingly contented, she settled in for a long rest.

Sit'nStitch again today. Jennifer has finished the needleroll we cut out last week. It is really good. We've suggested she add a little pocket on the outside for the gauge.

She already has demand from the craft group at her apartment complex for a workshop to make them.

Today Susan made an Armenian nutmeg cake for our afternoon tea. Delicious. These are the pieces I brought home!

I watered the plants on my balcony when I got home this evening. The trees and plants looked so lovely I tried to photograph them. As I pressed the button on the photo, Turtle flew into view and landed on the roof above. I had actually captured part of the flight.                                             I am mightily pleased with this photo.

This afternoon, and again this evening, I worked on the counted Sashiko piece for the second workshop this coming Sunday.  It isn't fast work but I managed to work two more bands. There is now a chance I can get another two bands worked tomorrow, so I have the embroidery finished by Sunday, when I can concentrate on construction at the workshop.

We'll see.

Oh, and the Aesop Frame was available this morning. I had a few issues with money transfer but eventually got it ordered using a funds transfer after trying unsuccessfully to use a debit card. The bank sent me an email to say they were concerned about transactions on my account, which they had frozen, and asking me to ring them, which I did immediately (11.45pm here!). The transactions, as I suspected, were my attempts to pay using a card. They have now unfrozen my card.  Good service though.

I was able to use my Lucky Draw Prize from the Retreat to off-set the cost of the Aesop Frame. It isn't quite as large as I had allowed for, so I think I might need even one more piece to finish the chair!

I'm in no hurry I still have two pieces to complete (well, actually to start) for the front skirt and the feathers to attach. I won't be running out of crewel work any time soon.

Post 255 Mostly Counted Sashiko

 

It was close to my idea of perfect weather in Adelaide today - 28C and a bit of a breeze.  The Jacarandas are coming into their own. I didn't have time to divert around the streets in which they are planted this morning as I needed to be at the Guild by 9.45am.

There were 13 students at the Counted Sashiko class. I continue to be impressed with the way the Guild is implementing its Covid Safe Plan, and with the way everyone is complying. Margaret, the Covid Marshal for the day, was invited by Carol, the teacher, to go over the requirements - sanitise hands, sign in with phone number and time, remain seated at the designated places, no kitchen access, follow cleaning instructions in toilet, wipe down your area before leaving - before we began. There is goodwill and appreciation that we are privileged to meet and need to keep each other safe. None of us wants this disease in our community, and even though we currently have no locally transmitted cases in SA there is awareness that that can change.

I really enjoyed the class. Counted Sashiko is a fairly recent addition to Carol's teaching repertoire and she has done an enormous amount of testing and preparation. The class was originally scheduled for May but postponed twice because of lockdowns, so she has been adding to her samples in the intervening months. These are all samples she has worked. 

She is also a very student-centred teacher, working hard to establish the requirements of the technique but encouraging and enabling adaptation and experimentation so the resulting work is highly individual.  It's always great to be in one of her classes.

I was working the simplest sequence of the Perle Thread Keep she had designed and I managed to stuff up the second design in the sequence. No matter,  I adapted, with Carol's blessing. I also discovered that the fabric I had prepared was a 26 thread-count, not 28. Again, it's not a problem. I just need to adjust the length. 

This is where I got to at the end of today's class.

I managed one shot of Jacaranda on my way home.

I had snapped these quickly this morning before I hung the washing out. Blush, all on her own, happy to stay still while I distributed seed. Most of the seed was gone when I got home, so either she or others of the balcony brigade had visited while I was out. While I could hear plenty of bird calls while getting in the washing, no birds were visible. The leaf cover on the trees is now dense enough to cover them most of the time.

I was determined to knit tonight, but thought I'd just finish the three patterns I started... This, of course, ended up taking nearly all evening. I have also marked out the new finish line and marked the position of the bands I intend to add to reach the finish.

No more until my shawl is finished!

Post 254 Day of the Doves

I slept in this morning. Unsurprising, since it was well after midnight when I posted yesterday's blog and headed for bed.

As I was about to have breakfast, a dove arrived. Myrtle or Blush? I incline to Blush, younger and slightly slimmer than Myrtle but similarly pink of breast. She was not shy, exploring the whole space and allowing me to open the door, distribute seed and take photos.

She is a really nice looking bird and made herself at home.

An hour or so later, two birds arrived together, definitely a young pair. Neither of them had a clear pale pink breast. One, I think, was Stormy.  They too, made themselves at home, exploring the whole space, coming right to the door.

Adelaide doves only live about 2 years, so they must mature quickly.  I'm pretty sure these are the adolescent birds Turtle was chasing away only a few months ago.

I left to pick up Niamh and take her to JEMS. I had planned to do a bit of shopping for Monday, but decided against it. It was a bit busy around the Central Market as I came past. The sun was out and the jacarandas too.

When I arrived home, the car park entry door didn't open when I used my device. I thought I had a spare battery in the car but I was wrong. I managed to squeeze my car into  a space in the Square and go upstairs for a battery. It did not, however, solve the problem. The door was evidently not working. Our pod rep reported it. At least I had my car out of the carpark.

I had yet one more visitor before picking Niamh up at the end of JEMS - Stormy, back again on his own, having another good look around,  coming right to the door. 

I suspect we have a transfer of entitlement of rights to my balcony to a new generation.

Niamh and I had milkshakes at the Queen St Cafe.

Back at their place Katherine and I knitted while Anthony cooked up a storm of meat and potatoes. Lots of interesting conversation. 

I now have 245 stitches on the needle. It's about 65cm long and probably 80-90 cm wide at the needle. The ball still has a good few centimetres of shawl left. I'm now on a mission to finish this week.

But right now I need to get ready for tomorrow's Counted Sashiko class.

Post 252 Mostly Myrtle and a little linen.

 It took most of the day to put this collection together. It's the requirement for Carol Mullan's Counted Saskiko 'Perle Cottons Keep' Class this coming Sunday.

 The basic requirement is a piece of 28 count linen marked out with 4 thread tacking to directions. To find the what 28 count linen I had, I ended up emptying my linen, silks and sundry fabric drawer onto the floor and sorting it out. I've known for a while this needed to be done. Today was the day.  I now have a fairly tidy drawer of various linens, trigger cloth, and huckaback. There is a pile of silk still on the floor, waiting for me to find a container and make a space for it.

It turned out the only 28 count I have left is some dark red Lugarno. I have a dark blue piece of Jobelan that is labelled 28 count, but in fact is 32. At the end of the clean-out, I decided the red was fine.  I also need one skein of stranded cotton in a colour that will show up. I couldn't get it down to one, but three will do. The Liberty print is for the lining.

Before emptying the drawer I blocked the Rabbits. I have tightened them this evening. They are very slightly damp so I haven't tried to put them together.

While I was trying to get the tacking started, Myrtle turned up and began eating the left-over seed from yesterday.  She allowed me to add seed. 

She was very alert to the various bird noises around.

Between the linen and Myrtle, I was late for Pilates.  Afterwards I went to North Adelaide to get more fruit and veg. When I got home there was another notice from the Post Office saying I'd missed a parcel.

Reluctantly, I decided I couldn't pick it up after 4 today. 

Yesterday the periodontist practice rang to say they had a cancellation at 4.40 this afternoon if I wanted it. I accepted. The practice is 4 blocks away from where I live - in the opposite direction to the Post Office. I considered driving, but couldn't count on being able to park, so I put off picking up the parcel until tomorrow.   

 I stopped in the Square to photograph the bark on a tree.  

So lovely.

The result of the periodontist visit is an appointment to have one molar removed in February. The root has split around the post inserted some 20+ years ago - a result of the technology of the time.

Back at home, recovering from the periodontist, I noticed Myrtle again. this time really exploring the balcony. I'm not 100% sure that it was Myrtle, and not Blush grown more mature. Either way, the exploration is new.  Not only that, but she kept flying away - to the roof, or away across the trees - then returning for more exploration. It reminded me of a teacher on yard duty - covering all the spaces, but dashing back to the staffroom, or classroom to check that all is well, or to grab a coffee. 

She let me open the door. I wondered if she was trying to tell me something. Was she after water?

She let me step out onto the balcony without her flying away. 

When she flew off next time I filled the water dish.  She did drink next time she returned

All in all, she returned 7 times and explored most of the balcony, eating a bit of seed along the way - but not all of it, and seemingly less important than the exploration. It is the first time I have stepped fully out on to the balcony with one of the doves. I didn't move a lot, but it was a moment of presence and acceptance.

I spent most of the evening finishing the tacking on the linen - and  writing this post. It's been an odd kind of day. I'm hoping to read some more of The Survivors before I fall asleep, but suspect that won't happen!