Post 570 Hands and Eyes

I finished last week with my bandaged hand, 

As you can see, I stitched the bandage layers together. They kept slipping apart, exposing the cotton wool padding, so I found a couple of threaded needles (threading being beyond me) and stitched crudely with my left hand. Rough and ready, but effective.

Friends phoned to see how I was going and family checked in. In the evening I had a go at stitching left handed. Before the operation I had threaded three needles for the next round of the evil eye mandala - a straight stitch round, which I managed to complete. With a seated hoop I could move my left hand below and above, my right hand resting on the hoop. Not entirely comfortable, but workable. My left arm muscles got a bit of a workout.

By Wednesday the pain in my hand had subsided. I washed my hair under the shower left- handed.  My right hand, in a plastic bag, secured by two elastic bands, remained outside the spray. Later, I sat for a few minutes in the car, testing my grip on the wheel, before driving about 1km to the dentist. I had no trouble, no pain in my right hand gripping the wheel with thumb and two fingers. The bandage bulk was a nuisance, but not an impediment. My new dentist was running late but thorough, pleasant and efficient when we connected. My new mouth guard should be ready in three weeks.

On Thursday I saw my hand therapist who cut away the clunky bandage, amused by my stitching. The gauze covering the excision remains in place until the stitches are removed next Monday. She made me a moulded cover which protects the dressing and wound. I can take it off if I want a break, or leave it on. It’s a little sore, but not painful.

On my way home I stopped at Gorman in Rundle St, to check out a dress I’d seen online, then called at the Jura shop. I bought the dress and discussed a coffee machine glitch at the Jura shop. As always, they were super helpful, working out the problem and a simple fix, which I tried as soon as I got home. It worked! 

It was then I realised that the shield was not on my finger! Panic! I grabbed the apartment key and retraced my steps to the lift and the carpark. Through the car window I saw it, sitting behind the steering wheel! Clearly I need to pay more attention!  The shield appeared to be firm, but could easily slide off.  In my panic I had not grabbed the car key, so back upstairs and down again, eventually reuniting finger and shield -  and having a coffee!                                                                         

I am able to stitch with the new dressing. Although I can't use the affected finger, I can now use the middle finger and thumb to thread a needle and to pull a needle through fabric. That's quite workable, I can touch type, with the middle finger doing double duty. I have added a plaster to prevent the cover coming off!

The first Guild Certificate Course workshop for 2025 was on Saturday and I made the effort to attend. I've missed the last few and I miss the stitching and the people.  This one was taken by Carol Mullan on Huckaback, Creating New Designs on Aida Fabric .

I have done quite a bit of Huckaback, and have a bit of Huck fabric in my stash, but I was interested in the notion of designing on Aida. The requirement for the workshop was an A4 piece of Aida and assorted threads. I had used up most of the Aida in my stash but found a piece I’d bought from the Guild trading table - mat sized, 35cmx42cm, already edged with bias tape and centre marks tacked .

It was an excellent workshop. I enjoyed catching up with Guild friends I haven’t seen for a couple of months and Carol is an inspiring teacher. The problem was, while others were experimenting with small samples  of designs, it seemed a shame not to use the whole of my mat-sized piece, so I began playing with a border, intending to keep working my way into the centre. Fortunately, Carol pointed out that a border might be sufficient to achieve the design goals!  I lasted until lunch by which time my hands were both aching. It is, however, addictive and I returned to working on it that night and on Sunday.in between proofreading for my brother.

It was a long weekend here, 35C-37C each day and 22C overnight on Sunday. We ate outside on Saturday night, I stayed in on Sunday, venturing out to stitch with a friend on Monday afternoon. She helped me decide how to fill in the border of the workshop piece. More on that next time.

Final story for this week is a follow-up to our robbery. The strata committee have now viewed the CCTV footage which shows a lone male entering through a narrow passageway behind the apartment block, separating fence panels to enter the carpark, then dodging behind cars and lockers to avoid people as they go to their cars.

His theft from my locker is not caught on camera. However, he exits though our foyer, which is on camera. He has a stolen trolley, now loaded with my boxes and someone's fishing rods. Outside our front door is a small entry area. The lock on the gate has been jamming in the lock position, so was strapped open. A confused resident, blaming a visiting tradie, had removed the strap, shutting the gate. The thief finds the gate won't open, The apartment door has closed behind him and he is trapped with his goods.

Having come this far, he throws the boxes over the railing (right) into the garden, followed by the trolley, and then himself - all caught on CCTV. He picks himself up, retrieves the trolley, reloading the now broken boxes and the fishing rods. All this, however, has made a noise, and further along the road, our Strata president has come out to see what's going on.  As the thief makes away with the loaded trolley, the President gives chase. Thief abandons trolley and runs away! 

That's how my stolen goods came to be returned.  A report, and CCTV footage will be supplied to the police following the proper processes. 

The neighbour who shut the gate by mistake is a heroine!

I finished the second Evil Eye Kit, and have started on the third. Details in my embroidery blog.

I apologise for so many off-putting photos and anecdotes this week. For me the experiences were alleviated by some very satisfying stitching.

Maybe the mandala is working!

Post 554 Spring, a long weekend and daylight saving.

You know Spring is here when Waratahs appear in the florist. These had been picked on Friday morning, in the Adelaide Hills, a few hours before I bought them. They are not native to South Australia, but I am, after all, a native of NSW! 

Apart from people, I don't miss much from my first 24 years in Sydney - Southerly Busters, humidity and flowers native to the Sydney region - flannel flowers, Christmas bush, Christmas Bells and Waratahs, none of which are commonly seen in Adelaide. I still love them and if I see them for sale, I buy them. My English migrant parents and grandparents cherished them, gathered them and tried to grow them. Uplifting.

In front of our apartments, and at the Pilates Studio, the wild irises are at their best.  Gentler than the Waratahs, they are nevertheless intricate and cheerful.

The Agave has finished flowering at Pilates. I took a final photo. I can’t resist the shape, perfect for a bookmark, so accordingly ordered another set. Hopefully my Pilates classmates will find a use for them. Again.

I had a quiet day as desk hostess at the Embroiderers' Guild on Wednesday. The computer tech was there setting up the new admin computer with our office manager while a couple of the Museum team were doing a handover on the Museum database. When left in charge I failed once again to answer the phone! It’s a tricky handset, and doesn’t respond to my button pressing. I progressed my knitting and wrote a tribute to Lee for discussion with WES group next week.  

The Bottlebrush- which IS native to South Australia, is on display everywhere, including in the Guild garden.

I saw my GP on Friday, getting the results of last week’s blood test. I’m pretty happy. My kidney is in good condition and my weight very slowly coming down.  My blood sugar is lower than last time but ideally should be a little lower.  We’ve agreed our current regime is working so should continue. I’ve made an appointment in about 4 months time. I like this new GP.  He listens, checks records, explains his thinking and provides data. It feels like a conversation and a joint effort.

Afterwards, having completed and tidied up all last week's work on passwords, I took a sealed package to my solicitor to add to the deed package before shopping for the long weekend and buying the Waratahs. 

I also took more jewellery to Pink Carat for repair. An 80cm long gemstone necklace given to me by a work colleague some 15 years ago had broken. I often wear it.  The central stone is heavy and had worn through the wire. We decided to make up the necklace without it. Can I find a use for a 3.5cm stone? Clasp on a bag?  (It's much more brown than the photo indicates.)

I also took the glittery clip-on earrings to see if they could be converted. Removing the clips on the back was not possible but I convinced them to add hooks through the little picots on the edge. They hang nicely, clips hidden behind. I often wear the matching brooch so now I can be truly glam! The amber pair were originally hanging from smaller amber beads on posts. One had detached and was lost. I prefer hooks anyway so got them to simply hang the teardrops from silver hooks. I also took advice on cleaning the sterling silver brooch.   This result was just using a silver cleaning cloth.

This morning I dug out both the ultrasonic cleaners I own.and experimented using the tips provided by Pink Carat. The tank on the older white one is larger, so I tried a silver pin tray in it. In the green one I placed 3 pieces of trench art, a coin medallion, a ring and a WWI medallion on a chain.

After several sessions all came up reasonably clean and shiny. The ring is made from a 1947 coin from India, the chain holds a regimental medallion engraved Div 5 1920-21. Once the pin tray was clean (relatively) I was able to see a hallmark, and out of curiosity, looked it up. I have never done this before, and had to dig around for a bit to find it. However, I am now confident the tray was made by William Aiken, silversmith of Vyse St., Birmingham in 1904! It seems amazing to have been able to discover that.

I experimented with a couple of vases for the Waratahs before settling on the one above. The dark vase looks good here, but was a bit heavy and dominant. 

It was the Labour Day long weekend and the commencement of daylight saving. As forecast, there was some rain on Saturday. The dripping noise came back. As promised, I notified the tradie who came last week, who, as I expected, did not come. He did ask if water was leaking into the apartment (it's not). It seems that other apartments also have leaks, and the Strata Committee is taking it up with our management company, so I'm happy. A problem shared....  Fortunately, contrary to the forecast, the rest of the weekend was rain-free.

As three books I had ordered on Libby were suddenly available to me, I spent much of the long weekend reading. In the Blink of an Eye was an interesting fictional projection of the use of AI in policing. My review, for anyone interested, is on Goodreads.   The Ledge by Christian White, as I realised too late,  is a thriller (with echoes of Lord of the Flies). I don’t much like thrillers. 

The treescape behind my apartment has changed with recent pruning and rainfall. I have a better view of what turns out to be a Callery Pear (left). 

I can’t remember seeing the golden leafed tree (right) bloom, but it is now beginning to do so, declaring itself, I think, a jacaranda alba. The next month or so should confirm or disprove this theory. Either way, it’s a lovely outlook.

I finished and blocked the Uradale shawl over the weekend. Details in my embroidery blog. I'm pleased to say spreading it in the sun yesterday has removed the sheep smell, and the woolwash has made it wonderfully soft. (The red is from the geraniums below the shawl!)

I have begun the next shawl based on a Dathan Hap pattern in Kate Davies' Knitting Season book.  The pattern is simple and interesting, increasing at the centre as well as the edges in a four row sequence, a lovely encircling shape with plenty of scope to vary colour.  

It will use up a lot of the Rowan wool left from the coatigan and blanket. It's fun to knit and nice to try something other than an expanding triangle.

I've also worked another small section of my sashiko square, and prepared two pieces of Huckaback for the hand-towel pattern in The Handpicked Collection 3. It's been a long time since I did Huck weaving, So I had a quick try. It is marvellously relaxing and effective.

I confess that this morning I dashed out to Create in Stitch  and bought the Chaffinch  kit advertised in their weekend newsletter. A Chaffinch, I know, is not a Bluebird, but it is a blue bird,  and I'm partial. I also know what I am going to do with this when finished.

I seem to have achieved (and committed to!) a lot this week. It is a product of spending much of it on my own over a long weekend with family away and few outside commitments. I have had trouble remembering what day it is. Tomorrow, however, is WES Group, and I need to make a presentation. Better check that over and head to bed.

Post 98 Huckaback and more birds

Today’s tasks were more proof-reading, sending out a message to the World Embroidery Study Group and picking up Jennifer’s shawl to be blocked. 

The link today for the World Embroidery Study Group was on huck embroidery.

https://pieceworkmagazine.com/embroidered-huck-towels/

I've done a bit of this in my time and still enjoy doing it. The first piece of embroidery I did at school, in Grade 3 and aged 8, was a huckaback hand-towel, which I still have. It's a bit the worst for wear.

I made a single bedspread on monks cloth 

But my favourite is probably the panel for a bag, 


The doves were back together today. I broadcast the seed after they arrived. He stayed but she took fright, coming back when I’d gone.










They came right up to the door again and polished off most of the seed.

I picked up Jennifer’s shawl and set about blocking it. The stripes are on the towel underneath. It’s a beautiful shawl.  I have tightened it up a bit before finalising this post.

On the way home from picking up the shawl I noticed the Yiros Hut on Hutt St was open so popped in and bought a Yiros to take home.Lamb of course.  I was the only one in the shop. I’m not sure when they opened again, but I suspect only this week. It was a good Yiros and I’m glad the shop is open again.

I am working slowly on the next Nicola Jarvis bird. I think I can see how it will come together.

I should be able to progress it tomorrow in between a bit more proof-reading.