Post521 As busy as...

February is going to be a busy month for me, so I'm glad to have the evening bat fly-by (to the left above the smaller pine) as the sunset fades to provide a sense of routine, calmness and beauty. They have been as regular as clockwork this week.

On Wednesday I did the worst chore early, ironing the fabric I had cut out last week to make bags.It took a while, folding and ironing in the seam allowances so  I can stitch them down on the outside.

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It is difficult to do this sitting, and standing aggravates my sciatica, but I did it in batches and ended up with 40 bags ready to sew. They include a few Japanese wrapping cloths I've had for a long time and am turning into wrapping bags.

To recover I sat and finished the Galaxy Dreaming panel and tried it out on table, along with the three panels I have from Vivienne. My thinking now is that I will complete 6 more panels and join them into a tablecloth. These 4 panels are placed for fit, not design, and I'm thinking it will look stunning when done. My arm was sore from the Shingles injection the day before and, between the injection and ironing, I was feeling very tired so I took myself to A Prayer for the Wild at Heart for a very late lunch/early dinner. On my return I began the Kaffe Fassett Inca Cardigan. I know it is hardly knitting weather, but I really wanted to see how it was done - and to try out my new ebony needles.

   Unpacking the wool I discovered that I didn't have a basket or bag that would hold all the wool with the needles and pattern. Given the number of colours involved,  the complexity of the pattern, and the time it is likely to take to knit, I thought it would be worth looking for a cheap basket at an op shop. As the first 4 rows of the pattern are all in one colour, I knitted that and called it a day.

On Thursday I stopped off at the Salvos and Vinnies stores conveniently side-by-side around the corner from Pilates. I soon realised that baskets are things that op shops use rather than sell! Eventually, in Vinnies, I found a large, if strange, basket in need of fixing.  The label has it as a product of  Aldi. It has a metal frame, with faux (ie plastic) canes woven in large loops around the outside. A number of these had come loose and been placed back willy-nilly. It was a good size, the frame was sound  and for $10 I thought I could make it work.

At home I lined it with a cloth before trying it out, to ensure the loose canes didn't catch the wool. It worked well, so I set about re-weaving the rods into their intended places. It took a bit of patience and logic, but produced a decent result. I doubt it's a durable, long-term product but is, I think, fit for this purpose - and I have an idea for using the frame with woven cloth strips in the long term.                

My obsession with using photos to create bookmarks took a turn on Friday morning. I went to the Vistaprint site to experiment with a couple of photos and noticed that they also print to tote bags. I had jokingly said to a friend who said she wanted one of my faces totes, that it would be great if I could print the embroidered design on to cloth. Bingo!

I then spent an hour or so, playing with photos and templates to produce a sample. It is only possible to print a 20x20 cm image, but we'll see how it goes. This is the photo of my finished template online. The printed product is due to arrive tomorrow.  If this works, I could try looking for a printer that can do larger images. Officeworks, I notice does print a larger tote surface, but only on one side of the bag. This one has an image on both sides.

A new way of making bags is hardly at the top of my to-do list. Experimenting and playing with photos and textiles, however, is.  

Late on Friday night I got a promotional email from the Innovations Catalogue that featured a small portable hose. This first hot summer in a couple of years had me thinking again of any way to get a hose to my front balcony. I had a tap installed on the back one, but putting one on the front balcony involves cutting several holes in my ceilings to feed the pipes through. The hose ad said it could fit any tap, which set me wondering. On Saturday morning first thing I examined my kitchen tap, which, it turns out, has a thread. It was JEMS day, so after I dropped Niamh at JEMS I visited Bunnings, found the same 10 metre long portable hose ($4 cheaper than Innovations and no delivery required!) AND an adapter for attaching a hose to an indoor tap!

 At home, it took me a little while to work out how to attach the adaptor.  The hose connection isn't perfect. There is a little bit of leakage, which increases with water pressure. The stream of water that comes through the 10 metres of hose is hardly gushing, but it is a lot better than carrying watering cans back and forth! It is slower than a regular hose, but I can attach the hose and water the whole balcony in 15 minutes. The bucket collects about half a pint of water from the leaking collection, which I can use on my indoor plants.

I can also leave the hose running to fill up the water wells in the large pots. I'll still need to use watering cans to fertilise, but this really does improve my front balcony gardening. An excellent innovation! Only took me 8 years to find it.

I made it back to JEMS in time to pick up Niamh. It looked like a good session with about 8 or so students. The Queen St Cafe owner was pleased to see Niamh and I and served our milkshakes and rhubarb friands without being asked. I caught up on school and holiday news. It was Katherine, Anthony, Brigid and I for dinner.  Brigid and Veronica had bought me a lovely Murano glass necklace for my birthday.  It seems to go with almost everything and I've been wearing it all week. 

This is a very busy family month, with school formal, Taylor Swift concert, several birthdays, including Brigid's 21st,  a bit of pressure on the school students regarding pending international visits and Special Projects. I got a sneak peak of formal dresses. Wow!  I have a number of commitments, including my Mexican embroidery  presentation and vaccinations.  

Today I got to AquaFit, the podiatrist and picked up my spare pair of glasses from the optometrist. In between I've been working on a canvas work cushion for a birthday next week. My original plan was to make it into a zipped bag, but on Niamh's advice I consulted the intended recipient, and, lo, she was right - he  prefers a cushion! Glad I asked.

I've ordered a ready-made zippered back, which should arrive tomorrow. It's a challenge to get it finished by next week, but easier than my original plan  - and I'm up for it . It's a long time since I did canvas work, and I'm not sure I've ever done one with the pattern painted on. It's quite challenging, with lots of hard-to-distinguish shading, but I am enjoying it. The texture is fabulous.

Better get on with it!

Post520 Finishes, food, fabric.

It's been another week of mostly stitching, with a couple of finishes to show for it, the first being the prayer shawl I was working on. The detail, of course, is in my embroidery blog.

On Wednesday I had a lovely long lunch with my friend Lorraine - half way between our two birthdays. 

On Thursday I called at the Guild after Pilates and purchased some fabrics which I have cut ready to make bags. 

No hurry. I will iron them into shape for stitching when I have a chance. I also called at OfficeWorks and bought another set of document drawers, into which I reorganised all my cotton reels, including the ones I brought home from Canberra. I now have a good range ready to use.

The most exciting thing that happened all week (aside from my Adelaide family arriving home on Sunday from their 3 week holiday), was the arrival of the Otomi top I had ordered from ArteOtomi. This Etsy shop went out of their way to get this to me in time for my World Embroidery Study Group presentation in  February.       

It is extraordinarily beautiful, the inside almost as good. I have ordered a dress and some pants.

In keeping with my Mexico obsession, the sampler I began last week took up a lot of my time.

 Most of the main side was cross stitch, which is much easier held in hand rather than hoop. I eventually dug out the wrist brace for my left hand which develops RSI from being held too long in the one position.  I worked an Otomi design on the back. This required a hoop, so was easier on my hand, but is not really suited to a loose even weave linen. Nevertheless, I persevered and late yesterday constructed a bag from the sampler. 

If interested, the detail is in my embroidery blog.

The sciatica and piriformis pain I mentioned last week continued for the early part of the week, but was helped a lot by the exercises my Pilates instructor took me through. I weaned myself off the ibuprofen I had taken for 5 days, drank a lot of lemon juice in warm water, tried not to sit for too long without moving and continued short stints on my vibration exercise machine.  My back is much improved. Today I missed swimming to see my GP and have my first Shingles re-vaccine, discuss weight loss and the sciatica/piriformis bout and agree to monitor until my Shingles booster/flu vac in early May.

School was back yesterday. I made the Chicken Maryland with Halloumi that I had tested on friends, and Katherine picked it up for them to eat at home, since they are all catching up on sleep and commitments after being away.

A final bit of madness for the week. This is a set of biros I ordered from a company that produces pens without plastic. They have seeds inserted in the top. When the pen runs out, you plant the pen in a pot and it blooms - mine are mustard, tomato, Glory and spinach. I have a lot of pens from my past working life, but increasingly they don't work and I am frustrated at the plastic waste. Refills are hard to find and more trouble than they are worth, so I thought I'd give these a go. They might, of course, take longer than my lifetime to get to the planting stage!

The 5" ebony needle set also arrived, so I am set for knitting the Rowan blanket and cardigan. I'm working on the Sashiko at the moment, with weather not ideal for working in wool. 

Today the extra Sashiko squares, and the fabric for serviettes arrived. Unfortunately, on examination, 3 of the 4 Galaxy 2 squares were green, not indigo. I really don't think that will do, so emailed IndigoNiche straight away. They are sending the Indigo replacements and a pre-paid envelope for return of the green. Great response. I'm certainly not ready to start embroidering them.

With school back, the temperature is heading into February's usual 30Cs and our Friday Sit'nStitch resumed.

I've enjoyed January and welcome February.

Post 519 Productive - but too sedentary!

On Wednesday I had lunch with friends at Balaboosta, a long block away from my apartment. I hadn't been there before, but it is highly popular, especially for wood oven pizza. Our carpark door was once again being repaired, so cars couldn't be moved in or out between 9.30am and 3.30pm - a good incentive for me to walk, rather than try to find street parking all day.

It was a chance to admire the gardens on the way. I especially liked this crepe myrtle. 

I loved our catchup lunch. We sat just inside - a bit noisy, but we managed to talk non-stop. 

The bookmarks I had ordered in honour of my Canberra trip arrived on Thursday before Pilates. I'm delighted with them. The water dragon one is spectacular.

I've been working on my presentation on Mexican Embroidery - which is, of course, a huge topic. I am attempting a very broad overview, with a general history of the culture - and a hope some WES members will be interested enough to take up specific components (or even plan a visit!). The Guild Museum has several relevant items, which I'm hoping the Museum team will have time to ferret out for us.

Friday was a roughly quarterly lunch with a group of long-term work-related friends, this time at Sean's Kitchen in a large, now unused, section of the Adelaide Railway Station.The company and the food was terrific. The service was good. The noise level, however, was disturbing. There are a lot of tables, and several large groups ( some associated with the West Indies test cricket match on in Adelaide at the moment) but none of them were talking loudly. The acoustics, probably related to the hard surfaces and the huge vaulted ceiling, would have been great for a choral concert, but terrible for a restaurant. It didn't stop us catching up on the numerous travels and adventures of each of us, I rarely have an entree these days but I couldn't resist the Whipped Cod Roe. I love roe, and rarely find it on menus. I wasn't disappointed, and my Orgy of Mushrooms, with ricotta gnocchi was fabulous.  The Maple ice cream (first ice cream in 3 years) topped it off.  I paid the price in a 1kg weight  gain the next day, which I have now managed to lose.

I went to and from lunch on the City Loop Bus, giving me a chance to photograph the hub of the Tour Down Under as we detoured around one of the road blocks it has occasioned. 

As we returned to the Square I could see that the young Norfolk pines planted a few years ago have thrived. It won't be long before they match the older trees.

Vivienne has given me these Sashiko table pieces over my last two birthdays. Last year we both bought the mats, while she has finished hers, I've been distracted. Inspired, I have now started on mine and have figured out how to create a full table setting. More will be revealed, but many thanks to Vivienne. 

I get by with a little help from my friends.

It's really lovely to see the change as you stitch Sashiko, It's like a landscape emerging and changing. Soothing.

In the early part of the week I remade a skirt into a bag for my daughter - the kind of project I love. Details in my embroidery blog.

Late on Saturday I paused my Sashiko (and my knitting) to take up, for the presentation, a Mexican-inspired sampler which is a free download on the V&A website. The design is by Xinyi Li, MA Fashion Curation, London College of Fashion University of the Arts London. Although the instructions are to transfer the patterns on to linen, they are clearly meant for even-weave counted work, so I used a piece of 25 count linen - producing a larger sampler than the instructions. I don't think I need to work all the designs for the purpose of my presentation, so I have made a selection. I marked out the space with tacking, not easy when the stitches on the diagram don't correspond to the graph lines! A pattern, however, is emerging nicely.

In an effort to avoid a completely sedentary weekend, on Sunday I finally unpacked the carpet shampooer I bought weeks ago. It has been sitting in its unopened box just inside my door. To my surprise (call me Prepared for the Worst) it assembled really easily and quickly and within about 20 minutes I had the water solution in it, rugs folded back, carpets vacuumed and was shampooing carpet! I didn't achieve the 20sq metres on one water tank it claims, but I was getting the hang of it and being thorough. I did the areas of my living room that get the most traffic - probably about 12 sq metres - on a tank of water. 

I had a sugarless lemon soda to recover, then refilled the water tank and did the most trafficked areas of my bedroom. Similar result. It was easy, the used water very dirty - and the carpet looks clean! 

The tank is now empty and clean. The whole machine is stowed in the back of my wardrobe out of the way until I use it again. I reckon if I do the main areas every 2 months the carpet will look (and be) clean. So much easier than getting in carpet cleaners and moving all the furniture at once. Thank you Pat for assuring me it would work!

While Saturday was very hot, Sunday was pleasant at 27C and a breeze. The Mandevilla is looking splendid (a lot of water). It kept me company briefly on Sunday while I read a little more of The Gilded Page. I'm enjoying the stories of the workers behind the earliest English manuscripts, especially the women, whose contributions have been lost, ignored or, in some cases, deliberately erased from the record. I've ordered a copy of The Book of Margery Kempe and am considering pre-ordering a copy of the paperback version of The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscript Club which it seems will be available in August.  Seems I'm down a manuscript rabbit hole.

While I've really enjoyed spending so much time embroidering this week, I've been getting pain in my back and thighs, related to sciatica, and I suspect piriformis syndrome, partially caused by sitting too long, so I have been using my Everfit vibrating plate, cold compresses, and made an effort to get out yesterday, 

visiting Barrow and Bench hardware for a stick-on hook to replace one that fell off (after 8 years) and to buy a few replacement balcony plants, in spite of 32C. 

 

I was fortunately home to receive the delivery of wool for Kaffe Fassett's Andes cardigan. It's a bit hot to begin it at the moment, which will give me time to finish the projects I'm working on.

Today it reached 42C. I managed an 8 minute session on my Everfit vibration plate and an Aquafit session. Before driving home from the last, I got  a message telling me our apartment lift wasn't working.

I was expecting a parcel in the mail and didn't want to walk up and down the stairs twice, but fortunately, as I parked at home, the postman arrived with the first of my ebony knitting needle sets, so I walked up the stairs prepared to stay put for the rest of the day. Within ten minutes of my getting into my apartment the lift was working again! 

Je ne regrette rien! I'm in the cool, I have the latest Inspirations magazine, my lovely needles in their Khadi silk case (a handwoven cotton/silk/wool blend  trademarked by the Indian Government and lovely to hold),  I've done more exercise than usual and the temperature is forecast to drop tomorrow. In spite of the heat  I've  almost finished the knitting the prayer shawl - about 10 rows to go.  It will look a lot better when blocked - hopefully in the next day or two.

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!  🙏