100% Achievements

Today :: is a rainy stormy indoor game playing kind of day.
The boys by themselves are into a game of battleship.  Probably a bit advanced for 3 year old Nesta, who nonchelantly calls out to me with the question , " Mom,, do boats have lives?"
Here in the pic Jack is saying its Nesta's time to pick a number, while Nesta has more important ideas in his mind. {To fit his feet inside his red pants so he looks more like spiderman}

The garter sweater has sleeves ! Onto the body we march....

{Pictured is our backyard Boab Tree.}
We are under a cylone watch up here. Which means batten down the hatches, secure everything, and expect lots of rain and wind. And more battleship.....
This has been a very mild wet season compared to years gone by. Since this region only gets rain 4 months out of each year, it is crucial that we get adequate amounts during the wet. Usually, March is the rainiest and the hottest. It is also the most exciting, it is my eldest boy's birthday month and also the end of the hot weather. We look forward to much more outdoor time, camping, and exploring together our last dry season in the Kimberley!
**Thank you for the well wishes regarding my test ! And guess what? I passed !
Not only did I pass, but with 100 % ~!~
So now, I do declare myself a citizenship smartypants and attach that 100% to my personal label, much as Mma Makutsi does in The Number #1 Ladies Detective Agency, (by Alexander McCall Smith ) where she scores 99.7% on her Botswana Secretarial School final examinations, and is constantly reminding others and herself of the achievement.
So from 100% to you, have a good day ! :)

American Today

Hello all !
I do hope you who are reading this are finding yourselves quite perky and happy in life.
I myself am working now on three sweaters !!
This first little beauty i showed you just last week, it is a Veera child's sweater. I have stuffed up the neck cuff, but we won't talk about that just now. Birthday Boy has chosen silky green stripes. I can't wait to get to the stripes. I love stripes.

Just cast on this week is a  garter stitch sweater for my self.  I bought a case {can i say a case?} of this yarn over a year ago, so it feels nice to give it purpose now. The dk weight yarn and I are really getting along. It is going fast. I do like fast sweaters. The lanolin was left in this yarn also, making it very nice to knit with. Soft and silky, no splits, coiled and springy. It reminds me of Colinette Jitterbug.

Now for my favorite special sweater.
Veera's got several new sweater patterns coming out in the new few weeks, so get your wool stashes organized. This cabled up cardigan makes me so happy. Knit in a sturdy worsted Madelinetosh Vintage. This yarn is amazing. Just as it's name implies, the soft feel and colour is very 'worn' yet rugged. The sturdy yet gentle twist of the yarn gives great stitch definition and is perfect for cabled cardigans. Oh Madelinetosh !
And now.... a stash update this week !! 
{ I buy all of my yarn online, there are no craft shops within a plane flight of where i live.}

If you click on the yarn pictures, the name should pop up. Or maybe not?

Anyway, some Madelinetosh sock ( which i've never used )

and some more MadTosh Vintage in thunderstorm -

which looks to die for and i'm going to make this

and some gorgeous Wollmeise which does

not yet have a purpose

but believe me

it

will.

And guess where I'm going today?

To Broome, to take my Australian Citizenship Test !!!

If I should pass , I'll carry a dual citizenship.

American today, maybe American/Australian tomorrow !

Yarning Along

Hello there yarn along people , and everyone else of course.
 I do love Wednesdays,,,, well, its actually nearly Thursday  here in the Southern Hemisphere. But anyway.......

Because I finished my Cria ( previous post ) , I got to cast on a new sweater, yah! This one has been in my eyes view for awhile, I am loving it. It's going to be a stripey sweater for the March birthday boy. This yarn is irrestable. ( Rav notes here ).

I told you that I checked out Jane Austen's Persuasion a few weeks ago to compliment my Jane Austen's Knits project. Cheryl mentioned it was her favourite, as well as some of the writers in the knitting magazine. My librarian chic mentioned to me, that if I did not like it now, I would one day.
After reading the first chapter twice, I can summarize the following :: a well off gentlemen has lost his wife and is raising his three daughters in an English society. Two of them, Mary and Anne, are vaguely mentioned but it is Elizabeth who is clearly his favorite and he finds it his mission that she should marry well. There is this fellow he invited for dinner and he doesn't show and then they find he is married.
That is all I can say. That was chapter one. I cannot comment on chapter two, because I have only read it once.

I disgress. So basically what I am saying is I have kids. There are large words. I can't read every chapter twice. Perhaps Linda was right? Maybe this is not the easiest way to step into the writing world of Jane Austen. Can anyone recommend a lighter stepping stone?
{ oh yes and I cheated and read the back, as you do, and guess what? turns out the whole book is about      Anne !!! }

So I am reading a book about Spooky Haunted Places. I LOVE the paranormal. WWwhhooooooOOOO.

My hat ? Yes, this is my second time knitting Ysolda's rose red . This time I was not paying attention to my knitting ( but rather the movie where Tom Cruise takes his shirt off , ahem ) and my hat turned out HUGE. I used a discontinued wool called 'Harmony', which bragged to be an 8ply and knitted totally like a 12ply. Closet worsted.
So today I felted it. Just threw it in the wash. It works ! It was meant as a gift.... of course I want to keep it.

Aahhh. The wonderful world of knitting. What are you up to ?
x

Yarn Along and a Winner

Hello good people !
Hoping your week has gone along smoothingly....with lots of good things.
Here ---- lots of knitting ( i'm sure you non knitters are sooo bored with my blogging as of late?)
also lots of cuddling and nose wiping and such, two little ones with colds.
Some of the Monsoon weather is back with us this week, i love the rainy season.
It's great for bird watching !
And just look up there ,,,, my bird watching shawl is nearly done. This is a truly addictive knit. If i'm not madly working on it, i am thinking about working on it. It is the last thing i put down at night , and the first thing i pick up , after coffee of course. Some more knitting you say, oh yes then !

Look at this little tater tot. Peanut butter face and all, modeling the 'other shawl'  ( its a test knit in progress ).  We've hit a bump this week, this shawl and myself. It is measuring several inches bigger than intended. I did think of doing it over, but that is alot of work to rip, aint it? So after speaking with the designer, she and I both agree to keep it going as it is. I think it may be the MadTosh Vintage giving me extra length? Who has used this yarn,,,,its my first time. Does it work a bit bigger? Please don't say it grows lots with blocking.

My latest cast on ( and the book I am reading ) is Jane Austen's Knits .
This is the Yak cottage shrug. So far so good. It's the first time I've ever knit -purl - knit in the same stitch.
It's making a bit of a hole, but I guess that 's what it's suppose to be doing?
I checked out Jane Austen's Persuasion from the library, and haven't read enough to comment ;)
Who can read and knit? What's that,,, you want to see more of the magazine? Ok then..

I know I know I know

and now for the drawing........

# 5 Emma you won last weeks giveaway , congratulations !
I'll be in touch shortly .
Happy yarn along !

Lispenard Cowl Pattern Giveaway

"  A thing of beauty is a joy forever "    -John Keats .

              

            Excited to show you the Lispenard Cowl test knit completed !
                                                    
                                   
                    Kirsten would like to gift one of you this pattern ! 
                                          
                                               Leave us a comment on this post to enter the drawing.
                                                   My followers feel free to enter a second time :)
                                                        I'll pick a winner next Wednesday.
                                                                  Happy yarn along  to all .