Oh, The Places You'll Go!

So it seems I forgot to mention the point of the title of my last post...heh heh. So, if you didn't catch on it was because I am getting to know my new home more and more each day...yeah. Okay moving on. This afternoon JFC and I did the Kaharoa Kokako track, you basically hike down thru beautiful and tangled native bush down to a river below. It was really amazing...you end up in this clearing, crystal clear water flowing thru, surrounded by high walls covered in moss and ferns. If you are lucky you can hear the call of the Kokako, a native bird on the endangered species list. I would love to go back in the early morning...they say that is the best time to hear the birds, and in the summer time you could definitely dip your feet in the gentle water. Here we are...cuppa tea time...MMMMM...very nice.


And I did some knitting! yay! I finished up the cable panel for the Shell Tank from Knitting Nature. One more panel and I will be able to sew the pieces of the puzzle together. I reallly enjoy the pattern, it is quick and the cable was big fun. JFC's hat has been put on hold...I didn't have quite enough yarn, so I bought more only to realize it isn't the right yarn. woops.

Getting to know you...getting to know alllllll about youuuu

So i was going to post a picture or 2 from the amazing walks I have been on in the past week ...but they are taking ages to upload, so i can't be bothered. heh heh. As for knitting...I have only done a couple inches in about 5 days because there has just been a whirlwind of excitement around here lately.

We went down to Ohakune on Wednesday evening for the night. I went on a stunning 3 hour walk to Silica Rapids with a friend, and it was truly breathtaking and quite the adventure. (Note to self: don't go for a walk thru snow, over mountains and rapids with traction-less non-water resistant chuck taylors.) Today we did another walk and checked out a couple of crater lakes closer to us (and much warmer I might add). Inbetween all of that we had a house inspection where we had to hide the cat, and then had 4 friends come to stay for the weekend. Ah yes...we also finished purchasing all of our plane tickets for our trip to the states for this year, and part of next.
So back to posts with pictures tomorrow...for now I am going to go relax and catch up on my knitting!

Ok maybe just one picture:

Now I Understand

I now understand why people have maids. We are getting ready for our inspection on Friday and so we need to have the house "rentable" and also remove all traces that a cat has decided to live here. In my younger days I assumed cleaning was basically about 3 to 4 things...laundry, dishes, dusting & vacuuming. Those 4 things...I do not mind. In fact, given the right mood, I enjoy them. But then there is the other cleaning...the REAL cleaning. The cleaning mom would do in the spring as we stood by thinking she was crazy. Because when you are young, and people clean for you...you don't realize HOW MUCH they clean. And how DIRTY things can get.

Dust. I. hate. dust.
Condensation I. hate. condensation.
dust + condensation = nasty gunk that I want nothing to do with.

Dust gets in places I didn't know dust could get in to! Sure throw me a vacuum! Toss me some dishes! But please don't ever make me clean the "gunk" out of a window sill or the odd little ledge that you forget about in the corner of the kitchen. Or the drips that drip down that handy dishwasher....or *gag* the weird little hairs *gag gag gag* and what not that you have to pull from *oh god here it comes* the drains...and please, please, please, somebody install a garbage disposal in our kitchen sink cause you don't even want to *gag* know what I have to pull out of there. Thank the sunshine king we are vegetarians!

Ok enough about that...I feel nauseous.

Onward HO! so knitting...I have been knitting. The problem is I am getting sick of little projects...I want to do more and more big projects. Sweaters, cardigans, and camisoles...oh my! But that throws a damper on the whole blogging as I just don't have as much to show...and you can only take so many progress pictures...anyways I am getting sidetracked...lets move on...


I am knitting Shedir for JFC, as he lost his other hat. I am knitting it out of some natural undyed new zealand wool. It is slow going though do to the intricate cable pattern and my slippery metal cable needle. I am thinking of using the needle-less cable method to speed things up.


I am also working on the Shell Tank from Knitting Nature, after being thoroughly impressed with how Anna's turned out. I am using Cotone in a pretty leaf green (yeah i know i am getting a little too excited about green lately..what can i say). I am doing it in the smallest size, but with 2 inches of length added on as I am not too into the whole show me your tum-tum deal. I am finished with the back and eagerly moving on to the front bits.

You spin me right 'round, baby, right 'round

Well I have been busy busy busy! On saturday me and JFC went to Tauranga to visit Gay, the woman he bought my wheel from, and she taught us to spin (thats right...US...JFC got in on the action as well). Gay was absolutely fabulous, she told us all kinds of amazing stories and was such a great teacher. She even had a notebook full of home-spun yarn samples that she had dyed herself with all kinds of organic things-from onion skin to lichen to bark and leaves. That little heap of crazy yarn you see sitting towards the bottom there was our accomplishment for the day. It was so fun. The fleece was from her sons farm down on the South Island. I have been practicing ever since (hence the yarn you see on those bobbins)...but I think it will take a bit of time til' i really get the hang of it. Still...what a fun thing to practice! And to grasp the entire craft...from the sheep (or alpaca, or bamboo or soy plant!) to the finished beatiful handknit sweater (insert sigh of satisfaction here)...it just feels good.



And of course there has been knitting in the mix as well. I finished my knee socks using my hand-dyed ugly yarn:) And I love them!! And I love the 2-circular needles method, these socks only took me about a day or 2 each working on them when I felt like it/had time. Very efficient...I could easily finish a pair of shorter socks in one dedicated evening.

And to top off all of the excitement...I cut off most of my hair. As I watched the hair dresser snip snip snip I felt a bit anxious...but now that it is over and done with there is definitely a sense of a relief. I have put my hair thru a lot in the past 10 years...from dying it every color of the rainbow, to one horrible perm...a million bad haircuts...and dreads to finish it off...it needed a break. It needed some time to just be loved au-natural...so here it is. The rest of the damage has been cut out and all that is left is my natural hair color and ends that aren't split in 10 different directions. It is a bit shorter than I would like...but it should be to a more comfortable length in a few months. (insert another sigh of relief here). A fresh start.



Edited to Add: I almost forgot! I just wanted to say thanks for all of the nice comments on my bubble pullover! Talk about boosting a girls self esteem. Oh and it took me about 2 weeks I think...give or take a few days.

Yarn Yarn Yarn...I love Yarn

Presenting.....


AQUAFLUFF! (name courtesy of JFC)

The yarn I used was a natural sheep wool, undyed from New Zealand, 200 grams worth. I dyed it with Koolaid so generously provided from Meredith..and one from you mom (although not the invisible one...i'm saving that for a special occasion..heh heh). The colors I used are Arctic Green Apple, Grape, and Ice Blue Raspberry. and I like it...i like it a lot. I used the handpainting method...in other words i just filled up some cups with a little bit of water and the koolaid and splashed it all around the kitchen. Most of which, thankfully, landed on the yarn. then Into a steamer basket in the soup pot over boiling water and an hour later...voila! Fruity smelling Aquafluff. I plan to use to knit up some Pomatomus socks.

In the meantime I am being taught how to use my spinning wheel today! So so so excited. I will report back on the progress tomorrow.

Bubble Pullover

Well FINALLY I have a finished object. The Bubble Pullover from Knitting Nature. I used 10 & 1/2 balls of Rainbow Pure Wool in a discontinued shade = I made this sweater for under $30.00!! I love the color...so it is sad that it is discontinued. This sweater was veyr very fun to knit...the construction is just amazing. It's like putting together a puzzle. So very satisifying. I made the size small...so it fits a bit more like a normal sweater instead of like the really baggy one in the book. I love the wide collar. Really I just can't say enough about this book and author. If you want to see more pictures of finished objects by other people from the same book just click here.

Now the sweater is in the sink getting ready to be blocked...you may have noticed it is a little misshapen in the pictures, but I was just excited to finally post some knitting again.

Last night I cast on for a pair of knee socks using 2 circular needles and my handdyed yarn :) heh heh. I definitely like the technique, and I have to say, that the more I look at my ugly yarn...the more i love it! Pictures to follow shortly I'm sure. I also plan on dying more yarn today as my friend Meredith sent me a huge box of Kool-aid, and JFC is off for the day snowboarding.

well time to get crafty!

A Little Shout-Out to the Man I call "Daaaaaaaaad"

As you can tell from this early "head shot" of my father he's a pretty good looking guy, perfect for the stage...and always ready to bring a smile to your face. Now there are a few key points you should pay attention to in that sentence. (He's thinking in his head ..yeah...the good looking part! heh heh). But I would like to focus on the next to parts...the stage and the smile. My father is currently following his dream to be an actor. Which although exciting and fun, is also hard work that doesn't always pay a Brad Pitt salary.

So along comes my birthday and I live across the world = not the cheapest shipping for a man on an actor's wage. But being oh so clever my dad digs out a box of stamps from when he was working his other job. Eureka! Just enough for the postage....so a short couple of weeks later and this arrives at my doorstep in New Zealand...I'm not sure what is better the package or whats inside!


Edited to Add: By the way I have been knitting and doing knitting things...but I've been very very sick, hence lack of posts. But I am doing a bit better now and will be taking pictures and posting more often!