First pictures

We had a sneaky hen who's been hiding her stash of eggs, and the first we knew about it was when we heard the cheeping of little chicks. She started off with six chicks but two of them didn't make it.

Here's the first pictures of the little chicklets:


And now all the other ladies are getting broody again (in two separate nest sites). One nest site is in the corner of my dye studio and there's three of them on there! Whenever I get too close while dyeing they show their displeasure... One of them even attacks me! I don't know, maybe having chicks is the latest vogue in Chooktopia ROFL

Mother Envy

I *really* envy those women who are lucky enough to have their mums close to them, both geographically and in the relationship. I'm really missing my mum today, for some reason. She is in the US with her new husband and his family. It's not fair! I want her here with her family!!!

We only had about three years together in Perth (I had recently returned from 8 years in Oregon) before she met K and they got married last year. He's lived in Arizona and has kids and grandchildren there so they decided to live there first to obtain mutual visas. The plan (promise?) was to spend winter months on two continents, but unfortunately it's not working out that way. Deep down, I know that I'm really angry at the situation but on the other hand I'm thrilled that she has found happiness again, later in life (after the death of my beloved stepdad a few years ago). But who knows how many more years we are granted and I really, really want us to be together!

It makes me cry sometimes when M does something new, and mum is not here to see it, any of it. It's not about childcare, it's about spending time together. Even now I try to mention Grandma a lot to M so she doesn't forget. Kids grow up so quick and mum is not here to see any of it! She also has a couple more grandchildren here in Perth, and some in Brunei. Yes, we are an international family!

I've decided that, whether she wants it or not, I'll always live within driving distance of Matilda. There's just something very special about the adult to adult relationship you have with your parents that just can't be truly appreciated until you've had children of your own. I only had a little bit of it with mum but it was really special.

Oh and another thought, lately I've met a few daughter-mum pairs who knit/craft together and they are so inspiring! I am fully green with jealousy when I look upon their relationship...

Alright, I'll stop being maudlin now. I've emailed her and hope to hear back soon (hint hint if you're reading this mum!! -- Love you!!)

I just wanna cry!

Why? Well because I have close on 8 pages of products on my jj.net site that needs to be deleted, one by one by one! Seems like the web design for the new site/cart won't be ready for awhile, and I'm paying the fees anyway, so I've decided to go back to my own site instead of listing everything on YC. I have way too many products and am outgrowing (and hogging the space!) on YC, so...

Find me on here:
http://store.jollyjumbuck.net

PS -- *sigh* sometimes, just sometimes, it feels as though I am cursed when it comes to my site. Every time I want to work on it (which is not often), the site goes down and the file continues no data or some such thing...

I just wish I could delete the obsolete listings while knitting, I have tried but no go.

Our Evenings

Last night was a typical evening, hanging out in the shed/workshop with Roy. He has been working so hard on the Bedford project, countdown less than five weeks to our trip. I'm clueless when it comes to cars and things mechanical, but there has been much grinding, welding, oxy torching, drilling and etc etc.

He is trying to get the gas-guzzler converted over to turbo LPG. The LPG guy will do some of the work but the rest is on R's shoulders with no help. Just a knitting cheering team (me) egging him on by calling the poor thing a Deadford.

So he welds and grinds and cuts away while I sit there with my knitting and we just chat about everything and nothing. Last night the TV (tiny and old) even got turned on for my weekly dose of "House". This has been our routine for a while now. When he's not feeling up to working (you have to remember, he does a full day of the same stuff out and about in his hydraulics business), we *blush* play Grand Theft Auto on the Xbox and I knit. I get most of my knitting done after M has gone to bed!

Last night there was a little bonus of a thunderstorm, it was lovely.

Anyway, I promised him no pics on my blog until we are in Esperance and well on our way to Victoria, but promises are meant to be broken (ha!) and he was so proud of this piece of *thing* that I can't resist showing off on his behalf. He started off with a few metal bits and a long length of 3" stainless steel piping. And in one night look what he made! I feel a little bit like the Wollmeise with her metalworker husband!!!

Avast! Beware ye knitters arrrrr

(photos will be added when I can whip my camera into shape)

This is what I'm working on between other projects: It is a boyfriend sweater! Not really a sweater's a zippered cardigan), and not THE Boyfriend Sweater, but definitely for my boyfriend, who shall one day be my husband (but that's another blog post!)

The yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, in Loden Leaf. I've gone on a bit of an ebay/Brown Sheep binge lately but this yarn is from about 2001. Bought about 14 skeins from Juniper Fibreworks in Bend, Oregon. The colour is a dark sage green, or army green. It really reminds me of our first (only) Kombi van which we travelled across the Nullarbor in, my biological family, when I was about 6 or so.

The yarn had to be frogged from a 1/4 finished jumper with kangaroo pocket in double moss stitch, a Dale design knit in the round that I never finished. That sweater was destined for my ex but of course has just sat unfinished, with remaining skeins used up or given away, after we broke up.

So I frogged it all and ended up with a 479g ball o' yarn, wound on my new Jumbo ball winder. Love it! Also love knitting from such a huge ball.

I had a turn around point when I knit about four rows after picking up from the cabled band, then decided that I didn't like the picking up job. Uggh! So I frogged back and re-did the picking up. For some reason the first time around I had just the right number of stitches (221), but the second time around I could only manage to pick up 150 stitches. So frog back again and added some increases. The increases makes me think it was really a waste of time to frog back, as it still looks a bit poorly.

This cardigan is a bit like Roy and mine's relationship: born of previous luggage, with the hard and complex part at the beginning. Now it is smooth sailing for a while. I was afraid that this would instead be bored to tears but I'm really enjoying the knit and can't wait to pick up while I should be finishing other things. And the picking up bit just didn't reflect how our relationship is travelling at the moment, so I had to re-do it. Make no mistake, it's not a perfect piece of work but a work in progress! I'm planning on lengthening it as Roy has a long torso.

I'm hoping to have this ready as a Christmas present, and yes I'm going to make him model it in the December heat!! I need to clear some room in my knitting plate, for our trip to Victoria this summer. I'm quite nervous about more picking up and putting in a zipper, something I haven't done for knitwear before.

I figure if I can finish this man-size project then I can finish other grown-up knits. So goes the theory,...

Postscript: Ooops! I forgot to detail the pattern I am using. It is the Avast zip-up cardigan with a cabled band, by Jesse Loesberg, and can be found on Knitty. Roy chose it out of quite a few Knitty sweater choices I presented him with. I was surprised but pleased at his choice, I thought he would choose a simple ribbed pullover.