Things to be happy about

seeing a new post on this blog

knitting nights

a log fire

a cup of hot tea

the sun on my skin

hugs

a good book

chick flicks

chocolate

birthday money

friends

apricot blossom

a soft pillow

a comfortable bed

sleeping children

a husband who brings home chocolate or flowers

yarn in the mail

Knitting night

I love knitting night. Once a month, some keen knitting friends come to my house for some focussed needle-clicking, problem-solving, tea-drinking and yakking.

Last night I finished these...Women's medium size socks knitted in Elann Esprit Print, Fourth of July, on 4mm needles. I made the legs longer than the other socks I have made, but each sock still only took one ball, so I needn't have bought three.

After grafting the toe and darning in the ends on the second sock, I went back to my Pi Shawl...
From the centre to the needles, it's about 13 inches. This shawl is based on a mathematical principle, so you don't need a pattern - you just double the rounds between each round of doubling stitches. The section I'm working on needs 48 rounds, then I will be doing a "yarn over, knit one" round again to double the stitches to 576. At that point, the mindless endless knitting in the round will almost be done and I will be able to change direction and add an edging.

I was originally thinking of sending this to my mum, though her birthday is now long past, and it's not a very exciting colour. I'm thinking it would make a good baby shawl, especially as it's not too lacy and won't catch little fingers.

Knit on!

A testing time

Why is it that, just when you think you have things straight, you’re exercising, eating right, getting your @#$% together, life turns around and kicks you in the butt?

It’s easy to get smug when one compares one’s vegan, active lifestyle with carnivorous, overweight couch potatoes. You think that if anyone is going to get problems, it’s them, right? Well, not necessarily.

On two occasions this year, I’ve had three days of pain. The first time, I thought it could be painful ovulation, even though it wasn’t at the right time of the month. I put up with it, then the next month it didn’t happen, so I thought that was OK. Then it happened again, at a different time of the month, so I went to the doctor. (You see how public ranting can also backfire - I was complaining about doctors only a few weeks ago)!? I wanted to rule out appendicitis. I wondered if it was irritable bowel syndrome. He checked my abdomen, listened to my list of symptoms, and told me to book an ultrasound scan.

The medical centre has a long waiting list so I had to wait a few weeks. When I went, I told myself there wouldn’t be anything. However while the scan was being done, I saw a large solid black circle in the middle of the screen and wondered what that could be. I went home and a couple of hours later received a call from the doctor’s receptionist, wanting to make an appointment. The speed of it worried me - I thought it must be something serious if they followed up so quickly. I had a good cry, then tried to put it out of my mind over the weekend.

It turned out they found an 8cm ovarian cyst. On the one hand, it wasn’t very pleasant to think of this fluid-filled thing growing in there, possibly weighing half a pound, but on the other hand it’s not life-threatening and will hopefully shrink away by itself. I have to go back for another scan in May by which time it should be much smaller or gone. It can be removed surgically if necessary, but I’m trusting that that won’t be necessary.

So it’s been quite a learning curve for me the last two weeks. First thing I learned was how grateful I am for my friends and how their support makes all the difference. My faith in my body to heal itself is being tested - I have visited a herbalist and am taking two types of herbal tincture to cleanse the lymph and liver and have removed many possible allergens from my diet, such as soy, gluten and certain fruits and vegetables. I have been applying castor oil to my lower abdomen covered with a towel and heating pad every other day, as this apparently detoxifies the lymph.

I have done cleanses before, but this time I have a specific purpose.

I have had no more acute pain, though there has been discomfort - it feels like I have a pinched nerve in my left hip some of the time, and I’m very attuned to every twinge and ache. The hardest thing now is living without some of my favourite foods, like bananas! It feels like all the sweet stuff is gone, but it’s not for ever, so hopefully the willpower will withstand the pressure!

McLibel

Last night W (eldest son) and I watched Mclibel. What an interesting film. Of course I had heard about Helen Steel and Dave Morris and their fight against McDonalds. At the time I thought it ridiculous that a huge corporation would take two people to court, it seemed to me that a company would be hard-pressed to come up with a more effective way to create bad press. This documentary goes into detail about their two and a half year fight to defend themselves against McDonalds. It is an amazing David and Goliath story, I think, and one that I am glad my son has seen. I very much want my children to grow up knowing that they can make a difference - that one person can make a difference if they are determined enough. I want them to know that we can all do things, change things, make things better in some way...that we don't have to put up with injustice.

One of the ways that Dave and Helen garnered support for their cause was with this website. I highly recommend watching this film, there are a few moments of disturbing (to me) pictures of animal treatment - these kinds of pictures were gathered to prove to the court how badly animals are treated, but I think it is good for family viewing with older children.

Power Tools Have Entered the Picture...

Years ago we bought a bed. We did not pay a lot for this bed and it was my first lesson in 'You Get What You Pay For 101'. The workmanship was fairly shoddy, although it has held together pretty well with a little help from R. The stain job however, was atrocious. With a little inspiration from Martha, I decided to paint it 'antique style'. It was sanded, primed and painted - first with a tan colour, followed by a white colour. It looked pretty good white and I was tempted to leave it way but on closer inspection I realized if I did that, I would need to put on another coat of paint. That idea was vetoed and the delicate hand sanding (that Martha recommended) began. Slowly. I would do a small patch here and there. Then my arm would be sore and I would move onto something else. I was feeling discouraged - until I remembered my mouse sander! I knew this would get the job done quickly so out she came and two days later the job was done! I am very pleased with how it turned out. Now I just have to get the walls painted...

This is also turning into quite the time consuming job. The filling and sanding is going well, but I have to let it dry before I can sand it which takes time. I've been washing the walls and finding drips, bumps, etc left by the last people who painted. Although tempted to just paint over them, growing up with a perfectionist mother means this can't be done. I am sanding them down, even the ones that will be behind the bed. Like a wise (muscular, tank-top wearing) man once said, "Make it right!" And that is what I plan to do.

Kidstuff

Here's what I've been working on most recently. Lots of kiddie stuff!

I sewed some Barbie clothes as a birthday gift for my niece T using some vintage patterns I have. I think these patterns came from my great-grandma via my mom. I have other patterns that I know were from my great-grandma, including ones she designed herself (she used newspaper pages as her pattern medium - she was ever so thrifty!). It was pretty cool to be given these patterns along with a few others as I do remember and still possess the doll clothes my great-grandma lovingly hand sewed for me as a kid.
I sewed these little retro fashions on the machine (faster than completely hand sewing everything) and took this photo before I completed the little bits of hand sewing I did to attach the fasteners and some bits of fancy.
I would've used my own Barbie to model these, but as she's in storage and I was lazy... you'll just have to imagine them being modelled. I will have to drag my doll home just so I can try such little bits of sewing fun on her. I must admit that I only dreamed of having the clothes I made for her as a kid turn out this well. It's nice to know that my sewing skills have come a long way since childhood. Well, that and my patience in figuring out how to make these tiny sewing projects go smoother has improved with time. Looking back I'm amazed at how I persisted. These tiny clothes certainly present their own challenges. Now I know why my mom shook her head and asked me how I could be bothered with such piddly little things. She had it right in that I think it is easier sewing larger items because the larger scale is more forgiving when you make a boo-boo.

Grrrrrrrrrr!!!! This fellow is destined for my nephew B. B is into the dino-craze phase that little boys seem to go through, so I'm thinking he should love this soft yet ferocious looking T-Rex. This was the easiest stuffie I've ever sewn. All the pieces were printed on fabric along with sewing instructions, which explains the lovely detailed markings he has. I must admit that this bit of goodness was a thrift store score. A mere $2 for the printed panel, some polyester stuffing which was also a thrift store major score ($4 for a huge bag that retails at $13), and a little quality time with my machine and VOILA! A perfect birthday gift for B.!

Finally got the gifts boxed up and sent off today. I always enjoy making gifts like toys and the Barbie clothes allowed me to revisit the countless hours I spent as a kid designing and whipping up my own doll fashions. Best part with the small stuff is that it's completed faster. Now it's back to bigger sewing projects now that this gift making is over...I'll keep you posted ;o)

Azul

Envious of Knitting Iris's blog posts (see link in the sidebar, way down on the right) in which she frequently groups her photos according to colour, I decided to do my own colour study today. As I have been learning Spanish with my boys, here is AZUL...which of course can be pronounced two ways, athool or assool, depending on whether you're in Spain or Mexico!


A bed quilt (the only one in my house not made by me), commercially made, and acquired at a garage sale for $5.


An astronomy calendar on my kitchen wall.


Gordon, the big blue engine, from the Thomas the Tank Engine series. We've had this Brio train set since L was two (13 years ago), and for a few years we kept adding to the set, but now it sits in the box for long periods. However, even though the boys are now 15, 11 and 8, it does still come out occasionally. And I wouldn't want to sell it or give it away because it's such a classic toy and maybe, one day, will be played with by the grandchildren!


An agate slice.


A vase which I love, even though I rarely have fresh flowers in the house.


Middle son's contribution to AZUL - the T shirt he was wearing today, some flower-headed pins and a home-made beanbag.


Laundry hanging out to dry. I love it when Spring comes around, as I can start saving lots of money on machine-drying and enjoy hanging out clean laundry in the sunshine.


Oldest son's Volvo 240 - for two years, this has been sitting in our driveway. He was desperate to get a car, and despite the rest of the family being very resistant to this idea, I supported him. He's not old enough to drive it yet, though it was running when he bought it for $250, but he could have learned a lot from messing about under the hood. Unfortunately he has let it go, taking off the outer trim and dismantling the inside, and I am now hearing "I told you so" from my husband!


Beach toys and garden tools that have been sitting outside the back door all winter waiting for hot summer days to return.

That was fun - now to decide what colour to feature next!