Homesick

Even after 10 yrs of being here and making some lovely friends and owning my own home ( well- paying it off), which is a lifetime dream- I am still homesick.
Homesick, family- sick, friend-sick, tree-sick... the whole lot.
Not everyday, but often enough that I wonder that even if we won the lottery (Which we don't play, BTW) would moving to the bush/countryside make me happy enough to want to stay? I don't know how one figures this kind of thing out.

I know I should be thankful for what I have- and I am- but I long for more peaceful surroundings. Sirens and loud vehicles, smelly exhaust, and constant human voices are my daily life and it doesn't sit well with my interior. I don't know how to help that either.

It was a lovely day today- mostly sunny with cooler temps- about 23C as the high.
I got laundry,dishes, and two skeins of handspun all washed and dried. That's saying something for a Monday!
I also got an entire batt of fibre from Kathy (www.KathysFibres.com)spun!
Just into singles at the moment.
Last week I did a pair of slippers (as a test for a designer) in crochet and finished up a hooded scarf that I was testing for someone else. I have been quite prolific for someone who seems to get little done in a week most weeks! I am feeling happy about that.
Now I've agreed to test crochet a pair of baby slippers- if they turn out nicely I'd like to send them to Karla- my friend Jane's daughter - who, along with her DH of course, is expecting their first child this September!!!! I am so very excited for them!!

Thanks for reading.
Hope you are well.

Some Photos To Share

Hi! I have some pictures I'd like to share- many more to come but for now- here is DS in a hooded vest I made for him. The pattern is from Spotlight- www.spotlight.com.au- and can be more readily accessed via Ravelry if you are a member there. :)

These were taken several months ago- still in 2010- but think it might've been just before the cool weather was going to set in. He does wear it occasionally still! :)
The next photos are of the Bottlebrush plant ( bush) ( Callistemon is the 'proper' name, though I'm not sure I have spelled it correctly....)
It's still quite small but has grown ALOT this last year- it's 3 years old now.


ANd here are our Halloween pumpkins... You cant' tell it but the one on the left is an actual "Jack-o-Lantern" type pumpkin! It was originally $22 for ONE pumpkin from the local Woolworth's..... we got it reduced at $8 and I have saved virtually every seed from it in hopes of raising more from this one outlay! lol
More photos in future posts... for now ~
Hope you are well.

Hot enough for ya?

While my friends and family in the USA are generally suffering the harshness of Winter- we here in Australia are having a wild summer.
Once again this year we are having a heatwave.....
temps near or over 100°F (39°C) ( and UP!) we are breaking 70 yr old records for the state of South Australia and I, for one, am NOT loving making history!
We had an overnight low of 33°C the other night- ( that's over 90°F) - in the house it never got below 34°C! The day temps were then well over 100°F with a high of 45 being recorded in the city of Adelaide- it was likely 43 or so here. I didn't venture out to guess. Sweltering in my home in front of a fan is plenty enough confrontation with it all!!!!!!! lol ( I can laugh now- at the moment we are having gusty winds and the temps are nearing high 70°'s (24°C). This is like heaven for us.)
We have another week of this to go. Temps all above 35°C being forecast for the next week- here's hoping we are a bit cooler than they say. Times like these I really sincerely kick myself for not having an A/C!! Most times of the year we dont' really need one.... it's just these blinging summer heatwaves that keep coming back...
ah well.
Anyway- I didn't come here to just write about the weather- I got yarn and fiber to write about as well! LOL
OK _ I actually just came to add my SARK button along the side bar..... it's time for some serious SARK-dom! ( yeah right- oxymoron there!) Check her out. I have been a fan of hers for YEARS now- ever since I found one of her books at the Waldenbooks bookstore I worked in at the Lycoming County Mall in Muncy,PA.
I do NOT miss working retail..... not one bit- but I sure do miss the stores.
and the discounts! ;)
Will try to post a bit more when the weather has cooled- I really have spun yarn and washed it and dried it and we even tried our hands at doing our own hand dyed merino tops/rovings! What a hoot- once we got started I mean! I can see us doing more real soon. We 'cooked' it in the car even- solar power at it's finest!
Will post pictures soon- need to edit them down to the right size.
PS) Garden is all but dead with this heat and no rain for weeks and weeks and weeks.
I do still have some flowers hanging in there- even SALPIGLOSSIS!!!! yes! I grew my own- well- two! One pink and one yellow one..... the yellow one had the unfortunate timing to come out just as the heatwave hit.....but it is doing OK!
We got some corn, cucumbers, and zucchini from the garden before this though- so I feel fortunate. :)

Hope all is well.

Scarf Exchange 2008

This year I participated in the International Scarf Exchange put on by various spinning groups of Australia.

Last year it was held by the Gumeracha SA guild- where I first learned of it... so with the help of my friend Kathy I joined in on the fun this year. This year it was hosted by The Handweavers, Spinners and Dyers' Guild of Western Australia.
I got my scarf/extra yarn back today in the mail- so thought I should post my photos of the one I made. I'll get photos taken of my received items asap. :)

The fibre and one of the spindles I chose to use to spin the 150 grams.

Below shows the two spindles I used- the Pansy (by Spinsanity)
and The Magpie (by Yorkieslave Artworks).

This is the singles (^) which ended up being plied upon itself to create:
these 3 skeins- which when all put together - created this large bundle of yarn- shown with a full roll of paper/kitchen towels- for size comparison. :)
It was so soft and squooshy. I so hope the person receiving it loves it as much as I did. ( if you are reading this- please contact me- I would love to hear from you!)

Below you will see photos of the scarf I made in progress and then the finished scarf.

I crocheted the scarf in a pattern I found online, then added on my own free form 'fringe' on the ends- which I called gumtree leaves in order for the whole item to fit the "Outback" theme that was chosen for the year. :)


Hope you are well!

TWO MONTHS!?!!

I simply cannot believe it has been over 2 months since I last blogged. Wow.
The sadder part is- is that I can't think of anything really to talk about. Well-I can think of things to share- but at the moment there isn't enough time for me to get it all done- so I would rather wait.

I *finally* got the shawl I made for my dear friend Crystal - nearly 11 months ago- sent to her!
So I want to post pics of the before and afters of it all. But that will require some picture finding that I can't get into.

I did several skeins of yarn= including my precious Gotland Lamb, during the month of September in response to a challenge Mandie had on Ravelry to spin her fibre and win a prize package of goodies from her. I adore her fibres so I had to spin to win! I didn't- but had a good time spinning what I got done- all on the wheel- am working on some EL from Jane on a spindle from Sally of Yorkieslave Artworks. I have lots of photos to share.
I was fortunate enough to get some spindles before our dollar dropped too badly against the USA dollar ( currenly 66c to the dollar! UGH! and Sniffle....boo hoo........) ....... at the current exchange it won't be any time soon that I will be purchasing again and I am dead angry with it- as she is going to have some FABULOUS ones coming up - I just know it! *sigh*
I will add links to the names I have mentioned- please go check out their newest items in spinning fun!
Meanwhile I need to get going. But at least I have done an update so any of you who only check me here and not on Ravelry will know I am still alive and kicking.
I have started to cut back on my Ravelry time- but I sure do like learning so much from others.
And getting to share what I know is fun too.
We also have worked the garden soil and even planted some stuff.......
will post about that soon too. I am keeping a positive outlook for it ALL>
Corn, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers,tomatoes, lots of zucchini ( 2 bushing varieties and one vining), nasturtiums and marigolds too......all started from seeds......the tomatoes and the marigolds are not progressing very much- not sure why- especially the tomatoes.. might not be warm enough yet for them is all I can figure. Marigolds are in too shallow of a soil I think ( egg cartons... done trying with those! ) OH and radishes- they went in first.. and Love in a Mist too- those are in the front- so nearly forgot them.

That's it for now- have a lovely fleece soaking - my first time at washing a sheep's fleece- wish me luck... hoping it will not felt since I have used only cold water. Am worried about too much movement though.... I seem to *need* to move it around. lol

Hope you are well. :)

Completed Projects Sharing Time

Here are some photos of items I have made and one of my Dh's hat he spun and knitted!
Plus a few of some recent additions to my supplies for one who makes yarn. ;)

Firstly, here is a bed doll that I made UMPTEEN years ago ( more than 15 is all I can say....)

well- I made her dress. I love the ruffles and making them is a fun challenge. Not that is it hard to do-but to keep adding them in- it gets more challengining the fuller the dress gets.

Next is Dh's hat... he spun up a Romneyx fleece in the grease ( our first fleece purchase that sat for a year before we actually were able to spin it to do anything with it. ) We carded it on hand carders and he spun it on his Ashford Traditional wheel. I don't know the details of the knitting part at all sorry to say. Hopefully he will write about it one day on his blog or on Ravelry.

But it sure is a nice hat- beautiful variations in that brown fleece.

Now are two pictures are of my shawl I was working on when it was so hot. Finished it in early May I believe it was about when the heat went away- lol- and it has been used ALOT over the last few moths/weeks.

It is made of a commercial mohair/acrylic blend yarn ( hint- if you have to frog this type of fuzzy yarn, it is NOT a fun or useful way to spend your creative time! Frogging is not kind to you or your yarn) using a pattern from a book from the library- by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. ( I think I spelled their names right. ) It is a really nice pattern to do- diamonds that make up a diamond. The darker peachy picture is the one that is closest to the real colours- but wanted to use the more green-y picture so you can see the pattern well.

Here is my WPI ( wraps per inch) tool my hubby made me.( He is not pleased with the name part- but I like it!)

Makes life much simpler for measuring them- although I am getting pretty good at eyeballing 1" of the yarn without any help. But wouldn't dream of not measuring it properly with a ruler.


The last few pictures are of some superwash roving we stumbled upon at the market in Hahndorf.
One is that vibrant GRAPE purple that just doesn't translate on camera- comes out blue almost always. This comes out purple on my screen- but it is very 'flaring'. But it really does almost hurt your eyes with how bright it is! :)

The other is a combination I can't seem to get enough of- yellow/orange-y rust colour.
To have some nice bright colours in the superwash ( washable wool for those who may be unfamiliar. :) ) is really good. I have not spun any superwash wool yet- either- so am looking forward to that too.
Thanks for looking- hope you are well!

Happy June!

Lots to write about and share- so let's go!

First off I want to say that May 25 saw us once again at the National Rail Museum for RJ's birthday...
he turned 4 and had a fun day climbing in alot of trains and going on at least 4 if not 5 rides on a narrow gauge train they call "Bub" ( who doubles as Thomas for a week in July when they have the "Thomas the Tank Engine" show there......). So many trains there- if you are a train buff - it is a great place to see so many different types ( nearly all static and in the sheds of course ). Some have wheels that are taller than I am and it is just awesome to think how these came to be here in SA. I can't figure out how the boats didn't sink with one of these babies on there! lol
I will have to reduce the pics and put them in my next post. :) Wait for them! ;)

Then remember ages ago when I said I was making/ had made an apron for RJ? Well- here it is- modelled on the "Jamie O"of the future himself!

It is made of 100% cotton yarn that I had shipped over with me about 5 years ago..... love those colours. :)
The pattern actually made it the size for a child who's more the age of 10 or so- so I just adjusted it some. The neck strap was still way too long- but I have just whip stitched it with a fold in it- so it will be able to be adjusted out as he grows! My next project for him will be a hoodie! He loves them and I want to make him something but didn't know what until this pattern came along. Now- to find the right yarn. Wool is not the right choice, I feel- not without it being superwash....and I have none of that. I am very lucky he loves colour and doesn't want the dark colours that are so often sold in the shops.
I actually have 2 crochet projects going now as it is- plus am making squares to send away for comfortghans to be made with.....plus spinning that I am constantly obsessed with doing. I have several skeins that I got done on my wheel as well as my spindle..... and one that is now waiting to be plied ( Nyassa from YONKS ago that I have photos on the blog for-but because of it being laceweight I had stopped spinning it for MONTHS... well- it is all spun and now waiting to be plied. Had hoped to do it on my wheel but I have managed to pull ligaments or muscles or something in my right foot that i can hardly get around for a few weeks now...... I * think* it is getting better- but not sure- it is odd- the pain was first in the part where your foot and the bottom of your leg meets ( is there are word for that area?? - the 'other side of your heel'? ) and it bends there.......then it sort of has stuck there- but the major pain has managed to travel over to my outside ankle bone and now is at the achilles' tendon area?? My theory is that i strained something when I was going crazy on my wheel ( spun & plied 50 g in two hours or was that 100g....shoot i forget now.......) anyway- I think I may have hurt it then as it was shortly after that when it started to hurt- and then when it was feeling a tidge better I thought I would spin some again and maybe it would 'work' it out and then it got MUCH worse...... ( smart,eh? *Don't answer that!* ) I have not heard of anyone else having this problem- but then again I haven't asked on any of my spinning groups to which I belong. Too embarrassed. :( )

Below is the purples/greens/orange yarn I mentioned I was spinning for my bedjacket type thing I am going to attempt...

Yarn being dried one fine day, in our gum tree. :)

Then on May 31st we went to ......... **drum roll please!** .... Littlehampton, SA !!!! (about an hours' drive away...maybe a bit more... seems we never go the same way twice-lol! )
This was for a sale that was put on by the local spinners and weavers guild.
We had gone before and I am telling you- the night before I got barely ANY sleep= worse than a child at Christmas!!!!!!!!
And even despite my foot- had a super day. Got lots of FLUFF from Kathy Baschiera ( and we got to chat a little bit- she is always so busy - but she is so talented and has such lovely items for sale...I can totally understand the frenzy to get her fluff! )
I got 8 batts of yellow fluff -6 with glitz, 2 plain, RJ got 4 batts this time- two burgundy-ish ones with glitz also- and two greens...
and then I got two rovings hand painted by Kathy - but believe me- I could've bought SO MANY more!
I will post pics below of what we got
and to see what hubby got ( two different rovings more and 4 batts I believe) you will have to go to his blog! ;)

This one ( above ) is called Bizarre- it's so beautiful...

Below is "opal"- I saw this one hanging behind Kathy and while we were there things were SO nuts that we just left our things and came back for them to pay when it was more calm... she is a lovely lady to let us do that ( Thanks Kathy! ).... and thankfully this roving was still hanging there when we got back. For those of you who would like to own some of Kathy's beautiful fluff- she lives in the north/northeast of Adelaide...please contact me for her email and I will help you get in touch with her. :)

We also got to meet up with a fellow spinner and knitting friend from yahoo groups- Chris W. :) What a lovely, warm, wonderful lady! We felt like we'd known her for years. Makes me long even MORE to be in the hills.... it's much more like home there. *sigh* Alas- at this point in our lives - we are not millionaires and will not likely be buying a home in that area. Property is quite high right now and I want some ROOM to move. We are not moving only to find myself stuck like I am now- surrounded by people instead of trees. I am holding out for the right place... I KNOW it will show itself soon. Sooner rather than later I mean. :)

Above are Riley's batts- green and a sparkly burgundy... good taste for a 4 yr old- eh??

Below are the yellow batts I got..... i lurve them:

This one above shows the sparkle of the glitz she carded into them- below shows the colour a bit better I feel.

And the sneak peak of hubby's newly acquired stash:


Click here to go to his blog to see....
( when he gets the chance to post it... I can't say when they will be. lol)


Hubby got a new job he starts in 2 weeks- his Bday in this Sunday- and I got more fluff in the mail today from Jane in Northwest SA! She has English Leicester sheep and other wools she gets in ......raw and washed and dyed... Really nice fleeces overall- although the EL is a stronger fleece (much less soft than merino) it is still fun to spin and her dyed fleece are just so fun to spin. You can find her on eBay.au and you can also find her fluff at her own online store Mosely Park Home.

Need to go for now- lots more to write. And show! ( Yarn magazine goodies, my EL fluff and some new spinning that I am doing or finishing up... just for starters!)

Hope you are well.

All Things in Moderation, My Dear

Well Hello!
It's been ages- not alot to write about really- we had a 2 week heatwave at the beginning of March that I just sat and sweated through mostly. ( We really need to get A/C.) Didn't spin or crochet much even. Still got some fluff from eBay cos well... that's my addiction I guess. I meet the nicest people through fluff buying too. :)
I have, since the heatwave ended, restarted working on my mohair shawl and is nearly finished ( it is a lovely HUGE one! yay! ) and Thursday I started an apron from cotton yarn that RJB picked out from my stash....finished it up on Friday... It worked up quickly and easily- will post the link with a picture of the apron once I get myself together! lol

As for spinning- well- have spun a little alpaca on both my spindle and -the spinning wheel I won from eBay last year..... the biggest problem is that I only have one bobbin apparently! I will need to look properly in the craft room (eeeeek!) as i know it came with carderss and stuff- so maybe there was a lazy kate with bobbins that I don't remember. Otherwise I am thinking I will have to sell it..which is a shame cos I really like it- but it seems my alternative is to pay a woodworker to recreate one from the one I have- and I shudder to think what that would cost! But it was great fun to spin the alpaca on the wheel- so much quicker it is scary! I could see myself happily spinning away for HOURS on this thing and making yarn to sell. I still prefer my drop spindles- but am appreciating the wheel even more now! ;)

Jade- our dog, is not doing the best in the health dept.. We've taken her to the vet - blood in her urine- and they did a urine spec test and then the next visit did blood tests- and even after $300 + or visiting and 'work'- they still don't know what is wrong. They are thinking bladder tumour- but can't say it is for sure. So she is on some medication that is a quarter of a tablet every other day.... she is fine most times..... seems to be sleeping LESS actually..... but she shivers sometimes and still has the blood in the urine-although at times is less than other times. She was first on an antibiotic- but that didn't seem to really help. :(

Yesterday ( Sat April 5) we went to a 'fair' that was put on by Willunga Waldorf School and it was focused on children and showing off their school..... wow! They did a great job- RJB had a wonderful time playing, making a felt ball, had fresh made apple juice, and for me the best part- besides 4 hours in the open fresh air......they had a little children's cafe and as far as we could tell- ALL the food was vegetarian friendly! How cool is that?? It was $2 for a plate that you could choose 3 items from the layout and there was ALOT ALOT ALOT to choose from! We spent $7 to share a curry meal btwn DH and I mostly and felt if we'd spent the same money at the children's cafe that we would've done better! lol
It was a sunny nice day- small breeze, not too hot - not too cool.......
We were not familiar with the Waldorf part of it- but we were impressed by the 'curriculum' that we saw- they really have an emphasis on creativity in learning. Brilliant.
Now- if we can just find a home in Willunga area so we can send RJB there........
as of now it is much too far to drive each day.....and I am not sending my 5 yr old on a bus by himself! ( or 4.5 or whatever age he will be when he starts school......).
He just had the best time playing in the sand with the other children. "School" is going to be a very positive experience for him I believe. If we can get him in there anyway.

The Easter bunny found us too- and you know what we found out?- chocolate and oriental flavoured ramen noodles do NOT taste nice together. ( funny what happens when one is not watching your toddler eat! ) So- all those thoughts of "maybe we could get him to eat if we put chocolate on it".....they can be silenced- it won't work... well- not on oriental ramen noodles anyway!

Now- before I go- I need to explain my title..... in the last few weeks I have been getting 'spammed' on my blog comments.... so I have put my comments on moderation. I will have to approve them before you see them on the blog. I am really sorry for this...if/when the crud are found and the weird posts stop I will go back to normal. But for now.....PLEASE post a reply and write as much as you want...... just know it might be a short while until your post will show up.
It should never be more than 24 hours as I check my hotmail addy daily. :)

Sorry for the long time not writing.....will get back into the swing of things soon I hope - since it is officially Autumn and the clocks have even gone back today. I love cool weather. More each year. I miss snow- ( come on Snow! ).... and I miss green grass and fresh air.

oh By the way-Happy March, Happy Easter, Happy April, and HappyAutumn ( or Spring in the Northern Hemisphere !

Happy Leap Year Day!

Is that right- is that what we 'd call this day?? Anyway- happy 29th of Feb- which only happens once every 4 years so I couldn't let the day go by without saying something!

Currently we all 3 have a cold- I say "a cold" because it is the SAME cold all shared among us.
I was the last to get it..... RJ has fared the best- the young whippersnapper! ;)

Not alot getting done craft -wise- no spinning even though we have been having cooler weather-
working on another shawl on a pattern I just LOVE....will share that when it is all done. I did a pair of mitts in some leftover acrylic yarn and they turned out cute and very VERY EASY. Now to find some proper colour wool - spin it and make a pair of mitts for my friend Crystal. I told her I would make a pair- from a different pattern than the one I tried- I think this is a better one- but haven't gotten myself together. And now that the first day of Australian Autumn is about to hit us ( tomorrow)- the temps are set to go up into the low - mid 30's- which is in the high 80's low 90's for the Fahrenheit crowd. I am so ready for summer to be gone, thank you.

OK better go,
thanks for reading.

Hope you are well!

At the Speed of Light!

Lordy! How fast can the days go by?
I didn't even get to wish anyone a Happy February and it was past the time when Punxatawny Phil was to prognosticate the coming of Spring ( Or 6 more weeks of winter- which was the case this year... good Phil! ) - we missed it by a mere 20 mins or so- but in our time it was *late* in the pm of the 3rd of Feb!
I still didn't get photos taken of my alapaca fluff ( I think the site is back up though- tizteazles.com ) - and have now worked and FINISHED ( woo hoo! nothing like a 'deadline' [I prefer to call them finish lines] to keep you moving ) an art yarn contribution to the "Circle of Wagons" spin Challenge issued by Pluckyfluff to benefit a sick friend in Florida, USA named Holly ( or HollyEQQ) who happens to be a very good friend of my friend Mandie of Ewe Give Me the Knits!

I will give more details on what I am talking about soon- but for now want to try to get photos downloaded on my blog so you can see the yarn before the challenge is over! ( Ends Feb. 9, 2008 in USA time for entries, but voting is the next day....).
All entries are available for viewing at The Yarn Museum and voting for your 'favourite' is at Pluckyfluff's Blog on Sunday the 10th of Feb,2008.
Then all the yarns created are going up for auction at Sandy's website ( another friend in the USA ) with the money raised to be given to Holly to help with her expenses to get well again!

The 'theme' was "Circle the Wagons" - which is the phrase being used to show Holly how we fibre folks ( and everyone who loves them!) are bringing ourselves all in a circle to help her 'defend/fend off ' her illness. Just like the Pioneers of yesteryear did against threats to their wagon trains and their well-being. Hope I explained that right/ well enough.
I think it is an awesome effort and am glad to be a part of it all.
There is lots to see and buy at Sandy's website to help Holly. Please go take a look!

So here is my entry:


This is my first attempt at 'Art Yarn' and found it to be challenging yet fun!
I've named the yarn "Smoke Signals for Holly"- messages of health and well being sent to her from the fibre community- even all the way from Australia!
The first singles is a 100% merino roving that was dyed by Mandie of Ewe Give Me The Knits!, then for the the plying singles I've used shades of brown wool which represent the wood of the fire & of the wagons, as well as the earth- then added in some polar fleece 'indian blankets", white wool for puffs of smoke, and some cantalope ( Rockmelon) coloured merino for the 'lick of fire' . ( Don't worry - I always put the smoke puffs between the 'fire' and the blankets! lol!)
It's over 63 yds. / 57 mtrs and weighs 2.25 oz/ 65 grms.

and here are some other photos of it, to give a better view:

Two of the 'raw' ingredients:

While it is still on the niddy noddy, waiting to then be measured and weighed:

By RJB's wagon:

The finished 'artwork':



and here is RJB posing with the ingredients...

( hey- had to get him in here somehow-right? LOL! He has decided every photo being taken really should have him in it somehow! lol)

Thanks for looking- if you see this in time- go vote for mine!

Hope you are WELL.

A lovely shawl for COOLER weather!

I finished my shawl several days ago- but am just getting around to posting pics.......ah well.....it's been tooooo darn hot to even think about wearing something this fluffy and warm around one's shoulders anyway!

The pattern is from Yarn Magazine issue 8- right smack dab in the center of the magazine. This is the real colour of the yarn- forgive the messiness we live in...... we are creative people you know ......LOL.... this photo shows the pattern pretty well too.


Sarah Golder is the pattern creator with whom I had the priviledge of being able to email to help me with my confusion on the pattern. ( It was self-inflicted confusion- honestly- "I Just Needed to Know WHY....."- I wonder if other crocheters/fibre people are like that- needing to understand a pattern and not just accept it 'as is' and go with it ....once I understood the "WHY" the shawl was finished in no time- I am so weird! lol)
The yarn used was a commercially made MOHAIR yarn called Sentiments........I think it is Moda Dea. Because it was a bit thicker than the handspun originally called for I needed more yarn but that didnt' surprise me and thankfully it was rather affordably priced! :) (Special thanks to hubby who stopped in the shop to get me two more balls of it- don't throw him in that briar patch you know? ;) )

I can't tell you how awesome this feels- it is SO soft.
There is a sparkle thread in it that I have tried to capture...

and the purples are a challenge as always in photography. They kept wanting to come out shades of blue more than purple. I love working with variegated yarns- it's so fun to see how the shading and patterning develops. :)

I also have been very fortunate to have my alpaca fluff arrive yesterday- no pics yet- but VERY soon! I am soooooooo happy with it - I could just squeal. :)
The website for TizTeazles isn't up yet( but click on the link anyway just to see,please?) - Dawnii and family got affected by the flooding they had nearer Christmas time and she is working to recover from that. She currently has some yummy fluff like I got ( alpaca) on eBay.au...... at only $5 /100g - it is a pure delight to know you are helping them to take care of their animals and doubly so since they were hit with the flood.
Please pop on over and see if there is anything on eBay.au or if the website is up - buy buy buy from this lovely lady and family- you will be happy you did!


I am so behind in posting it is just silly- so won't bore anyone with much detail of the holidays.
We had nice ones- they went much too quickly and were much TOO HOT- we didn't get out and about too much. We*did* get to Victor Harbor and had a nice time there as always.
There was a 'carnival' type event going on when we arrived- figured it was for the school holidays. RJB thoroughly enjoyed the whole atmosphere and loved going on the car ride-

but was too short for the merry mixer/scrambler ride and wasn't interested in going on the Ferris Wheel for some reason! Ah well- with tickets costing $5 and $6 per adult for rides and $4 for the children's rides- it was for the best.
He did a 'pick a fish' game- for $4 he got to net out 3 plastic fish ( like we used to do ducks minus the net and it was only one duck) and their combined numbers on the bottom added up to a prize number- and his was ........... a brightly coloured 12" velour snake! woo hoo! He talked about it all for weeks- and every weekend wants to go back. He took his new digital camera and got some pics taken. :) Will show you some of those too.

The carnival from a distance- by RJB ( age 3)
The horse drawn trolley that goes across to Granite Island- photo by RJB.

Since it has been so hot lately- spinning has taken the back seat- and crocheting has taken over- when I have the time! I finished the project that I made with my handspun pink and blue yarn- waiting for photos of that too..........

and have started a CAL ( crochetalong) that is for a Valentine's Day themed mystery item- but with the quantity and how far we are- it is obvious it will be a afghan/throw...not sure of the dimensions- so not sure what to call it. It's time consuming so I am not far along and am two weeks behind the CAL- but I will get it done eventually.

Am doing some spinning on the cooler days- a grey wool that I have a gift project in mind for..

send me good vibes for getting it done before the USA winter is over-please?? lol

Enough for now- hope to get back in the swing of things and get more regular postings done.

Hope you are well.

No Whirly Wednesday Day....

.....But I did get a few rows of crochet done... on a project I am working on as a Cmas present-I *will* get it done in time- but will it make it into the mail and to them in time??

This is made from that lovely merino that I plied with a blue fuzzy commercial yarn not too long ago. The colours are coming out nicely in the item too.

And also wanted to share this photo of the zucchini from our garden-

I made a really tasty zucchini and stuffing casserole that was pretty quick and easy. Even Dh ate a big plateful and he not real keen on squash. Email me or leave me a comment and I will be glad to share with you the recipe. :)

Quick post tonight- after 10 pm anyway- but just want to sit and vegetate awhile.

Life with no daytime naps is not always that much fun. Hard to get things done.

PS)

I have asked Santa for amazingly dyed alpaca fleece. He said yes. To over a Kilo of it. :D

I am very happy. Very HAPPY. :)

Hope you are happy and well.