Hospital Visits

I've been a bit quiet recently. Because I've been in hospital. WOO!!

I didn't pack my camera unfortunately, so some super dodgy webcam photos are all I can provide today :( I wasn't quite sure how to demonstrate being in a hospital, so an IV pump is the way to go I think.
I've been knitting away on the little Trellis jumper, and I've only got a collar, a sleeve and half a front to go. I'm just plodding away, but I must admit that sleep has been considered a priority for me in this case.

Awhile ago I knitted this cowl, done in panda rustica that I bought about 7 balls for $5 from my local good sammy's. I cast on about 20 on some quite large needles and then just knit until it looked about right. I lent it to a friend one night about 6 months ago, and never got it back... So now I'm going to knit her one and ask kindly to get my original back... Its the same yarn that I've been using to make Baby Bear Hat. I shuffled the pattern a bit to my liking. However, I'm now running quite short on this yarn. I've done 4 little hats and the infinity scarf, so do I have enough for another infinity scarf? If not, it may be a serious struggle to find some more to match...

The importance of long hair.

Despite the fact that I often knit my hair into jumpers and the like, I usually have no problem with having long hair scudding around. Today I found another use for it. When up in a bun, it makes a very useful cable needle storing area. I constantly lose CNs, and knitting on the train or couch makes it difficult to keep track. Solution, stick them in my hair!

Another awful phone picture of trellis, my camera is having a grump at me :( But, I've got a back and most of the left front. Moving quickly, its a really fun knit :) I do love cables :D

We've also got another lovely pic of oscar, wearing a devil's cap, from teewee wonders. His mummy thinks he looks like he's got an eggplant on his head.

Rainy Days

Its been pouring down with rain for a little while now, which has been doing my garden a great deal of good! Everything is in pots, because unfortunately we only have a very small area thats flat enough to put anything on.

 But, I have a plan for raised planters, which will be full of delicious vegies :) For a start, I've learned that carrots don't go well in pots. There's not enough depth for them to really grow sadly :(





 

And we've got some snowpeas coming up, but they're not likely to do super well, because they're really a winter vegetable and we'll likely get some very hot weather coming on soon. There's also a little marigold in the pot, because apparently that helps to keep slugs and snails away from my plants, because its a daily struggle to get rid of them all.

some broccoli on the left and jo choi on the right, both are doing wonderfully.

And my CBBK (Kudzu) shawl blocking away. It can't be modeled yet, because the recipient doesn't yet know they're going to get it, but as soon as Christmas happens we'll be photo galore!

And finally the second of the Hot Gams Legwarmers. They're coming along nicely, but they are taking awhile due to being a VERY repetitive pattern. I'm not made for sock knitting, I don't like doing the same thing twice. And these are so long, it just feels like a never ending battle of cables..

Trellis

This is a quick message from my phone, to show 3 days of trellis (pattern available on knitty.com) knitting. Its in the 18month size, but with slightly small needles that suited the yarn better. Its a gift for Oscar, who is still only 5 months, so not likely to need it soon as we come upon an Australian summer. I did have to rip back twice because it was unlikely even to fit a newborn. I'm not a big cabler, having really only done the legwarmers before, but so far we're going well!

Sewing Machine

Today I'd like to show you my sewing my machine. This is the one I've grown up on, I've always used it and its what I learnt to sew on. Recently I wondered how old it was, so I went on a google.

 After a long look, I found a number of people talking about their "vintage" singer sewing machines, and I discovered that the 328P dates from somewhere between 1957 and 67,  and was made in the Penrith factory in New South Wales, Australia.

Its a lovely little thing, we've only had it serviced once in 20 years, and that was for the tension knob. Its pottered along like a lovely little solid dear, and has always been lovely to sew on.

I recently started playing with all of the cams that it came with, which were misplaced when we recently moved house. These are them, all 5 with a different stitch on them. I'm more of a knitter than a sewer, but I am getting into quilting of late. And cams made that very exciting!














So, all of my cams with various stitch lengths or widths, and it shows a lot more stitches than I knew existed! My favourite is possibly the straight st with occasional zig-zags, making sewing quilt bindings on much much easier! There are a lot of fun sts that I can use for things, especially some nice decorative patterns :)

All in all, I've had a lot of fun with my sewing machine over the years, and I intend to keep using it for a long time to come! However, it was very fun while house sitting to have a play with what I think of as a fancy and excitingly new sewing machine, the Pfaff tipmatic 1035, which we think is from about 1985 :)






In knitting news, I've put CBBK out to block, cast on a Trellis cardigan for Oscar, and started the second of my sister's leg warmers. So much christmas knitting to do! I still need to start a pair of socks and a pair of gloves that I'm not sure how to do yet... Possibly just embroidered is the way to go?

Running a little late...

I've been running  around like a lunatic trying to do all of my uni work and such, so haven't had a super amount of knitting or sewing time, but I also haven't shared any of what I've been doing!

A little Puerperium Cardigan, not quite sure who for, but I felt like making the pattern :)

My skein of Cascade 220 in Jet

And wound into a nice little ball

I started the Kudzu Shawlette, or CBBK as I call it, as a christmas present for my Mum.

Which progressed very nicely and quickly, and I'd finished the first repeat of the leaves section. And then, I thought, this isn't long enough. So, I did another row of leaves. And another. And another.

         

 Eventually, I had 5 rows of leaves, and I thought it was enough. So, I started the cast off, skipping the lattice chart entirely.                     

I started with a sl1 k2tog psso, cast off single st. I then knitted the next leaf as per the pattern, turning at the purl sts. I then cast off the very last st. I'm repeating for the rest of the row, giving little points to the shawl. Its working well, but I JUST Needed a 3rd skein, so I'm regretting the decision to do that extra row of leaves.

Thoughts mid week

As I'm sure I've mentioned, I'm currently training to be a nurse. And it is not an easy course, with 2 to 3 week practical placements every semester. I still work part time, and am of course still supposed to be studying. And maybe that sleep deprivation is causing my loss of faith in the system and humanity. But right now, I want to share a story about aged care.

About 4 years ago, my granddad's bowel cancer metastasized (Had secondary cancer sites) In many many places in his body.With chronic pain and severely diminished quality of life, he spent the last week in the hospital. We visited daily, gave him plenty of support, and because we're all from a medical background got things really done. The nurses were fantastic, though chronically understaffed and overworked, and the experience really inspired me to become a nurse.

We were lucky, nobody in my immediate family has had to go into an aged care home. I've worked in some, and I've seen patients who come from aged care into the hospital. And I am horrified by a lot of it. There seems to be a feeling among many that the elderly are already dying. That those with dementia will moan regardless of their pain levels.

Many people come in to hospital with broken hips after having falls, or with cellulitis or severe pressure ulcers. Many never go back to the nursing home. In many cases, elderly women will break a hip and not be taken for a xray for 2-3 days, sometimes up to a week. In one case, a woman came into the hospital after her carers dropped her from a hoist, something physically impossible unless it is used incorrectly. She suffered dementia, and was in pain though unable to express it. It took 5 days for the home to take her into the hospital, and only at the request of her family.

Australia's aged care is in crisis, and a lot needs to be done to make it acceptable, let alone good. But the most important thing I can say to relatives, is be there for your loved one. Visit long and often, and always ask. If you have a question, or there's anything that you don't understand, ask. And keep asking until you understand.

On a happier note, I'd like you to meet Oscar. He's the sweetest thing in the world, and I love him to pieces. He's squishy and smiley and just the best remedy for a bad day. There's photos of him all over the shop, and just looking at them makes my day better :)

On the right is an Amish Puzzle Ball, by Dedri Uys. I'm sure it will cause a lot of fun and adventure, especially as my mother spent 20mins and couldn't quite work out how to put it together...

And here he is again! TWICE! I love the way his mummy sends almost weekly snaps of him wearing more knitted clothes :)

Having a good shake of his miittens gloves, pattern by Michelle Hotchin. I popped some mini rattles in the hands, so he can simply shake away :) Isn't he so happy?

Whats on the needles

This time of year, I usually do a lot of curling up on the couch with a cup of tea and watching the rain. But, can't do that without my knitting handy. Its been a very up and down day today, with the rain coming in bursts and the sun and hot humidity yuck also prevalent. I much say, its not a good week to be back at uni. But the rain and sun will hopefully result in big broccolli and snowpeas!

Another plus for this time is sour sops.

 

While technically a weed, I love the yellow bells just poking out of the carpet green clover like leaves. They were always around the garden when I was a kid, and many pretend soups and potions included them as vital ingredients.

I started this peurperium cardigan almost as soon as I finished the last one I made for the recent baby in my life.

Apologies for the awful phone picture...

I love the pattern, and I love having a play with stripes and patterns on the front. I also know that most parents love it, easy to put on, easy to wash, and a bit more modern that most of my pattern collection.

Knitting on the go

Fun fact, cable ties can be used as cable needles in a pinch!

If anyone wants to know, its the Hot Gams Legwarmers pattern, in Marvel 12 ply for my sister.

Boob Quilt

This is the biscuit or bubble quilt, or as many of my friends call it, the boob quilt. There's a few different ideas of how to do this, mine have simple pleats on each side with an 11cm base. Enjoy!

Cut out 15cm squares in the colours you want, these will be the top of the quilt (A rainbow or random patchwork design or similar works well, google will provide inspiration. My quilt had 9 squares in each of 7 colours). Cut the same number of squares in a scrap fabric, 11cm wide

Pin a small square to the WRONG side of the large square at the corners.

On each side, make a pleat roughly in the centre

 

and pin. repeat with each square

Sew pinned sections together, and the ends of the rows.

When you've got a whole row of squares pinned, place 2 pleated squares RIGHT side to right side. Repin pleats together and pin at the corners as well.

Sew all pinned bits together, and the ends of the row pleats need to be sewn down as well. For the FIRST row only, sew along the bottom, closing each square on 3 sides and sewing the pleats down. Repeat with the next row, NOT sewing the bottom.

Pin the next row of SEWN squares to your first row. I tacked the pleats in row 1 together, which made stuffing easier. Then pin the first and second rows together at the seams and at the pleats.

Stuff! When you finish stuffing a bubble, pin your heart out to attach the bubble to its backing and the next row.

Sew the very pinned stuffed bubble to the unstuffed bubble row. It gets a bit fiddly, but I managed with a normal foot and 3/8th of a inch seam allowance.

You should end up with it looking something like this. I missed a little bit of the fabric once or twice, but went over it again quite easily. Repeat this for every row, you may need to go in stages if, like me, you have a limited supply of sharp pins.

All in all, I found this worked very well for me. When you get to the last row, you just need to sew it all up without sewing it to another unstuffed row. You should get a lovely quilt top of bubbles and puffy stuff and they are so much fun to squeeze! Any questions/problems etc, you're welcome to email me at mara__day@hotmail.com, or leave a comment on here! If this tutorial isn't to your liking, I know its a bit hard to follow at times, Awaiting Ada has a couple of tutorials as well :)

Dearie me...

Well, Christmas was a disaster. I flew back from the UK on Christmas day, so was an absolute disaster for the next few days. I've been working steadily on a few projects, including an enormous jumper for a very close friend. She's about 6 feet tall, and it just seems to be all arm...

I've got a lot of crafty sewing projects coming up as well, so here's some more photos :)

A wonderful lady, Antonia, about to burst with baby, recipient of most of my summer knitting...

Titus, some of the softest pure wool I've ever felt, form Ramshambles in York. Its turning into a Fylleryd Shawl

3 lovely skeins of Cascade Heathers, which I'm not sure what its going to be yet!

Some bunting for work, going to be a nice sign telling people who we are :)

A cross-stitch announcement for above baby

My crowning glory, which is a biscuit quilt. I'm intending to post a nice tutorial later on, because I had a lot of issues finding a nice one online!