Friday round-up

tap tap tap...hellloooo......testing.....Apparently I blinked, and February happened. Hopefully there are still some readers out there who drop by occasionally, water the plants, feed the goldfish, check on stuff. Because I have been somewhat negligent, and it serves me right really if Bubbles has gone belly up.

But I'm still here, honest!

On houseguests:

The Germans, Frank, Katja and Maya, have come and gone. As is always the way, time flew, we all had a fabulous time and we were very sad to see them go. Spending time with them always makes me wish we lived closer to family and could hang more than once a year or two.


On knitting:
I finally have some FOs to report (drumroll, please!) (hold on to your hats, people these are MAJOR FOs - ahem):


Dashing, for Beloved, in Lana Grosso Bingo, bought from Germany. I love this yarn; its super-soft and has a gorgeous twist. I have some more small amounts in the stash, but will be seeking to upgrade on the next trip to the Vaterland.



I have been participating in this project, although only at a minimal level, Im sorry to say. However, I did manage to finally send off my "Dishcloth series" to Elizabeth's exhibition in Philadelphia:

Top to bottom, they are:

Lacy dishcloth in Achor Magicline (pattern from the dishcloth boutique, which, alas, isnt working right now);

Ballband dishcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting in Yarnbee 4ply;

Ballband in leftover Heirlook cotton;

Squidge cloth in Anchor Magicline;

Grandmother's Favourite (from Dishcloth Boutique) in Panda 4ply cotton, 2 strands held together;

Squidge cloth in gifted unknown cotton from Happy Spider;

Grandmother's Favourite in Peaches and Cream;

Ballband in Peaches and Cream;

Feather and Fan (from Dishcloth Boutique) in Peaches and Cream

I am totally sold on two things: dishcloths as instant-gratification, cant-concentrate-on-anything-larger knitting; and Peaches and Cream cotton. None of the others even come close, I love love love it. Really. Love. It. Sadly I have found only one supplier in Australia (The Wool Shack).

On excessive garden produce:
I love the idea of a veggie garden, but rarely nurture it enough to produce any, well produce. This year, though, the conditions in Canberra have obviously been perfect because we have had a glut of tomatoes. So far nearly 10kgs from 4 vines.

I wanted to make some nice preserves, since it makes me come over all Nigella-housewifely to preserve stuff. So I made some tomato kasundi recommended by kms, and some spicy tomato relish from a recipe shared by Tinkingbell.

Yum.

On house-hunting:

Nada. Nix. Nought. Nothing.

Looking for a reasonably priced rental property that is livable is a depressing and infuriating process. We still dont have a house, and we have 4 more weeks to find one.

However, we are packing and cleaning, so we are at least trying to get ready. Please keep fingers crossed for us!

So that's it - the long weekend will surely be spent doing more packing and cleaning. Oh joy.

But there is another project on the needles that I will blog shortly - its a secret-squirrel gifty project, so I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. And there's too much packing to be done for that!