Friday 7 March 2008

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!


10 comments:

Rose Red said...

If I were knitting in Lana Grosso Bingo I'm afraid I would spend the whole time singing "And Bing-o was his name-o", which would be very annoying. Although it does look very smooshy and yummy. As do your tomatoey things, as even though I do not like tomatoes, I do like tomato relishy things.

And dishcloths. Which I always type as "dischclothes". They rock!

amy said...

I LOVE Lana Grossa Bingo!! LOVE IT!! The only store around here that sold it went out of business a year ago, and I bought all that I could. So I have a wee bit of stash that I'm hoarding like a European dragon. My adoration of it is completely ridiculous, but it's soft, and smushy, and washable. It's perfect for hats. It's so delicious. See? Irrational love of this yarn.

I'm so sorry on the house search situation. Who needs that stress while pregnant? Of all times that you'd want to feel settled. I hope the Universe provides something soon.

TinkingBell said...

Sending house vibes (vibing vibing) Tomato things look yum! (house vibes hose vibes)

and a plentitude of dishcloths - see - you're busy!

Bells said...

Fabulous George. dashing look great! I'm sure B's hands will be delightfully warm.

Great range of dishcloths. I think I will start a squidy one almost immediately. Good job on getting something done for the project.

Nice job on the relish. Very nice.

And hopefully today will bring you house joy.

By the way, PJ's face in that photo! Fantastic!

Donna Lee said...

I'm glad the house guest time was a good one. The tomato relish looks great. I've never had tomato relish. Is it like salsa? I can't wait to put in some tomatos, peppers, cukes, green beans, the list just goes on and on. I'm with Tink, sending good house vibes your way.

DrK said...

oh i bet you make kasundi to DIE for! i cant believe the house nightmare is still not resolved, i dont think i would be coping if i were you. but i am glad to read you are still alive and kicking. i wish i could do more than cross my fingers....

MadMad said...

OK, I just read Rose Red's comment, and now am singing Bingo was his name-o even though that didn't even occur to me in the first place, and I was just going to say that yours was quite an update! Love the Dashings, the dishcloths and the jars of yummy tomato-ey stuff. Hope the househunt progresses - it must be incredibly stressful!

-i-n-g-o
n-g-o
-g-o
o!

And Bingo was is name-o. Ugh. I'm gonna go over and give R.R. a talking-to!

Em said...

Dishcloths are great, aren't they? They take practically no concentration, and in a couple of hours, you have something useful.

I will cross my fingers for you on the house. I kinda know where you're coming from, having been there recently. It's scary to have a deadline come up and not know where you're going to live. Wish I lived closer, I'd help with the packing. Sure, I'd slip some of my boxes in with yours so I didn't have to handle them. But the helping would be what counted.

Five Ferns Fibreholic said...

Didn't you lose another month not too long ago?
DH keeps teasing me about moving to OZ. A position for him would take him to Canberra....maybe next time he brings it up, I'll let him know about the housing situation.

I gotta tell you, those two kids are just so sweet, I just want to eat them up.

Maureen Reynolds said...

Thank for the link to the kasundi recipe. It's a new one to me but I hope to try it in ...August?..when we get our glut of tomatoes round here.

I hope to run it by one of our canning gurus to see if it will can also.