six and a half stitches

RELEASE

Release i - The shop will be updated at 9:00am Saturday December 1st, Sydney, Australia time. As a gauge, despite what international time zones will tell you, we are 11 hours ahead of London (time zones don't take daylight saving into account). The upload takes forever at Etsy, so I'm likely to be plugging away for a while uploading. I wish Etsy had the ability for you to upload everything, and then publish it, so all pieces go up at the same time rather than each piece individually (or have I missed that function?)

Release ii - Working away these last few weeks I've become re-inspired about what I want to achieve with the shop, and what I want to make for it, and what I want to make myself with it all. So I have been planning another shop update sometime around the end of January that will accommodate some of the pieces I didn't get to make, or remake (like Fold Tops), this time. And I've been sketching out some new patterns, and things to try as well. I do like this well of ideas stage - the coordination of a schematic, the consolidation process, and then the launching into it!

Release iii - For the first time in a year, I don't feel like my head is going to snap off, and I realised yesterday this week has been the first in months I haven't had all day everyday pressure temporal headaches as a result of constricted neck muscles. Maybe I am relaxing out. Maybe I am a little calmer. Maybe the hundreds of dollars spent on osteopathy are starting to ease it.

Release iii - Pia had her second round of osteopathy yesterday. She screamed. Very loudly. But the difference in her arm and shoulder area over the last two weeks has been fantastic. She no longer holds it up like a teapot, and it now hangs down normally like her other arm, and her cranial fluid is moving better and back to normal. She has been released from osteopathic care now, and we just need to stretch her out and massage out her shoulder muscle each day at home. I'm hoping her leg and her walking sort themselves out, but we'll watch that.

Release iv - A few quiet moments reading through Pattern Magic Vol 2. If I thought the first one was good, this second one is just inspirational. A handy distracion at work. I even made up some little paper pattern models while I ate my sandwiches.

Release v - The end of an era in my little boy's childhood, as he starts his transition to school and kindergarten. I think that's another post. A mother post. Because I can't say what I need in a few sentences.

Release - I must go, and wrap little things, a little collaborative effort with Amisha for the update and do her soaps justice, sew seams up, and write out product descriptions, bake a belated cake for my husband's birthday, think of something for lunches, get a coffee (very important), buy some milk (also very important), and play in the park in the warmth: perhaps the most important thing to do today :)

PETALS IN BLOOM

The magnolia bloomed today, and I know how fleeting their time is, so I snapped it while I could in the fading evening light.

All to detract from the fact I am busy behind the scenes making for a shop update, Saturday December 1st. There will be more Black on Black Scarves, a Pewter On Black version which is quite delicate and shimmers in the light, more children's Obi Scarves like I did in April but in different colourways - stronger and bolder in a green/blue and a red/orange/wine colourway, some Tie Pants in assorted fabrics, and maybe some extra things as well if I get a chance.

A DAY A WEEK A MONTH A YEAR

Today: 15 minutes, 19 degrees, 5:45

1 year ago I wrote a post (linked above). I think of that post a lot. I can still feel that afternoon, be back in that moment. It was so calm, so peaceful, and so much a window into my day. On cold rainy days, I remember the warmth of the sun on that evening, and the red glow which filled the room. And on noisy loud days I long for that sense of connection back to the absolute here and now the noises around me had. 1 year later, how is this day going?

The air is still and close as clouds draw down, heavy with rain which has not fallen, and probably wont in any quantity. It is muggy, but not oppressive. All day lorikeets have tweetered in surrounding trees, filling the air with dense bird calls. Now they have moved on. Evening plane flights echo areoplane engine noise off the low clouds. An international flight. A domestic flight. Trains rattle in the distance, but their sound is muffled. Pia is restless on the floor, a little under the weather and in clean clothes after another mammoth day of vomiting - on me, on the floor, in a cafe. Her breathing is sharp, but her little mouth puckers out. The two fighting cats are slowly, tentatively coming back together. On my left the little one is the furthest into the living room she has been since July. The big cat is not happy and has just moved to a higher stand point to stake claim of dominance. The parrots have returned. There are no smells, no cooking, no tv's and no chatter amongst neighbours. Apart from traffic, plane and train noise there is, surreally, no other noise. We had our afternoon excitement of a procession of sirened vehicles - a fire truck, an ambulance, 2 police cars and a police rescue vehicle race past. I know as an adult that amount of sirens in procession is not a good outcome for someone. Max wanted to know why. But why. Max is in his room, tired and grumpy, putting together his elaborate lego space ships. He loves lego. And he loves space ships. I can hear the frustration levels building as he throws each piece down harder and louder. His concept of structural stability needs developing in order to keep up with his imagination. The light - the light is weird, strange yellow white bright light of rain cloud filters. Everything looks sharp. The cats are calling for dinner, and soon I will cook our own dinner which neither child will eat because one will have fallen asleep and the other will have thrown up all over everything. Again. My evergreen magnolia tree has two flower buds I can see from here, ready and poised to open, maybe tomorrow. My head is fuzzy from days of broken sleep this week, late nights, and frustrated days at work. Cat Stevens is in my head. I thank the supermarket tannoy system for the Boyzone rendition. There is knitting beside me - new knitting, swatch knitting*, unfinished knitting, and a room full of material ready to be sewed, later.

* the swatch pictured above is Habu Lamb Linen, and it's for the Short Sweater in Setsuko Torii's book.

CUPBOARD OF ANGRY TUPPERWARE

We have a cupboard in the kitchen which is full of plastic containers, baking tins and trays, cake containers...and Tupperware. I love my Tupperware. I could possibly have an entire house of it, if left to my credit card devices. But, the problem is, the cupboard doth overflow, and small hands that pull everything out makes the Tupperware angry. And then when big hands come to open the cupboard, the Tupperware rises in anger and all falls out all over the floor with a big noise. And then there is much swearing of the male big hands in the house who declare the cupboard to be The Cupboard Of Angry Tupperware. Best to keep the Tupperware on side is my advice, and not make it angry.

Which has nothing whatsoever to do with my post. And in case you want to know about the knitted piece above, that has nothing to do with the post either. I am, as you can see, a little disjointed at the moment. I'm just spread all over the place right now, and trying to focus on too many things, all of which are enjoyable, just needing some attention.

One of which, is my little girl.
I have for many years seen Osteopaths, and have been very fortunate to have had an excellent one in London, and now an excellent one in Sydney. I carry a lot of stress and tension in my back and shoulders, and at times I have been really incapacitated with back pain, and osteopathy really helps. My pregnancy with Pia was hard physically, and I wrote about my trouble with SPD at the time. My back, and in particular my pelvis area have never been the same since, but osteopathy soothes all that.

I am a firm believer in osteopathy for children as well. Particularly if you've had a traumatic, or difficult labour, long, drawn out, or any sort of intervention. I took Max to see my osteopath a month after he was born, we went through his birth in detail, and turns out the difficult birth he had was recurring through the head and neck area which was constricted. A couple of short, non invasive cranial sacral sessions later, and Max was back on track. I always meant to take Pia immediately after birth....but it was a great birth...and I didn't see anything amiss.....so we waited, and I got lazy and caught up in Life, and we never made it.

Pia's been walking now for 3 months, and over the weeks we've really noticed her holding her body in an unnatural way. She holds her left arm up like a teapot, and she drags her left leg. During one of my osteopathic sessions a few months ago, one of the other ladies took her while she was unsettled, and said her left side was very tight and she'd given her a little treatment. Last week we took her back for a full treatment. Poor little Pia! Her left side is so constricted and tight - you just have to touch her shoulders and she cringes. And man can she scream when she wants to. Gentle cranial work and gentle manipulation slowly paid off through the session, and by the time we left she was calmer and less agitated about being touched. It's now been 4 days, and her left arm has started coming down and being used normally more frequently. Another few sessions should really manipulate the skull and shoulder area, and then maybe we can see what the leg is doing. We can see such a huge difference in her body movement, and children react so quickly to the gentle manipulations that it is so worth our while to pursue this.

Luckily, the teapot look is in this year.

RED LIKE A VASE

The apple pie was very nice. And the cream was very nice with it. I did, however, burn the pie while blogging about going to eat the pie, which is really as sad and tragic as it sounds. I put blogging before apple pie and cream. Luckily though, milk and sugar glazes on puff pastry just caramalise and go a sort of black crispy mess, and still taste good. I keep getting sidetracked in Ravelry and new wool to buy... and patterns to queue. I really must get a shop update done, and then I can get excited by new knit projects. See, I'm thinking about wool and knit patterns even as I write. Just as well there isn't anything in the oven.

First though, a little splash of red. A Diana Fayt red vase - it's been a long time coming, but ever, ever so worth it to sit above me while I work and I thank her so much for taking the time in her schedule to make this.

A LITTLE BIT OF APPLE PIE

I feel a little like I've lived the last week over about 5 times. Which means, right now, I am exhausted. That real bones and muscle physical exhaustion where you just have to lie and do nothing. Or knit socks. Or, even better, lie down and knit socks while someone rubs your feet. I think over the last few days, all the little things, all the deadlines and work stuff, have caught up. My little stolen moment last week, was the only stolen moment, and I did enjoy it immensely. I have a head which feels like it might just explode - not sure whether it's the constant neck and shoulder pain I have reaching up into my skull, or a head cold (it's the latter, for sure). We've cut down plants, propagated them and crossed our fingers. The neighbours have cut down a large palm tree, thus sending all the lorikeets which chirped in the flowers away to another area and leaving a gaping hole in the suburban landscape. A cat went missing again, and returned again as I was getting ready to really panic, again. The upside, apart from her return, is that the fighting cats - which have been constantly fighting since I first mentioned it, have eased their standoff a little, and the little cat is now able to sit in the doorway of the kitchen for short periods of time. The irony is, that the little cat actually has more territory now than the large one, but not the longed for couch (and therefor attention zone). Last week I did Design Critique's for 2nd year architecture students, and it was tough. Tough because of a lack of engagement and interest which astonished me. I've had 4 weeks of deadlines back to back - what everyone else has 5 days to do, I have 3, and now a new project to start on this week. I have started my christmas shopping, and have returned to Moolka for gifts for Pia and Max. I can highly recommend them, and their selection of stock is wonderful. We got this for Pia for her birthday, and have now added to the selection with some games and role playing items.

And because it's christmas soon, I am also working towards a little shop update with a selection of things. I'll post dates and details closer to the time when I'm clearer how much I will actually get done, and I do hope you'll stop by then.
But now I need a little bit of apple pie.
And cream.

A STOLEN FEW

This afternoon I stole a few moments.
It felt very decadent.
Don't tell anyone.

[I spent it with The Knittery wool cashmere in Passionfruit colourway, and Merino Lace Sock pattern]

Do you want the truth?
Do you want to see behind the scenes?
Shall I dispel the veil of ‘perfection’?
Ooooooh, yeah. Go one then.

 A number of months ago I started a little wee cardigan for Pia [all links to pattern etc in that post]. Quick, I thought. Mindless, I happened. Lacking in need of concentration I surmised. I’d have this done in no time! I’d never miss the kimono top Mr6.5st fulled accidentally and which we have missed greatly as a versatile all-round-go-with-everything top.

There are people who can’t make a muffin to save themselves. There are people who can’t make melted cheese on toast, to save themselves. There are people, I believe, who can’t boil an egg. Apparently, I can’t follow a basic pattern from one day to the next. I started this as a mindless exercise in just getting something made. It’s all garter stitch, how hard can that be! The pattern is easy – simple increases and decreases. There’s a little bit of row counting……surely my head can cope with simple row counting. I only have to count to 3. And that’s where I met my downfall. I forgot (ha!) that you loose brain cells along with the placenta. I forgot, that you loose ability to carry consistent thoughts across a period of time that is shattered by screeching, bottom wiping, dinner, sweeping, feeding and working. I forgot, consistently, which row I was on. And so determined was I that the memory I had of where I was in the pattern was indeed where I should be, that I ripped back one side 3 times – because I didn’t learn the first time. Or the second. Or the third. Here’s a tip: Rowan 4plysoft, despite being the wool of absolute choice for me for baby items and a gift from the Rowan gods, is not very forgiving of being ripped out 3 times. I am grateful, that in messing up and forgetting to do one buttonhole (see above where I mention my unfathomable faith in my memory of what the pattern says being right), I could use that piece as the underside wrap and thus hide the fact that the rowan garter stitch has gone a little askew. Nothing a good soak and press wouldn’t solve, but I know it’s there. In my defense, there were often weeks between picking this up. And doing a few rows here and a few rows there does not make for a speedy knit. It wasn’t my high priority knit, and so mistakes are to be expected. None of those mistakes affects the outcome though, and none of them alter the way the garment is worn. I have a little extra sewing…ok, a lot of extra sewing because I also decided not to do the crochet border and that I should maybe use bias binding along the edge, of which I am 10cm short of a long piece sitting in stash and therefore I need to go out and buy some. Or not use it at all. Which could very well happen. I need to readjust the button placement because it’s still slightly big on Pia for the moment, and sew on a press stud closure to the inside wrap, which would have just been a simple button and buttonhole if I had remembered to do the other buttonhole.

In the end, none of that matters. It’s a beautiful cardigan. The colour is perfect on Pia – the colour is so reminiscent of the colours around us at the moment: the drying wisteria flowers coming to the end of their cycle. The jacaranda blooms paving the footpaths. The sweet blue grey lavender which really suits her little face and makes her cheeks rosy. [And the bottle in Pia's hand? No, not Vodka, but she loves this bottle (god knows why) and it's the only thing I can give her when I take photos in her room to get her to sit still.]

TO CURLY-LOCKS

Curly-locks, Curly-locks, wilt though be mine?
Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine;
But sit on a cushion, and sew a fine seam,
And feed upon strawberries, sugar, and cream.

mama sewed + baby slept + child built lego spaceships + the rain came down + the real mother goose 'Curly-locks' + linen/polyester long gathered pants with ribbon tie. have a lovely weekend!