K-niddling

When my nieces were little sprogs and saw my mother knitting (their mother didn't knit) they called it "k-niddling".  So here is my current k-niddling project, a cardigan in 'Highlands' woollen yarn from Bendigo.  The colour is a deep peacock/teal called Ness and I fell in love with it when it appeared a couple of years ago.  This is the umpteenth time I have started a project with this yarn, and even this project had its shaky moments when I mucked up the lace pattern at first, but it is coming along beautifully now.  I have been knitting for very very many years and done all manner of patterns in that time, so I don't know why this one gave so much trouble.  Perhaps it's the pattern writing style?  It has changed since I first started knitting.

 It will be a thankful day when the cardy is finally wearable.  Design is"Peasy" by Heidi Kirrmaier and was bought as a download on Ravelry.  Heidi's pattern has 3/4 sleeves but as I have plenty of yarn I am thinking long sleeves might be more practical.

The challenge quilt is finally layered and pinned, and quilting of it will be started this week.

It's been a long time since we had a wombat on the blog, hasn't it?  So here is the latest addition to the collection, a little clay wombat recently bought from a local garden centre.

The little wombat is very useful for holding open the pages of the book I am currently reading, "Bad behaviour" by Liz Byrski.  I have enjoyed other books by her and this one is good too......it says so much about what growing up and coming of age in the late 60s was like and how those events shaped what some people became.  That and "Last chance cafe" were borrowed from the library during the week - I'm looking forward to reading it too.  They are a change from my usual book diet of murder books.  Yes, folks, I am a great fan of murder mystery stories.  And you all thought I was gentle and sweet.

When we watch TV it is with a finger poised on the mute button to block out ads, we don't have one of those fancy-nancy (and hugely expensive) gadgets that let you fast forward through ads or record something to watch later with ads edited out.  Have you ever noticed how humorous some ads are without sound?  Especially the ones with a nicely dressed young woman gazing ecstatically at a basket of clean washing.  My heavens, if that is all it takes to make her happy she has a good life, doesn't she?

So far nothing has been heard from the radio station, the application form was duly filled out and lodged with them, and a small sum of money paid - as it's a community station it runs on subscriptions and volunteers - but no doubt it won't be long.  Perhaps there aren't enough volunteers to write letters of approval.  Never mind, no doubt they will contact me in due course.

The house is smelling good at present, the slow cooker is full of vegetable soup spiced up a bit with chicken and bacon, and some chocolate slice is setting in the fridge.  The nice young couple next door have been very good to us lately so some of the chocolate, and a jar of marmalade from last year's huge batch, is destined to go to them to say 'thank you'.  Their 3YO daughter has been in here a couple of times to visit our cats, they have two dogs but no cats and Emily likes kitties.  I'm not so sure that our kitties like Emily in return, but so far they have been tolerant of her pats.

"An absurd idea is held by some that intelligence and domestic virtues cannot go together; that an intellectual woman will never be content to stay at home to look after the interests of her household and children.  A more unreasonable idea has never been suggested, for as the intellect is strengthened and cultured, it has a greater capacity of affection, of domesticity and of self-sacrifice for others."

The nice young woman in the TV ads is definitely a picture of domestic virtue,......although we know she is only being paid to look adoringly at that basket of washing.

Enjoy your days!