more finishes

Since starting work last year I have been struggling with the work/home balance. Not just with the housework aspect but with the knitting and needlework also.  There are things i want to do for me, just for fun, and there are things I am doing for display at work, and there are problems juggling the two.  Everything takes time and i need to divide my time equally.
I have been frustrated lately, feeling like I am getting nowhere, but all of a sudden I have come up with a few finishes.  Mond you, in the strictest sense of the word, none of these are actually finished but they  are close enough to be included here:

this is my little baby cardigan; only needs buttons. I can't seem to get a good photo today of the colour but it has been on my blog before with the colours more correct.  I am really pleased at how it has turned out and I love that, through not much effort on my part, the two front bands have come out with the pattern matching.  Woohoo, I like it when things just happen!

These are three stitcheries I have done for work. I class them as finished as (as far as I know...) i am not the one making them into little soft toys.  i had fun stitching these, and must admit I like the giraffe the best.

I have also managed this week to finish my first sock.  And yes, while I have finished one sock, it isn't truly finished until there are a pair of them. But as i had never done one before, or used double pointed needles, I am going to count it as a finish.  The second sock has been started, and will hopefully be done for a gift in a few weeks.

Forgive the photo, it isn't quite clear.

And forgive my premptiveness of calling all of these finishes!  i think when things become overwhelming it is good to sit back and take stock of what has been achieved instead of dwelling on what hasn't.  I actually feel like I am getting somewhere but am determined not to begin anything else until I get a move on with the other things i have on the go. I do have some sewing planned but will have to be good and leave it be for now.

New beds

We spent much of yesterday rearranging bedrooms as hubby and I got rid of our water bed and replaced it with a matress and base ensemble, our eldest son got a new queen bed and the youngest son got the discarded single bed and now has bunk beds in his room. 
What a big day!
The water bed was my hubby's since before I knew him, but we had decided it was time to get a proper mattress. Our new one seems to be very comfortable, has one of those new-fangled "pillow-tops" on it.  So the bed is quite firm but the top layer is so soft. Lovely. The one thing i will miss is getting into a warm bed on a cold night!
I am stunned though at how high the new bed is. It comes up a lot higher than our old bed, we almost have to climb up into it. I am of, I think, average height and if I stand with my back to the bed, it is almost as high as my butt.   Very different.
Son no.1 is happy in his bigger bed, and has more room to grow.  Son no.2 likes being on the top bunk for a change; he spent years on the bottom.
So it is sweet dreams in our house now.

Not quite a show success

Late last year I made a smocked christening gown (you probably remember it), which went into a special division in my local show, which, as a winner, allowed it to go onto a regional final. Winners of the region go onto the Royal Melbourne Show.
The regional dinner and competition was on Friday in Seymour. I didn't go as i had to run kids around to basketball in Kyneton.  I got my gown back on Monday to find I had (AGAIN!!!) won second. I have I think seven seconds now and only one first from the region. (no I am not competitive; much!). 
But, after looking at the ribbon;

I noticed that it had been entered in the wrong section.  It was supposed to be in a section for a sewn garment, and instead was put into embroidery.  So I guess I have to be pleased that it won even a second prize as it does have embroidery down the front but nowhere near enough, i would have thought, to be a competitor in an embroidery competition.  So i am disappointed it was mixed up ( i really thought I had a chance this year), but it was an honest mistake and I would hate for anyone to feel bad that they had made a mistake.  Sadly i cannot enter it into the region next year, it is now ineligible, but there are other shows.

I guess i will just have to start thinking of what to do for later this year.  Out will come the sketch book while I plan (and dream!).

A good day

Yesterday was our 17th wedding anniversary and we had a lovely day; shopping for beds, of all things!
 My husband bought himself a water bed when he was younger, before I knew him, and it is still what we have.  While we still like it, I think we have both decided it was time for a change so we are the proud owners of a new matress and base set.  No1 son is happy, he is also getting a new bed; upgrading from a single bed to a queen size bed. It was going to be a double until we realised that a double bed is the same length as a single and it is really the length he needs as he is 5 foot 9 inches and still growing.
All will be delivered on Friday, and then Saturday i assume we will be moving things around. (Phew, I am tired just thinking of it all!)
We also picked out our new front door (very thrilling happenings in our house!!LOL!!). Our old one has warped and with our extensions two years ago and all the renovating we have a done, a new front door will be the icing on the cake. 
Take away was the order of the day for dinner, after being out all day and neither of us inclined to cook. 
It was a good day and it feels like we achieved something which is always good.

family reunion

My husband is from quite a large family (as opposed to mine who could all fit around a dining table).   The only time we all get together is at funerals so the last time I have seen the extended family was at my father-in-law's funeral six years ago. With family down from Townsville it seemed like a good time to all get together.  So we trooped off to the local pub, had lunch, had lots of chatting and laugher and reminiscing.  It was lovely.
After people had already left it was decided to get a group photo, so here are the ones remaining;

My husband has 22 cousins we worked out on the drive home (and five brothers), and not all of them were there but it was a big group nonetheless.  It was decided that we should do this much more often, but whether someone will organise it each year remains to be seen. 
The night ended up like this:

Standing around a HUGE bonfire at one of my brothers-in-law.  So hot, but lovely.  No roasting marshmellows next to this monstrosity!
All in all a really good day. 

more finishes

These have both been finished for a couple of weeks now but they got forgotten and left out in my last post.

So, to continnue the blue theme (well spotted Dianne and Linda!!!!) this is something I made for fun, and because I thought my DH would hate it (he does!!) and I thought it would be funny:

A toilet doll ROFLOL!!!!! I saw a book in the shop where i work that had it in and i couldn't help myself!! 
And no, i dont usually go out of my way to annoy the hubby but this just tickled my sense of humour. 
Ignore the ribbon at the neck that is way too big, it was all I had and i thought it would do until I found some smaller stuff but I keep forgetting to look when I am out.

My other finish is not as pretty or exciting. It is this; a dishcloth...

It is made with two strands of 8ply cotton, and I have to tell you it works very well. I am very happy with it and can see some being made and put into hampers for Christmas presents.  It did take me two hours to knit, I am not sure if that makes me slow or if it is just what it would take.    I am going to make some more for here too; some in a different colour so I can use it for spills etc and it wont get mixed up with the dishcloth.

I spent part of yesterday knitting the second sleeve for the lovely little variegated blue baby cardigan.  I really want to get it done and get a move along on the socks I am knitting so i can get to some sewing that I want to do. And i really do not want to make a start on anything else until I get a finish or two out of the way. I really have too many things on the go.

catching up

i know, i know, it has, again, been ages since I was on here last.  Life has just been busy i guess and I have been running around like a madwoman trying to keep everything co-ordinated.
It has of course caught up with me and now I have caught my son's cold, which for me has turned into full blown tonsilitis.  Today is day four with no voice, and will be yet another day of trying to get some things done in the morning and sleeping in the afternoon. 

So, just a quick run down for you on what I have achieved, other than getting sick:

Finished this:

A lovely long (just over 2metres) scarf in bamboo (80%bamboo, 20%merino). It is nice and soft and I can wrap it around, and around, and around!!

I started this:

A three month old baby cardigan in Shepherd baby 4 ply. i loved the colour and just had to knit it but unfortunately before I finished I got into a mad frenzy about socks and...

started this...

My first ever pair of socks.  They will be for Dh's birthday in May, assuming I get them done. It took me a little while to get the hang of the double pointed needles and then it was suggested i swap my slightly longer needles for these shorter ones, and they were much easier to hold in my hands. 
I do need to finish the cardigan, it is so close, I was really rather naughty for starting the socks but I got a bee in my bonnet about them so off I hurtled.

No1 son and i have just gotten back from three days away at a basketball competition where he was supposed to be umpiring.  I got sick as we were leaving so it hasn't been a fun weekend for me, spending much of it in a motel room trying to sleep.  And for my son it was a bit of a waste as they had too many referees and so they all only got three or four games a day instead of the eight or so that we have had in the past.  I am sorry but three games is not enough to justify the money it has cost us in petrol, motel rooms, food etc.  I think they need to work out how many they need and put a cap on it.  So it means that in future we will be sending him off to tournaments that are not too far away and will not incur accomodation costs.
It was good though that all the games had umpire coaches so he got feedback after every game and his umpiring will only be the better for that.  So that was a good outcome.  And i have become used to people abusing the umpires and calling them biased. It was quite amusing at one point to sit in amongst some ssupporters and hear what they had to say.  I guess you need a thick skin to do it.

And now it is school holidays. Easter this weekend. Where does the time go?  Maybe I should stop asking this question and employ my time more usefully to get the most out of it?? LOL!!