"From white to yellow"

"Much of what we see depends on what we're looking for"


Hi, still here and still knitting.

The weather has improved dramatically with sun and warmth and best of all no rain. I guess I shouldn't hold my breath it is nearly time for the equinoxticals. [sp?] That is the strong northerly winds that we get every year around Oct/Nov.

Got up on Thursday and this is the view from our kitchen window. It was cloudless until I had rooted around for the camera and made my way outside to take a shot... then clouds!! still you can see the lighter sky. Day light saving starts in a week and then summer will feel on the way with Xmas just around the corner.

It is now Saturday night and I have spent the day gardening, car cleaning and some knitting. I am still in the black hole of "the brown wrap" Down to the last 3 rows of cassette tape yarn then 2 or perhaps 4 of the dark brown wool crepe then the edging. I think I have decided to knit a sideways border rather than just knit one straight. As I have a small 5 stitch garter stitch edging running around the shawl want the bottom to be continuous from this. So I guess this means biting the bullet and counting all those stitches and doing the math to fit in the correct number of repeats. Ugh!!!

I also want to tweek some short rows at each end on the border to "turn the corners" so the edging "grows" from the border. Make sense? If not all will become clear. I hope anyway. I have decided that I prefer a zigzag as opposed to a sawtooth edging. I am just trying to make up my mind if I want to knit in the cassette tape or thread it through as fringing afterwards. [ This would be far easier so will probably do this. ]

It is quite a bit longer than this picure shows. Colours a little closer to "real" here.

I am still on the leg of the first pair of rainbow socks . Had a fitting as look tight but fit snugly which will be an improvement on the last two pair which are a little loose. A pic next time if you are lucky.

Until I moved into the present house I lived for 24+ years in Whitby. Whitby, Wellington that is not Whitby, Yorkshire. This is a "village" where everything is named after something to do with Captain James Cook. When living there at this time of the year the bush behind our house would develop a dusting of white. Real pretty snow like. This would be the Manuka flowering. I miss the bush as the birds would visit and would come when I whistled to be fed.

This is a close up........

But where I live now is also very beautiful at this time. I now live in a suburb called "Papakowhai". This is a Maori word... Papa = earth or ground and kowhai is the Maori word for yellow and is the name of a yellow flowering native tree. So literally "land covered by Kowhai trees. You may guess the bush around here, [and Most of New Zealand homes are near bush or parks] are now dusted with yellow as all the Papakowhai's are in flower. Again not easy to photograph. So here is a close up of a tree in the school grounds where the GC go. They have several trees around the edge of the quad.

The native birds love the nectar and Tui's [ or parson bird ] can be seen and heard with Fantails flitting about feeding on the insects drinking the nectar.

Well nature lesson over.. I will go and do a few more stitches on the black hole hmm mean wrap. Tomorrow off to our national museum Te Papa to visit a Rita Angus exhibition and then to the City gallery to see an art exhibition many have been telling me I "must see" as the art uses cassette and video tapes knitted. Fun... and inspirational.

Just finished reading

"Death by cashmere" by Sally Goldenbaum

A murder mystery with a knitting group who solve the case .A fairly light read but enjoyable. Good for night-time reading when tired and you don't want anything too heavy just before sleep. I must try and track down some more of her books.

Now started

"Things I learned from knitting whether I wanted to or not" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Finally got hold of a copy and none to soon as she has just released another! Very productive writer! Once again Stephanie gives a knitters slant to everyday expressions. I haven't read a lot yet but do enjoy her wit and insight. Having being brought up with " if at first you don't succeed, try try again" etc great to read and apply it to my consuming passion at the moment. [ I have treated myself to her calendar as well but will wait until the new year to open this]

Off to knit... knit on >^..^<>