six and a half stitches

INTO THE FOLD

Catching up slowly ... and one post I said I would do weeks ago and have yet to tackle. My apologies to both Zoe and Tyler for taking so long. I finally will clear my head and do the meme doing the rounds, while stitches make their own socks, and a new banner gets uploaded and settles into the 6.5st fold. The banner reflects this very clear crisp white phase I'm in - subtle and neat. Most unlike the everyday life around me! But it's also a nice reflective image - perfect for the soon-to-be-turning-4 blog. A nice transition, a nice freshness - something to aspire to in my little world.

What was I doing 10 years ago? [] I was in Melbourne, tired, stressed (very stressed), and really not enjoying things very much. I was working very long unforgiving hours, week, after week, after week, under difficult circumstances. It's not a period I look back on with joy. However I was surrounded by some amazing and wonderful people who I still am incredibly grateful are part of my life. I learnt a huge amount during this time, and gained a lot of skills that have been invaluable and have only had a positive influence on the path my career has taken - so through adversity comes some strength. The experiences of that time were so profound, that they set in place a series of events over the next 5 years, and for that I am grateful.

What are 5 things on my list for today? [] clear the floor of toys (again) including the nappies strewn from one end of the house to the other under Pia's new obsession which requires a nappy being put on anything which does not move :: make a new pile of material for some new clothes for Pia and a little something new for me :: make lasagna for dinner :: email about some freelance work :: do the shopping so we have food to actually make lasagna (done).

What are 5 snacks I enjoy? [] double cream brie with quince paste :: pringles :: if there were freshly cooked biscotti in the house I'd happily nibble on them all day :: portugese tarts :: toast.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire? [] travel :: travel :: travel :: buy a vineyard in Piedmonte :: have a printing studio in my garden :: open my own design practise.

Places I have lived? [] Durham :: Canberra :: Melbourne :: Sydney :: London :: Newcastle (UK).

Jobs I have had? [] shoe saleperson :: worked in a newsagency :: architect :: visual merchandiser.

3 habits? [] biting my nails :: compulsive pile maker (and photographer) :: 2 coffees before 9.30am.

What's the latest news/goals for your business or efforts nearest and dearest to you? [] hmmmm. Stalled. That's about as clear as I can get. Everything just feels stalled and stagnated at the moment. Maybe I should go look up property for sale in Piedmonte....

And I should tag 5 people. Except, I think I'm possibly the only one who hasn't done this, so there can't be many left who need to be tagged, but if you'd like to do it, please play, and let those you tag know through their comments.

LANDING PLACES

A soft mist enveloping the neck.

A gentle landing place for a weary dragonfly.

Silken threads of haze and steel, entwined, and silver shiver,

Upon the pond.

Ravelry link.

TODAY THE ALMIGHTY

Today I am a domestic goddess. Today I am almighty. I think.

The wings of the butterfly are spreading, and I have washed, blocked and dried the Haruha Scarf. It is stunning. I have folded clean dried washing, and even put it away. I have washed even more clothes. I have made sandwiches. I have cleared toys which miraculously appear underfoot whenever my back is turned. I have picked up more pairs of shoes than I care to count. I have changed sheets on beds. I have picked mandarins. I have defrosted meat, remembered to buy Guinness and it is now all slow cooking for Beef and Guinness Stew for dinner. I have packaged, invoiced and posted orders made last week, and caught up on a couple of other parcels which will go out tomorrow. I have emailed a sketch design proposal for a piece for another book (yay!!). I have swatched an odd combination of wools for my next project, and I have ordered half of it in the colour I need to make it work (the rest is in stash). I have vacuumed the crumbs on the floor while at the same time playing 'let's pretend you are a council worker who does cleaning and I will follow behind you and check that you have vacuumed up all the pieces' which was Max's choice of game but not necessairly my choice. Mummy would have prefered 'let's pretend we win lotto and she never has to work again and we can have someone do the bathroom of our dreams, in fact we could move to the house of our dreams and each of us could have our own bathroom'. Tonight I will fill in more forms for more child related things – it never ends – but my list will be infinitely smaller as a result and I will almost be ready for the new tax year.

And I have made Mandarin Jam, with vanilla beans and a dash of cinnamon. This feat alone is worthy of goddess status I’m sure. And it is a very high point today, because 8 weeks ago I didn’t think we’d be making jam this year. Even 3 weeks ago I was saying to people there would be no jam this year. Our tree was swollen with fruit….and just about every infestation a poor citrus tree could have. It looked awful. So awful I cried one afternoon looking over its scaled and mouldy leaves and branches. I sprayed vigorously through April hoping we could keep the tree going through fruiting. I pruned back all heavily infested branches, and culled fruit which looked like it wouldn’t make it, giving more energy and nutrients to the remaining tree to try and reduce the amount of spraying. All of this mindful of timing for fruit and possible eating. And now here in mid June, we have a tree covered in lush ripe orange mandarins, juicy and sweet without being too sweet. They are delicious. I started gathering jars….

And it is possibly the best jam marmalade I have made so far. It will be excellent on sourdough toast. The tree is still groaning, so when more jars become available, I will make more jam. I have always used the recipe for 'Mandarin Jam' in Apples For Jam. Really it’s more a marmalade than a jam – tart and sweet and full of flavour. It is an easy and uncomplicated recipe which is possibly the only reason I ever decided to give it a go when I first started doing it. I add a scraped vanilla pod and this time half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon (if I there were sticks in the cupboard I would have put sticks in). I am now impatiently waiting for the jars to cool before plundering one with some toast. I may just have to taste the stew though first...

RULES FOR FLUTTERING

RULES.

i   [] Do not wear near naked flame.

ii  [] Do not wear when it's raining.

iii [] Do not wear with wet hair - dry thoroughly before use.

iv  [] Do not go near any messy foods. Forget Laksa. And icecream.

v   [] Shimmy your shoulders a lot while walking to hear it rustle gently.

vi  [] Listen to it whispering as you walk - it will tell you stories of far away lands.

vii [] Be prepared for people to fondle your shoulders. A lot. And ask you lots of questions.

viii[] Best not to sweat much either.

ix  [] Stop and catch your reflection in shop windows, and sigh adoringly at this marvel you have made yourself.

x   [] Fall. In. Love.

Ritualised wearing - that wonderful cross over point when you are wearing 'something' not just 'anything'. This is such a great top. Can I just emphasise that - this is such a great top. It moves, well, like fluttering leaves and branches with it's own dappled light through negative spaces between seams and body. It knits up quickly and easily, and with some major restarting that went on to get the shape I wanted it - wider and looser so it had a definate shape and movement - this is pretty much a perfect garment. Once again, I find myself falling in love with Habu yarns, and the simple designs of Setsuko Torii. I love the rigid structure of the paper, incredibly comfortable despite appearances. I love the colour - rich cold grey, perfect against black. And the shaping - angled arms which sit beautifully, assymetric, and pinned together with tiny little timber buttons.

Fluttering. A beautiful way to move through ones day.

BIG AND RED

The shop is now updated with an assortment of beautifully coordinating pieces! Simple wool cashmere swing coats, delicious in their vibrant and elegant linings, matching scarves - for both adult and child with adorable button details, and lightweight simple understated wool Fold and Double Fold tops. All in a very oriental red, black, white, grey and brown palette. I hope you might take a look, stop, browse, stay a while, and come away happy, or at least with a smile on your face. I have more things planned for the coming weeks, or at least until the fabric runs out.

STEPS TO MIDNIGHT

i [] 44timestwo is experiencing technical difficulties born by a server which has shut Charlotte out, and time differences so we are late with Monday's image, but we're hoping to resolve this soon. In the meantime, please take a look through the Archive gallery of amazing pairings.

ii [] I am updating the shop tomorrow evening at 9pm Sydney time. There is a wonderful coordinated selection of wool knit Fold Tops, Double Fold Tops, Swing Coats and matching scarves (suitable for both adults and children).

iii [] I have an incredibly long list of things to do this week and I keep clutching my lists, so let's start ...

I listen to this: The Secret Meeting 'Am I here'

Let's imagine. Dark night, just this side of midnight. Still. Quiet. Crisp air, moving slowly. Surely you can hear animals breathing. A moon shines full, glistening light bathing the sky and landsacpe in inky blue black colours, as silver threads of mist and clouds slowly move across it, highlighting recesses and cavernous shadows against sharp highlighted leaves and animal eyes. I'm sure there's an owl in there - yes, surely you can hear it calling. And by morning a gentle dew will have settled on the ground. Or perhaps a frost, sharp and icy.

Nearby there must be a graveyard, old and covered in vines, tangled bushes and ornate carved headstones. And there is a stone angel. Sad and gothic weeping over death. Large stone wings, poised above, watching the spirit, keeping an eye, as moss slowly erodes and takes it back to the earth.

And you step closer. Step closer to midnight, feeling the chill, drawing yourself in for warmth, pulling garments around close to protect and seal.

I am drawn to nights at the moment. It's the only time the house is quiet and I can think. I have been thinking about meme's doing the rounds (which I will answer) and about what I was doing 10 years ago, 20 years ago or even 2 years ago. And I keep comiong back to night times. So many of my memories are embedded within the dark hours of night. Insomnia. Abandonment of youth in the freezing winter huddled talking and laughing. Early hours as design submissions are drawn out with bleary tired eyes. Hotel rooms planning presentations. Hours spent feeding. Flying across countries. And I am particularly drawn to the colours of night, and how varied and rich they are. How vacuumous and enfolding they are.

This is a cowl for those memories. A simple but precise description of small steps through a landscape which will have it's own story, in whatever colour of weight yarn you choose. This can be easily adjusted for tighter step patterns, or for thicker wool by varying the stitch count - as long as the number is divisible to get an even number of stitches between each set of wraps. Pattern available through Ravelry and the Pattern page.

FUZZY LUSCIOUS

Today is fuzzy. One of those days where your head is slow, your body is slow, you're shattered tired, you want to curl up and sleep, because let's face it you haven't slept for the last two nights and last night was by all means a new definition of shocking sleep and inderterminate screaming and kicking - a night in which you mentally begin making plans for spending the wee hours of the morning at paediatric A+E and bracing yourself, and counting the overdue minutes on a husband returning very delayed from interstate......until somewhere around 3am the house goes quiet, and finally you sleep, momentarily, before the next child wakes because the first planes have gone over, and therefore by definition 'morning time' has begun.

Except, all that changed as soon as I left the house. And the grey weather and clouds, the wet weather we've had all week, and the autumnal scenes around us, suddenly snapped into clear focus - each colour intensified and alive. Greens luscious and dripping in saturation, orange leaves, glistening, citrus yellow and green leaves carpeting the pavements, all on a deep charcoal backdrop of tarmac, concrete pavement and sky. It was brilliant, in every sense of the word. Deep mosses on trees exagerated by water, leaves in their final burst of colour before leaving altogether, reds of industrial buildings popping out. Bouganvillea petals strewn and vibrant pink. It was wonderful, and slightly exhilirating to be walking amongst such clarity of light and colour, and I cursed not having my camera with me. Perhaps later this afternoon the light will oblige once again.

When tiredness hits, I keep busy, extra super busy - you're not trully tired till you're doing Extreme Tired - and we've dashed in to buy a heap of circular needles [you can never have the right one in the right length], done a music class, set up a new wireless modem, and after this I'll finally get the phone connected as well. Pia, she of 3 hours sleep last night, has fought vigorously the idea of a sleep, so I got her up, made sandwiches, and it went quiet very quickly - ahhhhh [please click to go through because this is just so gorgeous]. Quiet. I can do the phone, and I can knit and finish the Chinese Pullover, or keep working on another piece using the wool in the last post. I can hem two coats I've made - Swing Coats [and more matching scarves] in really beautiful fabrics for a shop udpate next week of which Pia is modelling hers that I finished a few days ago, fuzzy that it is. I could sleep, but that would kill the rest of the afternoon and evening I still have to get through.

And to just say one more thing about the food post - It turns out part of Max's issue is that he really, really doesn't like having the same meal two nights in a row, or even repeated in a week long period. He had a massive meltdown last night over lasagna again. Now that I know that, I can work around it. Funny, but he has absolutely no problem using a toothpaste that is apparently made from crushed trains [Macleans First toothpaste has a picture of a train on it, and therefore, is made from crushed trains - impeccable reasoning], but wont consciously eat vegetables. I've tried to explain trains are not crushed and put into toothpaste, but he refuses to believe me, and I will not fight that 5 year old [il]logic.

IDEALISM

As I've grown my children inside me, I've always had very strong ideals on what my role as a parent should be, and how we would parent. There were scenarios I pictured as being 'ideal', and things I wouldn't compromise on, things which just weren't going to be part of our plan. I think a great number of those 'ideals' were shattered within the first two weeks of Max's life, and it made me realise that ideals are just that - ideals. They don't represent certainty, and just because you want to do something, or you believe a certain dogma, it doesn't mean that's the best scenario for your child. Compromise and flexibility - it is sometimes hard to step back and acknowledge your wonderfully researched ideals, aren't what is going to work for this particular child, or within this particular family unit.

I always thought we would have children who ate well, and ate varied, adaptable diets. Children who would experiment! Embrace new tastes and foods! enjoy the cooking process! and want to be part of the food in our lives. I made sure we started solids the way research suggested we should. We waited, we let the child lead, we offered, we never pressured, we introduced slowly. When feeding became a part of their day, I offered variety, tempering adult meals to suit the childs palette and needs. Meals were always home cooked and fresh. Hell even some of it was organic.

I didn't factor into this, that as a parent there is only so much you can account for. Just because I wanted my children to love food, it doesn't mean they do. Whether something was organic or processed, doesn't make a difference in how they approach food. In fact, for about a year sausages were all Max was willing to eat. Didn't mean that was all we cooked for him, just if he had his way, that would have been on the menu every night. At some point all vegetables became revolting, particularly if they were green or carrots. Ditto herbs. Because they're green. Spices - forget it. Even pepper drew a curled up nose. Fruit was eaten in abundance, as was cheese and yoghurt. So there was some good going in, but the frustrations at mealtimes have been, and continue to be, hard. I have got clever at hiding vegetables in foods - grated and pureed and stripped of distinguishing features (peeled zuchinni in risotto gets hidden very well). I have eased up my frustrations knowing that over the course of a week Max and Pia will actually eat everything they need to grow well and function, and they will actually seek out what their bodies require over this time. I also know that a child can live on a very excluded diet and not need dietary supplements and still be healthy. But I am saddened that our glorious life of cafes, experimenting with foods and having a wide and varied repetoire to call on - even if simple basic foods - has not blossomed despite our hard work. There are days I fight it and make them eat what I've cooked even if they only take a few mouthfuls, and days I just can't fight it and cook what I know they'll eat. Max is starting to take some interest in other things - he loves it when we make fresh pasta, but I think it's more to do with the shiny pasta maker than the pasta itself. He loves it when I make fresh pizza dough, but again, I think it's the mess and the rolling of dough that gets him (although homemade pizza is now up there with sausages, which would be great except for the time and mess it creates when I make the dough and I wont do store bought pizza bases). I believe in time it will all come together and happen, I haven't written them both off yet, it just wasn't the situation I thought we'd be in at this point in time. I know this is a situation many parents find themselves in and by no means are we talking really extreme food dislikes.

The other day I made a big pot of pea and ham soup. I made it purely for Mr 6.5st and I. I got carried away in the cooking of it, and forgot to make a back up dinner for the children - thinking they would totally not like it or even want to try it. It's green. Really quite green. I had a moment of thinking they might eat the ham. Actually, I'd be quite happy if they just ate the luscious slabs of ham peeling off the bone.

They both ate all the soup (except the ham....). All of it. Max even put sour cream in his. Pia does actually like peas a lot, but she begged for more. You could have knocked me down. I even worry about tempting fate and giving them left overs tonight - this fine balance of liking one day, not liking the next.....But for this day, at least, they ate something green and wholesome, and they enjoyed it, and inwardly I smiled and screamed for joy *.

And because it is Wednesday, it means it is Vessel Wednesday, and currently I am knitting a little something for myself out of this beautiful Shibui sock yarn in deepest midnight blue and black ink  colours. It sits in a little Jennifer Graham white ceramic bowl from Emily.

* It was damn fine pea and ham soup.

FINISHING OFF

As I finished Pia's Lottie cardigan, I knew I would make her a little scarf to match. Something easy, and quick[ish], and I've had this drops pattern [babydrops 14-16] lying around for months. Perfect I would say. A little leaf shaped scarf, which pulls through a knitted loop. She can pull it off if she wants, but it can stay snuggly in place and adjust to suit different neck sizes. Instead of garter stitch, I used moss stitch over the entire piece and it has a lovely texture, which is really bought out by the variegated yarn. I'm debating making the matching mittens. I have a feeling Pia is not the mitten type. Given she wont keep shoes or socks on at the moment (and it's cold and wet), I doubt very much mittens will stay on as well.

I have also finished the Cache Coeur and there are images of that up on flickr. Another wonderful quick project which I think will become my new favourite baby item to make - luckily I have a number of babies to make for over the next 6 months or so, including some special family babies. It ended up being thick, and soft, and very wrappable, and I can't wait to see it on the recipient. I also want to adjust the pattern to suit a larger child because I see many possibilities for this in Pia's future wardrobe. That would be the wardrobe completely lacking in clothes. Of course.

Now if I could just transfer my productivity to the sewing table today, I will really feel like I'm getting through my piles. I cut out so many things last week, and now need to sew, and sew, and sew. And then finish off some other pieces waiting to be completed. And then, perhaps, I might be able to update the shop.

I'm still getting through emails and getting to answer people, so if you think I owe you an email, it's coming...

STOLEN BREATHES

Slightly just back from the edge, and it wasn't enjoyable. Or quiet. Or, for that matter, incredibly productive. There's a huge difference between being disconnected without intent, and deliberately setting yourself free from the internet. I did miss it, you, everything, words, pictures, emails, comments, a lot.

It did allow me some longer periods of time to concentrate on finer things, like lace work. I have enormous respect for people who knit lace - respect born of the time and concentration required to carry through the charting to a finished piece, and the ability to do it mistake free. I am always on the look out for simple, but effective lace pieces which balance thought with outcome in my precious time. The Haruha Scarf is excellent for that purpose, and I am thoroughly enjoying it as it grows and wafts across my lap. I love counting sequences - numbered order building into something complete. I count everything. I cannot even go past my childrens hands without counting fingers. I count paces as I walk. I love counting stitches.

I have likened this to butterfly wings - gossamer threads spangled with slits of silver in the stainless steel thread running through it - and I am constantly taken with the beauty the simple addition of the steel thread lends to this. While perhaps redundant to most people, this gives the delicacy a subversive strength - steel, and lace, and fine kidsilk mohair, a balance of fine structure with steel support. Steel - which is supposed to be hard and effaced, structural integrity defined, used in a thoroughly fluid soft manner. I can feel it running through my fingers as I knit, and I can see it shining as it catches the light. And depsite what I initially thought, it does give some shaping to the piece. The steel is so incredibly fine - a single strand of my hair is thicker, and that adds to the transparency for me. I do indeed feel I am knitting wings, which will flutter and weave across the wind to land on the spring leaves the pattern depicts. The piece breathes quiet, and so must be done while children sleep, catching their stolen breathes in it's magic, while the story of fairytales continues.