That’s What Your Mum Said

Before I started the degree that shall hereby be known as “Bachelor of buttloads of reading” I made a few things for presents. I have also bought a few things recently. Here they are.

I knitted this hot water bottle cover for my dear friend Peta’s birthday gift. She comes from the same small village as I did and we have both moved into big cities (albeit quite a distance from each other). We have had to grow up and be responsible, however people from our little village have slightly different values to those of the people we went to high school with and then subsequently met in the big wide world. We like track pants and climbing trees and making cakes out of the ingredients we have in the pantry (hello marshmallow, milo cake). She is a public servant in a job that requires her to be dressed up and coiffed during the day, but I know she loves being a sloth at night. This will help her through the long winter ahead (she lives in one of the few parts of Australia that actually get painfully cold).

If any of you are interested in this pattern is is a super-quick project and very rewarding. I have given them to many people as gifts now!

These were delicious. The partner loved them, and my parents actually stole the rest of them from my house when they visited. Yes, STOLE. Sneaky bastards. Joy the Baker is the genius behind these Honey Roasted Peanut Thumbprint cookies and I applaud her.

Another dear friend Mitch turns 30 this week and he had a killer party on the weekend themed ‘Rockers v Mods’. I will have another post with the delightful pictures but this is the notebook case we bought him. It is from byrd & belle and I would highly recommend their craftsmanship. He loved it by the way.

My lovely Nana Josie passed away back in 2004 however I have only recently received some of her belongings. My Pop had kept most of her things and as he passed away last year my family is selling their home. My Mum managed to grab a few things that she though I might like and she did a really good job of it. Not only did I get some lovely cake plates (I adore using second-hand kitchen wares, every time I cook I think of the people who passed their tools on and what they used to make for me with those exact pieces) but I was also on the receiving end of some very old knitting patterns.

I am not a wonderful knitter but I love the relaxation and also the joy of wearing/using something I have created. I usually always have a project on the go, which some would see as madness considering I am currently enduring an Australian summer that is offering me over 30 degrees Celsius every day with around 90% humidity. Well, I will have the last laugh when winter bears down!

Nana had many patterns all of which are booklets or torn out of magazines from the 1960′s (some of the accompanying articles are pure gold). Only one pattern was hand written so I decided to knit it first and I am now the proud owner of bedsocks! They are ugly and messy and I ran out of green wool so had to do the green/grey combination but they are darned comfortable and they make me think of Nan.

(Yes, I ran out of one type of green wool then used a different type for the top half of the green sock, what of it)?

I have also recently just finished the Palindrome scarf. Although the pattern is relatively simple it took a LONG time to knit; it was well worth it. I can’t wait for things to cool down here so I can show off my handy work

I think you should all share in the wisdom of my Nan’s insanely simple pattern, so here it is. Look at her beautiful writing, wonderful.

Josie’s Bedsocks

No. 7 needles (use long ones)! They made socks that fit my feet which are a US size 8-9. Increase cast on stitched for larger feet. Also, bear in mind that these do not look anything like socks until you sew them together at the end. Don’t freak out, they get there eventually!

Cast on 94 stitches

Work in garter stitch (all knitting) increasing once at the end of each row until you have 108 stitches.

Work in garter stitch without shaping until work measures 2 1/4 inches. Decrease once at the end of each row until back to 94 stitches.

Cast off 22 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows (comes down to 50 stitches).

Work in garter stitch for 2 inches. Cast off.

Fold work in half and sew together. Crochet if desired (Adele has no idea how to crochet, just putting that out there).

Thanks Nan!

There are a few things in my life that make me exceedingly happy and calm. Obviously family and friends (although they do have the capabilities of making me Hulk-style mad), the beach, tasty well-made coffee, well fitting clothing and lovely wine. Since moving in with my partner around a year ago (we lived together for a year before that however it was in my parents house whilst they were working interstate) I have discovered the delights to be had in domestic duties. In particular, cooking, knitting and gardening float my boat, perhaps in an unnatural manner.

Exhibit A.

I arrived home on Tuesday to find two packages on my patio. One was full of Forever 21 clothing. Woot 1! The other was full of cow manure. Woot 2! My awesome Dad had left two big bags for me to spread around our garden beds and potted plants. He collected it from the paddocks next door to his house, and then even spent the time chopping it up finely with a spade so it was appropriate to use on small pots. What an amazing gift! I spread it through the garden beds today and it looks lovely and fresh and dark, just like it should. It doesn’t smell but it is so fracking nutritious for the soil and the plants. We have both flowering and edible plants throughout the garden and I can’t wait to see them go nuts after this feed.

I have already started harvesting large amounts of spinach, lettuce, coriander, basil, pak choy and thyme. We are also waiting on the harvest from broad beans, tomatoes, rocket, broccoli and cauliflower. Awesome.

As for knitting, I have found it particularly relaxing and rewarding over the last few months. Picking the wool for each project and then seeing it slowly take shape is such a great feeling. I have knitted many scarves, beanies, hats and hot water bottle covers! I probably want my next big project to be a vest (possibly bright yellow) for myself, but before then I have another baby beanie to knit (people are breeding like rabbits at the moment)! I have lost a little bit of drive for it because the weather has been so warm here the past two weeks and working with wool seems a little silly to be honest. But I won’t let it stop me. Knitting for the win!

Cooking = the bestest ever. Yeah, I know, shitty English, but it describes my enthusiasm damn well. I have a feeling it is a little bit genetic – every female in my family loves to cook, plus I grew up with older neighbours who had some skills that are becoming rare in the baking world. I have really grown and flourished with my cooking since I moved out with the partner as he is a voracious eater and I love seeing people happy after eating something I have produced. I am particularly taken with baking and I try two or three new recipes each week; I often take the products to work to share around and it is a wonderful opportunity to experiment with an audience that have very different tastes. I could see myself happily baking all day long and never getting bored. Yesterday I tried a microwave strawberry jam recipe kindly given to me by my neighbour. It has produced the loveliest product which is fantastic; however I also love the notion of passing recipes and ideas around my extended family and social group.

Fracking hell. I have just realised this entire post is one that would make my mother squeal with glee.