I am wondering popeye if she will be early - she told me yesterday she feels like a hippo lol and Maddy is sitting well down.
Well two hours flat tack in the kitchen and I have two bacon and egg pies (one is for dinner :P), one ginger crunch slice, one lemon slice (loveee this one) and a big batch of choc chip biscuits. Just waiting for them to cool down so I can cut up the slice and freeze them all. MrK is out working on Maddy's changing table so no 'sticky fingers' lol. Must admit I do miss the kids sneaking the odd choc chip bickkie and fingers in the mixtures. Kettles on for a cuppa and a friend has arrived with his sheep and lambs to graze in our paddock.
I've read stories on the MB about the UK pension and how much work it is to apply. Sometimes I wonder if it is designed to put you off so you don't apply. I get a tad cross as the Gvt forgets the over 65s have paid taxes for this pension.
Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-14 10:48:00

I don't envy you Kuaka with form filling in - bureaucracy gone mad again! Also never can quite work out if the people who design these "official" forms genuinely have odd brains or are they trained as how to make questions so that they are almost impossible to answer easily.

Rained here overnight which was most welcome as the vege boxes were looking a bit dry on it and it seems too early in the season to have to start watering them.

Off to town in a few minutes to get more wool - made a tiny baby dress and ran out of wool just a few rows before finishing. The worry is how I will just buy the one ball that is needed. lol

jayemtoo - 2013-09-14 10:54:00

OOOOH Kiwimade that baking sounds delicious would you like to take a detour on your way to welcome Maddy and drop some off to the rest of us lol :)

jayemtoo - 2013-09-14 10:57:00

Talking of all this baking is making my mouth water. Just been for a walk along the beach, almost got blown away, but it's not really cold, the sun is quite warm, but it's too windy to sit out on our deck, so I suppose I will have to stay indoors and knit (or hubby suggested I might like to make a start on the new curtains - have just bought almost 90 metres of fabric, so that should keep me going for a while - plan to replace all the curtains in the family/dining/office and maybe make a blind for one of the windows in the kitchen) but I'm not in the mood for crawling round on the floor cutting out miles of fabric and trying to match patterns.

kuaka - 2013-09-14 13:14:00

lol jayemtoo, it will be the most direct route to Whanganui! But, in saying that, when I went to Wellington while Mrk was in hospital, I got lost coming home and ended up in Lower Hutt, then across the Rimatakas and ended up in Napier instead of coming up SH1! Heaven knows how I did it but I put it down to the stress I was under with MrK so seriously ill. I had to go to Wellington to help son move home as h e was a broke student and couldn't afford to pay a mover.
No knitting today, too busy doing other things. Might get some done this evening.
happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-14 17:31:00

morning girls. I got sewing to do today recover stepdaughters dinning chairs. suns out but I am cold b cat brought her own supper in last night luck MrT was home to take it off her, wish she won't catch birds

carolev - 2013-09-15 07:14:00

Morning everyone... Brr chilly this morning.... Id have preferred staying in bed this morning. but had to get up and do MrPs insulin etc. So here I am, early again, the tv on for the boat racing.
Actually did a little bit of knitting last night. only have 36 rows/72 rows on my third strip of the blanket.
Our Bobcat likes to bring birds in too Carole.. Thankfully he likes to make sure mummy sees it , so I can generally get it back outside before he has a chance to kill it.
Have a good day everyone.

popeye333 - 2013-09-15 08:04:00

morning ladies :) wow was that racing exciting! Couldn't believe Dean Barker and crew stopped the boat from falling over. Raining off and on here so might get some time to knit (or sew).
Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-15 09:48:00

morning ladies, well having watched the racing (and being a sailor myself) I feel quite sick now. I really thought we were gone. How we didn't end our cup campaign there and then I honestly don't know. It could have been disastrous, could have been loss of boat and loss of life too. We were so lucky.

Today it's cooler and a bit windy, overcast with the sun trying to struggle through, but it's not trying hard enough. I might just wash the kitchen/dining room floor later so that I can roll the curtain fabric out and cut out the first curtain. I'm planning to use the checks on the vinyl to help me get the curtains straight. I figure if I put the selvedge down one side of the checks I'll be able to cut along the lines that go off at right angles and get the cut straight - that is assuming the squares on the vinyl are true. They certainly don't look wrong, and it should be easier than just measuring and using my "eye" to judge if it's straight or not. Failing that I might just do some knitting.

Whatever you're up to today, have a good one.

kuaka - 2013-09-15 10:26:00

Its certainly was scary eh Kuaka. I wasn't in the room and walked in to see the boat on its side. I bet their hearts were going ninety to the dozen.
I think we were robbed of the second race. Had just got soo close to the 30knots and they pulled the race.
Have only done a few rows of knitting this morning... but plan on doing more this afternoon.

popeye333 - 2013-09-15 12:44:00

night all off to bed to knit prem baby clothes, using a dolls pattern lol

carolev - 2013-09-15 19:35:00

morning girls. knitted the back and fronts of a cardie last night sleeves tonight , nothing planed today just might go back to bed, my tummy has been telling me all night that I can't eat eggs and bacon for dinner and to not feed it junk food ,

carolev - 2013-09-16 07:10:00

morning :) lol carole, yep, our bodies do 'rebel' against junk food in one way or another. Hope you feel better soon.
Just about to watch the racing, then mow lawns (again!). Might get some knitting done this afternoon but son has asked for a batch of choc chip biscuits he can take back to Wellington (yeah right, like they will last that long lmao) when we meets us in Whanganui. Never one to miss an opportunity that lad! lol.
Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-16 07:51:00

Morning everyone... Lets hope the racing is not so exciting today.. lol
Hope you start to feel better soon Carole.

Lol Kiwimade, your son has you sussed .

I finished the third strip of my blanket last night and have done a few inches of the next. Ive decided to carry on with that till it gets too warm to have it on my knee. Im doing a light blue one at the mo. Then that will be two each of light and dark. Ill do lemon next.

Off to buy my pantries today. I think my stepfather would be pleased with me. Its his mothers teasets Ive been selling to save the money to get the pantries. He like me never drank tea etc, so I will never use them. And I have no one to leave them to. so Im making use of them in another way.

They will stay in the boxes till the stuff has gone over to the school late next month. By then I will have sorted out more stuff for the school too. Why do we collect soo much stuff lol

Have a good day everyone

popeye333 - 2013-09-16 08:04:00

wow did we get our ar*** handed to us on a plate! Looks like we have a regatta :P.
lol popeye, yep, our son has me sussed and knew I would say yes. I don't know why we collect stuff over the years either but over the last nine or ten months I have been getting rid of all those extra things we don't need/use and it feels good.
Washing hung out, dishes done, beds made etc so all good to go when racing is finished to be outside.
Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-16 09:02:00

Hi, looks like I might have stumbled on some keen knitters/crocheters in here :-)
I have a new grandbaby on the way and want to knit/crochet a blanket probably big enough to go in a cot. As I get my wool online (skeinz) I was wondering about a ballpark amount I would need if done in DK wool. Any ideas? TIA :-)

bodieblue - 2013-09-16 10:01:00

any machine knitters on this thread, I have 3 machines and haven't used them for years, thinking of having a go soon

issymae - 2013-09-16 10:16:00

bodieblue wrote:

Hi, looks like I might have stumbled on some keen knitters/crocheters in here :-)
I have a new grandbaby on the way and want to knit/crochet a blanket probably big enough to go in a cot. As I get my wool online (skeinz) I was wondering about a ballpark amount I would need if done in DK wool. Any ideas? TIA :-)

That's a bit like asking "how long is a piece of string" - so much depends on the pattern you use, how intricate it is, or how plain, how open and lacy or how closed.

Have a look on a site like Ravelry - free to join if you're not already a member - heaps of patterns on there, some free, some you buy, some of the crochet ones will be written in UK terms, some in US terms. Great if you can work with either. Me - I just can't get my head around US terms, and always seem to slip back to UK terms and that's when it all goes wrong.

Sorry I can't be more help. Good luck with your search.

kuaka - 2013-09-16 10:24:00

Gosh, that was exciting racing - my heart was pounding. I would have preferred us to win both races today and be only one win away from bringing the Auld Mug home, but as it stands, they need four times as many wins as we do, so we must still be in with a good chance. Fingers crossed.

Another late start to the day as we watched the racing in bed, so I think we will decide how to spend the day once we've had breakfast. I might try to mow our little lawn later this morning, the others can wait a few more days (we have three pieces of lawn) and no doubt will try to do some knitting and try to go for a walk along the beach before it rains.

Happy knitting everyone.

kuaka - 2013-09-16 10:27:00

welcome brodieblue, have I 'seen' you over in Pets and Animals? lol. Congratulations on your new grandy :). I knitted a cot blanket for our first grandy (due in 9 days!!!!) and it took aprox 400 grams BUT I was cabling and doing fancy lacy stitches. I'm currently crocheting an 'owl' blanket and the pattern says aprox 100 grams for the 'owls' and around 400g for the filling and edging. I suspect it won't take that much because of my tension.
Lawns are all mowed just as it starts to cloud over so pleased it is all done. Teaching all day tomorrow so it had to be done today (wheelie bin day tomorrow lol).
Happy knitting :)

Edited by kiwimade64 at 12:10 pm, Mon 16 Sep

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-16 12:09:00

Wow that was an awesome second race. Glad we won and hopefully they are over the gitters now...

Welcome Brodieblue.. Congratulations... as the others have said it will vary a lot depending on what you want to do.. I always tend to overbuy to make sure I have enough for the projects.. Hence this thread lol, the extras keep adding up lol.

Im a Hopeless Shopper ... Went to mitre10 to buy my pantries, they didn't have any in stock they have to be ordered in, so it will be Friday most likely. and they also didn't have the jar lids I wanted either lol.

Ohh well will get it right at the end of the week..

popeye333 - 2013-09-16 12:25:00

Issymae, I read this thread but rarely writer on it .i still machine knit and have a Brother machine .As I have arthritis in my neck I only knit children's garments and usually for charity. Oil those machines up and have a go .

jord37 - 2013-09-16 12:29:00

bofieblue we also have a thread on facebook it's a private thread by invite you are sure to get lots of help there too , your game knitting a blanket I will stick to cardies,

carolev - 2013-09-16 13:06:00

morning ladies :) No knitting for me today as I'm in the classroom. Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-17 07:10:00

have a nice day kiwimade I finished the prem cardie at 2 am this morning .
don't know what day will bring as I am tired ,

carolev - 2013-09-17 07:40:00

Thanks for the replies. I shall try and decide on a pattern (from the 100's of fabulous ideas out there) and hopefully get more than enough to cover it!

bodieblue - 2013-09-17 07:47:00

Morning everyone. Hope your day is fab Kiwimade.

Wow Carole your a right night owl.. I used to do the same when I lived alone.. Had talk back radio on and knitted in bed till all hours.

Hope you have fun Bodieblue.. Im knitting a big blanket and enjoying it. Just plain in garter stitch but I plan to weave the strips Im knitting together. it will end up double thickness.

I have put the pantries on hold. The freezer is looking very sadly close to empty , so we will go stock up this morning. I cant handle not having much meat in the house.
I can get the pantries later.

Have a good day everyone

Edited by popeye333 at 9:00 am, Tue 17 Sep

popeye333 - 2013-09-17 08:57:00

morning all. I am not awake at night by chores I sleep for few hours wake have a wee wee and can't get back to sleep was awake for 2 hours last night only so feeling better today. I am finding knitting small patterns hard on my eyes. watching each stitch makes them sore. so might take today off knitting

carolev - 2013-09-18 07:10:00

morning ladies :) It's a vet visit today for the Furry One as he has pulled a claw out of his paw on his hind leg. He's veryyyy miserable and limping badly. We have no idea how he did it, didn't hear a yelp or anything but there was plenty of blood. So I'll call the vet when they open shortly.
Have another day at the coalface on Friday - wahoooo - and it will be all day art with the kids. So planning the day today/tomorrow in between some gardening and a real estate agent visit. Somewhere in between I'll knit lol.
Happy knitting and gooo Team NZ!!

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-18 07:40:00

Morning all.. Look at us, up early incase the racing is on lol

Im lucky Carole, I can get up, up to 4-5 times in a night and generally always go back to sleep easily.. Mind you I put that down to never turning the light on.. I call that assaulting my eyes. I do wake up tired if I have nights like that too often tho.

Ouchies Kiwimade re the poor dog... Hope you can get him into the vet smartly... I don't think they are as bad for appointments as drs these days.

Im sore today. But I have a load of washing I want to get done while its fine. I think Ill take the clothes airer out the front and save hanging clothes on the high lines.

Went meat shopping yesterday, so I bagged all that. Including slicing 5 kilos of bacon ends to bag up. That didn't help the back I guess, but I got the shower stool out to the kitchen and that did help. So lots of meat in the freezer. Have to transfer some to the freezer I turned back on yesterday.. And Ill put the tomatoes back in there to free up a little room in the upright so I can actually see whats there lol

Have a good day everyone

popeye333 - 2013-09-18 07:58:00

Well I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not that we didn't race today. Hopefully tomorrows conditions will suit us better - fingers crossed. Won't get much knitting done today as we have outdoor plans (and they don't include gardening - and I didn't get the lawn mowed the other day so when I do get around to doing them, they will just be a bit longer). Will take my knitting with me today - just in case I find some time to do a bit. Last night I made a bit more progress on that wretched tunic until puss decided that my lap looked inviting and that was the end of that. We both nodded off.

At least the weather looks kind today, so make the most of it everyone and have a good day.

kuaka - 2013-09-18 09:15:00

dammm the racing was postponed. Oh well, better safe than sorry and we still have our get-out-jail-free card to play with too. The Furry One has an appointment with the vet shortly. He's bounced back but is running (can't keep a good JR from hooning!) on three legs. Looks sooo funny lol.
I'll get the car all cleaned today I think when we get home as the estate agent will be here around lunchtime and no point getting grubby with gardening before then. Then it will be all ready to pack for when Maddy arrives (due Wednesday!!). And I can wash it while the weather is nice. Ommggosh it was cold doing school duties yesterday!
Will squeeze in some knitting hopefully sometime today.
Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-18 09:38:00

morning ladies. not such a nice day but I am off out today all going well. might take my knitting and bones for the dog

carolev - 2013-09-19 06:47:00

morning! racing this morning! Soo exciting! Just listening to a guy tsalking about the cameras they are using, just amazing!
Gooo NZ!

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-19 07:56:00

Morning everyone.. Yay the racing isn't far away... It was amazing about those cameras eh Kiwimade.. The technology they have now is fantastic. Everytime they show Ian Taylor who has done a lot of the graphics stuff it reminds me that he used to ne on "Spot On" the kids tv show when I was a kid lol.
Overcast here. Im thinking the rain will arrive earlier than they said.. We wont be going shopping till the racing has finished lol. So I hope we can still manage to get the bags in before it rains.

Might as well knit while watching the racing, since Im doing non thinking knitting lol

Enjoy your day everyone.. GOOOO KIWIS

popeye333 - 2013-09-19 08:05:00

buggar!! The race was put off till tomorrow and I'm working tomorrow.. talk about Murphy's Law! lol popeye, I'm the same, everytime I see Ian Taylor I think the same thing!
I'm going to burn some Cds for the car today as some of our trip to Whanganui is out of radio range. I don't like having my original CDs in the car in case the car is broken into. If copies are taken, then it's no biggie.
The Furry One is still limping, he's torn his toe nail out so no wonder he was feeling sorry for himself. He'll be OK though, just demands lots of cuddles when I sit down :).
Might even get some knitting done today. Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-19 09:33:00

kiwimade, will his nail grow back or will it just heal over? Poor thing. I bet it's sore. Might just mow my little lawn before it rains. Then have a go at a new curtain before settling in for some crochet and hopefully let my blood pressure settle down again after the yacht racing this morning. The sooner the racing is finished the better as far as I'm concerned. If it keeps up much longer I can see my nice long nails suffering. I don't chew them, but I have been known to pick at them when under stress.

Have a great day ladies.

kuaka - 2013-09-19 11:46:00

I'm having a break from reworking my CV (again... sigh...). The vet told us it will grow back kuaka and it is the equivalent of a person ripping a fingernail off back to the quick. He's keeping it clean and every now and then hoons about but then comes back inside to rest it. It must be pretty sore as he can't jump onto the bed and demands to be lifted lol. Omg I suspect he is going to milk this for all it's worth lol.
I've rewashed the car as I had missed a few bits yesterday and it looks much better now and have planned tomorrows teaching. Art... art.. and more art! Will take my hair dryer in to dry the paint just in case it is too cold for the paint to dry quickly.
Lunchtime and then more work on my CV (am taking my age out and making a few changes) and then some knitting I think.
Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-19 11:57:00

Oh I meant to ask about the furr Baby Kiwimade... The boats distracted my train of thought.
Im enjoying it but miss my extra wee bit of sleep in the morning lol

I have done the same with the cds for the car. I also think about the heat possibly damaging them too.

Your in for a fun day tomorrow lol

popeye333 - 2013-09-19 12:23:00

I did some sewing today fixed a mans pants and made my daughter a pocket to keep her heart monitor it and do some more knitting

carolev - 2013-09-19 18:42:00

I got some of the lawn mowed before the mower spat the dummy. I did the little lawn with the electric mower (takes longer to get the mower out and put it away than it does to do the mowing) then because it looked so much better than it did before, I decided to tackle one of the other lawns with the petrol mower. Started first pull. Mowed two strips, then the engine coughed and spluttered, then fizzed out. Hubby re-started it, mowed two more strips and then it just cut out and wouldn't re-start. Might need a new spark plug or a burial. So the lawn is only half done. Oh well, I guess the rest will keep. Probably going to be too wet tomorrow to do any gardening, so I might have to do some knitting. How sad!

kuaka - 2013-09-19 20:01:00

morning girls. had a bad night so knitted 1 1/2 sleeves of cardy just got the decrese to do then sew up, wet here rained all night, mind you it rain all day in England too.

carolev - 2013-09-20 07:06:00

morning ladies, well I guess I'll miss out on the racing this morning :( but no doubt there will be some yelling and cheering around the school.
Really windy and wild outside today, perfect to knit or have a class full of kids doing art. I have promised this class we would do art if I ever taught them on a Friday when there is more time to spend on the artwork. So today is the day :). We're going to chalk up our pictures, use bold pastels to colour up to the chalk mark then dye the pictures with black dye to give a stained glass effect where the chalk lines are. Should be effective and fun. Love mixed media. Might even take a few pics of their work for my portfolio.
Happy knitting and goooo Team NZ!!!

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-20 07:10:00

Morning Everyone... Hope you have fun at school today Kiwimade.. sounds like fun.

Race is about to start.

Have a good day, Im not feeling the best.

popeye333 - 2013-09-20 08:08:00

Oh dear, they've taken another one from us. Don't think we will win the cup today, but we still only need one and now they need 7. I still like our chances but don't think I need to put the champagne on ice yet.

Have to go for a blood pressure check later this morning, so will take my crochet to do while I wait, then plan to go on to Countdown for some groceries. Steady rain here, and it's so thick I can't see anything out the window, it's like fog. Perfect day to stay indoors and do some knitting and not feel guilty about it. Might try to make one of my curtains when I get home. Cat is having fun trying to "kill" the newspaper.

Have a good day everyone, and those of us who are feeling a bit off colour, get better soon.

Edited by kuaka at 9:06 am, Fri 20 Sep

kuaka - 2013-09-20 09:02:00

Hope everyone is on the mend this afternoon. Had a great day with the kids - my hands have black dye stains on them lol but that's OK, won't take much to scrub it off. The kids enjoyed their art today and I even got hugs at the end of the day :).
I'll get some knitting done (MrK has cooked dinner :P ) once my hands are cleaned properly.
What a buggar about the race but deep down I'm pleased as it means I can watch it tomorrow!
Happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-20 16:23:00

oh kiwimade - wash your mouth out! We can't afford to give them an inch. We need to win that cup and bring it back here.

I managed to get some crochet done while waiting at the docs - bp was good so that's a bonus.

This afternoon I managed to sew the seams on my curtain, and when I emerged from the sewing room his nibbs asked was it ready to hang? Well not quite, apart from the fact I have to do the hem, I haven't done the headings yet and I'm French pleating them (by hand) so there's a wee way to go yet. They will look nice when they're done, but it won't be today.

kuaka - 2013-09-20 16:42:00

Glad you had fun Kiwimade... the dye reminds me of when I worked in the sewing factory here. We made jeans... our hands were always blue, no matter how much we washed them.
It used to annoy some of the girls skin, but for me it made my skin softer in a way.

I made the drapes for here too Kuaka. No fancy pleating tho, it was only 3 months after my heart surgery. Great sense of achievement tho. Being able to look at the windows and know I had made them.
Am over a 3rd of the way on my strip of blanket. My head was soo bad this afternoon I shut my eyes to knit.. Only opened them for the start of the new row lol.

Yay my INR was once again perfect.. don't have to test for another month. coming up 7 years of those blood tests, that I have to have for the rest of my life. Always makes me happy to get it perfect

popeye333 - 2013-09-20 16:52:00

lol kuaka, I did feel guilty for thinking that! Good on you popeye, MrK has a huge bruise on his thigh (heaven knows how he did that!) so his INR is all shot to heck (4.5). He had another blood test this morning so we'll see how he's going on Monday. His INR levels haven't evened out since he had cancer and then this second heart op screwed around with things too. So frustrating.
Too tired to knit, might just have an early night.
happy knitting :)

kiwimade64 - 2013-09-20 20:04:00

and I was just pulling your leg kiwimade (did you notice the winking emoticon?) but I don't know how much more my blood pressure can take. Fingers crossed for tomorrow morning. And the cheeky cheats are now blaming Team NZ for the delays because we wouldn't agree to raising the wind limits which had been set. As someone pointed out Oracle stands for
One Rich Ars****le Called Larry Ellison.

kuaka - 2013-09-20 22:07:00