Sunday, July 24, 2011

Winter blues and browns and shades of grey....

The wee girl and I spent most of the day in pyjamas, bonding over my Auntie Wilma's yarn stash and knitting machine. We knitted several fair isle monstrosities in acrylic 4-ply. Ugly but fun.

I just spent time with my beautiful girl, who I won't see much, once the Quilt Show gets underway this week. We didn't take photos, but I was reminded that I hadn't posted these photos of a scarf I made last week.
It's in a simple tuck-stitch, with 2 yarns of slightly different brown tones knitted together. The colour is a rich shade of cappucino... None of my photos captured the subtlety or complexity of the colour, which is a shame. It's lovely.

I love the waffly, spongey texture of this tuck-stitch pattern. I haven't washed, blocked or felted it because I love SQUEEZING it and stretching it in different directions. It's very tactile stuff.


The bloke - dubbed "Mr Wintergarden" because of his current obsession with tending the sleeping winter bastja* - obediently wears the scarf. (*Macedonian for veggie patch).

(I don't think he gets the squeezing, tactile thing.
I might reclaim the scarf.)


The sky was grey outside today. The news was full of tragedy, gloom and yet another talented young person's life ended too soon. We stayed cocooned in our lounge room. We had roast chicken mid-afternoon because we couldn't wait until dinnertime. We relished in the don't-feel-like-doing-anything-(so-we-won't) downtime and cancelled all plans for housework or supermarket shopping.


Haunted by the horror in Norway this weekend, I soaked up every ounce of ordinary family Sunday that I could. My heart aches for families who won't have the chance to do that again.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I totally get the squeezy, tactile thing. In fact, I reckon I have a fair idea of what that scarf feels like.

I felt the same way about Norway as you :( Those poor families.

A Peppermint Penguin said...

hugs, and squeezies, to you and yours.

(word is torsod, which is nearly french for cable, so you have to cable something now ;-) )

Annie said...

Mum will love looking at this, she's posting the comb, I promise. Do you know there's a lovely children's story book about Mr Wintergarden.

Studio said...

I have just made a scarf using moss stitch and have put ribbon eyelets in it. Do have a look.

Annie said...

Your tuck stitch scarf looks great Nikki. Glad to know you are still experimenting and enjoying. Annie will give me your address and I'll post your parcel tomorrow. My love to your special little girl and yourself . Judythsisar

Fer said...

In this topsy-turvy world, a little bit of the ordinary seems to help keep our feet planted firmly on the ground.

Thanks for sharing, especially the scarf.

teacherspet04 said...

Today my aunt is in her final hours on this earth, AND we are celebrating my daughter's 3rd birthday. Life is complex, beautiful, painful, and occasionally, blessedly ordinary. I think I will crochet.

Leonie said...

It's been a hard week in a lot of ways. I'm hoping that yours has improved. Mine is not over yet but once I get through tomorrow it should improve, I hope.