still knitting..... and learning

Lori ann, sweet woman, here is the 'in three's' baby cardigan, thanks for the prompt to show it's progress! I'm almost finished and so excited that I've mastered a new pattern with new instructions! The colours are not really my favourites but I had them stashed away in a suitcase and a few weeks ago I wanted to knit NOW! It doesn't matter really because this little number is just a play cardy for the Small Elf and a practice run for me......... you know, to see if I'm feeling a tad more comfy with this whole knitting gig!  

And I am!!!! I'm beginning to think of myself as a knitter! A very amateurish beginning knitter and not quite in the inner circle of centripetal and fair isle and magic loops, but it's a start. I must admit though, that I already have quite a few other projects in mind and even another little bundle of yarn to start one of them! There's no stopping me now!! 

Last year sometime, I decided that I needed to embrace a sugar free, grain free lifestyle and so spent a number of months eating accordingly. I enjoyed it immensely and thought it was great. Until Christmas, that is. Then it kinda went out the window, only resurfacing in a milder form for a few months this year. BUT I learnt a lot of interesting information as I went along and still believe that we eat too many grains and sugar. 

Then just last week I happened to find a book that I'd wanted for some time I Quit Sugar by the gorgeous Sarah Wilson. It was an eyeopener as to what sugars really are and how they work in our bodies, as well as explaining that while cane sugar is made up of fructose and glucose, agave nectar -which I'd substituted for cane sugar - was actually 90 percent fructose!! Uh oh! So here I was thinking that I was sugar free while in fact my blood sugar levels were soaring! 

Then my good friend lent me a book that she'd been telling me about for months - Trim Healthy Mama by Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett. Fascinating. It's probably more of a keeping trim book with a sugar free slant, but they have researched their thoughts really well and have taken the best bits from various eating regimes and put it all into doable form. I cant tell you more than that at the moment because I've only just started reading it but it's so interesting that I cant put it down. And I mean really fascinating! Do click on the link and read the reviews at the bottom of the page.  

I'm linking with Ginny and her Yarn Along again today. 

jack frost

Cold. Cold. It's been bitingly cold these last few mornings. 

 Minus one, minus two..... and this morning, minus four! 

The Best Man and I headed outside to have a last look at the 'super moon' this morning and we just caught her as she was sinking to her rest. She's been a beauty these past nights - fat and round and glowing. I always want to lay outside and watch her shining so benignly in the night sky but sadly, it's been so cold that it's not been conducive to a midnight laze in the paddock!

I contented myself with a quick peek and some hasty photos of her, then a very brisk early morning walk. Such a crunchy, white world but ooh, it was cold!! 

The few floral stragglers in the garden were decorated with icy tips. 

I couldn't help wondering where the little spider was hiding and if he'd been frozen! 

There were ice crystals on everything. I would dearly love a camera or lens that could capture this minute icy world in more detail but have to content myself with this overall view for now. 

Fencepost and barbed wire. 

Old wagon wheel rim.

Garden trowel.

The rim of a clay pot. 

And when we returned home, the sun had just risen enough to bathe our cottage and the smoke rising from the newly fed fire, with it's welcome rays. 

Thats the beauty of a frosty night - the next day will invariably be bright and sunny. 

I enjoy each and every one of these icy nights knowing that the day to follow will be a bright one! 

And now that we are past the Winter Solstice and it's all upwards from here (at least in day length, although the cold goes on and on!) I'm feeling a spring in my step too!

I hope you all had a meaningful Solstice celebration with your loved ones. 

Till next time  xx

in three's

 


 

Oh golly gosh!!!!! I can hardly believe that I'm joining in with Ginnys Yarn Along again!! With a whole new project, in fact! Another knitting project. I'm amazing myself, I really am! 

Yes, yes, I have finished the little vest and gifted it to the Tiny Elf who looks adorable in it. Yes, I will post the pics shortly, just to prove it!! 

But look at this...... I've already cast on another small garment and so far so good. This one is the 'in three's' cardigan which I've had in mind to do for a while now. I was inspired after I popped in to visit Tania and she had just been to Spotlight and brought home some 8ply. Remembering that I had a few similar balls of yarn, I unearthed them and checked out my Ravelry list and viola! the 'in threes' was perfect! It will be the soft pink at the top and a darker shade from the yoke down and hopefully there'll be enough yarn! There is a nice mauve as well, should I need it. 

As for reading, that hasn't gone so well. I still haven't finished Graceling although I do plan to, soon! At the moment I'm reading through the May issue of Servus magazine, an indulgence that gets sent to me each month from Austria. It is such a beautiful publication - recipes, folklore, profiles on craft people, old legends re-told, herbal lore and more, all with the most breathtaking photography and sketches. And it provides me with practice in reading, and consequently spelling, German..... so I feel a bit justified in all those freight miles!! 

(PS - doesn't the wool go so well with the pink roses?)

It really is so much easier reading a short article and getting the whole thing read in a few minutes, as opposed to finding time to wade through a whole novel! Once upon a time I had no such dilemmas, I read until late, late in the night but now I pay for transgressions like that, the next day!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I have been a bit slow with replying to comments lately but I really appreciate that you have visited and perhaps left a note! 

xxxx hugs xxx

Hallo meine lieben! 

Heute nur mal ein paar schnelle wörter über mein neues stricken und lesen. Ich bin nicht eine sehr schnelle Strickerin, eher bin ich beim nähen oder basteln zuhause, aber momentan macht mir stricken amall spaß! 

Für meine kleine Enkelin stricke ich dieses entzückendes rosa Strickjakerl. Die wolle hab ich schon hier daheim im Schrank gehabt und konnte sofort anfangen. Und neben an hab ich noch von Mai die Servus Magazin zum fertig lesen, weil bald kommt schon die Juni Ausgabe.

Servus bis nächstes mal xx   

this morning

Look, what greeted me when I peeked outside early, early this morning! 

What a glorious start to my day. 

And it wasn't just to the east, but the whole sky was lit with this stunning glow. 

I just wanted to share this beauty, although my photos really don't do it justice. 

Heute früh, ganz früh, war diese Pracht vor mein Fenster.

Unheimlich schön. 

Aber, natürlich schöner in Wirklichkeit als auf meine Foto!