Rainbow dishcloths

I know I've written about my love of knitted/crocheted dishcloths here in the past but I thought I would share my latest little collection.

The lovely Jooles of the Sew Sweet Violet podcast is running a rainbow make along with Amy from The Little Tailoress podcast where you can craft anything you like with a rainbow theme. I've recently popped my little Etsy shop into an indefinite vacation mode (more on that another day) so I have a bit of surplus cotton yarn that I had no other plans for so what better use than to update my stash of dishcloths!

In keeping with the rainbow theme I gave each cloth a coloured stripe and I'm so in love with them I can't bear to use them yet! But they are so pretty I'm sure it won't be long until they are gracing my kitchen sink with their loveliness.

Detail ravelled here.

Two nights in winter

Hello again.

It's been a while since I last updated the blog, I haven't had a lot to say and have been busy at work but I've been thinking of this little blog a lot lately so I think it's time it started moving again.

Last week Mr Homespun did a little raid of our bee hives, something we don't usually do at this time of the year. We didn't take any honey in the last part of summer and none in autumn so we thought we could get away with a little raid whilst still ensuring the bees had enough to get them through the winter.

So two nights last week were spent processing the honey and I thought you might like a little peek into what's involved. We did it inside in front of the fire as it's mid winter here and the honey is too cold and therefore thick to be processed easily.

First we have to uncap the cells of honeycomb. In the past we have used an electric knife to do this but we didn't really like this process. The knife is heated and so burns a bit of the honey and wax as it's removing the caps making an awful smell and an awful mess to clean up afterward. This time we used regular uncapping knives heated in a frypan of simmering water. We are really happy with this method and will definitely do this in the future.

Then we popped the uncapped frames into the spinner, turning them to extract the honey from each side of the frame.

The honey then spent the night and next day straining through the mesh filter underneath the spinning chamber and then dripping its way into a bucket. The whole process is sticky and messy and involves a whole lot of cleaning up afterward but it is so worth the effort.

The next night we bottled it up and were staggered at the amount we had despite it being a small raid.  Our next raid won't happen until around late spring but luckily we have enough honey to last that long. I get a lot of questions about what we do with all our honey, most of it is shared with family and friends and we usually have a little stockpile in the cupboard for ourselves.

xx

Old dog, new tricks aka I have no idea what I'm doing...

I have a new hobby...spinning!

Mr Homespun bought me the most amazing birthday gift last year so I have to use it, right?

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

It's been while since I learnt a new craft. I've been knitting and crocheting for almost 40 years (yikes!) and even though I have only really picked up my needles and hooks again in the past few years I still knew what to do. But this is a different story. I had absolutely no idea where to even start. How does a spinning machine even work?

With the help of the University of youTube I have managed to get started. I'm trying to get a little practice in every day in an attempt to become more consistent with the size of the yarn coming out of the darn thing but it is really hard! So much fun though.

I've already learnt so much, even though I still pretty much suck at it for now. This photo is of my first attempt, something that I now know is called 'art' yarn but I call it 'no idea what I'm doing' yarn. It's very pretty but the things I can make with it are pretty limited.

This one is my second attempt, quite obviously a more consistent size but I still have a ways to go folks! Working with the colours is also a skill that I will work on when I have the size down pat. This photo is the same wool as the top photo but when the two threads are plied together it certainly has an impact on the colour.

I've since bought some undyed roving (that's what the thing above is called) with the intention of spinning it and then dyeing it so I can possibly make something at the end. No idea what it will be but I can guarantee it will be rustic.

xx
R

Sunday morning

Good morning lovelies,

How has your morning been? Given that it's not even 9 am as I write this chances are you may still be abed. 

I've spent a little time in the veg patch this morning, mostly weeding as at this time of the year they are growing faster than I can keep up. We had a few showers this morning but not enough to make the dams or the tanks happy. Although it is only mid summer and the worst of the heat is yet to come, this morning had an almost autumnal feel with a lovely cool breeze after the rain. No doubt as the sun rises higher the temperatures will chase us all inside.

I'm now making my little family breakfast and pondering the possibility of spending every Sunday at home with a possible change at work giving me two consecutive days off every week. Doesn't sound like a big deal, especially in the middle of a four day break but it will be a treat to be able to plan something regular instead of having different days at work every week. I crave routine but haven't been able to achieve it for the past few years.

This evening should find us in the shed extracting honey from a hive box we raided earlier in the week. We usually do this the same day but scheduling conflicts this week have meant it has been sitting in the shed where it has started to drip and attract the bees.

But for now I am savouring a slow morning, perhaps a little knitting after some house chores have been completed. I'm currently working on a shawl that has been in my Ravelry queue for some time. I was hoping to have it finished this week to give to a colleague on Friday night but as I work my way through the border that seems highly unlikely. It's a 36 row cable and lace pattern that is repeated 19 times with each repeat taking about an hour. I'm trying to do one repeat every day but maybe today I will get a bit more done.

Hope your Sunday is just as lovely no matter what you are up to.

xx

Last minute renovations

Some last minute gardening before Christmas

Hello lovelies!

I hope the new year has started gently for you. Mine is full of the usual: attempts at new routines and the promise to myself that I will do better this year, a new diary (oh what promise a new diary holds!) and all sorts of craziness that my head manages to come up with.

The lead up to Christmas also had its own brand of crazy. We traditionally have xmas lunch with Mr Homespun's side of the family and dinner with mine and this year was no different, except that it was our turn to host dinner at our place. Gulp.

So in attempt to fool my family into thinking we hadn't been sitting around doing almost nothing for the 4 years we've been here, the second half of November and all of December was spent on starting all the projects I have in my head. Projects that Mr Homespun tried, but failed, to convince me not to do.

Like painting the exterior of the house.

Yep, that's something you really want to do in the heat of late Spring and early Summer with a deadline looming. But start it we did, Miss 14 and I managed to get the back of the house painted in 24 hours and then we started on the extra bits. The railings and rafters of the deck, the deck itself, the colorbond windows that didn't match the new house colour. The rafters of the deck. That are C shaped and required 3 coats of paint each. Inside and out. Grrr.

And although we didn't get everything done along the back of the house it was close enough that you can see where it's heading. Just a few bits and pieces to work through before I'll allow myself to move on to the south side of the house. I'm saving the front for last, painting it and seeing the whole house transformed will be the reward for all the hard work we are putting in.

I'll save the pics for another day, likely when I have finished a few of those bits and pieces.

xx


SaveSave

Welcome 2018

Happy New Year!

May 2018 bring you much peace and joy.

xx

The most amazing week

Last week I had the most amazing, and busy, week. It was full of Christmas parties and get togethers and two of the most amazing concerts I have ever seen.

First we had the Field Family Annual Concert (yep, that's totally a thing now, last year it was Coldplay) and we saw the legendary Paul McCartney. A real life Beatle. I don't know anyone who doesn't love The Beatles so to be able to see one live was an experience I will never forget. I don't think the girls really appreciated it, frankly one of them was bored, but hopefully they will as time goes by. He played for an incredible 3 hours with only a couple of minutes off stage before the encore and told stories and anecdotes between each song. Some were about the songs, some about fellow Beatles and some about other musicians (Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, the list went on).

We had total nosebleed seats (or ear bleed in my case) but the arena is only small so you have a pretty good view no matter where you sit. It was a sold out show and worth every cent, and there were a few of them required for the four of us to attend. But totally worth it.

Five days later three of us made the hike back down the motorway to see my favourite band, Muse.

If you aren't familiar with them, check out this quick video to get an idea of how freaking awesome they are.

Our eldest opted out of this one as she'd already seen them twice before. Mr Homespun missed them the last time they toured due to work commitments and tried to get out of it this year as his work Christmas golf day was on the same day but we waited until he got home before heading to Sydney.  And he certainly wasn't sorry we did so. They put on an amazing show, as they always do, and we all had a fantastic night. We had incredible seats as you can tell from these photos.

Now I'm dealing with a serious case of post-concert melancholia (also totally a thing) as I get my head around possible never seeing one artist ever again and the others for another few years. Total mood killer.

Have you seen any incredible never-to-be-forgotten concerts? I'd love to hear who they were.

xx