Sleepless sniffing and afternoon knitting

Mito’s Bento boxes. Mmm. Inspiration for little lunches. (thanks Ben)
What a week. This cold really knocked me for six. Day 9 and my voice is still hoarse but at least I have some energy back, enough energy to dash out to Forest Hill to try and find some allegedly really cheap bamboo knitting needles, only to find a tag advertising the amazing sale price on an empty rack. OH WOE!

I was chatting with Ben and Suzette about colds on the weekend while we stood sniffing and coughing in the playground watching our little kids run around attempting to defy gravity on various bits of equipment. We agreed that in the good old days (“before you were born dude, and life was great, you are the burden of my generation, I sure do love you – let’s get that straight” – ahh Paul Simon… this song pops into my mind an awful lot these days) if you got a cold you could kick it in a couple of days with a good night’s sleep or two and a couple of long afternoon naps. Long afternoon naps and good night sleeps are a near impossibility when the small children in your house are also suffering from colds. I think Amelia has gotten used to nocturnal cuddles after last week when she was really suffering and cries out for us every hour or so. So you get to live with your cold for a lot longer and you get to know it very, very well.

On a brighter, less phlegmy note I have started the cardigan for Amelia and have finished the back panel. I am using a pattern from Patons Classic Baby Knits and a Bendigo Woollen Mills yarn (Rustic 8ply ‘Green Opal’). I am very pleased with my knitting – it looks pretty neat with only one row looking a little odd and bumpy. This cardigan isn’t going to be the world’s most beautiful cardigan (although I really like how the wool is knitting up – will definitely order the Rustic again) as the pattern is pretty dull, but I wanted a basic piece to prove to myself that I could get through a whole garment before moving on to (and buying yarn for) some more sophisticated pieces from a Rowan book that I have ordered.

While I was out hunting elusive bamboo knitting needles this morning at Big W, I found some nice Panda yarn – a fluffy mohair blend and a novelty yarn that has bobbles and fluff without looking too tacky. I wish there was better light around today so I could take some photos. I think I might turn them into some snake scarves from Knitting Pretty (thanks Erin!). After having made a couple of these for some small friends I can tell you that they were road tested at Hays Paddock and are very good for scaring off pigeons who are trying to get into the chocolate cake.

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10 Responses

  1. ni_bilz@yahoo.com.au says:

    hi! this is the first time i am writing in this journal.
    really loved reading this blog esp since i started knitting in mel. and reading about so many people knitting here makes it not seem such a ‘uncool, granny-ish’ activity!

    but i have a ques:
    why does my scarve curls from the sides inwards all the time?

    nurse that cold well,
    take care

  2. I am pretty sure that children add 3-5 days to the average illness due to the lack of sleep you already endure added to lack of downtown possible. (If they too are sick, add another day and a half.) Which pretty much makes the 24 hour flu last about 84 hours.
    I hope you’re feeling much better and back to your old (errr..younger, childless) self soon!

  3. Claire – We should try making bento boxes some time…like the actual box….put some whacky Loobylu drawing on them.

  4. nvaughan@iinet.net.au says:

    Check out http://www.thewoolshack.com/rowan.htm?action=browse&ProductID=399
    there’s also a great yarn and pattern search facility.

    I use this often for research and Emma, who own’s “the shack” is extremely helpful.

  5. Oooh, I wish I could see pictures of the snakes! After Sunday’s felting/fulling workshop (see http://www.gusset.net/kip/archives/000377.html), I’ve been wondering how a snake scarf would look once fulled. I’ve also been toying with the idea of adding feet – maybe a salamander scarf?

  6. I know what you mean about colds + kiddos…it can be brutal. My little man is healthy as a horse these days (at age 4) but the first year or so it was one ear infection after another…and nearly every time I got hit with a serious sinus infection. *shudder*
    Was actually writing to cheer you up, though…with more Bento boxes…and these are guaranteed to make you smile:
    http://www-personal.umich.edu/~msittig/bento/

  7. yeah i just recovered from sore throat, cold and cough too. Sometimes i wonder why these things came in threes, sign… it all started off with sore throat. The weather in Singapore is really unpredictable.

  8. “On a brighter, less phlegmy note”.
    Phlegm is one of those underutilised words I think. It looks as bad as the substance it is describing. It might be the silent G.

  9. emmalinnia@yahoo.com.au says:

    well i was pretty disappointed with bamboo needles when i had them – although they were warm and light, relative to the steel ones. The problem was that they were harder to control and as they got a bit worn,they became rough. the bamboo fibres separated just slightly, but enough for the wool to stick to them. I went back to the steel ones … but good luck, and keep warm

  10. Speaking of bento boxes… http://www-personal.umich.edu/~msittig/bento/ … these are a bit more than the average parent is probably willing to go to the trouble of whipping up in the a.m., but aren’t they cool nonetheless?