Only out of hospital yesterday (thanks Liisa for bringing her home!), Christine will be laid up for a few weeks. She is well, but sore & tired – her hospital medications accounting for her doziness.

So, if she’s a little quiet, don’t be alarmed. Christine is just recovering from surgery.

Clicking on the image below will take you to a video of the funeral service. The link will be good for 90 days from this posting.

February saw family turmoil. Things are still in the wire but on Friday, I took a much needed break and drove to Bendigo Woollen Mills. I did go for a particular product but also for myself.

I had forgotten how inspirational it could be. I also realized how much I missed knitting and crochet. I butted in left and right when people asked questions. I think I got on some nerves but hey, if you know the answer why not share.

A lovely lady asked about knitting socks, she had started on the magic loop method. I understood exactly her frustration. I did butt in and told her the best advice I ever got from a sock knitting book. The book was Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi.

The world so much needs such creative people and I mourned her passing in my own little way during Covid Lockdown. It was just after I gave up knitting and design due to a personal issue. I had always kept in mind her written words, “One needle works and the other rests”. And so began my personal preference when using circular needles. Sleeves, then start when making top down neck lines etc.

I was taught to knit socks by my mother who learnt to knit them in primary school in Europe. My first and most important tip is:
Cast on any project with two needles!

They do not need to be the same size but, it gives you a lovely stretchy start especially with socks top down!

Second tip:
Swatch! Yes, always frustrating but it is great to know if you have enough yarn and also if you knit tight or not, it gives you that extra chance to go up or down a needle size.

The third tip for today is:
Don’t worry about errors, they make the sock perfect and individual! Any mistake you make can be fixed. If you dropped a stitch a few rows back. Don’t frog! Put a locking stitch marker on it, knit to the spot, grab your trusty crochet hook and pick up the ladder or tie it off if you already added a stitch to compensate for the drop. It is not a big deal. Here I would also use a ‘lifeline’ if you are knitting with a lace cable and or a lace pattern.

Try and enjoy the process! Remember, you have another sock to finish. People would sometimes seek me out on the train with their knitting emergencies. This doesn’t happen much these days but, if at all possible, I will overcome this carpal tunnel and jump back into serious knitting.

I will add photos and more hints in the coming weeks and months. Just email me for any more questions. [email protected]

Keep the craft going… you are doing a great job!

Wow, December already. I still miss my old neighbours. I miss playing the ukulele and I miss yarn craft. My fingers and hands hurt more than ever. My feet? Well, we are at vegetable peeler stage. I kid you not! When I go to bed, my hands and feet go into overtime. Each joint in my fingers feel on fire and my feet and ankles feel like they are constantly being peeled with a sharp razor. There seems just no getting round it.

So, in my head, I have all these projects going on. In reality… everything’s stands still. By the end of the day I just don’t care anymore. I just want it all to stop.

here I sit, on the end of the bed in darkness. Christmas fireworks started before dark so we sat inside, under the fan and trying not to move much in the heat.

I am listening to some of my favourite songs and marvelling at the pure magic of Dave Brubeck. I could have sworn I first heard him in a Movie called Murder by decree. I now fear I was wrong. It was in the end years of the seventies, I went to the movies with my mother and I begged he to wait through the credits to find out the musicians of this amazing sound that blew my mind. I swear there were tears in mum”s eyes, so proud I was possibly becoming a jazzer and not a rocker.

Dave Brubeck became a fast favourite. Songs I could chill to! Then, realisation, this guy called Tom Waits! I saw him on the Don Lane Show! I was in love with the gravelly voice, fingers tripping over keyboards, smoke and booze on set, I found my true idol.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I still loved Jon English and Russell Morris and Brian Cadd and even David Bowie and the Bay City Rollers but, wow, to this day, I still love the pure romantic Jersey Girl and will always stop what I am doing and just melt into the music.
The next on My song list is Acker Bilk and Chris Barber along side Herb Alpert and radio head.

At least once a day I listen to my playlist and I am transported to the late 70’s not a care in the world and I feel good. Tom Waits still hits my main spot though. The passion and the artistry. I didn’t even mind when he cleaned up his act. He just mellowed into the last true Beatnik.

Right now, I am going to go back to cleaning my fridge. I will leave a decidedly non jazz tune that was our Halloween ukulele gift to YouTube here. I hope your lead up to Christmas is cool and drizzled with the smooth tones of the great Tom Waits 🎶

The month of August has not kind to my soul. I rushed my sister to hospital – the was timing pretty good as a few hours later her appendix burst. I spent an amazing week caring for dad, working in the office and driving home to care for John, who had back pain.

John had used Dr Google to diagnose himself. He soldiered on for a week longer, his legs collapsing under him at random times. I offered to take him to the doctors several times but he was stubborn. Until last Saturday…

He collapsed in the toilet, the door closed. I had trouble getting to him. He finally dragged himself out and got to a sitting position. I am sure his knees are still broken but no one looked at those.

I called ‘nurse on call’ and she patched us through to the ambulance.

This was getting scary. I had never seen him shaking from pain. While his back was giving him lots of pain, he was paralysed from the waist down!

The ambulance carted him off to the hospital emergency ward. He was admitted, they injected marker dye up and down his spine (over 100 injections!), then did several CAT scans, after which he was transferred to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

They found a ”mass” in front of his spine and scraped and did some stuff to his back (laminectomy, P11 & P12), 2 slipped discs and said that the ”mass” should be absorbed by his body over time.

He is now home. During this whole time, my neighbours have been feeding me and checking on me.

For the first 3 days I hadn’t eaten and drank little. They started bringing me meals and Chai. After that… I could get used to being spoilt.

With John home, they have taken to feeding him too. I am learning some Punjabi words to show my gratitude. Having neighbours like this restores my faith in the words neighbourly love.

Many thanks to the Singh family!

* John’s reason for a laminectomy was degeneration & arthritis of the spine. This leads to narrowing of the pathways that nerves travel through (vertebral canal or foraminae) and can also cause sciatic nerve pressure. It may be difficult to walk due to aching or burning in the legs after short distances (claudication).