Nong in a Hine is a girl knitted top

Here are photos of  Nong in the top that I made for her recently. The pattern is by Kelly Booker who is a New Zealander and is available for download for free from Ravelry.com in the 10ply, size 2 years, version. It’s also available for sale with other plys and other sizes. Kelly was great with answering my silly email questions about the pattern. I felt bad because everybody on Ravelry had commented on how quick and easy the pattern was for them. The worst feeling is being stuck on a knitting pattern and really wanting to finish it.

I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran weight, which is Merino Wool, Cashmere and Microfibre (which I think makes it machine washable) in an off-white colour. Its rather thick and heavy for summer, although it has been the coldest summer here since the 1960s, but will be great for autumn with a shirt underneath.

I have a great idea for my next project which is a matching vest for dad and daughter with an animal pattern on it. I’ve found free patterns for flamingoes on Ravelry. Cuteness abounds! I only need to convince Martian its a great idea.

Nong loves the neighbour’s cat. Her cat has such a good temperament, its an unusual for a cat to stay calm and relaxed while being  chased and fondled by a little kid.

Striding down the footpath to find the cat in her Hine top

Doing the Asian squat

U-pick cherries

I’ve been distracted with a knitting project I started recently and have been spending all of Nong’s sleeping time working on it, hence no writing on this blog. I gave myself FOUR months to finish it before autumn 2012 and I’m  happy that its finished way ahead of schedule, just in time for summer and its turned out looking like the photos in the pattern. I’m so pleased.

A few weekends ago we took a  trip out to Young in NSW, about 2 hours driving from Canberra. It was a  long and tiring day trip, but we brought back 6kg of sweet fresh cherries that we picked as well as being able to eat as much as we could  while picking. We visited Allambie orchard which is about 5 Km outside of Young on the major road where there are dozens of small and big orchards where you can pick your own fruit, and buy locally made honey, jams, fruit pies and fruit liquer . The signs on the side of the road say U-PICK with the price per kilo for the fruit. Mid to late November is the start of the cherry season with different varieties ripening at different times until late January. There were a few varieties in season when we were there, Vistas, Supremes and Ron’s. The owner of orchard pointed out the areas where the different varieties were planted, but we tried to stick to the trees with the most shade. It was a hot, hot day, we got there before 10am and it was already 27 degrees. The U-Pick cherries were around $6 per kilo, and lately I’ve seen them for around $8 per kilo at the fruit market, but the ones at the shop are nowhere near as sweet as the ones that you select yourself from the cherry tree.

a cherry buffet

 

Alpaca Magic

llama or alpaca?

We went out to Sutton recently for an alpaca open day that a friend had worded me up about. We had wanted to do an alpaca farm stay whilst we were in New Zealand, however, the farm we wanted to stay at, which also produced its own hand-dyed alpaca yarn was closed, possibly due to the alpaca equivalent of lambing season.  I noticed that a lot of parks and visitor places are shut during October in NZ due to farmers being so busy with lambing season.

The farm in Sutton raises llamas, donkeys and alpacas. One of the farm managers on the day informed us that the difference   between llamas and alpacas was in the shape of their ears, however, I couldn’t really tell the difference. The difference in their personalities is much more noticeable, llamas are much more people friendly, whilst the alpacas were much more aloof and preferred to sit by themselves. The farm also runs spinning, knitting and felting workshops on site which is very cool and sell  incredibly soft alpaca yarn made from their own fleece. The alpacas on the farm are raised for their fleece.  Alpacas are gentle on the land, compared with sheep and cattle. In Australia, they seem to be only commercially farmed for their fibre and not for milk or meat. I have heard that some farm in New Zealand is trying to farm them for their meat. This little guy that we tried to take a nice photo of Nong next to is an alpaca raised by a llama, he had a lovely gentle nature.

Book Review – Counting with Birds from Northern Australia by Jasmine Jan

This book was a gift from friends who also double as Nong’s godparents.

As the title suggests, the book counts through 12 different kinds of birds found in the Northern Territory of Australia, most of them I’ve never heard of before, being an Easterner. It’s a simple premise and suitable for babies from a very young age. The author and artist Jasmine Jan is a local of the NT who worked as a zookeeper for 12 years at a wildlife park  and got inspiration for her drawings of birds.  The illustrations in the book are in bright watercolour paints with splashes of colour that reminds me of screen printed batik. The  counting can be done in any language, so we have counted them in English, Cantonese and German, although we can’t translate the names of the birds. At first Nong liked to scrunch the pages of the book, now she sits and helps me turn pages.

Its a good step towards Nong counting and appreciating the bird life in her surroundings.

Cool NZ

Here are some cool things I discovered on our recent trip to NZ.

Land dwelling Birds
There are an amazing array of flightless / land dwelling birds. I like the land dwelling ones especially because they’re bulky and stand out in a forest. We went to a museum in Dunedin and learnt all about the Moa, a gigantic prehistoric flightless bird that was hunted by the Maori.
They had a Moa replica at the entrance dressed in an all blacks beanie and scarf. What a great welcome for visitors!  The land birds had no natural predators prior to European arrival (aside from the Maori) and fell prey to introduced animals. Many are endangered but there is a large stoat trapping campaign that is reviving bird numbers. This pair are kia, we met them on the way to Milford Sound.

This pair are Kereru, Wood Pigeon, spotted on the Catlins coast.

Dairy product
I’m not a big dairy consumer, I suppose because it was not part of my diet growing up and I am disturbed by how much dairy is consumed in the Western world. However, when in the land of ewes and moos, I put my skepticsm aside and tried out a few kinds of cheeses, yoghurts, milk and ice cream.  I liked this yoghurt made with cream on top, like the way milk used to be in glass bottles.

Ecostore
I love Ecostore. It sits along side soapnuts for all my household cleaning, laundry, washing and bathing needs. We get Ecostore products in Australia, but in its home country, the supermarkets have the entire range and at  cheap prices. I was talked out of buying it to bring home which was very sensible in hindsight.
Possum Fibre
Possums are an introduced pest and a serious threat to the native wildlife, so they are trapped and their fur is harvested and used in clothing and fur lined shoes. We stopped off in Milton, near Dunedin, at the Quality Yarns factory shop and bought some possum merino yarn.
and last but not least – Scenery on steroids
We drove/ walked / took a boat through some very awesome landscape. One of the nicest places we visited was about 60Km from Queenstown to a place called Glenorchy. I read later that that this area is the setting for the enchanted elven woods in the LOTR. Glenorchy’s local catch phrase is “Gateway to Paradise”. Paradise is actually a little place at the top of Diamond Lake another 10km from Glenorchy on an unpaved road. We were in Glenorchy before dusk, and decided we couldn’t come this far and not drive onto Paradise. It was a beautiful time of day in a spectacular place. We took this photo of us standing in the middle of a sheep paddock, just past Diamond Lake.

Nong is One

Is it 12 months already??? I can barely remember my life before her yet, it only feels like yesterday we were in hospital and I went into the final stages of labour so suddenly the nurses had only just started filling the bathtub! I was keen on trying alternatives to pain medication in labour, but I never even got to the warm water stage. Having a baby has totally, completely, changed my focus and perspective on my life. It really changed my outlook on (paid) work. All the shitty little things during the day which get blown into ridiculous proportions just melt. Its amazing to see that Nong has changed from a 24 hour feeding, sleeping unit, who stares at ceiling lights into a little person. Nong is really engaging, especially when she’s with other babies and kids. She is making amazingly varied sounds with her mouth and throat and is nearly walking. She has taken a few steps on her own, but at the moment she has a funny way of freezing and dropping to the ground when she has nothing to hold onto. Its fun to watch her learn.

This is what she looked like freshly baked. She came out with an amazing amount of hair, which subsequently fell out.

This is her at 4 months at probably her baldest point, doin’ some tummy time

Look how you’ve changed!

 

Aotearoa

Martian, nong and I are on holiday in New Zealand right now. I’m really fond of the Kiwis, they are down to earth, unassuming and funny. Everybody is going nuts for the rugby, almost every home, car, shop, museum, petrol station is flying the all blacks flag. We are driving through some pretty small country towns and to a lot of national parks, and the all blacks are everywhere. I’m partly bemused by it, because I don’t follow any sport, but I also admire and envy their total devotion to it. This is a country that was nearly torn apart by world cup tours to South Africa during apartheid.
We are staying in mostly self catering apartments and motels and buying local dairy, beer and fresh produce and cooking at home. They have such great quality produce, and its not out of sheer dumb luck. Sure they have the land and natural resources but they’ve made a conscious effort to promote and market their green image.  They are capitalising on their resources in a smart way.

On the road to Haast Pass in Mt Aspiring National Park