What I made, by Sharon

 We borrowed Katie' car and headed off into the mountains - the Australian Alps, to be precise. There is a trail that runs from Walhalla all the way to Canberra (about 650 kms). Our intention was to walk from Walhalla to Baw Baw ski resort, spend a night in a lodge and then come back down. Day one went to plan, and we spent the night in a lovely campsite next to a stream. Day two was very steep, and it was 36 degrees and a total fire ban. We decided to head back down the mountain - where we had a wonderful cooked lunch, and coffee - and then drive to where we were originally planning to walk to that day.  Unfortunately there was a tree the size of Katie's car blocking the road, so we ended up driving back to where we had walked into the day before. The next  day we drove to the top of the mountain and  had a fairly easy day, just walking the tracks of the resort without packs. Then on day four we headed down from the top of the mountain. It's all dispersed camping, s...

We are about to head into the mountains for 5 days of hiking, so I won't be linking up with my normal link-ups - and I'm not sure that there will be much posting on Christmas Day. Anyway, we don't Christmas, but we do hike! One of the things I love about hiking is the amount of time there is, and how there is nothing to do. I'm very bad at doing nothing, so I always bring a fully loaded e-reader and a good knitting project. The knitting project is  The Traveler Shell by Andrea Mowry . It thought I knew what I was going to knit on this trip (  The Article  by Kate Davies )  and then out of the blue, less than a week before we left I decided I had to knit this.  I cast it on a couple of days ago, because I don't want to get caught on a mountain with knitting that isn't working out: In reading I'm going to clear a few NetGalley books, starting with Alarm Fatigue . I started it last night, and so far I'm enjoying it - the writing is a teeny bit clunky, but t...

I had a personal day on Friday, partly because my father needed picking up from hospital (he had a standard procedure) and partly because I'm very tired and a bit wrecked, with everything that has happened. We started the day with a run, and went and got Katie's car, which we are borrowing while she is in America. We hosted my parents on Friday night.  Since it was my birthday dinner I made my favourite things - chicken soup. I didn't even serve a main course, I just made chicken soup, challah and salad. For dessert I made chocolate pudding, which didn't set, so we used it as sauce for the kugelhopf cake my parents made for my birthday. Lots of strong family traditions there! Saturday we caught the train to Ballarat for Hanrahan family Christmas. It was lovely - some of Leon's family lives in the Gold Coast, and it's always so good to see them. Sunday we didn't get out of bed until ten o'clock. I'm just very tired right now! I skipped Sun day's r...

 As well as my friends giving my yarn, there are other reason's why my stash doesn't go down. But before I tell you about the latest acquisitions, and show you my new yarn, let's celebrate my stashcount (prior to this yarn being added). 13,548   metres. A number I would describe as "well under control". Haven't seen it this low in ages.  And then I got more yarn!  I recently participated in an Alma cardigan knit-a-long, and I made a modified alma for Elise. I won a skein of yarn from Bombed Yarns. I love Bombed Yarns . It would have been silly (and felt a bit rude) to just get one skein, so I got four skeins of this lovely greenish yarn for Leon's winter set, and some matching sock yarn to make him matching socks.  Glorious. The we had the Richmond Knitters annual Christmas self-striping: I say this every year, but Dani really outdid herself. Suzanne chose the colours this year, and also provided this door prize: Beautiful. It's like she picked the co...

I'm not feeling super positive as I write this. The good thing about having lots of friends who are all friends with each other (I accidentally made all my separate groups of friends cross pollinate) is that when something goes wrong everyone supports each other. We are all sad together. So many messages "are you ok?" " how are you feeling?".  The bad thing is we are all sad. Anyway, it's my birthday today and while I don't feel full of joy, I do feel very loved. And of course, throughout it all I have two of the great comforts of my life - reading and knitting.  In reading I'm reading a Kobo-Plus book  Our Liminal Spaces by Poornima Manco . It's set in India in the 1990. I'm enjoying it so far, it's a relationship based book, and covers things like changing social expectations and modernisation. I'm still listening to Longbourn . It's taken quite a dark turn, which I wasn't really expecting, since Pride and Prejudice is a r...

When I woke up on Friday morning I had a message from Elise saying 'call me'. that's never good, and unfortunately what she had to say was that Rachey had died overnight. I took the day off, and spent some time with Elise, who had been up since 3 am, helping to deal with the police, funeral home etc.  Then I went to dinner with my whole family, which was loud and lovely as usual, (and as usual, I didn't take photos) On Saturday we celebrated Katie's birthday, which was a lovely chance to get together and celebrate. Saturday night was the Richmond Knitters Christmas party, with it's joy, and traditions. Dani outdid herself with this year's yarn - designed by Suzanne.  Sunday I did the cleaning (boring but required) and then went to visit Raph, who is doing about as well as expected. Leon and I went to the Classic Cinema and saw A Chorus Line. They play musicals on Sunday afternoons and it has been such a treat seeing a bunch of musicals at the movies. A Choru...

I spent the last couple of weeks knitting Kate Davies' It's got A Bend In It Shawl.  The title is a joke in a book I didn't appreciate, but I do appreciate the cardigan. It an odd construction, it starts with a triangle shawl, and then magically turns into a wrap cardigan. Most people show theirs closed, but I like it even better open. At the moment I am keeping it closed with a stitch marker, but once I have decided on the final placement I have some magnetic closures I'll use. One of the interesting things about this garment is when I finished it it was kind of lumpy, and the sleeves were almost too tight. Then I washed it and then laid it out to dry, and now it fits perfectly.   All in all a practical, warm hug of a cardigan. 

Tomorrow I am busy all day, with work meetings and then an event at a brewery in the evening, so here's my update from Tuesday, which will be much the same on Wednesday anyway. I'm reading  Saved By The Bride by Fiona Lowe . It's a romance written by the author of the women's fiction book I read last week, and it's on Kobo-Plus.  The cover is pretty ordinary, but the book itself is a romp. Next up  The Shadow of His Hand: Book One of the Markulian Prophecies by Benjamin Patterson , an author that I found through Threads. It might be good, or not, but it was free on Kobo-Plus. Yes, that's all your are going to hear for the whole of December! I'm listening to Longbourn by Jo Baker. It's Pride and Prejudice, told from the point of view of the servants, and it's very good. In knitting I've only got half a sleeve left on my cardigan , so hopefully I'll be back with FO photos by the end of the week. I have also only got the foot of the second sock ...

  After I finished  Birds of a Feather , I read  The Money Club by Fiona Lowe , which was some very enjoyable women's fiction, set about three hours away from where I live. The next book I decided to read is  Fugitive by Krista D. Ball , which is the second in a series that I started last month. Since It was available on Kobo Plus, I signed up for my free month. Kobo Plus is like Kindle Unlimited, there is a range of books, you pay a monthly subscription and you can read as much as you want - but only from that selection. Up next (also on Kobo Plus)  is the third book in the  Unholy Island  series that I've been enjoying very much -   The Island God by Sarah Painter . If you have a Kobo, have you used Kobo plus? Any recommendations for books on this subscription would be welcomed.  In knitting, I've joined both shoulder of my cardigan - only the frontband and sleeves to go.  I am also participating in a super secret test knit, but...