Last of the Summer Wine

It's the second of March today, the second day of Autumn if you follow the calendar dates, a time that I often reflect over the previous season, regroup, clean up & plan what's next. February has been frenetic. We only had 5 days in the month when we did not have at least one extra guest in the house. So today I have been able to gather a few thoughts about what is to be done before Dr Phil & I head away to Rarotonga mid month, minus children, for a well earned rest.

So during my Autumnal clean up I was cleaning the coffee table & thought I would rescue it from the magazine tower that had mushroomed, teetering precariously, a real & present danger for the freshly crawling Hugo. Said magazines were scooped up & sorted & to my horror I saw how many were my 'occasional' knitting magazines. Occasional my arse, bloody dozens of them. Where had they come from, surely I haven't bought that many recently? I only subscribe to one, yet there in front of me were at least 6 different titles, from 4 different parts of the globe! Thank the tax man that I now have made knitting my 'business'. As a contractor I can at least claim back the GST (sales tax) & have them as an expense (research tool), which is just as well when you see the price of them here, the cheapest being $14 through $20, a significant investment.

Do I feel guilty, no. Should I feel guilty, no. I used to buy forest's worth of cooking, food & wine mags, now I get just one, so I have replaced one genre for another. The good news is, more forward thinking publishers, like Vikant who do Burda's Verena magazine, have now made their magazine available online in pdf format. I can now pay the subscription without the crippling overseas freight costs.... not to mention the weight on my coffee table!!

What's on the sticks this week...

I have almost finished a cabled vest for Hugo with the beautiful Italian Merino I got last month in Wellington, I knitted the same pattern for Louis in a Cashmere/Merino blend & he thrashed it so much it hasn't survived to be handed down. I also started another vest with 4 stray balls of Jo Sharp DK that was found lurking at the bottom of the remnant basket at work. Sharp is a master of beautiful tonal colours & the simple slip stitch pattern I am using gives an almost fair isle look, I have used this before in my beanies, if the vest turns out OK I will post the pattern, wish me luck!