growling. foot stamping. technical difficulties.

grrrr...
Imagine the following scenario. D arrives home after a month away and says, "Right, time to get back into it." He goes into the office and turns on the computer, walks into the kitchen makes a Vegemite and tomahto sandwich (with margareen of course), walks back in and says to himself "click Internet Explorer, check e-mail...hmmm this is odd...why isn't it connecting? It connected before I left. Click connect. Click connect twice. Turn computer off and then on again and click connect again. Growl at keyboard. Pray for keyboard's safety in the imminent future. Growl at keyboard and pray at same time. Jump up and down in front of computer deliberately so it knows how frustrated you are. Stalk out of room, growl again, and then stalk back in again. Jenn and D call service provider. Between the two of them they talk to three different people and one machine for several hours over a period of two days, regarding how to fix this. Growl again. Meet with three different phone guys four times over the next week and a half, only to have them tell us that the service provider sold D broadband on the fringe of the area that broadband is available. They admit it's their fault; and then say in order to continue service you have to go buy a more expensive modem. Hehe, it's April Fool's day right? No? WHAT! Shake head in disbelief. Growl again and stamp foot for good measure.

Yep, that's right folks. We are in the middle of a love, hate relationship with the internet at the moment. For the sake of simplicity we will refer to this relationship as "Technical Difficulties". Luckily, the service provider does provide back-up dial-up in cases such as ours. Unfortunately this means that it takes approximately 3 point 2 days to access a website, let alone upload and save information, hence the reason there are no pictures in this post. Thanks for bearing with us, I should be back online with broadband in the next few days...hopefully before the 31st. Halloween is coming and I have a surprise post for that, keep your fingers crossed!

PS - I have to say for the record that it is our frustration with the situation which caused me to type such a longwinded account of our experience. The customer service reps for the service provider were extremely kind, as were the phone guys. The growling and foot stamping were in no way directed at them.

PPS - Hi Tiff! How's the new apartment??? Hope you are loving it!

wonderful = growling. foot stamping. technical difficulties.

hot water. sweaters. hard work. big rewards.

One chapter in the epic adventure is over.

After spending time in the coastal town of Kalbarri, we drove through a winding trail of wildflowers and spent a night in a convent. It had been turned into a bed and breakfast and while not fancy, it was adequate. We eventually made it to Perth, where we stayed with some of D's friends for the night. We spent the next morning in King's park and then travelled east to the Shire of Tammin on the Great Eastern Highway. Darren has spent the last several weeks working in the Shire of Kellerberrin next door, working on several bathrooms at an old Catholic boarding school that has been turned into another bed and breakfast type accomodation. The couple he has worked for have been absolutely lovely, they are wonderful people and quite Aussie! As for the chapter being over, we will be driving to Bunbury tomorrow to head back to the daily grind as they say. Rumor has it that we may even get to stop in a yarn store on the way through Perth! My fingers are firmly crossed. We also plan on stopping at IKEA, which should prove to be interesting. I just had my first IKEA trip in Massachusetts a few weeks before leaving for Aus and will therefore be able to do a comparison of the two. What an amazing store IKEA is! So many things to look at and so many decorating ideas come to mind...

Of course, what would a post be without pictures?

Ok, Americans...take a good look at this picture. Please note the location of the driver in the pickup. Now note his position on the road and the way the lines are painted. BTW (by the way) if you're in Aus it's not a pickup, its a ute.

Speaking of vehicles, how 'bout the cost of gas? $1.86 a liter not bad, huh? Well since a liter is roughly one quarter of a gallon, you are looking at around $7.56 a gallon. Oh and if you're fueling up I wouldn't suggest calling it gas...you'll get natural gas or propane instead of gasoline. It's petrol here.

Here is the beginning of a new scarf/shawl. Clapotis. If you're an internet Knitter I'm sure you are quite familiar with this pattern. I've chosen a fingering weight yarn instead of a worsted and am just doing straight rows until I run out of yarn, but other than that everything else is to pattern. The yarn is from NH Knitting Mama. The colourway is Purple Lilac (I love that because it is the NH state flower) and it is merino 2 ply, sock weight.

Last, because I like to save the best for last... THE CORDIAL SWEATER!!!!! Isn't the colourway gorgeous? It fits like a dream...big and roomy and comfy...and my new go to sweater! I LOVE IT! Thanks so much for dying the yarn for me Amanda! BTW - I'm making a fire here. Quite domestic of me huh? The farm we are staying at has wood powered hot water. Working hard for something really makes it that much more enjoyable. (and not just with hot water and sweaters!)

wonderful = hot water. sweaters. hard work. big rewards.

P.S. - Hi Aunt Jane! I'm so glad you came to read the blog!

surprises. parades. and audiologists. what did you say?

Hi from Australia! It's been awhile, and so much has happened since my last post... I left Boston on September 15, traveled for more than 30 hours (5.5 hrs Bos to LA, 15 hrs LA to Syd, and another 5 or so Syd to Perth, plus layovers) and arrived in Perth on 17 September. Kindof cool how the dates flip when you fly around the world isn't it? It's almost as confusing as driving on the other side of the road, but you get used to it. With that said, today is 06/10/08, yep that's right, October 6, 2008...or should I say 6 October, 2008. To all of you at home, no, that isn't June that we're talking about...Aussies write the date out, day, month, year not month, day, year. D says its shortest to longest and though I balked at it at first, it really is quite sensible.

You've probably noticed that I didn't start out the knitting blog post with a picture of knitting. There will be plenty of knitting coming in the next couple of months, but for a while I'm also going to focus on my trip to Aus as well...my little way of keeping in touch.
On the homefront, my sister just sent me a couple of great pics...

My Pepe was the Grand Marshall for the Firemen's Parade yesterday in my hometown. That's him looking all dapper in his uniform with my sister Beth on the left and my Aunt Ann Marie on the right. Hurray Pepe! (ps...Pepe is a shortened version of the French name for Grandfather...it's pronountced Peh-Pay)

The second pic is of my little sister. She just recently became an audiologist...so for her birthday (October 3) I got her a sweatshirt that says "Instant Audiologist, just add coffee". It had her name written all over it (no, you don't have to zoom in, it doesn't literally have her name on it...but it fits her to a tee... er sweatshirt hehe). Sorry about the wordplay.

Coming soon...pics of the first few weeks of the trip...a very important FO (for all you non-knitters, that means the sweater is done!)...and spiders...hey after all Halloween is coming soon, right?

wonderful = surprises. parades. and audiologists. what did you say?

cordial cherries. 0 calories. squishy yarn. oh, and changing your mind.

I have two sleeves and more than half a back to knit. It is August 27th. I need to finish this by September 14th. Can it be done? One can only hope!

BTW - I am Thoroughly enjoying this knit! The yarn is fantastic! The color is fantastic! The seed stitch, well, the seed stitch is a bit boring...but when combined with a good magazine...the seed stitch can, and will, be tolerated. I can't wait to post the final pic!

PS - yes. you're right. i said stockinette was going to be the name of the game for this sweater. i changed my mind a little bit :).

wonderful = cordial cherries. 0 calories. squishy yarn. oh, and changing your mind. - jj

I walked to the end of the driveway a few minutes ago to get the mail. Best thing I've done all week. MY YARN IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Ok, now that the yelling is out of the way, let me explain...

I have a favorite sweater. I bought it about 15 years ago, oatmeal in color, basic construction, fairly lightweight as sweaters go. Essentially, it is the perfect garment.
Fastward to 2008, where I have been noticing that said sweater weighs a little less than it used to...it is starting to wear. No holes yet (Thank God!) but, I'm afraid, they may be inevitable in the coming months. Now, I was concerned about this, so I thought - I knit - why not make a new one? Use the same construction, maybe a dk weight yarn, and just knit up a new one. I thought, eh, it will be all right, hours of stockinette in an oatmeal colourway...I'll survive the boringness of it all. So I began passively looking for said yarn. Something lightweight, yet warm and oatmeal, definitely oatmeal. I didn't find anything that screamed perfect sweater to me.
Then, one day, a month or two ago, I was reading a blog post by fellow blogger , Red Sox Fan and indie dyer Amanda Dahl (of NH Knitting Mama fame). She was having a bit of a yarn sale on her blog and I was glancing through the colors going...ooohhh I wish that one hadn't sold, oh I like that one, ooohhh that's pretty...when I happened to see a skein labelled - Cordial -. It had sold already, but I was smitten. It was GORGEOUS! AND - it screamed make me into a sweater! I commented on her blog and the rest is history. She was very willing to make up a sweaters worth in dk weight Blue Face Leicester for me (omg soft!) and voila! I have just opened a package of yarn that promises to be a beautiful garment. It's not oatmeal. It's better! (Best of all it won't be boring to knit all that stockinette, given the gorgeousness of the colourway!)

Of course, you need pictures!

Here's the original:

Here's the original, plus the package:

Sneak Peek!:

YARN!:

This woman is very talented! Run, don't walk to her etsy shop...NH Knitting Mama

love. hats. family. and yarn. lots of yarn.

Moved.
Finally.
Currently Unpacking.
Ugh.

On the upside, I have the best significant other in the entire world. Long story short, he is in Australia, I am in the US. It's difficult to be so far away. Very difficult.

On the upside, He was able to come here last September for three weeks and I was able to go there for the month of February. There are also plans in the works for more international/intercontinental travelling in the coming months, and possibly more (fingers are firmly crossed...except when knitting...then it's needles crossed ;) ).

The trip to Aus was hands down the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life. When I arrived home I gave my dad the "Aussie" cowboy hat that D had purchased for him (he got one for himself as well and oh my...) as a souvenir. He Loved it. Apparently, so did both of my grandfathers. I mentioned it to D and he went out and got two more and just recently shipped them to me, so that all four of them could have matching hats. They were tickled pink....

errrr....

I mean,

ruggedly enthused???

While we were in the middle of the move this past week, we made a point to get a pic of the three of them (my dad, and both grandfathers) to send to D. I thought I would share them here as well... aren't they dashing?

Now, all I have to do is convince D to let me post a pic of him with His hat on...

Oh, and in knitting related things...here is my newest adventure...it will probably be a pillow soon... "Ummm, Jenn, there isn't a pillow in that picture", you say, with one eyebrow raised inquisitively...? Stay tuned. :)

wonderful = love. hats. family. and yarn. lots of yarn.

Movers and Shakers. Ok hopefully just movers...I have a lot of breakables.

Moving Day.

Yep, that's right. I'm moving! At the moment I am sitting in the middle of my bedroom with my laptop on the floor and just a bed and a nightstand for furniture. Everything else is gone. In the next few minutes I'm headed to the new house to beginning the crazy unpacking process. I am sincerely hoping that it all fits! Tonight is the last night in the old house and tomorrow the bed and nightstand join the rest of the stuff in the new house. For the past (and the next) several days my life will be in utter chaos as I try to rearrange everything to fit. Unfortunately, internet will not be hooked up until Tuesday (June 3), so I won't have access to anything on the interwebs for a few days. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll see you next week!

wonderful = settling in.