Back to the Motherland

3 days until we board the Heathrow Express and on our way to Home. It's always a mixture of excitement and apprehension with these trips across the world. Will I be welcomed home? Will it still be the same Australia that I love? Am I going to get homesick with the thought of having to leave again so soon?

We'll be making a short stop in Sydney for a wedding. It seems like (and is) years since we left. I feel a certain sadness at returning because so many of my friends have since moved away. I only have a handful of people I need to catch up with. And there's a sadness about having moved from such a beautiful city. I remember the feeling, quite well, of exhilaration every morning I walked over Pyrmont Bridge, across the harbour and through the city bathed in morning sunlight. And the intense blue skies. I felt that amazement everyday; Being overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding me. I haven't felt that since leaving.

And Brisbane, my childhood hometown. I love her more each time I return. Watching her grow and slowly come of age. My family and friends close by. I'd love to resettle in Brisbane. Of course, it's not quite a possibility with Thabo's work. And I do feel guilty that I can't be closer to my parents. Dread comes over me if I dwell on it too long. It must be a sensation familiar to every 30-something year old - ageing parents and the sick feeling that time is running out to get to know them more, to continue to share your life with them. It's hard to do living across the world from them. I hope that there is plenty of time ahead.

Nerd Family and Metamorphosis in Rhumba

Ta-da! I frogged the sleeves of my Jilly cardi and now have a poncho and a vest in Rhumba.

I've been shopping at various sites trying to get a hold of Ribbon Twist in Rabble (out of stock and no longer in production, I was informed by one shop) and am awaiting Racy to make myself yet another poncho. Here's Ava in Rabble that I prepared earlier. I'm waiting in delicious anticipation for my two Kim Hargreaves kits. The Hargreaves have been very sweet over the phone sorting out my order.

Our lounge room resembles a hobby and craft store at the moment . I've been into knitting and Thabo, in an effort to relax and relieve the stress of work, has been building model aircrafts. We're like two children playing with our toys. Or as he fondly refers to it, "We're the Nerd family."

Knitty Narwee, A Hater of Cats

I've started knitting again. The last time was about 2 years ago when the nurses and I got into a scarf knitting frenzy. I started again just before Christmas, as a way of calming myself. Meditation, if you will. But this time, I'm actually knitting real things. Here's my list so far: 2 scarves, 7 beanies, 2 ponchos and a cardigan. I'm in love with Rowan Ribbon Twist yarn (I'm about 3 years behind everyone else) and Kim Hargreaves' patterns. I've ordered 2 from her website.

These are some of my beanies knitted from Rowan Country. Not enough heads, so I've given them to friends and family.

This Jilly cardigan is from the Ribbon Twist Collection. It looked great in the book in red. I'm not too impressed by it. In the colour Rhumba it looks like a granny's cardigan. I thought about giving it to my mum initially but have decided to take it apart and make another poncho instead.

The Ava poncho is so graceful. I fell in love with it immediately. Here it is in Regency. I've made myself one in Rabble and am awaiting more wool in other colours. So mum, my Aunty and my friend in the States (who is experiencing a Homer obesity moment as a result of excessive doses of carbimazole for her hyperactive thyroid) will be receiving wooly gifts made with love.

In any case, I've become a real knitting geek. I've been searching knitting blogs to check out other people's works...and I'm bloody posting photos of my own knits! Thabo calls me his Knitty Narwee. But at least I don't have a cat. God, how I hate cats and it seems like every other knitter out there has a cat. Knitters and cats. Single women and cats. Lesbians and cats. What is it with cats? But I love dogs and get more excited about being able to own a dog one day than I do about babies. Then I'll start knitting dog clothes. Yep, gonna be one of those sad people who treats their pup like a real baby.