Update on the bees

sad news, that lovely swarm Nev scored has all gone, he checked the box tuesday as he noticed there was no activity at the box, when he opened it up they we all gone. 
he also discovered they were a much darker colour, said they were probably from a feral hive which could be a little harder to contain, he's not totally sure, it was only he's second or third swarm he has retrieved & has only had one success but he reckons you learn more each time you do it, he thinks he may have had better chance if he left them to settle over night then moved them to his place. live & learn, it was still a good education for the rest of us.

thanx for visiting

Buzz ... Buzz ... Buzzing!

getting in position under the swarm

positioning under swarm, ladder unsteady

shaking bees into box

picking up a few that missed the box

adding a little smoke to get them settled

think it's a winner (Queen is in)

we had some excitement at our markets yesterday, when a swarm of bees was discovered by our fruiterer. gave him quite the fright too. 
our resident Bee Keeper Nev was at the ready, brought back a hive & partial suit & got to work. it was quite the education too, did you know that bees don't sting when they swarm? they are so full of honey that they can't, plus they are more concerned about the queen, you can see the swarm in the tree above Nev, just before he shakes them into the box. lots of people were watching him work. the bees gorge themselves on honey before splitting off from the hive, so they have plenty of food to make new 'cells' for the queen to lay eggs.
i dropped around to see Nev today & so far the hive is still hard at work building cells, he says he'll have a peek about Thursday to see how they are going.

hope you all had a safe & happy weekend

thanx for visiting 

to tension or not ... ?

tension squares is something i haven't done since i first started knitting large garments, think i did about 5 & stopped, they were all perfect, i'm a very average knitter. 

the pink (purple actually) is jumper sample, front is for teapot cozies 

i was reading through one of my knit books & came across 'sample' squares, or if you like 'tension' squares but instead of undoing them you keep collecting them & then when you have enough sew them altogether & make a throw or a blanket. well, darn it all, why didn't i think of doing that all those years ago? i would have a wonderful collection of patchwork blankets by now if i had... bugga. the thing is i never thought of using 'throws' as they are called now, think we used to call them 'rugs' as had plenty of doonas. well guess what? i've started up a new/old habit, i want a patchwork blanket so i've started doing tension squares again, just did one for my new jumper & my tension was almost perfect, was a needlepoint out in the rows. i also did a teapot cosy square & i'm way out but am using BWMs wool which is different to the yarn specified, ended up with 9 extra rows but the counted stitches was exact, no matter for a cosy, will measure it as i go. i'm going to do textured stitch samples for my first blanket, as i've been collecting Deramores Stitch of the Week, which has many unusual textures to try out, should be fun. plus i have a few stitch library books i will search through too. the squares are only 40/41 stitches & 20cm long i think that should be plenty big enough to start. 
a lot of the blogs i read all have gorgeous crochet or knitted blankets thrown over their lounges or they're working on one. even my daughter has a crocheted throw she made for hubby which sits on her lounge, she is also making another one with the larks-foot stitch, which i can't wait to see when it's finished. i've also been making granny squares out of the left over wool, get about 6 rows on them, they will also make a good blanket.
been madly knitting my beanie as i want to get it finished but ended up with a seized wrist, ignored it for a good while before i stopped, well i'm at the crown decreasing, just didn't want to stop, so close!  
so, today i sat & did a little sewing instead. remember the market apron i started back at beginning of the year? well have been niggling at it on & off, am up to the waist band now. 

tiny little stitches, hope it all stays together 

almost got halfway across when my eyes declared they couldn't see it anymore lol. 

storm season has started, had a thunderstorm on Tuesday & thought there would be one yesterday but it was just all show 

it looked a lot more menacing than the photo is showing

been trying to rain since mid morning today, it's nice, not too hot, seems to be just right.
tomorrow might do a spot of mowing, weather permitting of cause.

well that will do for today, hope everyone is staying warm or cool in your part of the world

thanx for visiting

it's on it's way to England ... finally

well, i finally got my London girls cardigan done, finished putting the collar on today, took a rushed picture of it as i really wanted/needed to get it in the post before 3:30pm TODAY! her birthday is the 17th & would love for it to get there before then.

the buttons are actually more red, not orange

the collar gave me so much grief, several times i undid it to try yet another 'invisible' seam but non of them were, in the end i just did a slip stitch & though not perfect, did the job better than the others. i just hope she likes it & it fits!

now i can start my jumper! have a pattern already picked out too. am doing in an old wool of Bendigo colonial, a nice light purple, which i had to wind some up as it's in 'hanks' ...  i used a chair turned upside down. 

     

wooden chairs work best for this, now Bendigo make their wool into balls so there's no need to wind anymore up.



also have another cap/beanie on the DPNs Snowtracks Cap, you can get the pattern from  HERE

i am so loving this pattern, after this one i might make a few more for gifts.
am loving using the DPNs & am so glad i practiced with all the headbands, mittens & other plain beanies, though using a full length circular needle for all the cable would probably make it a lot easier. on this one i am doing the brim longer, instead of 3 & 1/2 inches it's 5 & 1/2 inches, i wanted a decent brim to fold up over my ears which kept getting cold, should be perfect for Tasmanian weather! 
it's well worth learning to use them, sure very awkward when you first learn but so is straight knitting when you first start too. 


we've had some good rain the last couple of days, or should i say storms, they were good ones, plenty of deluge so the grass will start growing now, it's back to mowing season but at least i don't have to water for a few days. thought we were going to get another this arvo but it blew over, thundering as it went too! perhaps it will swing back later...


well hope everyone has had a pleasant week


thanx for visiting