ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

So sorry to all those lovely people who have followed up on my patterns and my knitting progress. We have been more than a little busy here on our little wee lifestyle block (2.2 acres) in Miranda, Waikato, New Zealand.

Dinner when we were camping at new home

Since we arrived in September from the Netherlands we have had our hot water cylinder blow up and flood and damage the floor. We have had to do various electrical work to fix or make legal what was done here and we have added another water tank as all our water is gathered from the house and garage roof tops. We have also started several vegetable gardens and begun establishing fencing for a few sheep or a couple of cattle. We have lost a bit of the driveway and are filling sand around the tank to reduce the issue of the side of the bank risking collapse. We have also had rather difficult neighbour issues to deal with – which we feel are now solved but it certainly added to our stress for many weeks. We have retired here to live the good life and have fun stuff to do every day and we are doing that.

We are now eating cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, lettuce, herbs, courgettes, bok choy, radishes, spring onions, and more and that Best Beloved is floundering with our local electrician. What a great guy – he comes to sort out our electrical issues and now he and Best Beloved are floundering together. They brought in 8 flounder and 2 Kahawai this morning. Kahawai Information here

We have planted potatoes, kumura, cabbages, beetroot, and many many trees. Today we will put in 2 red currant bushes and 2 hazel nuts. We are also planting to reduce the risk of wind damage as the property is very very wind swept and our plants are young and tender. Best Beloved has counted 42 olives on one of our tiny trees – so all the Good Life stuff is happening.

I am just not knitting yet.

I still haven’t unpacked everything from the Netherlands and in the evenings I am just too shattered to even pick up the needles – besides I don’t have a knitting chair.

So all in good time – I will knit again and I have patterns to complete and stories to write – so SORRY SORRY for now that there is no knitting news.

and

A Happy New Year to you all.

Haarlem Ball Warmer Memorial tour & install – Queen’s Day, 30th April 2011

We took our snowball with its orange hat to view some of the lovely cafes and bars that we visit for jazz, blues, rock and wine and good company prior to installing on one of the shiny posts that now stand like the row of teeth on a comb in the Grote Markt of Haarlem.

Knitters & Designers Daily

This newsletter is created from the tweets of wonderful knitters and designers that I have included in my twitter list. I will continue to update the list so that it will include all the wonderful and multi talented knitters and designers out there in cyber world (all those I can find). I am hoping that the information will be interesting, challenging, useful and newsworthy.

It could mean that if you do not yet use twitter you can keep up with the information that is provided through twitter.

Please note that it is a paper.li generated newsletter. I have created the list of tweeters – the application creates the newsletter from the tweets of those wonderfully talented people.

Please subscribe to the newsletter as that might be the only way I can tell if the news works. I believe that you will be emailed a note to say the news is ready to view.

If you enjoy it it would be great if you let me know.

Knitters & Designers Daily

Where to start?

Well we are relocating back to New Zealand. Why?

That permanent position that Best Beloved took on here in the Netherlands suddenly had an unexpected end date. Why is that? It seems that the company has a rule that you cannot work for this company after the age of 65 and Best Beloved is 65. Not only that, you must leave at the end of the month previous to the month in which you do turn 65. As it happens Best Beloved was 65 on the 15th of August last year (2010). There was some negotiation from November 2009 (when some bright spark in the HR department discovered that OMG – he will be 65 next year and must be told he has to go) and a contract was finally agreed some time in June (7 months later) and signed in August I think, just as he was racing to the finishing post. His contract gave him up to 31st July this year being the month before he turns 66. What an enlightened company.

So we are going back to New Zealand a little earlier than planned because much as we love living here we simply could not afford to live here as retirees. And of course there is a huge plus to returning to New Zealand – we will be back with family and friends, back with daughter and grandson, back with my sister who is ill, and back to a house with a garden, back to a new chapter of our life together with Best Beloved as a retiree.

Sadly we will also be back to requiring a car – but that is another story.

Also sadly for us, our son and his family will still be living in Switzerland, we will not have access to live music as we have here, museums, Europe, Denmark, Danish family specifically and then of course there is the cycling etc etc etc….. We do not cycle in New Zealand as the bike lanes are few and far between.

To get our fill of cycling our return journey will begin with us cycling from here in Haarlem, the Netherlands to Untersiggenthal in Switzerland, approximately 900k’s. That story will be recorded on our personal blog. You know the kind of stuff – two crazy oldies last seen cycling into the sunset…… We are planning the route so we are not too far from railway travel options should it prove a journey too difficult on bad days – like asthma days, or falling off the bikes, you know the kind of stuff.

And for me this year brings new experiences with my work – I have 3 workshops booked and 2 more in January 2012.

The first is “Freeform Intarsia”and will be here in the Netherlands at a Knit Retreat in Swalmen, in North Limburg region. I will post the details when I have them. It will be in the week 11-15th of July. Thank you to Miriam Tegels whom I met at a workshop with Nicky Epstein last year. Miriam holds the Guinness World Record for Speed Knitting. She is also a talented knitter in all areas who will be taking 4 workshops during the retreat.

The New Zealand workshops will be held in Ellerslie at Mishi Yarns in November and then again in January 2012. Thank you Michele. Michele is Mishi Yarns in Ellerslie and has sourced as many New Zealand made yarns as possible including Naturally Yarns, Zealana, Rare Yarns, Supreme Possum Merino, Touch Yarns, Knitsch Sock Yarns, Vintage Purls and Forever Green Elan. So if you want New Zealand yarns contact Michele.

The Freeform Intarsia workshop detail is here. I will post a link to the Colour Play workshop when have that ready.

The list could be longer, but it is all I can handle today.

I have often expressed the wish to attend a knit and stitch show or other similar anywhere in the world. We have been here in the Netherlands for just over 2 years and I haven’t made it as yet.

As luck would have it – Best Beloved wanted a trip to the UK, and he wanted it originally in the last week in September. Discussions at his work ensued and he is taking the week the 2nd to 10th October. As luck would have it “The Knitting & Stitch Show” at Alexandra Palace is on the 7th – 10th and I can be there. I don’t know on which day(s) yet, I don’t know if I will be able to take any classes or whether I will just look and see [buy]! as I might only have one day.

Can’t believe it really, Best Beloved has leave & we’re going to the UK and The Knitting & Stitch Show is on. How lucky can I be.

I am going to the HANDWERKBEURS AHOY in ROTTERDAM on Friday 15th October as well – two in one month. Brilliant. And I am doing a class with Nicky Epstein.

As luck would have it October is turning into a great month.

And I have been warned – @lapurplepenguin – Take big empty bag to Ally Pally – however disciplined you plan to be, you come out laiden.

I wonder what Best Beloved will make of that news then.