Look what I got in the mail today!! Noro Cash Iroha!

Wendy sent me this gorgeous yarn because she gave me the privilege of test knitting Luanne – I think I got the better end of that deal! So I danced around the house a little, and stroked it alot, LOL!
And my Addi Turbos came, too! What a mail day 🙂
I finished Em’s gloves

I used Patons Patonyle, which is identical I believe to Patons Kroy in the US, and a very old pattern that I bought off eBay.
I have also been knitting away diligently at my Everyday sleeves, however they do not seem to grow no matter how much I knit! I’ve been stuck around the 10-11″ mark for days 🙁

We found out today that we got Emily into the High School we wanted, YAY!! I have been rather stressed about this lately, particularly in the last week or so, while waiting for the advisement letters which were posted out on Friday.
First a little background – I know many of you reading are from the US and other countries, and so I’ll explain the Australian school system. There are some differences between the states (I know that QLD has one less grade than we do) but this is how NSW works.
Our kids start school in Kindergarten, at around age 5. They go to Primary School from Kindy to Year 6, around age 12. Then after year 6, they move on to High School, Year 7 up to Year 10 or Year 12. (ages 15 or 17). You can leave at Year 10, with a School Certificate, or you can stay on until Year 12, when you get the Higher School Certificate. To qualify for University, you have to have a Higher School Certificate.
So essentially, our kids attend 2 schools – Primary and High School. Our school year runs from late January to December.
In December, Em will complete Year 6, and in January, she’ll begin High School. All children are automatically eligible for enrolment in the local public High School. There has been some debate in NSW at least, about the quality of the education offered in the Public School system. Our Public system is free, or at least low cost, and the syllabus for all schools, public, private or parochial, is pretty similar. Blah, blah, blah.
We wanted to enrol Emily in the local Catholic High School, although she has attended a public Primary School all her life so far.
There were 300 applicants for 180 positions. And she was successful. Yay!!
The Catholic High Schools are sort of between the Public and Private High Schools. Not free, but not as expensive as some of the private options. Alot stricter than the local High Schools I know about, which was one of the things that I liked. No makeup, no jewellery, no short skirts, etc etc etc. I *like* that!
We had to attend the information night back in February, have the paperwork filed by March, attended an interview in early April, and since then, we’ve waited.
We did attend the local public High School information night also, and frankly, I was unimpressed. The rpesentation was sloppy, the speakers badly prepared, the children representatives weren’t even wearing their uniforms, or neatly presented.
I feel like a weight has been lifted now 🙂
In knitting news, I’m in the process of seaming Em’s gloves, another FO soon!

So, on the way home today, after tracking down an elusive mini Care Bear, we stopped at a craft store that isn’t available closer to home. We browsed, I didn’t see anything that I liked, But Em was having fits of ecstasy of this new novelty stuff she’d found.
Now, she has a Feathers scarf – it was what got me back into knitting. All the dancing mums were knitting with feathers, and Emily *had* to have a feathers scarf. So I knitted her one, but I held it together with a DK weight acrylic. (And a disgusting, plasticy one at that!) It was knit in stockinette, so it rolls, it feels stiff, and is generally blah. So she has a novelty scarf, but isn’t overly happy with it. And anyone who is anyone at school is wearing novelty scarves! (Oh to be 11 again!)
So this is what she fell in love with.

It’s an interesting texture, I guess. It’s 100% polyamide, on a very fine strand, with soft plasticy sparkly bits coming off and the occasional tuft of something.

So I cast on her scarf, 25 stitches on 6mm needles, and did a few rows. I was surprised at how much I like the look of the knitted product, and it’s softer than I expected it to be. I think it’s harder to knit with these novelty yarns than wool. Am I the only one? So I knit a few rows of this, then go back to Everyday for a bit. Of course, she just wants to know when it will be finished.

Can you tell from the picture where else we managed to go today? 😉
mmmmmmm… Krispy Kreme… 🙂

What a loooong day. Nine hours of sitting in a school chair does amazingly numbing things to your butt!
I am absolutely exhausted – we got home at about 10.15pm, and we have to be back there at 9am tomorrow, but we are only there for an hour and a half or so tomorrow.
I finished the first glove (It was nearly done) and got 3/4 of the second glove done, so it wasn’t a totally wasted day 🙂
Em participated in 4 group dances, which got one 2nd, one 3rd and a Highly Commended, but more importantly they tried hard, did their best, and had a great time.
Our biggest mistake was stopping at Krispy Kreme and McDonalds on our way home. A gigantic football game had just finished in the same complex, and there were people everywhere. Em wanted McDonalds, because they were supposed to be giving away mini Care Bears with the Happy Meals. So we go through the drive through, battling crowds and traffic that I in no way expected at 9.15pm on a Saturday night. They had no Care Bears. I refused to go to Krispy Kreme – it took 45 minutes to get to McDonalds, get through the drive through and get back out to the main road! And I could see the queue at Krispy Kreme – it was out the door and around the store!!
(Krispy Kreme is relatively new here in Australia. The first store opened only around 6 months ago – we’re now hooked, but there’s no stores near us)
Now I have to find another McDonalds tomorrow – all for a mini Care Bear.
Oh the things Mothers do!
PS If I owe anyone an email – I’m sorry, I’m behind and hope to catch up tomorrow afternoon!

I got Katia Kids 25 in the mail today – I love this book!! I want to make nearly every single item in there! Em likes it too 🙂
I also finally ordered Knitting On the Edge. I got it from Amazon. Overstock ships to Australia, but the shipping was even more expensive than Amazon, so the book actually worked out dearer. Of course the biggest joke was that I could get it through an Australian online bookstore, who was having a 20% off sale, and even including shipping, it was still cheaper to get it from Amazon!
Emily has a dance competition tomorrow, so I shall be sitting in a school auditorium an hour away from home for 9 hours. I shall take the new gloves I cast on for her, I think! Mind you, it’ll be crowded and noisy. Maybe I’ll just use the needles for poking! 😉