Bunny love

Sometime over the last few months something has happened to me emotionally. I didn't even notice it, but suddenly there it was, a fact as cold and hard as ice. I am in love with the rabbit.

I first noticed it last Saturday night, when I though it might be sick. Blair had made it a little bed with a pillow and a throw and he had laid down with his little chin on the pillow and let Blair put the blanket over him and she patted him and cooed in his ear and lay down next to him for hours on that cold afternoon. I was worried. This was unusual rabbit behaviour, usually he has the wisdom to run for his life when Blair is in one of her rabbit-squeezing moods.

Later when she was in bed, I was stroking him for quite a while, talking to him. Whenever I stopped, he nudged my hand to make me keep stroking him. He wouldn't drink any water. I really thought he was sick. I was suprised at how worried I was, like, where did these strong feelings come from? Why didn't I notice them brewing?

Then on Wednesday it was even worse. You see, I can't stand leaving Hutch in the hutch. To me an animal should be free. That cage, too small. Rabbits should be digging and frolicking about. Never mind that when I do let him free he just hunkers down and lays there, I don't feel right taking away the animal's choice. Anyway, I've taken to taking him out of his cage and letting him cavort on the front yard. I have a secure gate that he can't escape from, so he's safe from dogs and any delinquent boys who might be wandering past.

Last Wednesday I did this and went inside to do some cleaning (oh yes it's excitment on tap here). I checked on him every so often. At about 1.30pm I couldn't find him. He was nowhere to be seen.

I'm not joking you when I say the panic I had was as bad if not worse than if I had lost one of the kids. I was sick with worry. I was crying. I walked the streets, I knocked on stranger's doors, all teary streaked face with a teatowel over my shoulder. I had visions of him being eated by a dog, freezing cold in the night, starving, thirsty.

The words of the disco knitter< resounded endlessly in my head: You are responsible for what you tame. That poor rabbit, I should have watched him. I should have kept a closer eye on him, I should have left him in the cage where he was safe. I was distraught.

I went to get the kids from school at 3 o clock. I broke the bad news. They were very upset. We walked around the block again.

And then, suddenly, like a magicians trick, a bright white bunny hopped out to see me in the front yard. He had been hiding in the azaleas all day, it was, after all, the coldest day of the year so far.

It was then it hit me. I really really love that rabbit.

Noose. Meet neck.

Donna from Random Knits and I were having lunch the other day. I was admiring her misty alpace. We were fondling the mystery stole progress. We were in lacy loveland.

Donna happened upon an idea, thinking out loud. 'What about a lace swap?'

'A capital idea my dear' I said.

And so it was born. If you'd like to participate in a lace knitting swap - and let's face it, who wouldn't?

Head on over here and send your emails.

Noose. Meet neck. Sh*t. Meet fan.

In retrospect, it must have been the cheese.

What tool do you immediately reach for when you find a mistake a few rows back in your lace knitting?

Your camera of course!


That's a problem



Unravel that little bit down



re-knit it back up (make sure you pick up the right strand each time!)

Ah much better.

I spent Saturday night at my sister's house. She's overseas at the moment with her hub and bub, and mum and dad were up there doing some work in her yard, so I took Blair up for the night.

While I was there I did what I always do when I visit someone's house, I availed myself of any superior products I found in the shower! (So I'm a bad guest - I've always done this).

I must say, sis, if you're reading this, you have a treasure trove of expensive beauty products far exceeding my own supermarket crap. Clarins exfoliating face wash made my cheeks buffed, clarins relaxing bath mousse smelled wonderful, and your expensive shampoo and conditioner made my hair muchos shiny. Why did you leave these things at home? I would have taken them with me. I halted at sampling your toothbrush, although it did have nifty little rubber tooth polishing gizmos in the bristles, but I wasn't sure where it had been you know?

Today I was supposed to exercise. And here it is midday and I'm still in my pyjamas. Manyana banana.

The Dump

I've got a bit to show you today, and not much time to do so.

In point form

1. My amazon books arrived. Yay.


2. Remember when I said if I were to design a lace pattern, it would look like this:?


Well, ask and you shall recieve. Have a look at the second mystery stole so far.




Not exactly the same but close enough. (anyone remember that from sesame street?)

3. I started the Mystery Stole on swtc infinity soysilk. I made mistakes. On 2.75mm needles it was very small. I switched to merino oro on Friday night and started again, this time on 3.25mm needles. Have a look at the difference in the two.



4. Today Sharon, the yarn encyclopaedia and I went on a knitting excursion. It involved something decadent for morning tea, a trip to a LYS for a spot of yarn handling, and one of Sharon's delicious homemade quiches followed by fat pudding with fatter sauce and coffee for dessert. All with a new baby to coo over. I ask you, does it get better than that?

I saw that fair isle glove in the flesh. Oh my god. It's abso-effing-lutely gorgeous.

5. The generous and kind-hearted Kerry who owns our LYS saw this recently and said it had my name written all over it.



Love it. Thank you Kerry (as if you'd use the internet!)

6. I was recently given from wonderful Jae, some beautiful zephyr in an enchanting moody handpainted colourway, all burgundy and navy and gold. I am planning something gothic from it, as suggested to me (nay, she implored me) by the gorgeous Becky. Watch this space for developments soon.


7. Additional information from last post. No, he didn't notice any difference in the feel of the shoes, yes he put them on in the dark, no he didn't buy new shoes at lunchtime (which I would have done and wish he had have done), he just padded around in his holey socks until it was time to go home, and then hoped everybody was too pissed on the Friday night train to notice. He's the absent minded professor, my bloke.

What's the bet that blogger refuses to upload four pictures at one time? Am about to find out.... Yup, didn't do it. V V annoying! Will try again..... Egad, does nothing ever work?!

No joke

My husband is the financial controller of a multi-national media company.

That said, here's what he accidentally wore on his feet to work today. Casual Friday - so he gets to wear jeans. The picture's a bit dark, in real life there is a marked contrast in colour.



I wonder if it affected his credibility?

Oh dear

Psst! Wanna see the stupidest knitting pattern ever?



Beautiful yarn, professionally photographed, nice shoes. The most useless knitting pattern I have ever seen.

All is not as it seems - part 2

I use firefox. The amazing lace blog is impossible to see in explorer, so I switched.

I just looked at my blog in explorer. The sidebars are way way down there -----> somewhere. It looks fine in firefox. I don't know why. I'll have to find the offending item and pluck it out.

There are additions to be made to buttons too.

I'd tinker with it now, fair readers, but if I don't get these kids out of the house and do something reasonably active IMMEDIATELY, they're going to set the rabbit alight or something similar.

I'm thinking fish and chips down at Shellharbour, or a walk on the beach. It's unseasonably warm today but a bit windy - I'll confer with the urchins first.

All is not as it seems

Have you noticed in life that sometimes all is not as it seems?

For example, you could have been under the mistaken impression that the Amazing Lace was in fact, a knitalong involving lace. Or perhaps a knitting competition. Wrong on both counts. The Amazing Lace is in fact a writing and photography competition. Who knew?

In McDonald's today (shame on me) the wrapper of the Filet o' Fish stated 'Low sugar steamed bun'. Like the bun is where the problem lies! It fails to mention of course that the filet of fish is in fact a 'cancer producing transfat sponge encased in low sugar steamed bun'.

I have heard it said that although it appears that the Catholic Church is a religion, although it is in fact a hugely successful multinational property and art dealing investment company.

The DaVinci code was a hugely successful novel, which led me to believe it might be a good book. In fact it was to me a badly written piece of dreadful predictable shite.

So when a famous lace blogger states repeatedly that Merino Oro is cobweb weight, what's an inexperienced colonial girl supposed to think? I finally got my paws on some, and found to my total suprise that all is not as it seems. I don't think it's cobweb weight at all.

First of all, I can't discern any difference at all between Merino Oro and the Centolavaggio that I can fairly readily obtain in Australia. Secondly, logic prevailing if centolavaggion = merino oro = cobweb weight then centolavaggion = cobweb weight and I have already knited a cobweb weight shawl. Shit, I was too stupid to be scared! (The Mystery Shawl 2 was done in centolavaggio).

Which led me to take this picture.



From left to right, in order of thickness (roughly as some of them are very similar)

Left - Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino (4 ply)
Next right - ordinary baby acrylic yarn from Kmart
Next right - Jaggerspun Zephyr in teal
Next right - filatura di crosa centalavaggion in white
Next right - Merino Oro in natural
Next right - Margaret Stove artisan lace (could be the thinnest of them all but has a halo - a bit hard to tell)
Next right - Coats Cebelia crochet cotton
Next right - Knitpicks alpaca cloud
Far right - SWTC infinity soysilk

Also in the picture is a dressmaker's pin and some coins with a platypus and a lyrebird on them. Which will make as much sense to the US readers as what it does when I see US coins used for scale on ebay. (Well, it would if I hadn't been to the states a few times).

Now I know

Donna

has some real cobweb weight from heirloom knitting. And I know it's half the thickness of the soysilk, it is finer than sewing cotton.

So really, I'm as confused as ever.

Yarn weights mean nothing and yet are everything, and yet, all is not as it seems.

This is the story of the three Baudelaire children. Violet loved to invent; her brother, Klaus, loved to read; and their sister, Sunny... she loved to

Knitting socks. Hmm. Apart from a rudimentary interest in the basic construction of a knitted sock, and the need to notch it up to experience, I can honestly say : sock knitting; take it or leave it.

I finished my husband's second sock. It's too dark for a picture, but they're OK.

Sock knitting just doesn't do it for me. I'm giving up on sock knitting. Sock knitting, you're dropped.

But, wait a minute, what's this?

Oh sock knitting, can you find it in your heart to give me another chance?

Wow.

The obsession with lace goes on .....

If there ever was an ideal opportunity to encourage one's OCD tendencies, a pursuit where in fact the more obsessive you are the more successful the results, then surely lace knitting is it.

I am completely unable to stop thinking about lace knitting. I'm not much of a designer, but I can't stop looking at lace patterns. The Heirloom Knitting website sends me into raptures. I'm absolutely enthralled by it.

Anyway, on my web clicking travels today, I came along this story.

I really want to make a swatch board like the one in this picture. I can't think of anything more inspiring than a wall of lace swatches hanging over the computer while I'm doing my blog thing or my pattern searching thing.

When the books I've ordered from Amazon arrive, that's one of the first things I'm going to do, start a swatch board.

I'm mid-projects at the minute, it gives me an unpleasant feeling, a bit like sort of waiting for something mildly exciting to happen. It's familiar to you all I'm sure, I know I should really finish a WIP, or use some stash yarn, but sometimes those new shiny things just take all your attention, don't they?

I am awaiting some packages too, which is always fun, the books mentioned, some yarn from Be Sweet, my knitter's tea swap parcel and I'm about to order some zephyr.

And Donni made me a beautiful pair of socks - with beads! Thank you Donni they're
great mate.

I've got to go and entertain these kids right now, it's school holidays and we're going to visit grandma. (There may be a sleepover involved if I play my cards right).

Ciao bellas.

Phew. It's been hectic here at Chez Daly. Hectic but fun.

Now that the dust has settled, I can assess the damage. The dishwasher is kaput - this is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. I don't know how I ever coped without a dishwasher, as indeed I did, for many years. Anyway, something must be done about that situation pronto.

There is a problem with the tap over the sink, brought on by increased usage due to absence of said dishwasher.

The woman next door (aka bunny death row) came and borrowed Hutch for some siring duties. How strange it was to have someone request the presence of your family pet for such a task. He's positively exhausted now, sprawled out on the grass like a very contented bunny. What a good life that rabbit has.

I am off to a housewarming tonight for a friend who has just built herself a beach house. There is going to be fairy lights, a jumping castle, an outdoor marquee, outdoor heating, catering, and a karaoke dj. It's not even byo drink! I am so looking forward to it.

As a gift, I made her a mini-version of Eunny Jang's print o' the wave stole. Merino Oro, hand dyed by me after knitting on 2.25mm needles. Only two repeats of the pattern in the centre, no centre grafting and no edging - time was my enemy. Quick and easy version and looks great too.