pick up sticks

Knitabulous is dead.

2008-03-08T14:10:00.002+11:00

Right of Reply

2008-02-01T09:22:00.000+11:00

OK, so yesterday turns out to be my penultimate post from this blog.

But I couldn't go without saying thank you.

I've been nominated for the 'you make my day' award from a blogger that I haven't met in person!
Tia knits incredibly beautiful things at a cracking pace and lives in the USA with an impossibly white Maltese terrier. One day I'm going to rock on up to her doorstep and ring her bell. (Although if she's working she won't answer it!)

Tia, I'm glad I make your day. Thank you for the nomination. I'm all a flutter I've been placed in a list with such fine company. When I saw you knew fleegle by name, I nearly fainted.

The idea is that you nominate ten people who make your day and pass it on. However, I think I'll have to break the chain here, because everyone I've listed has already been nominated for this award already.

But I will say one thing, if you love Yarn Over - go over and tell her, because she's thinking of taking all those free lace patterns down. She says they're losing their relevance. I disagree.

Hi. Bye.

2008-01-31T15:59:00.000+11:00

Self promotion. The recent discussions on ravelry lately (and other places too) have made me think about how I feel about people promoting themselves in a commercial sense on ravelry and elsewhere.

I think there are cultural factors involved, and I feel that, as a bit of a dinky di Australian, I find the idea of promoting yourself at every opportunity to be a bit off. Then again, maybe I picked that up from my years living in England.

I don't like the trend here of the proper professions ie; the doctors and the lawyers beginning to advertise on the radio and tv - I guess to an extent they've always advertised in the print media. I find radio ads for a law firms (if you've been in an accident call us - no win, no pay) to be particularly offensive. I wouldn't go to a lawyer who advertised on tv. Then again, the likelihood of me ever chasing compensation for an accident or wrongdoing is so remote it doesn't bear thinking about.

My sister, who has traditionally been employed in the sales 'industry' says I'm just typical of the anti-sales snobbery that comes from being an Accountant and having a bachelor degree, and that I should change my tune.

And maybe she's right.

Here you go then, different tune.

I 'designed' a short-sleeved boxy swing cardigan. Top down raglan (so what's there to design?), no seaming (except five stitches under the armpit), and a simple lace pattern to give the 'swing' part more of an airy feel, it has a Jackie O sort of feel - a perfect match for those black saucer sunglasses of mine.

Made in an unrepeatable but beautiful shiny mercerized cotton yarn (Moda Vera luxor) I got in a bargain bin from Spotlight - probably a worsted weight or 10-12 ply equivalent.

And now, no tune at all.

Due to various factors, some in the past, some in the future, coupled with some serious internet connection problems at home (from the lightning strike), this will be my last post from this blog.

I'm going to take February off to do something different, (the last two posts might give you a hint) and in March I plan on launching a new, improved, superfast blog. And maybe even a suprise or two to go with it.

I'll still be active on ravelry, I'm knitabulous over there - my avatar is the Sydney Luna Park Entrance.

Repeats

2008-01-30T19:08:00.000+11:00

I had this conversation over and over and over at snb on Saturday.

Other person: "What's this beautiful thing you're knitting, Ailsa?"

Me: "It's a scarf"

Them: "Lovely colour"

Me: "Yes. It's one of Donni's"

Them: "What pattern are you using?"

Me: "I'm making this one up as I go along."

Them: "Geez. You're very clever."

Me: "Umm. Not really. But thank you anyway".

Since a lot of people liked it in person, and against my better judgement (I'm shy of showing my originals in public), here is the progress of something original.

Hey, wanna see what housefrau gave me in the tea cosy swap?

And later, this;
I've bought so many of these for various swaps, and never kept one. I've always wanted to though. I loved this one so much, it's the one that sells out the fastest. Thank you housefrau, it was all lovely.

My kids love their Nonna

2008-01-24T12:28:00.000+11:00

And I love mine too.

I have spoken before of loving knitted socks but not loving knitting socks. It's the round and round thing - I can do it, I just hate doing it.

Solution - Sidewinders by nona.

Why didn't I think of these before?

I am a happy knitter today.

Second FO of the year

2008-01-16T09:38:00.000+11:00

May I present to you my completed tofutsies sock.

Ahem. I tried. But I just couldn't go round and round like a frickin mouse on a treadmill. If any of you reading here really love me they'd email me and offer to make me some socks. In return I'll make them some lace stoles/scarves. Seriously.

It's still a bit damp in this shot, so the colours are a little dull. What do you think?
Anyhow, on account of some new books arriving at the casa (look! Nihon Vogue!, Elizabeth Zimmermann!);

If you haven't read any Elizabeth Zimmerman books I'd suggest you go out and buy one immediately. She's such a good read, maybe the original knitting blogger?

I immediately cast-on for the baby cardigan. In tofutsies. Three nights later I had a result.

It was a particularly colour-co-ordinated knit, because I used my new knitpicks harmony needle (thank you Donni, I's a lucky girl!) Check out the leftovers.

Look what else came into my possession. Claudia's handpainted 2 ply silk, a Christmas gift from the gorgeous Jae of impeccable taste. Thank you so much Jae, it's going to be my new sarcelle.

I'm off camping again right now, so I'll be out of action for about a week.

And in case you think it's all holidays and parties, I'll show you my glamourous photoshoot location.

With every party and holiday comes the inevitable washing.

A Clarification

2008-01-15T11:21:00.001+11:00

The term tramp stamp in my vocabulary refers only to BUM ANTLERS.

Just to avoid confusion.

Yesterday I did not knit

2008-01-12T11:48:00.000+11:00

Much as I drivel on about my social life, my car accidents and general anasthetics, my actual day to day life is consumed with thoughts about knitting.

But yesterday, due to a case of too much sun caused by a very active day at Jamberoo Recreation Park*, I crashed out at about 8pm with both the kids on my bed.

I got up again around 11pm to find my husband trying to unblock a toilet - don't ask me what happened there - I kind of blearily looked and blinked and went straight back upstairs where I sneaked into Louis' bed and left the moving of the sleeping children to him.

Anyway, because of this, I didn't knit a stitch yesterday. And I feel kind of funny today, like I forgot to pick the kids up from school or I missed my stop on the bus.

Knitting is a part of who I am, ridiculously Opra-ish though that might sound. To know me is to know about the knitting. I could talk about knitting, read about knitting, scour the web looking at knitting, for ever and I probably will.

And on that note, I am shutting down the computer and taking to the sofa for a knit. The children are across the road playing (apparently they're making a movie on the ten year old neigbour's digital vicam he got for his birthday - whatever happened to British Bulldog or Marco Polo?)

Once again, I am attempting to get a successful sock going.

Finishing Frost Flowers and Leaves is my next goal, I am about halfway through repeat four of the second chart.

*What a place. The social services groups bus them down from the Western Suburbs of Sydney in their droves. I've never seen so many gangsta tattoos on torsos (some with their jail serial numbers under them, presumably in case they forget next time, or maybe they were on weekend release) in my life. And the girls, if you think a nose stud, belly button ring and a tramp stamp on your lower back is unusual and sexy, you should get down here and have a look at them en masse. Eww.

Being perfectly gorgeous, it is easy for me to be the judge of others of course. I fear I am turning into one of those middle aged women, tut tutting the young ones on their choice of attire - suprising how easy and pleasant it is to become what you used to despise.

And, speaking of pointless postings, anyone been reading the Australian ravelry forum lately?

Paradise by the Dashboard light

2008-01-10T21:10:00.000+11:00

Knitabulous: 'Well I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday.Casting on for you there was not another project in sight. I never had a pattern looking any better than you did, and all the kids on ravelry they were wishing they were me that night.'

(insert passionate knitting noises)

Ariann: ''Stop right there! I gotta know right now. Do you love me? Will you love me forever? Do you need me? Will you never leave me? Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life, will you take me away and will you make me your..'

Knitabulous: 'I couldn't take it any longer, lord I was crazed. And when that feeling came upon me like a tidal wave I started praying to my God and on my mother's grave that I would love you till the end of time.

I swore I would love you till the end of time.

So now I'm praying for the end of time to hurry up and arrive. Cos if I've gotta spend another minute with you I don't think that I can really survive. I'll never break my promise or forget my vow, but god only knows what I could do right now.

I'm praying for the end of time that's all that I can do. Ooh. Ooh.

Praying for the end of time so I can end my time with you..'

Ariann, you're beautiful and we look good together but man you kicked my knitting butt in the raglan decreases and in the end, I hated your guts. So sorry.

It's been a long time

2008-01-06T10:07:00.000+11:00

Since I've had a hangover this big. It's not of 'never again' proportions but definitely greasy breakfast required proportions.

Spent last night dancing and toasting a friend's 50th birthday in a harbourside restaurant - they had booked the whole place so there was nobody else around, except the passers-by - some of whom started dancing on the jetty. We took balloons out to the kids.

It was one of the best parties I've ever been to.

The best part about it? Elvis was there.

The big ugly

2008-01-02T14:58:00.000+11:00

Everyone eventually gets to an age where the essence of improving one's appearance is by good grooming. As a result, the one thing that happens when you camp rough is that you look really really ugly while you're doing it. Knowing this, I made no effort in the grooming department save a shower when I set off in the car with my kids, my niece and the dog in the car for company.

When I accidentally bumped into the car in front of me in the carpark that should have been the Princes Highway in Nowra, and a big, burly fit looking naval officer got out of the car in front (the one I'd hit) and angrily barked 'driver's licence' into my window, I regretted that decision. I got very serious 'woman driver' vibes from him, and it was very unpleasant.

Not that I think I could have knocked him for six with my hotness, but in the absence of any cosmetics at all and no saucer sized sunglasses, I just looked like a tired old housewife who took her eye off the ball and drove into his bumper bar. Something about his obvious bully prick personality/attitude sucked the assertiveness out of me - I would have been a bit more dignified in defeat and perhaps not felt so pathetic if I'd blowdried my hair and put on a bit of lippy. And found those sunglasses before I set off. A kind of armour, if you like. Against pricks.

In addition to this, I hate my haircut. Brassy yellow, straggly, short (ugh), with 2cm dark regrowth - it looks disgusting. A bit of hair and some big black sunglasses can do wonders for the confidence and create an illusion (apparently known as the 'Bondi beach' effect) where the ravages of time have taken their toll. I want my hair back. Pass me those dark glasses.

But if I thought I looked ugly on my way down there, you should have seen me four days later with no shower, sloping around the campsite in my swimsuit and sarong and crocs. Eww.

I'll be going back next year though, let me show you why ...

Worth every ugly second of it.

Christmas Fare

2007-12-26T11:38:00.001+11:00

My mother can't cook to save her life. She's never followed a recipe and is about as gourmet as cheese singles. As a result of this, if I wanted something edible for Christmas Dinner since I've become and adult, I've had to do it myself. Dad makes a great show of roasting a turkey to death, but the rest is up to us. I've never had the luxury of arriving at my parent's house and doing nothing except be waited on.

But, as I've mentioned earlier, my sister recently moved to the region. And, for the first time in about seven years, I didn't host Christmas Dinner At My House.

It was the best Christmas in seven years.

Afterwards, the 'children' played with their new toys.

Then we went for a long walk on the beach and inspected the life in the rock pools. These are the things that lasting memories are made of - I almost burst to think how wonderful my children's relationship is with their grandparents, (even if she can't cook) - probably better than mine was with them when they were my actual parents.

After that, I WENT HOME to a relatively clean kitchen.

Thank you KA, it was the best. christmas. ever.

An on that note, we're off to Mystery Bay Primitive Camping ground tomorrow for a week or so, so I'll be back early in the New Year - I'm assuming in the good old Australian way they're ignoring the stupid new law and letting campers in anyway.

I hope you had a wonderfully happy and peaceful Christmas and that you stay safe on the roads during the break.

Coming soon - the finished Ariann, and a self-designed cotton short swing cardigan to show off.
After that it's nothing but the lace until Easter.

Tis the season for eating

2007-12-23T21:52:00.000+11:00

I don't much beleive in horoscopes or star signs, but there is at least one Scorpio trait that I have in spades, and that is my loyalty in friendships.

I don't email people much, I hate the telephone and I'm not on facebook. I tell it like it is and will not sugar coat anything. However, if you stick around long enough to see past this, you'll find I'm there for the long haul. Thick and thin.

And so, on Wednesay I went to visit one of my people whose friendship I consider to be silent and strong. We have hardly spoken since she moved from across the road (to greener pastures I might add) but no matter.

She shouted me lunch for my birthday. It was good eating, good talking and good coffee, in a fishbowl of a cup - cafe au lait as opposed to cafe latte.

It was Sharon of The Stripey Tiger (link on right, but she's no time for posting!), and we went into Berry for our lunch. Which is like going to the country, but with good shops. Which is usually the trade-off.

Monster cafe au lait!

Decisions decisions.

Twice cooked lamb and vege stack - it was the haloumi and the mushroom that swayed me in the end.

There were home-grown vegetables in a basket on the doorstep when we got back (that's the SECOND time I've seen that happen to Sharon, and homemade gifts galore.

Next time I'm going to stay the night, for the absence of wine was sorely missed.

The silk road

2007-12-22T17:21:00.000+11:00

I love the Australian craft blogs - I think they're the best in the world. I like that they're too cool to be caught dead in starbucks. I like that they have Japanese influences and European influences, I like that they are uncompromising and don't dumb it down. I like that they don't serve it up like McDonald's. I like low-key way they talk about their works, letting it speak for itself. The presence of humour, rare in the really serious craft blogs, is always welcome, always encouraged, and always appreciated. By me anyhow.

Specifically, there's this one incredibly talented, funny and kind of scarily cool Australian crafter whose blog I have liked for a long time. One of the it bloggers, if you will; one named Poppalina.

She's been knitting with a laceweight silk yarn. The pearlescent lustre and colour appealed to me so much I emailed her and asked her from whence it came, for I wanted to buy some for myself.

And so it ensued that this Poppalina ticks ALL the boxes, for her generosity and friendliness has been remarkable. And so it ensued also, that I received a wonderful Christmas treat yesterday.

I have a plan for it. I see a trio of small doily like arrangements, framed, like a plate display. Over our bed possibly.

In the meantime though, it looks just as good on the cone.

What dogs think

2007-12-14T16:53:00.000+11:00

Hmmm, Anybody watching?

I'm feeling a little peckish. I wonder if there's any animal products around here?

Jeez, this lamb's a bit tough.

I swear I'm innocent. Look at this face.

FIRE! FIRE! Call the station

2007-12-10T12:00:00.000+11:00

An unusual occurrence occurrenced at my house early last Thursday morning.

Lightning struck the electricity transformer box in front of my house.

Shoots of sparks like fireworks shot upwards into the sky. The power pole across the road spewed forth a fountain of sparks fit for an Australian Idol stage.

I rang 000. As did all the neighbours. The firemen came. They waited for the electricity people to come before they could put out the fire.

Good looking firemen everywhere. Twas all v exciting.

Till I was asked to leave the house and not come back until they were finished. Which was after 8 o clock that night.

Result? Lightning 1 - Knitabulous' house 0

Internet cable fried.
Auto garage door fried.
Alarm system fried.
Ducted airconditioning fried.
Playstation fried.
DVD player fried.

Other appliances are OK - but with the storm damage also pretty severe in Western Sydney also we are having trouble getting through to our insurer. So, it may be some time before I am back online on the big computer, the wireless connection is ok.

Not on my watch

2007-12-05T20:37:00.001+11:00

I'm in a tea cosy swap on ravelry. I have procrastinated and procrastinated - not really wanting to do it. I considered subcontracting the job, but couldn't find a taker.

Knowing I'd committed myself, and knowing there was no way my partner would miss out, I bit the bullet on Monday. I found a riotous blend of colours in some noro silk garden in the local yarn shop and I cast on.

I didn't have dpn's in the correct size, so I couldn't knit in the round. I thought it might look good felted. So I cast on a few, knit a few, decreased a few and made a little funnel in the top (I fancied it a kind of bedouin look - like a tagine lid shape).

Then I chucked it in a hot wash with a pair of jeans. Nothing. Washed again. Nothing. A third wash. Something, but not very much. "What's up with the non-felting silk garden?" thunk I.

I googled 'felt silk garden' and found out that evidence suggests silk garden won't felt.

Well, not on my watch it won't.* I beat it into submission using violent and extreme measures. You can still see the stitches, but it has shrunk to teapot size and has a soft, felted texture.

Of course now I think it isn't good enough. Do you think it's okay? Be honest with me, I can take it.

Flying feathers

2007-12-02T14:46:00.000+11:00

The Pretty as a Peacock knitalong is going really well, I'm so pleased so many people have joined. It's not a simple knit, it's not a quick knit, and you can't buy the pattern as a pdf, so the people that have joined the knitalong have already made a bit of an effort to get hold of the pattern in the first place.

Hopefully that is a good sign that they will actually knit the shawl. I am always disappointed to see knitalongs where there are lots of members but not many finished items. And I too, have been guilty of joining a knitalong and not actually doing the knitting. Twice in fact. The mind is willing but the flesh is weak, as they say.

One thing I have knit though, twice, is the pretty as a peacock shawl.

Here it is on the shawl chair, with the 'obscure latin verse on stone tablet' decorator item I always use as a point of interest.

And here's what it would look like if you were very thin, had no head and were off to a toga party.

Or, on a more human form.

Now to decide what's next ...

Tragic but True

2007-12-01T14:11:00.000+11:00

Just happened ....

My car is always parked in the locked garage, with the keys and my handbag in it. (That will explain why I never hear my mobile phone unless I am in the car). The garage is attached to the house via a door/entry/foyer thing which leads to the office area.

A few hours ago, I was clearing out the car of school backpacks, chip packets and junk (and possibly retrieving my purse for an online yarn purchase), the dog jumped in the car and looked up expectantly. I left him in it with the car door open and went back to my Saturday potterings. At some point the dog got out of the car and has been following me around for a while. The car door was still open.

A few minutes ago, I went into the garage and noticed the dog had walked on the hazard light button (which is between the front seats). The car was flashing in the dark garage like a lighthouse. Not thinking, I shut the door.

Oh no. Door is now locked. Dog must have locked the doors as well. Oh no. Keys in ignition, car locked. Handbag in car. Oh no. Alan at shops, keys locked in car, hazard lights on. Battery will go flat, car locked, keys in ignition.

Panic. Heart beats faster. Oh no. Keys locked in car. Battery will go flat. Hazard lights on. Where are spare keys? Look look look.

Find spare keys. Stand in front of car pressing unlock button on spare key. Battery in key flat. What kind of battery goes in a car key? Key not working. Press, press, press. Panic. Panic. Panic. Car locked, keys in ignition, hazard lights flashing, unlock button on spare key not working.

What to do, what to do? Call NRMA? Am I a member of NRMA? Call roadside assist of car manufacturer? Am I a member of roadside assist of car manufacturer?

Suddenly, solution appears. Guess what? Car keys can be used like this.

Genius, I am.

Better than watching the blocking dry

2007-11-30T20:00:00.001+11:00

The peacock has been pinned out to dry on my bed.

Today I'm doing a spring spruce and deep cleanup of my house. I am the opposite of a hoarder, I chuck chuck chuck. I have only lived in this house here three years and I could probably have already filled several skips with unwanted or wornout clothes, electrical goods, toys, kitchenware. If I haven't used it in six months it gets thrown away.

The only things I will keep forever are the good books. The throwaway books go to the annual lifeline book sale - but the books I love will stay forever. I have a problem with the volume of sci-fi books the husband has, but we are able to negotiate that position from time to time.

The clothes go to charity. The rest goes to the tip. The stuff that annoys me the most is the paper - so many bills, notes, cards, scraps of paper, kids artwork. Apart from a file for each child filled with important documents (including the odd memorabilia item - I'm not evil, just not a hoarder), I don't keep anything.

I am forever sending Alan to the tip, it's mans work in our house. Our local tip has a recycling centre at the entrance, we always stop there first and see if they want any of our junk. Sometimes (ok, almost always) we never have to take the car to the tip face.

I'm only halfway through, it feels so cleansing to rid yourself of rubbish.

So, while I do that I'll leave you to flick through the most gorgeous book I received from lovely Nikki for my birthday. It's Tricia Guild's pattern book - with an opulent flocked cover and the most incredible eye candy inside. I used to visit the Designer's Guild shop on the King's Road a lot when I lived in West London - those were the days - wandering up the road at leisure window shopping in Mac makeup and Karen Millen clothes, Office shoes and Designer's Guild bedlinen. Admiring the quirky shopfronts and stopping for a beer in the Man & The Moon pub before catching the bus back to the tube station. Back in the 80's when contract accountants earned a fortune and all income was disposable. I lived in a dive and was perennially drunk, but man did I have nice shoes!

This book makes me want to strip the windows, rip up the carpets and redecorate in a beserk riot of colour and texture. Quite a mental escape from the rainy day toil I'm actually involved in today.

Maybe I'll put the Christmas tree up later this afternoon instead.

Enjoy mes amis.

Savour the moment

2007-11-29T10:35:00.000+11:00

In my frenzy to finish the pretty as a peacock shawl I forgot to slow down and smell the flowers. There I was frantically knitting away, counting rows in advance, planning blocks of knitting time ('eight rows a night, four nights to go - if I get two rows ahead each night I can do it in three nights) , desperate to keep the deadline I imposed on myself in the next to last post here. It felt like I was back at university, cramming for exams. It didn't feel good.

On Sunday night my brain flipped a switch. 'Slow down' it said 'Enjoy the last ten rows'.

And so I did. And you know what? I didn't finish on Tuesday as planned. I finished on Wednesday instead. And it felt GOOD.

Here I am knitting the final stitch, savouring the moment.

BEHIND THE SCENES THOUGH ....

When I picked it up on Tuesday night at home after knitting it at Tuesday night knitting club, guess what I found in the middle of the shawl? A broken knitpicks tip. Not happy Jan.
I switched to the nearest needle at hand, a knitpicks 3.5mm (slightly bigger). With only four or so rows to go I hoped it wouldn't be an obvious change.

And with the knitpicks options needle, I could take advantage of it's secret feature. The self-inserting lifeline system! I thread crochet cotton through the hole in the tip, and while I do the purl row the lifeline inserts itself.

(see the crochet cotton threaded through the knitpicks options needle?)

Good trick, huh?

"Why did you put a lifeline in the final purl row?" Why, thanks for asking.

I put my shawls on waste yarn if they have a crochet cast-off, that way there's no risk of losing stitches at the end of your shawl by slipping off the needle, and you don't have to flick them off a knitting needle when you pick them up with the crochet hook. It isn't any quicker, nor particularly more effective, but I just prefer it.

So now we block.

And, ironically, I have a night ALONE tonight (kids at sister's for a sleepover, Alan on a conference) - and I'm in that awful between projects stage where you don't know whether to pick up a UFO, or start something new. I always end up faffing around the house, flicking through IK's and vogues and books, trawling the net, surveying the stash and feeling like every second is a second of good knitting time wasted. Normal people would find this carry on basically insane and OCD kind of behaviour, but well, it's the nature of the beast I'm afraid.

I can hear something, can you hear it? It's a kind of soft melodic chanting, hauntingly elusive, coming from somewhere in my yarn wardrobe. I can just make out what she's singing - it's so captivating - why resist? - 'Ariann ...... Ariann.... Ariann....'

A lacey story

2007-11-23T09:52:00.000+11:00

In spite of the mantra that Lara intoned to me when I visited her house a few weeks ago for a delicious tea party (go the posh petit four!) 'don't fuck it up. don't fuck it up' I went right ahead and fucked it up.

Try as I might, I often find that to unravel five stitches or so down three or four rows of lace knitting in order to knit back up correctly can be problematic, particularly if there are yarnovers on either side. I can see that it has to do with the twist the yarnovers put in the strands, a yarnover twists two threads - if you're not super careful you end up with yarnovers with several twists all on one side. The knitting can be sort of technically correct but looks awful at one yarnover line. If I've lost you there don't worry, I haven't explained it very well.

Anyhow, I find it takes longer than it would just to rip the thing back the four rows and redo it.

And that's the situation I found myself in with the peacock on Wednesday. I jinxed myself by posting about how I was going to finish it and ended up stuffing it up instead. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory once again.

Pictorially here's what I did.

Soaked it. (See knitpicks stainless steel is impervious to water. Good.)

Pinned it.

Identified the problem.

Realised that this problem was the least of the problems in the rows. Ripped back four rows, picked them up again and got back in the saddle.

Still on track to finish one day next week, but I won't be making any more rash predictions.

Serendipity

2007-11-21T09:39:00.000+11:00

A few weeks ago we had a bit of a cold snap, which gave me the perfect opportunity to wear my favourite indigo blue velvet jacket, the beads my friend made me, and this ....

It feels exactly how I envisaged it to, could be a tad longer, but it's nice and wide and soft as chamois.

Hey guess what? I've nearly finished the fuschia peacock! Estimated time of arrival is around Tuesday next week.

40 is the new 30

2007-11-18T18:45:00.001+11:00

On the day of my party I was relaxing in the basin of the hair salon when I felt the fingers of the shampoo girl freeze. 'Adam', she says, 'come here, I want to talk to you'. Adam (the hairdresser) comes over to the basin. I sensed something was wrong - their voices were controlled, their conversation was about nothing - but it was clear by the amount of squirting noises I could hear from various bottles and the kind of frenzied activity that appeared to be going on around my head that I was the victim of a BLEACHED HAIR AT THE BASIN DISASTER.

Of course I didn't realise the enormity of the disaster until I got home - it's amazing how a salon blow dry and a bit of bluff can fool the customer.

And so it came to pass that I had to attend my own birthday party with the ugliest haircut and worst hair colour in recent memory. Luckily, as my hairdresser said to me 'don't worry, you are still a human being' - which kind of put it all into perspective.

So, with cocktail frock on, champagne in hand and a dodgy mane, I threw a little bash in the backyard.

Steve with the heiress and her husband.

I also must thank Donna for organising the most wonderful group of women to chip in and buy me the bestest of presents - a Jordana Paige Bella bag in white and a voucher from a lingerie shop (funny, I seemed to get a few of those - wonder why?).

I love the bag so much it's going to have it's own post. Thank you Donni, Jussi, Jae, Sharon, Rox and Donna - it's a great present. I love you guys.

Donni, Donna and me. Don't look at the hair!

Flat out like a lizard drinking

2007-11-14T21:50:00.000+11:00

That's me.

Flat out like a lizard drinking.

I turned 40 on Monday - a bit of an anticlimax but I'm having an Arabian Nights party on Saturday night, complete with marquee, lanterns, tribal council torches and lebanese food. I wish I had a belly dancer.

Anyway, knitting like mad on the peacock, coming along nicely. The knitalong's a nice slow burner, there has been a good response and some people are even knitting it!

Speaking of top birds, here's two new bloggers out there that I knit with in real life. Go and visit them and say g'day.

Charmaine - moved to the United Arab Emirates with her husband to build something earlier this year (I was paying attention Char, honestly) I think it is a factory of some sort. I think they're working as Engineers. We miss Charmaine at every second Tuesday. Check out her AMAZING orange Josephine top and other knitterly things HERE. Love the blog title Charmaine and come back soon.

The other one is Kate. The thing about Kate is that she is always wearing a hand-knitted item. And she's tiny. She can make a cardigan with 4 balls of yarn! Kate once made her husband knitted fruit for their anniversary. I imagine he was THRILLED. Check Kate out at 'needles to say' here.

And that is about all I've got today.

When you do what you love

2007-11-07T15:51:00.000+11:00

You love what you do.

I love knitting lace. When I knit lace, I kind of go into the 'zone' - I often say it knits itself - and to an extent that's true for me. I don't feel as though I'm making any effort at all when I knit it - the only tedious thing is that it takes so much time - but I absolutely love every stitch. Can't put it down in fact.

Compare this with what happens when I knit a sock. Useless at it. Hate it. Can't bring myself to finish one let alone two - the thought of doing ten 72 stitch rounds is too much for me to bear. I'm such a wannabe sock maker, I love having handknitted socks but I just do not enjoy making them.

When I knit a row of lace, particularly a long row, a 'voice' in my head repeats a sing-song like code to help me along and this, coupled with looking at the row below as I go, makes the repeats easy to remember and easy to duplicate. It's difficult to explain, and if I tried saying my little mantra out loud when I was knitting I'm sure it wouldn't make any sense at all. But still, it helps me ...

Do you have an inner knitting voice that sings to you when you knit?

Here's the progress of the peacock shawl on Sunday - just as I was about to enter the second chart.

Here it is today, ready for the fourth chart (not so pretty - but you can see it properly).

I don't have to work for the rest of the week so I'm hoping to get a lot done in the next few days. It's going to get very difficult to photograph from now on, so you might have to put up with just a bright pink blob.

My 2008 knitting resolution is to challenge myself and knit more socks and garments. And I will too, just after I finish the peacock and the frost flowers and leaves and the morning glory wrap and the hidcote garden and the sarcelle and the mediterranean lace.

Pretty as a Peacock Knitalong

2007-11-04T22:18:00.001+11:00

(DID YOU KNOW I KNITTED THAT?)

Some Knitting Required (Jae) has released her glory onto the world, in the form of the Pretty as A Peacock shawl.

It's hotter than sex on ravelry.

It's got the knitter's review a twitter.

Even Lime and Violet are talking about it.

You can get it locally from Donni (soon).

I've begun a second one in fuschia zephyr (I heard someone pronounce this colour fucksia once - now I say it every time), and after some discussion with the designer, I've started a knitalong for it. The aim is to provide help and support for the knitters of the PAAAP shawl - I'm remembering my tricks from the test-knit and writing them down as I go through the knit.

So if you're interested, head on over here or send me an email at knitabulousatgmaildotcom and I'll invite you.

And here's my progress just before you get to the first 'eye' of feathers.

A threw fer the carsh

2007-11-04T22:03:00.000+11:00

On Friday I was wandering in Wollongong doing some errands (medicare claims - yay cash! - optus world - yay new mobile phone!) and I happened to wander through the Farmer's Market they have down the mall.

There's organic food, iridology, ethnic food stalls, lots of handmade clothing, goji juice, bees and honey - you know the type. Anyhow there's this woman selling handmade children's clothes. Some hand-crocheted kiddy cardigans caught my eye.

Woman : "twenty dollars for thewse dahhling wee kiddy cahdigahns"
Me: "Is that all? They're hand crocheted."
Her: "Yairse I knew. I design them and have them hand made in China. The yarn is all hand dyed"
Me: "I'm going to buy one because I feel sorry for the poor chinese woman who makes them"
Her: "but what you need to understand is, you knew, the exchange rate to China .." (trails off - because she has no idea what she's talking about)

Twenty bucks. Some lucky Chinese family is raking it in with the favourable exchange rate you know. As if.

Preaching to the converted

2007-11-02T19:53:00.001+11:00

There are 333 knitters in the Australian knitter's group on ravelry. Assuming most of them are in Australia, I'd say that is a fairly big group of knitters.

There are over 120 blogs in the ANZ blogring.

Some of the most beautiful and most respected craft blogs belong to Australians.

Apparently, knitting is undergoing a resurgence, allegedly it's popularity has been increasing steadily for the past five to ten years. (I have no idea where the data comes from for these claims, who really knows if it's true or not? All evidence appears to be anecdotal or based on the popularity of internet based knitting groups, which isn't evidence of a greater knitting population, merely of a greater online knitting population.) Do I sound like an accountant yet?

Knitting in public is certainly more popular. Knitting groups are certainly on the rise.

A google search of 'knitting blogs' gleans more than 1,720,000 results.

But what are all these knitters knitting with?

Without question, the most popular yarn at my local yarn store is panda magnum - the shitty acrylic. And most customers baulk at the price of that. It's rare for someone to come in and really appreciate the higher end yarns, and even rarer for them to appreciate these yarns AND buy some.

Why are so many Australian knitters happy to knit with stuff they got for 50c a ball in GO-LO or the Reject Shop?

The reason I ask this is because for a long long time I've been thinking about importing the gorgeous Louet Gems Merino wholesale, and setting up a small online retail operation. It's all in the twist - there is no local alternative as good - this yarn is as good as merino gets. Believe me, I've looked and looked. So has she - and she's practically got the earth's entire yarn database in her head. Go on, send her an email with a question - I bet she's got the answer. Make it a hard question.

It would be a cottage-business, not big volumes, and certainly not have an expectation to make a killing (oh perish the thought of a vulgar profit being enjoyed - that wouldn't do at all!). But, you know, there is a wide range of outcomes between being not viable and making a killing.

I'd like it to fall somewhere in between those two extremes. Otherwise it'll be a mighty expensive way of getting the yarn to make the interweave mirepoix bodice won't it?

LIFO - FIFO

2007-11-01T12:00:00.000+11:00

When I was at university I did a riveting subject on inventory management for manufacturing companies. In it I learned that there are two of the many methods of managing your inventory are the following:

LIFO - Last In First Out
FIFO - First in First Out

If you utilised the LIFO principal in a manufacturing environment and your stock didn't move very fast and/or was perishable, you'd end up with old stock that you couldn't use and you'd have to throw away.

That's why supermarkets use a FIFO methodology where they pull the old stock to the front and pack the new stock in the back on the shelves.

Very busy supermarkets don't have to worry about this too much because the whole shelf empties frequently, but in quieter shops or for items which don't move very fast you'd have to pull the old stuff forward or else it wouldn't get sold.

Anyhow, sometimes I think about my yarn stash (which isn't really that big) like that. I still have the first yarns I bought when I started knitting. I am more likely to use the yarn I most recently bought first than go back and get rid of the old stuff. So, I'd say I utilise the FIFO inventory system when managing my yarn stash. And that isn't good inventory management, because my yarn stash isn't a fast moving inventory.

This bothers me a lot.

I feel similarly about my WIP's. I am more likely to finish the most recently snoozed projects than the older ones. This too is bad inventory management.

And this bothers me a lot too.

Sometimes, when the guilt of being a bad inventory manager engulfs me, I feel quite overwhelmed and guilty.

And sometimes, this guilty feeling leads me to pull an item out of the closet - FIFO style (GOOD inventory management) and GET IT OFF MY CONSCIENCE!!!

Viola - the Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in Fuschia candle flame wrap a-la-knitabulous.
Five skeins. Nice and wide, blocking to follow.

(Notice the signature unwoven end.)

I feel better now. And you may now sit an exam in Management Accounting II at University if you like.

Had enough of Rhinebeck yet?

2007-10-25T15:42:00.001+10:00

So you Americans all went to Rhinebeck. And you all rubbed shoulders with the knitterati.

OKAY already, don't rub it in.

Calling all Australians who want to go to Rhinebeck next year. Send me an email, I'll see if I can set up a registered charity and then we'll pass the hat around for donations on the internet.

Who knows, maybe we'll start a podcast called The Blogs Rhinebeck Forgot. Or Road to Rhinebeck '08 and have some contests with giveaways in return for donations.

Of course there's always BENDIGO. But it just doesn't have the same ring ...

What a difference a week can make

2007-10-24T10:11:00.000+10:00

Hi swingers! I'm back in the blog saddle. Thank you for the kind comments - you know they thought the internet would turn us all into robots but they forgot that human nature is human nature - and the internet if anything has made people closer. I've had more kind words spoken to me on this blog in the past two and a half years than I've EVER had in my real life - so they were wrong about the robot thing - and I am a much richer person for it. So thank you kind stranger-friends.

I came home from hospital on Friday, spent Saturday all but horizontal, had a lovely long beach walk on Sunday, and went back to work on Monday and Tuesday. Apart from being a bit sore of boob and them looking like hot cross buns with bruises, I feel a million bucks.

And with the kids off at school today, it's the first chance I've had to sit down with a coffee and update the blog.

The first thing I've got to tell you is this. If you're looking for INSTANT gratification, you gotta go the cro. Seriously. On Thursday 11th October, Donna gave me this yarn.

By Sunday I had finished.

And one week later it fit me.

Project specifications on ravelry. Lion Brand free pattern, yarn from Donna's stash, originally by Phildar.

OTHER PROJECTS:

The Eats Roots Shoots and Leaves is ready for the fourth repeat of the FFL pattern. It seems an appropriate time to let it rest. It's pretty depressing to think how far I've come, but how far I still have to go - this is a commitment knit all right.

As for the Neibling frosted fern doily - I ripped it back and started again on a bigger needle. I'm doing it in a fingering weight (it's jaggerspun heathers I beleive in LAVA, a gift from Dyann my ISE pal) so it will be more of a blanket than a doily - it's looking predictably like a blob of charcoal knitting on a circular needle right now.

And I really can't talk about the snicket socks. How come I can happily knit ten rounds of a 600 stitch shawl with cobweb weight yarn but the thought of doing two rounds of a 72 stitch sock makes me shudder? There is indeed something wrong with me.

There are other things OTN, but they're all sleeping. And we all know not to wake sleeping babies.

FINALLY, I got a new camera, a NIKON 40x with a bonus paparazzi lens. I'm really wanting to improve my photography now - it's so exciting! In the meantime though, you'll have to excuse the dodgy focus and lighting - I've got a lot to learn.

Update on the Patient

2007-10-17T22:37:00.000+10:00

Hi,

This is Ailsa's husband here.

Just letting you know that Ailsa is doing well. I visited her tonight and she was up and as chatty as ever. She was out of recovery by noon and knitting in bed by 4pm. A real trooper.

Alan

Ta-ta ta-ta's

2007-10-17T09:00:00.000+10:00

Today's the day. I wrote this post a month in advance when it was just theoretical, just a date on the calendar, nothing to be concerned with.

As the day grew closer I became more and more anxious. At one stage my mind refused to consider it. 'I'm not doing it', I said to myself in 'I don't care if I've already paid the doctor, the anesthetist, the hospital. I just won't show up on the day. It is ridiculous to be going to hospital to have an OPERATION that I don't medically really need'.

By the time you read this I'll be under the knife. I'll be going from an E/F cup right down to a B. I'm afraid of the operation but hopeful of the outcome.

I guess my most ambitious hope for the result would be to end up looking like my quilt fabric stash; small, but perfectly formed.

Wish me luck.

2007-10-14T16:35:00.000+10:00

QUESTION
If you have a good camera, can macro photos of any old crap and look good on your blog?

BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Knitabulous has inspected a million blogs for the purposes of this research. Initial evidence seems to support the theory that a good camera can make any old crap look great on a blog.

HYPOTHESIS
Macro photographs of any old crap look good when taken with a better camera.

EXPERIMENT
1. Obtain a good camera.
2. Take a macro shot of any old crap.
(note - Use the automatic setting on the camera if you don't know how to use any of the features on the aforementioned apparatus)
4. Publish resultant photograph on blog.
5. Draw conclusion.

RESULT

CONCLUSION
Hypothesis is TRUE.

However, as we all know, blogs with good photographs are not a subset of good blogs. Nor, in fact, is the reverse true. Some of my favourite blogs have no photographs at all.

Bang Soo and Fur

2007-10-12T09:52:00.000+10:00

What's a day trip to Cabramatta without the fur (pho) and Bang Soo (banh xeo)? I really wish I hadn't have left the camera in the boot because lunch was spectacular! And delicious.

So, how did I go in the colour matching department?

Not too bad I think ...

This fabric is going to be one of Amy Butler's pillows ....

Donna recently wrote a post about one of her stash yarns speaking to her - but she was trying to ignore it. After she swatched it a little she wasn't thrilled so she offerred it to me.

I've been crocherating* with it - the twisting is easier to hide amidst crochet.

There are other WIP's as well -

This was inspired from the ubiquitous Hemlock Ring Blanket - except mine is more special (to me anyway) because it's a NEIBLING darling.

(it'll look better when it's finished)

And I've recently been given (NOT GIFTED!! Oh how I HATE that word being used as a verb) a hand-me-down from my sister. A new knitting bag!

(apparently it's a scrapbooking tote - but we won't tell anyone)

What's inside?

A sock! Snicket sock - my first (and possibly only) summer of socks project. This is the THIRD iteration of the sock - I was trying to avoid using the 2mm needles - but no dice.

(* sic)

Should I be IRATE or THRILLED??

2007-10-09T22:16:00.000+10:00

I found this on the internet.

What's the go here? Should she have asked my permission to use the image? It's been lifted from Ravelry BTW - as is the description text.

I really don't know whether to be irate or thrilled.

So, I'll choose thrilled.

OKF - there's been a lot of frogging going on around chez knitabulous. If my NEW CAMERA!! arrives tomorrow I won't have anything to shoot.

The mission

2007-10-09T19:55:00.000+10:00

The colour

The room

And one big daytrip.

Donna and I are going to Cabramatta on Thursday and I hope to find me some pintuck silk in just the right shade of blue for some bedlinen, perhaps curtains - not quite gelato, not quite pastel, more like ice really.

AND ON AN UNRELATED NOTE

Have you seen the knitty surprise? More like a horrific shock! They can't be serious. It was already a crime that Donni's great pattern, the scowl, didn't make it even though I thought it was perfect for knitty, but to publish this - did anybody say 'jumped the shark?'

FREE BURMA

2007-10-05T14:54:00.001+10:00

My knitting on a nail file

2007-10-05T12:57:00.000+10:00

Yesterday as we were leaving the house to do some shopping, all four of us, the kids emptied the mailbox. Blair says 'you've got a parcel mum'. I was suprised because I wasn't expecting anything.

Remember this?

Well, Joan from Heritage Spinning in Michigan has had the pattern printed. And what a beautiful pattern it is too. It really is such a difference from the home printed pdf's and free downloads - like real coffee over instant. Joan sent me a few samples in the mail, and some promotional material from her shop.

And, equally as exciting, a picture inside my house is on the front page of the store newsletter!

I came over all emotional - it was quite something to see my own work photographed to look so glamorous. Added to that, Joan wrote such a lovely story about how it came to be, the international journey the yarn and shawl had, the emails, the photo progress shots.

Looking at the newsletter made me genuinely want to move to the US. You should see the courses - lace knitting, estonian garden stole, a bag workshop, felting, spinning boot camp - the knitting courses offered at this shop are greater in number than the entire prospectus from my local community college!

Oh to live in a land where there is a large population. (Australia 0 - USA 1)

I dropped into my sister's house on the way to Campbelltown* (shopping is better there than here in the Gong, I liken it to going to America).

I was very proud, and showed her the stuff. She was, as usual, nonplussed. 'That's great, KNITABULOUS' she says, 'wonderful to see you talk about knitting for a change'

I said 'Look! A nailfile with a picture of my knitting on it!"

She says 'That's a good nail file too. Can I have that?'

So, there's no picture, but there is a nailfile with my knitting on it!

STASH ENHANCEMENT

If I knew her better, I'd fully blame fleegle for this. But, since she's a stranger who proof of existence to me is only through her gorgeous lace knitting I adore, I can't really say it's all her fault that this happened to enter my home earlier this week. But there's no doubt that I wanted what she was having - so she definitely had something to do with it.

This yarn is as fine as sewing thread and as soft as you'd imagine cashmere and silk to be. It's gorgeous, just like she said. And it only took a week or so from China to Australia. (Australia 1 - USA 1)

(*where I, co-incidentally and literally, ran into Donna's Emily on her FIRST DATE!! I insisted she introduce me to the boy and informed him sternly that I was one of Em's mother's friends - the poor boy will probably run for the hills. Which, Donna, you can thank me for later). Luckily it appeared that Donna was following them too (or something like that) and I ended up with a bonus coffee date to go with the torture of doing the kids summer clothes shopping. (Australia 2 - USA 1)

Keeping Up

2007-10-02T08:27:00.000+10:00

So I go into blogger to make the announcement on the Southern Summer of Socks blog that I've decided to do the snicket socks from magknits.

Duh. I didn't join that group. I only think I did.

Alzheimer's alert?

Does Chocolate make you sick?

2007-09-30T11:14:00.000+10:00

I invite you to read the whole story here.

I guess my initial reaction was to say that if you're naiive enough to post pictures of your children on the internet then you shouldn't be suprised that these images might be stolen or misused. It might come as a shock to the Christian homeschooling SAHM who knits or other Normal People who Blog - but the internet is full of kiddy porn and fetishists.

Then on the other hand, passive pc shit like that doesn't do a thing to help the situation. And it doesn't make it any less wrong either.

Anyway, this post is just about me promoting a cause I think is worthwhile, even though I know it's only a drop in the ocean.

I must admit I find the idea of copying someone's knitting or creative images outrageous but thought this crusade was a bit cliche. Luckily I'm self-aware enough to question myself and realise that this reaction was completely FITH.

Are we ever satisfied?

2007-09-28T18:24:00.000+10:00

I don't usually disclose every purchase I make, yarnwise or otherwise - but when a stash enhancement of such magnitude into your possession, I thought it rude not to share. (From left: jaggerspun wool laceweight in lava, jaggerspun zephyr in fuschia, jaggerspun wool fingering in hollyberry, columbine and wisteria. Lounging in front are three skeins of cashmere. It's not all mine, although I wish it were.)

What else? I've been dyeing yarn up in rhubarb and custard colours and knitting a morning glory wrap with it. I really wish I'd made it a bit wider, as I wanted it to be as substantial as the pattern suggests. However, the weight is just around fingering, not DK, so it came out a bit on the narrow side. Are we ever satisfied?

Take a look at the eats roots shoots and leaves progress - much resemblance to a bowl of two minute noodles. Getting a few rounds done a night - am in the second of seven twelve round repeats where each repeat is 136 stitches longer than the previous, this isn't going to be finished in a hurry by any means.

And last but not least, we bought a new sofa. It's so squishy and soft and smells like leather. Love it.

Of course now I need a new coffee table. Once again, are we ever satisfied?

And it isn't even my dog

2007-09-26T14:40:00.000+10:00

About and hour after I took this photo my mum and I held her head and sobbed while the vet injected her and put her to sleep. Then we brought her home in a bag to be buried in the garden.

Goodbye Roxie - a visit to mum and dad's won't be the same again for any of us.

God only knows what I'm going to tell the kids when they find out.

Not a good day.

Pass it on ..

2007-09-23T12:17:00.000+10:00

Now there's a thought -

BLOGGING WITHOUT OBLIGATION

WHY?

* Because sometimes less is more.

* Because they are probably not going to inscribe your stat, link and comment numbers on your tombstone.

(I picked the two most salient points from the well-written list and stole them. Go and read the post.)

Oops

2007-09-22T21:40:00.001+10:00

You Are 50% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side.
Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

Of course the questionnaire didn't say that doing these things for the blog is mindless and a cop out.

I've been knitting - so be patient.

Looking after yourself

2007-09-17T09:43:00.000+10:00

Thursday I spent the day with Donna and Lara at twinkies house. Thanks for the pikelets DAVID! It was a wonderful day, even if I had to break 140km/h on the way home to get to the kids in time.

Friday dawned bright and crisp (I'll assume this, as I wasn't awake to see it) - I spent the morning with my beautiful niece.

As I got ready to drive to Sydney I had a mild panic attack - OMG what will Lara think of me if she sees me in the same outfit two days in a row? (OK the game's up you guys - I'm not Australia's Paris Hilton). While I was getting dressed I had another mild panic attack (surely I'm not really this FAT??!!) but every fat woman knows you can hide fat behind too much makeup and tacky gel nails. And knitting needles for that matter - but that's another story.

After managing to get myself out of the house and into the car, the journey north to the big smoke was very pleasant indeed. The tank was full, there was cash in the wallet, the spring sun was in full force, the stereo was turned up and I sang at the top of my voice the whole way. It was one of those drives where the red lights stayed green and the weather was so beautiful - I had a fleeting fantasty of just keeping on going and not looking back...

I met Nicky Epstein at Tapestry Craft, and a lovely group of Sydney knitters - many of whom I have tracked down and otherwise met on ravelry. There were two older guild members in the crowd who were so incredibly rude to Nicky - I was mortified embarrassed - but she handled it with great finesse. I bet it's an international phenomenon - the rude and selfish old knitting 'expert'.

I came away with a signed copy of her new felting book and a greater appreciation of her as both a designer and a person - she has a wonderful engaging personality and a very sharp wit - a pleasure to listen to.

I drove straight back to my sister's new house where she was unpacking and helped her unpack boxes till about 10:30pm. Then I went home and had a few wines with the husband. I had only eaten once all day.

The next day I was struck with a modern day irony of life. I had fed my body on Friday the following: Caffeine (in two forms), Asian takeaway including white rice, sugar, four cigarettes (sshh - nobobdy saw me), one champagne and almost a bottle of white wine.

My hair on the other hand had enjoyed: strengthening amino-acid proteins designed to protect it, green tea antioxidants, moisturising agents including marshmallow root extracts, silk proteins, SPF15 and silicone glossing agents.

I guess that's called looking after yourself?

Mass Hysteria

2007-09-14T09:40:00.000+10:00

I've been joining things!

I joined this, to get me out of the safety of knitting lace over and over.

And this.

(A risk, since the MS3 went from such a promising start to such a grotesque ending - should have been called quasimodo's dream or even the ugly duckling rather than swan lake)

And this. Which ended up probably not being my sort of group.

I'd like to join this, but I'd be merely a spectator. I've been enjoying discovering the lovely lace patterns of Herbert Niebling - especially the HYRNA whatsername. It's incredible how, because of him, old copies of Burda have been going on ebay for around a hundred USD. I like this group, although it's unlikely that I'll ever be lucky enough to see one of his patterns in the flesh. That is, unless they re-print them. Which they're trying to make happen here.

In addition to joining things, I've been buying things.

I bought the Morning Glory Wrap pattern.

And the new sweaterbabe pattern for a cable and lace kimono (like I'll ever knit that!)

I also made the grave mistake of clicking a link I found on the new autumn knitty (best one for a while I think) - and I found this.

Don't look at the price. But a lace club, like the Rocking Socks Club - I just don't think I can resist!

I really must update those sidebars soon.

Perfection - a flawed opinion

2007-09-12T21:41:00.000+10:00

I read an article recently about society's obsession with perfection, and how bad/stupid/pointless/impossible it is. The article (which was a bit of a beat up) went on to say that we're obsessed with perfect houses, so much so we don't let our kids have toys in their rooms for fear it will upset the decor. We are such perfectionists about our appearance we have to eliminate all flaws by any means. If our jobs aren't perfect we stress out and feel inadequate. If it isn't perfect we either throw it out (including relationships) or buy a better one. If our kids don't make the bed right we re-do it.

I guess the article may have been directed at a very small demographic, because I have to say I only know one perfectionist - and she doesn't knit. And she's an heiress.

Then I read on a blog somewhere (can't remember who but it was an American woman with a few kids and a rural property who knits - gee that could be any one of hundreds!) and she was saying that she feels sorry for all those young bloggers out there blogging about the struggle to find perfection in craft, in parenting, in their homes and relationships, effectively trying to style their entire lives as though they were a magazine spread. She said she still likes to pop in and see what they're up to but since her life has changed since having her children she finds them more and more irrelevent - and to her, pointless.

Anyhow it got me thinking about the motivation of the writers of the two above pieces and a couple of bits and pieces and I have say that I tend to disagree with both of them. Whilst it may be true that 'a spotless home is the sign of a boring woman' (common office poster) in some cases, it might also be true that 'behind every dirty home is a lazy sloth who doesn't care about cleanliness', in some cases. I personally like the idea of people striving for something, it's not up to me to judge whether it's worthwhile or not. Higher education, ecologically conscious living, good interior design, great clothes, whatever - ambition and hard work aren't dirty words. Even to the children. In the sage words of that kid on the Incredibles - if we give everybody superpowers and everyone is super then none of us will be.

I knitted a piece of lace while I ruminated about such matters of great import. It is the long-yearned for Frost Flowers and Leaves from A Gathering of Lace (hereafter to be known as Eats Roots Shoots and leaves) - I want to enter this in the Royal Easter Show next year. As I rounded the laps I found myself fudging it a little to get the stitches right. After a few of these I decided I had fudged too many times and that I would not be submitting it as an entry. It wasn't perfect. I really didn't want to frog it as I was almost done with a full repeat of the first frost flower.

So, I pressed on. And blocked what must now be considered the massive swatch. And, as you can see, even though I thought I was wrong yesterday I must have been mistaken.

So I went out and bought a cushion in a nice colour and stitched it on the front. I'm going to the evil craft chain tomorrow to get some iron on stuff and a nice grosgrain or velvet ribbon to trim the edges. I'm hoping it can be the beginning of a lace swatch collection of cushions piled up on my bed.

I will also say that will be the LAST time I block lace without blocking wires. I only now have to decide where to get them from.

On other matters of perfection and the struggle to achieve it:

Storm got his first haircut. So did I for that matter, but mine is far from perfect.

He really is the cutest dog.

SYDNEY KNITTERS: I am going to see Nicky Epstein at Tapestry Craft at 3:30pm on Friday. Anybody else going?

All veges, all the time

2007-09-10T18:41:00.001+10:00

I'm trying on a new attitude - adopted somewhat from that tool Jamie Oliver - with his filthy little stubby fingers and stupid lisp.

This spring and summer, we're going to try not to consider our vegetables to be the accompaniment - the meal being the meat or the starch. We're going to consider the vegetable to be the meal, occasionally eschewing the starch and the meat altogether.

Whilst adopting this, I've noticed something about the kids eating behaviour that suprises me, but I love love love. It appears that my kids like their veges! They might be so-so at school, ignore every thing I say, treat the house like a tip and me like a garbage bin, but they love their veges!

I have succeeded as a mother. My work is done.

Now I shall retire to the couch with my knitting.

I've been scouring the foodblogs and recipe sites for vegetable dishes that I plonk on the table and say - 'that's it'. They always say 'where's the rest of the dinner?' and sometimes there is more, but I've been really focussing on the beauty of the vegetable.

Here's two favourites so far - good enough for dinner on their own.

MARTHA STEWART (not actually Martha Stewart)
Zucchini and Almonds - trust me, it's beautiful. I have no mandolin (attention family - birthday present hint alert!) I use real butter, heated up to nut brown, I pan fry the almonds and take them out, put the zuke in, and stir fry a few minutes, toss the almonds back on and squeeze lemon juice. Beautiful.

VERSUS

MARGE SIMPSON
From some redneck recipe site where everything calls for a package of this, a can of that. There's a recipe for guacamole that proudly boasts - no taco seasoning required - I wouldn't put taco seasoning in guacamole in a fit. Anyhow, the whole cauliflower is a bit excessive for my family of four, so I did half. I also kind of improvised on the avocado mix a little - adding cheese. It was really really good - good enough for dinner on it's own.

AMY WINEHOUSE - TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM

2007-09-09T11:20:00.001+10:00

She's so good, I just don't care about the drugs and the booze.

I love her. She's a modern day Janis Joplin.

I'm changing the day

2007-09-08T20:24:00.000+10:00

SAD SONG SATURDAY

Mysogyny. A recent post prompted me to think about this issue and it's relationship with popular music.

It's a nasty little issue, and I'm often shocked at just how widespread it is. For example, I was in target yesterday and there was a whole rack of t-shirts with a picture of a man crawling on his hands and knees, holding a credit card up to a woman. The caption said 'international symbol of marriage'. It's meant as a joke, but it isn't really that funny is it? Do all of us wives feel comfortable knowing that this tshirt is what men really think of us?

And pop songs, well there's the obvious 'smack my bitch up' by the prodigy - which may or may not have been about violence (possibly it was just about drugs) but let's face it, the provocative title's implications weren't lost on the group.

And I'm not going to go into rappers. Plenty of gangsta rappers hate women. Hardcore rap is hardcore for a reason, reasons which this white middle class educated Australian woman has no authority on whatsoever. Or rnb - all of which seems to turn women into objects (even loved objects) with the sole purpose of being attractive to men.

The ones I find most disturbing are the really popular ones - the ones that sound like sugar but really are full of acid. The ones where the mysogyny is shrouded in tones that sound like gratitude or even admiration but scratch the surface and they're full of controlled anger and deep seated mistrust and hatred.

Songs like 'golddigger' don't worry me so much as they're so obvious. Songs like The Police 'Every breath you take' - now that's a worrying song - can you believe people used this as their wedding waltz? It's the furthest song from a love song I can imagine. It's a great song, but it's an ugly one.

There was a band called Weddings, Parties, Anything that had a song in the nineties (eighties?) called 'telephone in her car' - when such a thing was a rarity. It's about a man who clearly used to love this girl, who has grown up and matured and has a successful job and looks different than when she was a girl. The singer, who presumably is still the same layabout loser he was when he was a teen, says 'She's got a telephone in her car, I wouldn't call her for nothing. I got her number from her best friend, but I wouldn't call her for nothing'. It's interesting that he thinks it's okay to hate her because she's outgrown him, she doesn't appear to have done anything else wrong. And the obvious contradiction why he got her number in the first place ....

I think though, the winner this week goes to a song so many people like. This guy is hugely popular, the song was a massive hit. The song is 'So beautiful' by Pete Murray. The particular bit I find disturbing is:

God my fingers burn,
Now when I think of touching your hair
You have changed so much that I don't know,
If I can call you and tell you I care
And I would love to bring you down,
Plant your feet back on the ground

It's kind of threatening, don't you think?

APEC Summit

2007-09-04T10:40:00.000+10:00

Unless you've been under a rock in Australia, you'll have noticed the Sydney-centric news coverage of the lockdown on the city for the APEC summit.

It's overwhelming what an enormous impact the 21 visitors will unwittingly be having on the people who live and work in the city. Roads closed, a 3m fence separating them from us, complete closure of the zoo so the spouses can have a look at the new elephants, no access anywhere.

And when George Bush arrives at 9:30 tonight (with a whopping 550 of his own secret service personnel), they say it will be bedlam.

Of course it's been deliberatly organised to cause the greatest disruption possible, and the media have been instructed to make it sounds as bad as they can. This is because the government would like to keep the completeluy free of unauthorised people - but they can't actually come right out and say it like that.

According to news, the Transport Minister puts it like this "The message is very clear - there is nothing to see so please stay away"

That way they can more safely assume that if you're in the area, and you're not a chief or a slave, you're a terrorist or a protester.

So what are they going to talk about at this talkfest? The newspapers say it's all about free trade, oil prices and climate change. A few years ago it was SARS - not that anyone really cared about SARS unless it was going to spread to the western world, which it didn't appear to do. Talking about SARS probably didn't have any effect on the pandemic either, much like talking about climate change won't do much to change climate change.

I myself have a great idea about where they should have held APEC. Woomera is costing us $36m annually, and it's completely empty. Why don't they have the APEC summit out there? Just fly them straight into the paddock next door (it's about 4000 square kilometres, they could just line their jets up like a big parking station).

I can just see the Prime Minister now:

"Yes, Mister Shinzo Abe, this IS Sydney. We're in a drought, don't you know. No, the fishing's not that good at the moment. "

"Yes, President CHEN Shui-bian, there is plenty of room here, it's the perfect spot for immigrants to start their journeys?"

"Yes, Mr Bush, that really is a kangaroo".

They could have a team bonding session where they all learn how to do the Aussie Salute first hand, I'd say there'd be a few flies about out there.

Not to mention the missile test facility - perfect for shooting out any fly-by terrorists. Plus, a place so remote you could guarantee that any passers-by would be bound to be suspicious.

I can see so many advantages - none the least of which if I wanted to go to Tapestry Craft this weekend I could do so without feeling like an escaping convict, consulting three websites and planning a route to avoid any roadblocks or three metre fences.

Time for a Uniform Change

2007-09-03T18:39:00.000+10:00

Yes of course it was the Beautiful South song. Whilst it's one of my favourite albums, that song always made me very angry, because it's about a big boobed slut, and her breast size is used as an insult, an accusation, as though she chose them to suit her lifestyle.

The song indicates that big boobs are a sure sign of sluttiness (you'd be amazed how many men actually think this), like you somehow are at fault for having them. But I suppose, it wouldn't be the first mysogynistic pop song out there, would it? (I can feel a sad song Wednesday theme coming on..)

Imagine saying people with big noses eat like pigs - if they didn't they wouldn't have big noses. Or all people with innies are mentally defective. Or people born in Asia can't drive. Or all muslims are terrorists. Imagine that.

The doctor said to me that on day 2 after the operation 'we'll remove the drains and you'll be going home in a crop top'.

A crop top. I haven't been able to find a crop top to fit me my entire life. Imagine me, in a crop top. Anyone got any ideas on where to procure such an article?

In a similar vein, the change in the air, the promise of spring is here. Hasn't it been glorious? The blossoms are so beautiful - in particular the port wine magnolias - I love this time of year.

It feels like only yesterday I switched from my summer uniform of wide legged drawstring cotton pants and ribbed tees to my winter uniform of cargo pants and a hoodie.

It's always pretty hard being not slim and not working in an office every day where a suit is required. If all you do is the school run and the odd coffee date, a uniform is good, a consistent look that says 'I'm quite cool' and not 'I'm a fat disorganised slob'.

A lot of people go for the 3/4 pant. Indeed, though I have been known to wear them, I hate most of the 3/4 pants with a passion. They reeks of suburbia, of mundanity and of mediocrity. I mean, I might not be the yummiest mummy, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to let it all go and just give up. I prefer the capri pant, but a slim leg doesn't look any good with a size 18 bust.

A few years ago the spring uniform for the schoolyard mums round my way was a floral skirt and a little puffed cap sleeved cotton button up shirt with a pair of havians. I was so envious of them, they looked so fresh, so cool, so young and carefree. Since my boobs ruled that little number out, I went for the light cotton/linen drawstring pants and a ribbed tshirt.

Last year it seemed like there were a lot of sacky dresses. For me, a dress than fits my top half just swims on my bottom half, making me look double my actual size. The sacky pinafore didn't go with the E cups, not one bit. Not only that, at five foot not much all dresses pretty much are the wrong length, so I went for the drawstring pants. Again.

So, I'm really really curious to know, after the 17th October, will my choices of summer uniform change? Will I be able to wear what the other mums wear? I may not be slim enough to ever wear a capri pant or a mini dress, but just to be able to think about a crop top (for walking)or a shirt with buttons down the front - I can't comprehend the possibility.

And, if you've endured my self obsessed rant this long, I shall reward you with a picture of the dog. And the offending appendages.

36D so what - is that all that you've got?

2007-09-02T23:06:00.000+10:00

Awards given to the first person to tell me where I got the title of this post from.
No googling - I'll be able to tell.

Anyway, you might recall me discussing the state of my breasts on this blog in the past. I have a mass in my right breast, it's not cancer, it's not a cyst, it's just a big lump of breast tissue sitting in the wrong place, giving me an assymetry which is neither attractive nor desirable to anyone.

There are other issues too, but I won't bore you with the details.

Periodically, I fork out a fortune to go and see a surgeon to discuss my options. The last time I went I saw a doctor who said he was going to perform a horrible operation that involved cutting my nipples off and placing them in saline while he removed a lot of tissue and then repositioned them - the prospect wasn't appealing to me at all, not to mention the risk of losing them altogether was too high for me to consider it.

Anyway, last Thursday I went to see another doctor. He was extremely - umm - well he oozed credibility and compassion. He indicated that the previous advice I was given was (he asked the name of the doctor, thought carefully, and said 'that would be quite um, conservative an approach' - you know there's a club and they don't ever criticise one another, like the police).

So I'm going to do it. In October. I've cancelled a girl's weekend in Surfers for our combined 40th birthdays in November for it - and I'm as scared as anything.

So, new boobs for my 40th! What a great present.

Returning from Exile Island

2007-08-31T08:26:00.001+10:00

I have started a new project.

But wait!

Does that mean some other things were finished?

Well yessiree bob.

Feather and Fan Beadspread

Spotlight Basics Dashing (100% merino - soft and lofty - rubbish colour selection)

18 Balls.

Cast on 180 stitches, work 4 repeats of basic feather and fan in each colour. Repeat three colour sequence six times.

Do not attempt to begin this project if you are over seventy - your death may intervene.

href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CtRn3Eg7_MI/RtdRRvDmXzI/AAAAAAAAAbs/uMndEqvQqpY/s1600-h/002.JPG">

See this cardigan?

Nice isn't it? So nice nice I had to knit it twice twice. Some pieces even thrice thrice.

I made this pattern up. I'm happy with it.

OTHER STUFF
Yesterday I received two knitting books yesterday as a thank you gift - I love them both.

Although one of them puzzles me. The knitting is nice, but the book is weird.

I mean if your online name were 'glampyre' (evocative of glam and goth and irreverence) and you named your book 'Fitted knits - 25 designs for the fashionable knitter' then why the fuck would you allow it to be styled like this? It looks like it could be twenty years old already.

Two cases in point:

Polyester Osti dress. Look at the shoes - I could pick up an outfit just like that for two bucks down the salvos. There is not even any retro appeal.

And look at that hair.

There is little doubt in my mind that Glampyre had almost nothing to do with the layout of this book. The alternative view (that she has the taste of Richard Simmons) is not supported by me.

If I were her I would distance myself from this publication.

OTOH, I have something else to say about a knitwear designer. Norah Gaughan - you are a goddess.

And, as you can see, here is my new project. Small, portable, not boring, quick. Small and quick - that's what the doctor ordered.

Elvis Costello - Good Year For The Roses

2007-08-29T18:10:00.001+10:00

My favourite bit - 'but at least you thought you wanted it, that's so much more than I can say for me'

Saddest bit 'and from the bedroom the familiar sound of our baby crying goes unheard'

Sad Song Wednesday - REGRET

2007-08-29T16:52:00.000+10:00

Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

This week's sad song theme is Regret. Realising that you should have done more, said more, appreciated more and paid more attention to the person you loved. And now they've gone, and it's too late. This is a recurring theme in many a sad song.

Nominees in this category include: Bryan Ferry's 'Jealous Guy' - Elvis Presley's 'Always on my mind'.

And when she goes, she usually leaves the pots and pans behind.

The winners this week are tied, between the well known 'good year for the roses' and the less familiar but awfully sad 'Honey I'm a big boy now' by the sad song meister Billy Bragg. If you haven't heard it, you should go out and buy 'talking with the taxman about poetry' immediately.

Honey I'm a big boy now - Billy Bragg

I can see the kitchen light
From the road where I park my bike
But its dark there as it often is these days
And the gloomy living room
Really needs a dust and a broom
But I cant brush your memory away

Her father was an admiral
In someone elses navy
And she had seen the world before I met her
She would wash and cook and clean
And all the other things between
And like a fool I just sat there and let her

Chorus:
Now I can feed and wash and dress myself
And I can sleep without the light on
Honey, Im a big boy now
I dont know what she does with all the money that I sent her
Shes running round the town with the young pretender

I havent touched the garden
Since the day she walked away
From a love affair that bore only bitter fruit
She took everything she wanted
Which is why she left me here
With these pots and pans and my old wedding suit

A letter came one morning
That she would not let me see
And from that day I began to realise
That she would one day break
The home we tried to make
For sinners cannot live in paradise

I had trouble coming up with a song from a female singer on this topic - anybody?

What the ...

2007-08-23T10:14:00.000+10:00

My dedication to this blog has waned in the past few weeks. I frequently toy with the idea of chucking it in altogether - my feelings about it come and go in waves. Anyhow, I'm obviously in a bit of a trough at the moment, I guess I should apologise.

I have, of course, a fair slew of excuses.

Excuse 1 - the dog. I got a dog. I love him so much, but he's wrecking the joint. But in a good way.

Excuse 2 - I have a redundant husband. Now, I know a lot of you might feel the same way, but mine was made redundant from his job about three weeks ago. He's been under my feet, in my face and on my computer for three whole weeks. When he gets another job remind me not to complain about him working long hours. Japanese women have a saying about husbands when they retire - 'wet leaf' - like something sticky and tenacious that you can't brush from your coat.

He, on the other hand, is so happy to get a handsomely paid break, he's swanning around like he's won the lottery.

On the upside it's great having a manny!

Excuse 3 - extraordinarily boring knitting. I have plans for new projects, but have imposed on myself the torturous duty of FINISHING the wip's before I reward myself with Frost Flowers and Leaves, and the MIREPOIX Bodice from the new IK. Thus, the knitting is so boring it's unbloggable.

Excuse 4 - New Job. I started a new job. The same day the husband lost his. Serendipitous, no? Shame my job is one quarter his salary.

I haven't done a sad song Wednesday for three weeks. I feel like I've BEEN a sad song though, does that count?

I've hardly read a blog for weeks either, whatcha been up to?

Even ravelry's not doing it for me.

BUT I do have a new toy. A brand new laptop! Dell lattitude d630 - windows vista. It's got a bit of setup to do but it's pretty snazzy so far. No more banishment to the dark part of the house for blogging or net surfing, the signal even goes out to the garden! (way to go, spending husband's redundancy package on essentials)

I will be back, promise. I need a little time - that's all.

A Berry Happy Birthday

2007-08-15T19:52:00.001+10:00

So there used to be this stripey tiger who lived across the road. We used to traipse across to each other's houses for a cuppa and/or a knit, me often in pyjamas. Sometimes we'd go on daytrips - to Berrima, perhaps Austinmer or Berry. And if it were a warm day, our families would meet for driveway drinks. She doesn't just knit, she quilts, otherwise sews, spins and makes felt. Her house was a labrynth of collections and art; vintage sewing notions in a wall mounted box frame, antique jelly moulds, drawings and sculpture, and even a gaggle of 'victorian dust pressed tiles' whatever they are.

She was also known to make a mean batch of bills choc chip cookies and pistachio nougat. And she only drank the good stuff. I miss that.

And so it came to pass that the stripey tiger's husband finished his training at the hospital and went off in search of real work. They had long had a dream of a treechange - with a bit of land and a homestead and a ride on mower.

Well, her dream has come true, and she's done it. She invited a few friends to her house on the weekend for a country afternoon tea in her new homestead in Berry to celebrate her birthday.

Here's some pictures.

I didn't want to leave. Can't blame me can you?

Weak in the presence of beauty

2007-08-12T15:05:00.001+10:00

Project Specifications

Pattern:

Pretty as a Peacock Shawl - by Jae of Some Knitting Required. Here's the story and more pictures here.

Yarn:
Louet Gems Merino Pearl - fingering weight in a colour hand dyed by Jae.
Almost a full 3 100g skeins - it's a big shawl.

Comments:
I really hope this pattern gets the recognition it deserves. It is amazing - textural, lacey and completely original.

I knitted this for Jae to test her charting - there really was no need as her charts were near perfect. But I was happy to do it because I wanted to say I was the first person to knit this shawl (bar the designer) in the world.

And now, sadly, I've got to let it go.

In the inimitable words of Exetor on Mork and Mindy (or perhaps it was Mork) - Fly. Be Free.

Next.

This is more like me

2007-08-07T10:40:00.000+10:00

I notice Barbara on the yarn blog has been talking about this issue a bit lately again.

I have always wished I was one of the ignorant masses who didn't think or worry about hard things. The kind that think they've 'made it' if they've got a SS Commodore and an outdoor spa. If I didn't think I'd be so much happier.

That's what those SSRI anti-depressants do to me. They make me fat dumb and happy. I still know the world is full of suffering and we're all full of it but I don't care. And that is exactly why I don't take them any more.

May I draw your attention to this internet seller of mongolian cashmere.

And this one.

There are more I'm sure.

Don't you think that somewhere, someone is paying for our bargain? And don't you think that that person might be very poor and very desperate and possibly very hungry?

I do.

* You may wonder why if I care so much I started a blog about getting knitpicks to deliver to Australia. That's a long story, but basically I wanted to point out to them that their 'excuse' for refusing to deliver overseas is bullshit and we know it. It was kind of an academic exercise.

Hey you get on my cloud

2007-08-07T10:30:00.000+10:00

I am euphoric at the prospect of finishing the peacock shawl.

Only ten pattern rows to go and then cast off and block.

If I could only get off ravelry i'd be knitting it right now.

what an interesting blog post.

PRIDE. TEAMWORK. EFFORT

2007-08-05T10:47:00.000+10:00

We'll have none of that bullshit around here.

That's the sign stuck on the nearest wall to me at my new job. I know I'm going to fit right in there.

let's hear it for the boys

2007-08-01T20:51:00.001+10:00

Sad Song Wednesday Part 3

Some girls think we know how to deal with the man to make him love us. Play hard to get. Treat em mean keep em keen. Stick to The Rules. Practice the Secret.

Become obsessed with their appearance. Look at ME. Listen to ME. Watch ME. Want ME. Love ME. ME ME ME ME ME.

Become clingy - he can't leave because he knows you need him too much. To keep him interested, make sure there's plenty of sex. Treat him like a baby so he can't do anything for himself - the perfect love shackles. Throw tantrums. Stamp the foot. Pout. Get friends with his mother/sister/dog.

Read his texts. Go through the briefcase. Change the locks. Have sex with someone else.

And meanwhile, how do we think all these manipulating games make him feel?

Probably a bit like this.

Shivers Boys Next Door

I’ve been contemplating suicide,

but it really doesn’t suit my style,

so I think I’ll just act bored instead

and contain he blood I would’ve shed?

She makes me feel so weary

my heart is really on it’s knees

but I keep a poker face so well

that even mother couldn’t tell

That my baby’s so vain

she is almost a mirror

and the sound of her name

sends a permanent shiver down my

SPINE

I keep her photograph against my heart

for in my life she plays a starring part

all alcohol and cigarettes

there is no room for cheap regrets

But my baby’s so vain

she is almost a mirror

and the sound of her name

sends a permanent shiver down my

SPINE

She makes me feel so ugly

my heart is really on it’s knees

but I keep a poker face so well

that even mother couldn’t tell

But my baby’s so vain

she is almost a mirror

and the sound of her name

sends a perennial shiver down my

SPINE

Your turn - sad song sung by boy about FITH confusing girl.

(Next week I promise I'll do something more current. I'm not really stuck in the 80's like it looks.)

Tour De France finale

2007-07-31T14:02:00.000+10:00

I just couldn't keep up in the end. I personally know at least one cyclist (not from the TDF of course, just a local lad) who has taken anabolic steroids - and from what I heard they made him get a tiny willy. Steroid use was rife at the local university in the sports science faculty when I went there some twenty years ago - I can't imagine why that situation would have improved. I wonder why doping is so common in cycling? Or do you think it's endemic of all individual sports?

Perhaps they should just stop testing. The playing field would still be level - just not a natural level.

I hate sport in general, I thought I'd give the Tour De France a look this year mainly because I love Meg, but look what happened. A shambles.

Anyhow, I have to say I disqualified most of my own competitors in the TDF knitalong for failing various knitability tests - mostly because they were unable to actually knit themselves and because they had become so boring for me to knit they were abandoned in favour of the glamour puss below.

Hearty congratulations to all of the participants who finished, may I toast you with some champagne and toasted brioche smeared with a little foie gras? That's my sort of Tour De France. Perhaps cider if I were in Normandy. But no cheval. Not deliberately anyway.

So, preezenting my very own TDF polka dot jersey winner. All the others fell over, so she just sailed past even though she isn't yet finished.

It's such a shame that photographs of lace knitting on or even off the needles are no indication whatsoever of how the item looks. Even blocked lace looks 'flat' when photographed.

This colour, this yarn, this design - it's all about texture. Seriously. The choice of the Louet Gems fingering and the incredible depth of colours in the dye job - light just gets sucked into that yarn like the finest of silk velvets - there's no lustre but the depth is mesmerising.

I haven't seen this yarn before, and I love how they can get a merino to be so smooth it feels almost like cotton.

Once again, the credits are rolling. I am so grateful for this gig.

Pattern: Jae's wonderful palawan shawl (I don't know it's official name yet)
Availability: Sometime after I finish this test knit and someone prises it out of my hands and posts it back to Jae for inclusion in the pattern leaflet. Will be available through her local yarn store, check her blog for details.
Yarn: Louet Gems merino fingering weight in beautiful handdyed colour from Jae herself. A wonderful peacock green, emerald in places. Amazing.

And I think my broadband connection speed comes back tomorrow. Husband, if you're reading this, please don't do that again. If you get an idea for a huge downloadable software package in August, why not finish the bedroom painting instead? Just a thought.

A weekend of booze and shoes

2007-07-30T18:08:00.000+10:00

Friday Night

These shoes tried to kill me. Or perhaps it was the champagne. Or the dancing. Certainly it couldn't have been the food, which was quite okay, considering the quantities they had to get out in such a short time. It must have been the shoes - for I felt half dead on Saturday. (Got my mug in the social pages though.)

Saturday

Usually I buy winter boots that say F me. This year I bought omes that say F off. I won't ever be going back.

Saturday Night

Nuff said. And these didn't try to murder me either.

Sunday

The other great use for what comes off the sheep's back.

On the knitting front may I just say this; booze and shoes.

Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life (Live on Later..)

2007-07-25T23:42:00.001+10:00

Sad Song Wednesday 27/7

Sad Song Wednesday

2007-07-25T23:28:00.000+10:00

Well that came around quickly.

SAD SONG WEDNESDAY

This weeks theme is about how different a song can be interpreted when we know why it was written, or the fate of the person who wrote it. Sometimes it's more about what you know of the band or lyricist than the words themselves that makes a song sad.

For example, Eric Clapton's song (excuse my while I puke, he's not a favourite of mine) 'If I saw you in heaven' is extremely cheesy. But knowing that his three year old fell off a hotel balcony and died puts the whole thing in a new light.

INXS 'suicide blonde' and 'never tear us apart' became incredibly ironic after the tragic death of Micheal Hutchence and inevitably Paula Yates who literally killed herself from a broken heart, even though they were written years before these events.

(The fact that the band insulted not only his memory but taste itself by hosting a reality tv show about the replacement of Micheal Hutchence - what a pathetic last ditch effort at a comeback that was.)

Not to mention the words 'and I swear that I don't have a gun' sung by Curt Cobain, when we found out that clearly he did have a gun, and was not afraid to use it.

There was an obscurish band in the eighties in Australia called Died Pretty. They sang a song called 'DC' - it was a bit repetitive but still quite successful, but under the poppyness of it there was much tragedy, because it was written about his dead friend. It's one of my favourites.

Who could forget the pain we felt for Daniel Johns from Silverchair when he wrote Ana's song about his struggle with anorexia nervosa? The haunting lyric 'that's when Ana wrecks your life' - it is a simple lyric, not that clever really, but the poor boy was only about 17 when he wrote it.

But this week, the favourite sad song on this topic for me is the Manic Street Preachers, 'a design for life' not only because of the disappearance of the mentally tortured Richey Edwards, but also for the way the lyrics were twisted by the masses to mean quite the opposite of what they intended.

From wikipedia:
The bulk of the lyrics were written solely by Wire including number two hit single "A Design for Life", which became a working class anthem, and established the band alongside the other premier British bands of the day like Oasis. The band's image changed yet again, inadvertently they gained a casual, lad culture image much like that of Oasis as A Design for Life's message was roundly misinterpreted ('We don't talk about love/We only want to get drunk' was intended as a scathing critique of those who believe working classes have no cultural or emotional depth. This line was wrongly adopted by many as a drinking anthem).

Such a shame:

Comments please - about songs you know to be sad because of what happened to the songwriter or the band.

There are so many ...

Psst - come here. There's someone who wants to meet you

2007-07-23T15:38:00.000+10:00

Hello.

My name is Storm and I have come to live with Knitabulous and her family.

Wish me luck.

Die Happy !!

2007-07-21T09:14:00.000+10:00

Fantastic things have been happening here - magical things.

Things that deserve lots of exclamation marks!!

Firstly, I am no longer on the scrap heap. I am the proud owner of half a job. Half a proper, career job with the Department of Education and Training - I start on the 1st August. Oh happy day.

Secondly, my baby sister bought a house down here - she's going to ditch Willoughby and embrace seaside living! Viva la seachange! I'll be seeing my niece whenever I want, I'm going to be her daycare picker upper on Thursdays and I will be able to spend time with my sister whenever we feel like it! More moll shops, more ridiculously schlocky midnight oil duets in the car ('when I'm locked in my room, I just want to scream. Only the strong - insert air drum playing as appropriate - only the strong>. Oh even happier day.

Even better, she's asked me to help her decorate her new house, as she's in a true federation style (typical of the area round channel nine in Willoughby) and she's going to a completely different style of house. Excitement plus, a new project!

Yarn came for the palawan shawl, I am frantically knitting it because I want it finished yesterday.

Meg says I'm a rocking girl blogger - thank god for that I thought I was enjoying being on the shelf until it started to get a bit lonely up there. I felt a bit like the comic book guy on the simpsons.

I'm accompanying Donni to meet some Sydney knitters this afternoon - looking forward to the food. Oh, and the company of course! ;-)

And another thing. Remember when I said this "But if I ever get that obsessed with colour scheme software and knitted mitred squares; just shoot me."

Nine done, fourteen to go.

Well they're not mitred, but now would be a good time. At least I'd die happy.

SAD SONG WEDNESDAY

2007-07-18T10:02:00.000+10:00

I've been reading some fresh blogs lately, and I like to see a regular feature on a blog.

My totally favourite one is called ROOT SHOOT MARRY and can be found here. I am completely jealous I didn't think of this idea, it's a pearler.

Anyhow, I'd like to do a regular feature on this blog and it shall be hereafter known as:

SAD SONG WEDNESDAY

I love me a sad song. A sad song with a brilliant acid lyric, my favourite.

I'll tell you a little story. When I was about 22 I was in love. He was in love with me too, just not as much as I was with him. It was the kind of love that whenever he was with me, my chemical make-up changed. He made me laugh, there were indoor fireworks, and ultimately it was doomed. The relationship died a slow agonising painful death, not helped at all by my own inability to let go.

But, even when we were on the rocks, we pretended we could be grown up about it. Well I pretended, he probably just didn't give a shit. We went to a Billy Bragg concert at the Coogee Bay Hotel right at the death, with another couple who brought with them a friend. A tall statuesque incredibly beautiful eighteen year old journalism studying friend. Who appeared to be no stranger to my boyfriend.

As the awful truth dawned on me during that concert, I stood listening to Billy Bragg sing about unionism, socialism, sexuality and love gone bad. When he finally got to 'the price I pay' I just stood there, alone among hundreds, with fat warm tears streaming uncontrollably down my face. No sobbing, no hysterics, just deep deep sadness.

Strangely, he noticed (the boyfriend, not Billy Bragg) and stood behind me, with his arms around me. It wasn't symbolic of a future, more a mourning of the past.

Anyhow, I can still feel the pain when I hear that song.

Billy Bragg The Price I Pay lyrics

My friend said she could see no way ahead
And I was probably better off without you
She said to face up to the fact that you weren't coming back
And she could make me happy like you used to
But I'm sorry to say I turned her away
Knowing everything she said was true
And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do
There's something inside that hurts my foolish pride
To visit the places we used to go together
Not a day goes by that I don't sit and wonder why
Your feelings for me didn't last forever
Girl I love you so much that sometimes it's such
I'd walk a mile with a stone in my shoe
And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do
That's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do
So keep that phone out of my way for the things I must say
Are empty if you don't believe they're true
And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do
That's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do
I love you so much that baby it's such
I'd walk a mile with a stone in my shoe
And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do

What's the saddest song you've ever heard? The song that pulled at your heartstrings and made you feel either sorry for yourself, sorry for the songwriter or sorry for the person being writen about? The first song that made you cry?

I invite you to share your sad song on your blog or in the comments here on SAD SONG WEDNESDAY

Dot point weekend

2007-07-17T09:40:00.001+10:00

My internet's slowed to dialup speed thanks to he who shall not be named deciding he had an immediate need to download ubuntu even though it's been left it on my desktop unused for ten days (and counting). Evil telecommunications previously monopolist now oligopolist has decided enough is enough and now I have SLOW internet.

So, no pics, just dot points.

WEEKEND
* Went to Canberra. Could move there tomorrow.
* Met Bells - most pleasant experience.
* Saw Knit1Blog1 exhibition. White walls, glass boxes, beautifully sparsely placed knits. A wonderful celebration of Canberra knitters, with some projector screened interactive pc's to look at the blogs.
* Went to the Bus Depot Markets on Sunday - it was like the craft fair all over again. But instead of yuk coffee they had mulled wine and spiced cider - yummm.
* In the spirit of the Tour De France knitalong - I bought a beautiful pink and green toile (from France) baguette basket, pics will arivee when camera meets some new batteries and I'm feeling patient with the dialup speed thing.
* I also bought a strip of gorgeous blue and butter yellow toile fabric for some drawstring bags or perhaps a bolster cushion.

KNITTING
* The pattern for the palawan shawl came! I'm waiting on the yarn and cannot wait to get this started! If the yarn doesn't come today I'm going to start one of my own anyway.
* The MS3 clue 3 is finished. It doesn't look so much like a face now that the upper patterns have kind of overshadowed it.
* All other projects have been shelved due to the frustration of having nothing finished in weeks.

STUFF AND NONSENSE
* Do you think that having so many people on Ravelry is going to enhance the community or detract from the really talented contributors and truly beautiful items on the site?

* Do you think that the people who do the most whoring on ravelry will ruin it for the quiet achievers?

* Do you think that Ravelry embodies the best of knitters' communism - equal for everyone - and therefore the uninspiring and ordinary should be seen cheek by jowl with the amazing and inspirational work?

*Isn't one man's meat another man's poison, so what I find inspiring you might find ordinary?

Requirements for successful career in Real Estate

2007-07-13T15:02:00.000+10:00

1. Driver's licence.
2. Ability to use a key.

Excerpted from last week's local paper property guide:

This magnificent home offers a true lifestyle experience. (Blah blah blah) four generous bedrooms all with biw's, ensuite to main. Fully renovated kitchen and bathroom.

(Blah blah blah )
Living room opens up to a large view absorbing balcony.

The house is in a quiet street and situated on the block to ensure total privacy from the neighbours, which are small.

Now I don't mind the small neighbours, but I'd be mortally afraid of a view-absorbing balcony.

I am off to the nation's capital for the weekend, might take in the knit 1 blog 1 exhibition while I'm there and might catch up with a knitter or two as well if all goes to plan.

But right now I've got to get some socks and undies out of the dryer and into a suitcase.

Sayonara sisters.

When physics and knitting collide - the results aren't always good

2007-07-12T16:25:00.000+10:00

I'm trying to do random, but I just find it so hard. My personality dictates that everything has to have symmetry, it has to add up, there must be a method.

But I'm making a big effort. The beads above are a case in point. I'm using them for my Mystery Stole 3, stringing two tiny beads with a .75mm crochet hook as I go. Go here if you'd like to know how this is done. If you look closely, you can see that there are three different kinds of grey metallic beads and one kind of sparkly bead. They are good quality glass seed beads, bought from here at the Darling Harbour Show.

The random bit goes like this. I fish around with the crochet hook until I pick up a charcoal bead. Then I pick up a sparkle, and they go onto the stole together.

See? Random. And symmetry. At the same time.

Anyhow, as I've been fishing around in the little pile of beads I've been feeling quite frustrated. I felt like the beads were running away from the hook. It was quite annoying. Stab stab stab. No bead. Stab stab stab. No bead.

I mentioned this to my husband. He looked at what I was doing (it's rare people).

'I can see what's going on there' he says 'after you've picked up a bead, you're dropping that steel stick and it's being pulled against the magnet on that black thing you've got the chart on, thus magnetising it. Then when you go fishing into the beads, which all have metal paint on them, sometimes the opposite polar effect is happening, and the hook is really repelling the beads.'

You know what? I think he's right.

Not to worry though, because the clue is done. Stage 2 of my own Tour De France complete.

Lantern Rouge

2007-07-10T15:34:00.001+10:00

Bonsoir mes amis!

I am competing for the polka dot jersey in the Tour De France knitalong, so I'm pleased to introduce vous to my team.

TEAM MEMBER ONE
MYSTERY STOLE 3
Form: Good
Chances of completion: Fair to good
King of the Mountain?: Hmm. Could be the clown of the race in the end.
French Connection: It has beads. I've never done them before, so I suspect, like Paris, that the road will be lined with dog shit. Merde.

Background:

After the Yarn Harlot joined, another 2700 people jumped on the bandwagon and together, they broke yahoo! groups. The harlot was knitter number 4000 and something, there are now around 6700 and I was knitter number 300 and something. She is totally copying me.

There has been some discussion about the theme of the shawl. Pink Lemon Twist suggested (weeks before the first clue) the yarn choice should be black or white. Everyone says 'oh I'm going to do it white for my daughter's upcoming wedding' Miriam goes 'hang on, you might want to see the theme before you go down that road, it might not be appropriate'.

The first and second clues are up, there has been some discussion about whether or not a face can be seen in the stole. People have surmised that it may be a court jester.

I shall leave it to you to decide whether this is a face or not.

Dear me. I hope she's not making 6700 people knit court jesters. That would be an ironic who's laughing at whom kind of situation, non?

TEAM MEMBER TWO
Peacock Feathers shawl
Form: Average
Chances of completion: Fair to middle
King of the Mountain?: I don't think so. It's a little lightweight to be a king, perhaps the princess of the mountain might be a better title. I'm really only knitting her while waiting for the real peacock feathers to arrive.
French Connection: It's very Marie Antionette - and it looks like fondant.

OTHER RIDERS

Linen Stitch Transitions Swatches

This one is such a dark horse. It came from nowhere to suprise me one night and has been quite a captivating little rider. Stay tuned for developments on this competitor.

This may suprise me. It's a quick grower, showing great promise and is already half finished the race.

ON THE BENCH
THE RESERVES

Any of these young riders would cut the throat of some of the above professionals to get a chance to wear a jersey in this year's race.

Will they have their way?

LATE ENTRANT

There will be a late entrant, one with the two week handicap. Unavoidable delays mean that the bicycle and rider have actually yet to meet, but here's hoping.

Bling

2007-07-07T21:29:00.000+10:00

There's a lot to know about knitting. Sometimes it seems that the more you think you know, the more there is to know. You know?

For example, did you know that there is a knitting stitch that produces a fabric so like weaving that it feels and looks like turkish silk carpet?

These swatches are the aforementioned and highly regarded bloomfield yarn, from the lovely Joan through the talented Jae. The feel of this knit fabric is so soft, I think that it reminds me of a silk cravat. So, I think I shall make me one.

My love affair with the feather and fan stitch and all her variations continues unabated.

And finally, I found a use for that tiny .75mm crochet hook I found in an op shop. I've used it to place the beads on as I go with the Mystery Stole 3.

Bling.

Sign of the times

2007-07-05T11:09:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I had coffee with two girls.

Of the three of us, I was the only one capable of raising my eyebrows.

I should have been proud, but in reality I just felt ugly and unacceptable.

The way to my heart

2007-07-03T10:55:00.000+10:00

A cup of coffee and a good yarn.

Thank you Dyann for getting it all so right. Stitchy McYarnpants kitschy stitches is hilarious, the scarf is beautiful (see I wore it yesterday?) the yarn is so my taste - I see a pair of textured socks in there somewhere.

The best thing though has to be the coffee mug. It is really gorgeous. Long, 'waisted', the incredible bark-like texture at the bottom, beautiful glaze of ambiguous colour (almost grey, almost beige with the perfect amount of darker hotspots like a caramelised apple). And so BIG! Perfect for my jumbo sized heart starters.

What I like the most about it is that you made it. When I hold it I think, I 'know' who made this, and it makes it feel very special. Also, it doesn't hurt that the finish is so professional!

And no god-awful chocolate as a 'filler'. Which I'd still eat but regret later.

I have been thinking of getting a range of Denby pottery - I hope you do commissions - because I've totally changed my mind. Your mug is far superior to the Denby I've had my eye on.

Thank you Dyann, your gift was perfect.

watching the dolphins play

2007-07-02T21:02:00.000+10:00

I really do love it when the kids are home on holidays. I can say that in all honesty on Monday of the first week. Ask me again next week and we'll see.

School holidays means it's ok to stay up until midnight on Sunday night knitting seventy rows of the Mystery Stole 3. Then finding a mistake and staying up until twenty to two in the morning tinking back and re-knitting back to row 59 or so. Then finding the mistake was actually a bit further back than that. I stumbled into bed in disgust.

Tonight I'm starting again.

Today I took the kids down to a beach to do a little beachcombing. The huge tides of late have decimated the sand dunes, there's a lot more beach on the beaches than there was three weeks ago. Wollongong has 17 pristine more or less deserted patrolled beaches and several more unpatrolled ones that we like to keep secret. Today we eschewed the glamour of North and South beaches (original names huh?) and went instead to the Corrimal Beach, where we picked up a Port Jackson shark egg case and lots and lots of incredibly shaped sea sponges and a multitude of empty mussel shells. And then we put them down again and went on our way, weaving through the huge piles of kelp washed up from the recent king tides and massive groundswells.

After that, mummy needed coffee. So we went a few beaches to the North, to the cafe at Bulli beach. When we arrived there was a small throng of people standing on the headland looking out to sea. 'There must be whales' I said to the kids.

No whales today (maybe tomorrrow?), but a pod of a dozen or so blue nosed dolphins playing in the water. I stood there agog while the kids found some bits of cardboard and sledded down the grassy slope. As they say, you can take a horse to water. Sorry this picture is absolutely rubbish (they were very camera shy) but they were very playful and very active.

I watched them swim around the headland to the protected side of the headland, where there was a litte group of grommets out the back of the breakers on their boogie boards. Some of them left the water (frightened or respectful I wonder?) while others stayed there. The dolphins started catching the waves in with the surfers - I don't know how I could tell by their fins sticking out of the tops of the foam but they looked like they were having such fun! After I wiped away the tears (happens every time - live drumming does it to me too) our coffee and milkshakes and away we went.

Man I love where I live.

No autographs, just throw money

2007-07-01T21:31:00.000+10:00

Today, Donni and I went to the Craft and Stitches exhibition at Darling Harbour.

It was a good day. I met some great people, bought some yarn and some beads, and, best of all ...

Nicole Kidman and Donni and I shot the breeze about knitting, parenting, sisters and the boyfriend sweater curse.

When we got to the Prestige Yarns stall (where Donni had some business regarding knitpicks options with Don the proprietor), Donni grabs my arm and says 'Nicole Kidman is here'.

And there she was with her mum, who was buying a jumper kit from beautiful alpaca. Donni and I hung around a bit, fondled some yarn and bided our time. Nicole touched a ball of teal yarn.

"That's such a beautiful colour' says Donni, to which Nicole agreed and then she came around from the back of the stall and stood next to us looking at the yarn.

'I want to knit my husband a scarf' she said 'because he goes away a lot'. She laughed 'it won't be very good, but I guess it's the thought that counts'.

And thus ensued a delightful two-way conversation about knitting and family ('my kids wouldn't wear it, they're teenagers, maybe I could do something for my sister'). Donni and I FULLY advised her about the best choice of yarn for the scarf for Keith.

At one stage she looked at the Debbie Bliss cashmerino in red - Donni whipped out her shetland triangle in the same yarn and Nicole goes 'that's so beautiful, look mamma, isn't this beautiful?' and paws all over Donni's shawl.

Don casually (and I mean casually, his nonplussedness was SO cool) threw an aran sweater down in front of her. 'This is what that's like knittted up' he drawls in his matter of fact Aussie man accent. "It's three years old, sometimes I wear it when it's cold."

"I love that sweater" she says. He didn't give it to her, which I was so glad of. I'm sure in Hollywood they'd say 'take it, and can I get a picture of you and your favourite knitting yarn?' Erk.

No bodyguards, no entourage, just a Sydney chick (and a bit of a dag to boot) checking out the craft show with her mum. She must love coming home for a bit of normality.

Later, just before Donni went home, we asked Don about what he thought of Nicole. He replied laconically 'I didn't think she was as hot in real life as I thought she'd be. My wife's going to be happy'. Talk about the reverse of starstruck! I couldn't disagree more, I thought she was very beautiful - skin like alabaster.

As for me, well the old knitting bizzo's been a bit stagnant lately, but seems to have perked up a little in the past few days.

The picture is our loot from the show. Donni's got all the stately green and red, I've got the bright bright colinette jitterbug and the tofutsies. After she went home I may have added a ball of Belisa Cashmere laceweight also. (Nicole bought a cashmere sweater from them too we discussed, she paid for it too.)

Ahem.

2007-06-27T16:58:00.000+10:00

What do you think the chances of the person who named this colour yarn 'watermelon' has never actually seen one?

My very own fifteen minutes

2007-06-25T10:49:00.000+10:00

Before I hear this on email or by SMS (which is usually how I find out about these things).....

If you see YARN magazine issue 4 in the newsagent or bookshop, flick to the contents page.

See that sweaty woman in the blue and white caftan knitting with the massage parlour girls in Thailand?

That's me that is.

Then take the magazine to the counter and buy it of course.

Revisiting my teenage slang

2007-06-22T14:53:00.000+10:00

My sister and I spent the day together yesterday without any of the children. I adore my sister, we are like a pair of jabbering monkeys when we're together, the best part about being together is that we share the most wicked sense of humour, and we tend to get caught in our own little world where hysterical things happen around us all the time.

So, yesterday she wanted to buy a pair of boots. She lives on the lower north shore - dahling - I live in the blue collar working man's Wollongong. We love the differences in the shopping experiences in the two places. In Chatswood, the shopgirls can't be bothered even pretending to be friendly to you. In Wollongong, they chase you out into the street when you leave to tell you about their life history.

In an attempt to return to our teenage years, we spent the day trying to use the teenage slang words that have long been forgotten. We got the the boots, which she wanted to wear with her jeans, and then she wanted to buy a cute tshirt to go with the ensemble.

We looked in Myer. We looked in David Jones. We looked in Just Jeans. Nada.

"I know where you'll find a top" said I "In the moll shop".

"What do you mean the moll shop?" she laughed.

"Well, what Supre is to bushpig, the moll shop is to molls" said I. "It's where the molls go to buy their clothes"

So we went to the moll shop. When we arrived, there were three pretty but identical skeletal molls tittering away in the doorway - you know the type - the ones that try out for Big Brother but don't get in because they're too stupid. If you've seen the show you'll realise this is a very low bar to be under.

"I see what you mean" says my sister "Molls".

Anyway, she looks around and states that this is definitely the shop for the finding of the cute top.

Friends, I kid you not when I say she forked out ten minutes later THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE dollars for ONE PAIR OF JEANS !! The hundred dollar tshirt from Spain looked so good with it, and it was reduced from two hundred and forty five dollars, but she felt that a bit too expensive for a tiny t shirt.

I was agog. The molls were ecstatic. "Those jeans look soooo fab!!" "I'm getting those exact same ones" "They're new just in, aren't they unreal" "They make your bum look sooo small!" "You can't not buy jeans that look that good on you, can you?". I squirmed in my 29 dollar cargo pants.

Afterwards, she showed no sign of post-purchase depression. We had a coffee. She only had one question to ask. "Do you think buying jeans in the moll shop makes me a moll?"

POST SCRIPT
If this post makes no sense, don't blame me. I'm on my eighth codral day tablet for the day. I know you don't care.

ISE4 Pal!! Please don't stress. Surface mail may take three months from the US (I'm presuming that's where you are). Relax. It will come. And when it does, I'll email you straight away. Hakuna Matata.

Time keeps on slipping slipping slipping ....

2007-06-17T17:38:00.001+10:00

So where did last week go? Beats me.

The weather here has been diabolical. People have died. There's been a landslide on Mt Keira, floods in the Hunter, and a tanker washed up on the beach in Newcastle in the five metre swells. I watched a documentary on oil called CRUDE recently - such a chilling prediction about the future ... this wild weather could be a symptom ... truly frightening ...

So I was very pleasantly suprised to find the sun shining this morning when I awoke, we had to get some fresh air so we took the children on a huge adventure - about two minutes drive from my place. The Wollongong Botanic Gardens.

When we left home there was masses of photogenic filtered afternoon sunlight on the lawn and grounds. As soon as I got out of the car this happened:

(look how the spires on the cactus have bowed down in the wind - this picture is taken with the camera parallel to the ground) so I had to make do with cloudy light.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the roses. I know they're not perfect blooms but considering the deluge they've survived in the past week it's a wonder they've got any petals left at all.

My favourite was this faded lilac colour, almost grey really, very vintage looking.

There were bridges to be crossed.

And a scarf to be photographed in it's natural habitat. Here's my most recent quickie project, a (you guessed it) feather and fan scarf in a colourway called painted desert. Man I love this colour - can you beleive how much is looks like the scoria on the ground?

Can you see I conducted a little experiment with this yarn? For five repeats towards the ends of the scarf I separated the two strands, the mohair on it's own and then the rayon boucle on it's own. The rayon boucle looks so much like platinum leaf when knitted by itself - so lustrous. Alhtough methinks this stuff may classify as novelty yarn - what do you think?

I prefer to knit this pattern in two pieces and graft down the centre otherwise the scalloped edge only happens on one side - this lack of symmetry would be untenable in my book. Because I only had one hank of this yarn I made it quite narrow, with only 24 stitches and 4 k2togs instead of the usual 3.

On our way out, Blair found a fairy village. All the fairies must have been hiding, for we could only see their houses.

So that was it. I'll leave you with this, who doesn't love a good strelitzia - found on the front lawn of every fifties fibro on the eastern seaboard?

COMMENTERS:

Jussi - I cried all the way thru Leaving Las Vegas too, my heart was broken badly from a boyfriend once because of the wretched drink - alcoholism is such a strong addiction and such a waste.

Meg - GOLD!! I have oft wanted a camera crew to come down and do a doco on the extended family of British gypsies who live on the park - they must be third or fourth generation of this lifestyle - their accents haven't changed for they don't mingle too much with mainstream society - they have a LOT of cash - are illiterate - so interesting a lifestyle. Not to mention the permanent van owners, the grey nomads, the backpackers, the transient workers - it's an amazing cross section of society we get.

BTW - I will keep you informed. I don't actually think he's going to die in situ on the park (although it happens more often than you might think) - but I do think that things are going to get worse for him - he's not at 'rock bottom' yet - but I'm sure he can smell it from where he is. Poor bastard.

Leaving Las Vegas

2007-06-16T11:36:00.000+10:00

Have you seen that movie with Nicholas Cage in it?

I work on reception in a tourist (caravan) park. There is a man staying in one of the self contained cabins, he's been there for a few weeks. He is reasonably young, and is quite obviously a very serious alcoholic. He has displayed some very erratic behaviour during his stay; for example:

Last Tuesday night he went out on the lash - he drove there. Many hours later, he managed to find his way back to the cabin (without the car) to sleep it off. When he awoke the next day he assumed his car had been stolen, so he went out and bought another car. Subsequently his first car showed up. Now he is staying alone in a self contained cabin with two cars. Both of which he is too drunk to drive.

A few days ago, when he came into the office I almost died from the fumes coming off him, even though he was showered and reasonably well dressed. He noticed that I was knitting, accused it of being crocheting and then managed a 'knit one purl one' quip on his way out the door.

Yesterday he asked me to type a letter for him, and his hands shook so badly he could barely find the handwritten sheet in the pile of documents he had in his hands. It was a submission for the start up of a tourist activity business in our region. I typed it for him, offering him the same polite friendliness I do to all the customers. During the 20 minutes or so it took me (at 9am in the morning) he surrepticiously sipped from a small plastic bottle of 'juice'. He insisted I take ten bucks for my efforts.

He is supposed to leave next Tuesday. I don't have a shift now until 28th June. I feel very sorry for him, although everyone else on the park can't wait till he goes. I wonder how he's going to leave in two cars?

2007-06-13T12:18:00.000+10:00

So, time to join something else - like the Mystery Stole 3. I joined within 12 hours of the site being up and I was number 568 or something. I've done a few of the mystery knits so far, enjoyed all of them and subsequently didn't have to buy the patterns! The first two were Leda's Dream (which I didn't actually knit, it was before I started lace knitting) and Sherezade (the one I accidentally
dyed dayglo orange, now happily residing with Donni). This one has beads.

As usual, I'll be all take and no give on this knitalong, I'm way too much of a grumpy cynical sourpuss to bear the chat on the site - the first pattern hint is released on the 29th June (that's more than two weeks away people) and already there are literally hundreds of meaningless posts about yarn choice, yarn colours, crochet hook size possibilities, bead colours - for heaven's sake we haven't even seen the first part of the pattern yet!

I've been asked by Jae to knit a coloured sample of this amazing shawl - at first she mentioned sea silk - I nearly died - but we've settled on laines du nord silk in a deep teal. Ooh I can't wait to get this started. (I hope she doesn't mind I borrowed her image.)

But right now, as soon as I hit publish, I'm off to scour the new knitty!

Very Rare and Very Precious

2007-06-11T12:17:00.000+10:00

I don't normally do this.

But, there's a blogger out there who is going to be feeling under the weather for a while due to side effects from a drug she knows she has to take. Imagine looking at a handful of pills knowing how bad they're going to make you feel and having no choice but to take them anyway. For those of you with chronic illnesses, you'll know, but for the rest of us lucky ones ...

You know who she is. She'll be the one who has something positive to say on almost all of your posts - I see her wonderful comments almost everywhere I go on the net.

She's the one who has the most delicious sense of humour, the most nuttily named friends and blog posts, the most beautiful well cared-for dogs and the greeniest snicket you'll ever see.

Who else could call a sock Britney having decided it must have had a breakdown?

She never dwells on her illness, whatever it may be, hardly ever mentions it actually. What class.

Who else but Cindy 2paw? If there's one thing I can say about you Cindy, it's that I can always rely on you to 'get' what I'm trying to say, and from what I see you appear to 'get' everyone else too.

You're special, and I'd like to say here that I hope you don't feel too shit-house on those pills and that they do their job and make you well again.

Girl you'll be a woman soon

2007-06-10T11:32:00.000+10:00

If you look on my left sidebar under 'knitting alone' you will see that I've finished all but one of the projects on that list.

Which may lead you to conclude that the only wip I have on the needles is the ROE shawl.

Not so at all:

Here's the state of my current WIP's (EXCLUDING the ROE shawl)

Don't you dare call this a ripple blanket! When I made mum's feather and fan scarf, I kind of got hypnotised by the pattern. So, with some very soft merino from that EVIL PLACE, a blanket for Blair's bed was started. I'm liking how this one is turning out.

I found it! It was behind the gas heater which had been put away in the cupboard earlier this year. See how it's grown. This is a backstop project, for times when it's after midnight and I'm too tired to start something new.

Eunny Jang's print o the wave stole. I seem to have misplaced the other ball of purple ksh required to finish this - I'll have to buy some more.

The beginnings of a black peacock feathers shawl in belisa cashmere obtained from the Royal Easter Show. No deadline here, as long as it's done for the exhibition next year I'll be happy.

Not too shabby, not too daunting. None of these projects have any deadlines, they're happy enough to be backstop projects.

Which is just as well, because they're about to get usurped by a knit so inspiring, so beautiful, so incredibly cool that it will change the way you think about knitting.

Or something like that.

COMMENTERS:

Romelda: I'm very glad your son enjoyed his trip in Australia. With the activities I've seen in Cape Tribulation I'd say he'd have had a hard time not to, I beleive it to be all beer and skittles up there. Tell him sorry about the storms we've had the past few days in NSW, and that I hope he didn't go surfing in that five metre ground swell. Also, if he might try and get to see the oil tanker that's run aground on the beach in Newcastle - that's not something that happens every day.

Rowan Patti

2007-06-10T10:43:00.000+10:00

I'm so sorry. It took me longer to sew this sucker up than I thought it would. This is because the sewing up involved

a) knitting the button bands
b) knitting the collar

However, here she is done.

Project Specifications

Pattern: Patti by Rowan from Rowan collection 1
Yarn: 11 Balls Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed DK in 'magnolia' - from the Wool Inn in Penrith.
Modifications: None. Except maybe I lost interest in the collar and cast off a tad early.

Notes: I made the biggest size, it is possibly a bit big for me.

Also, the weight of the pleats pull the garter row down a bit and make it a bit uneven - this is possibly the yarn substitution. The yarn called for is Rowan Felted Tweed which I haven't seen but I imagine knits a bit of a thicker fabric with a bit more structure.

I think I might reinforce this with a strip of thick velvet ribbon on the inside (which will look nice anyway).

Please excuse the masking tape and newspaper in the background, for guess what!!?? The painting weekend has arrived - and here are the first works in progress shots.

See the broken light? That is the first disaster caused by he who shall not be named throwing an ugg boot over his shoulder as an act of humour. It's such a shame we'll have to replace that light fitting, I loved it so much (note dripping sarcasm)..
I didn't get angry with him of course. I just brought it to his attention that any of these would be suitable replacements.

On comments

2007-06-04T17:12:00.000+10:00

To Anonymous from last post: who are you? And why should I stop eating? Exactly how drunk were you when you wrote these comments? My email is daly04atbigponddotnetdotau - it better be funny. Reveal youself instantly.

Rose Red - my Anonymous commenter wants me to tell you something, I guess if you have a look at the comments on my previous post he/she can tell you themselves.

2007-06-04T10:18:00.000+10:00

In America, they have the Grand Canyon. I saw it once, and yep, it is a grand canyon.

Where I live, I have the Grand Pacific Ocean. I see it every day, and it's just as grand.

(Hi Jussi, I can see you waving from here!)

Alan and I celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary on the weekend.

Friday night was a special rare treat, Alan came home early from work and all four of us settled in on the sofa for a night of pizza and kids movies (Happy Feet and Night at the Museum). For those of you lucky enough to be able to do this every night I envy you. I can't remember the last time my husband was home from work in daylight hours - it happens maybe ten times a year tops.

Anyhow, enough boo hoo is me, on Saturday night we went out for dinner. Have a look at the divine menu here. I had the lobster boudin, and the lamb. Alan had the quail and the snapper. I'm so glad he didn't have the rabbit as I wouldn't have coped too well with that I don't think.

The sommelier suggested a nice pinot, I found it a bit acidic for the subtlety of the food, perhaps a softer shiraz would have been nicer, but we deferred to her better judgement at our peril.

For afters we shared the cheese and the creme brulee, the cheese was appropriately stinky and the brulee top was crunchy and slightly bitter - washed down with TWO glasses of delicious french sauternes (at $10 each for a small glass it was about a dollar a mouthful but worth every penny). Bliss bliss bliss. We even managed to find something to talk about other than the children, difficult for anyone after ten years of marital blah.

Yesterday mum and dad took the kids to Symbio wildlife park. We met them up there after a luxurious sleep-in and a scrambled egg on toast breakfast. It was a crisp warm and perfectly clear day - gorgeous. I took some obligatory photos of the wildlife.

I find it funny that I've probably taken a hundred photos of this old koala over the years, and as for that corella - I swear he's the same one that bit me on the finger when I was ten. I believe he recognised me, can't you see the glint in his evil eye?

And on that note, I shall bid you adieu. I am off to sew up the pieces of the patti cardigan right now - wish me luck. I'm excited ... this garment may even work.

BTW -

(Symbio would be a good place for a family blogger meet, everyone could bring their kids and other halves if they have them - eveyone has a good day then - and we could picnic on the grass and get to know one another in a lovely relaxed setting - being kind of halfway ish between this neck of the woods and Sydney it is quite convenient - any takers?)

My friend and I were discussing marriage at the school last week - she said 'It's a bit like eating chicken every night isn't it?" Funniest thing I've heard in a long while that. For indeed, it is exactly like eating chicken every night after a while. I guess the secret is to use a lot of different sauces.

Fair Weather Friends

2007-05-30T09:57:00.001+10:00

Such fair weather friends you lot are - but I love you all the more for it. On the rare occassions I post about being ill usually hails a deafening silence in the comment area - I guess I deserve it. Lucky I wasn't trawling for sympathy.

As a matter of fact, I've noticed any post I make which is non-knitting related elicits few comments in general. It's like I make these little babies, nurture and feed them and then send them off into the internet abyss - 'do well my little one' - but I can never tell which ones will be notable and which ones are sinkers.

The commentless posts are always my favourites, so I won't be stopping them anytime soon regardless. Still, it's interesting isn't it?

Moving right along, I've finished SARCELLE.

Project Specifications:

Pattern: Sarcelle by Cookie A (obsessed with her at the minute)
Yarn: Bloomfield by Heritage Spinning and Weaving (store only, no online)
Modifications: I only did three repeats across instead of seven because of the fingering weight yarn used instead of cobweb.
Comments: Make one, you'll love it. Mine is going to my SP4 recipient, so I'll have to make another one for myself.

Commenters (blogger won't let me reply in person, and I would dearly like to, so here's my solution)

Michelle, who asked about the toe-up/cuff-down question on the monkey socks - I just did it like the pattern says - cuff down.

Jussi - I wouldn't be caught dead in Starbucks either.

Donna368 - I don't have the cashmere yarn yet, it has not yet been released. I've just coveted it from the knitters review site where they reviewed it. Am looking forward to getting my paws on some though.

Waiting Room

2007-05-29T09:27:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I went to the doctor's, something which I try to actively avoid, since I don't much believe in them**. I don't even have a family doctor, I just go to the nearest medical centre and take my chances in the draw.

When my name came up, I was pleased to see that I had been selected by Dr Churn. That's not his name, btw, that's his consulting characteristic. I was pleased because I knew it would be quick.

I went there for a regular prescription and a referral to a reconstructive/plastic/cosmetic surgeon (in case you don't know, I have a boob rock* the size of an orange - lime and violet have nothing on me) . Every few years I go and visit a surgeon to discuss an operation I will never be able to afford, just to fantasise about how nice it would be to get a good result if I ever did find the money.

He obliges and then says 'is that all?'

I said, 'Oh and my ear is full of fluid again' he says 'what do you mean' I do my ear party trick where I blow air through it, he says 'you have a perforated eardrum' I say 'I know' he says 'how long has it been like that' I say 'at least a year' he says 'you need to see a specialist' I say 'bugger off'. I then say 'there's no pain, what's the problem' he says 'middle ear infections in adults can be painless' I say 'so what do I need a specialist for' he says 'it could damage your hearing' I say 'it already has, and besides I wouldn't wear a hearing aid anyway' he says 'will you go to the specialist if I refer you' I say 'probably not, but if it makes you feel better give me the letter'.

I then had to spell check and grammar check it, and make jokes whilst doing so about protecting his credibility/reputation with the consultant. Judging by his reaction, I think he would have preferred it if I was there for the methadone like everyone else.

So I have a perforated ear drum. Again.

*It really pisses me off that lime and violet set up a donation campaign on their podcast - just for her to get a bunch of tests she probably doesn't need and possibly a boob job on the proceeds - why didn't I think of that???
I have been told if it's not cancer (which it wasn't last time they checked) then removing it would classify as cosmetic surgery as there is no need for an operation if it isn't life threatening. Having one boob almost double the size of the other is not considered a medical problem according to medicare in Australia. If I want it fixed, I'll have to pay. About fifteen grand.

** I have no medical experience, so my opinions as to the necessity or otherwise of medical procedures is based only on my mistrust of some of the profession in general. Socially, I haven't met a doctor I didn't like.

The sound of White

2007-05-27T14:46:00.000+10:00

I've mentioned that my house was decorated professionally when it was built in the early 80's in a 'federation' style colour scheme and that, alas, it didn't time travel too well.

There are timber dado rails stained dark, and various wall colour combinations throughout the house featuring dark salmon, pale apricot, deep russet and bizarrely in the bar room, aqua blue.

The darker colour is painted below the dado rail, the lighter colour above. There are decorative cornices and very fancy ceiling roses painted to contrast with the ceilings themselves, which are
not painted with ceiling white, but the same colour as the walls.

What's the problem, just paint over it! I hear you say. Well it's not that simple. You see the previous owner had an interior designer carefully match to the carpet and the window coverings throughout the entire house, and all of them are of very high quality. Since we can't afford to replace the carpet and all the window coverings as well, we've just left it as it is for now, fearing ripping it all out would be worse than leaving it all there.

Well no more. I have decided, finally, to paint my bedroom.

Oh I have agonised. I have swatched, I have studied. I have piles of interior design magazines. I literally have hundreds of sample pots. At first I liked a nice pale green - wanting something cool and soothing. Then I went a bit obsessive over a paint colour exactly like the colour of deep clear water - impossible.

At last I decided on - wait for it - white. Well not exactly white, more like an off-white. But do I want a greeny white, a purpley white, a warm white or a cool white? A soft white or a stark white? Deciding on white was harder than deciding on a colour - there are an infinite number of whites.

If I were to tell you that I have been trying to choose the perfect white for over a year I would not be exaggerating one little bit.

However, the decision has finally been made. The paint has been purchased. Alan is having some time off around the long weekend to do the job, and I am still agonising over whether I've chosen the right colour.

I've never decided on a paint colour before. It's not easy, is it?

I'll do before, during and after shots I promise.

(for those of you interested, I'm going with Dulux Hog Bristle 1/4 strength. Like, it couldn't be more of a boring colour). Still, I'm scared witless.

V is for Victory

2007-05-25T17:17:00.000+10:00

Monkey Socks

Sarcelle

And a little simple something I'm whipping up for my mum.

Two posts in one day

2007-05-24T22:36:00.001+10:00

But some things are just too good not to share.

Envy is one of the seven deadly sins. Along with Gluttony and Greed.

I'm so dead with envy, greed and the wish to be a glutton with this new yarn.

Gimme gimme gimme.

Kidsilk haze on bottom, new superior yarn on top. It's made with brushed cashmere and a silk core - lets say that again - brushed. cashmere. on. silk.

AND

did you see this comment left by an anonymous person the other day?
Here it is:

Anonymous said...

Greetings knitabulous. Our relationship has come to this - i am posting on your blogabuluos to contactabulous you because you never call-abulous me. Perhaps you are at camp knitting? Any hoo I'm at work and you can email me at xxxxxxxx

2:01 PM

I keep telling Hugh Jackman that until he loses the wife and my husband dies, I can't start something with him. I wish he'd stop stalking me.

Are we Flair yet?

2007-05-24T16:27:00.000+10:00

Flair is finished. Alas, there is no flair.

There is something wrong with this cardigan, it just doesn't fit properly - it's massive and kind of dodgy around the armpits. I won't blame Knit and Tonic, I'll blame my yarn substitution. I used Paton's Inca and I fear it was just too bulky for the knit.

However, I can make it look good in photography. Maybe I should have lied to you and told you it was an incredible cardigan, but I never lie. Honestly.

For those of you who read here regularly, this is my second finished Flair - both of them crappus maximus.

I've gone off it now anyhow. It's double breasted, why is that?
Project Specifications

Pattern: Flair by Knit and Tonic, pdf download, $6 USD
Yarn: About 16 balls of Paton's Inca (if not more - yes I should have known by this it was going to be too big)
Pattern Modifications:
Didn't swatch. Just knitted the second smallest size to make up for the bulky yarn. Not much success.

What about that Rowan Patti?

For Mother's Day this year, darling husband made a call to the Wool Inn at Penrith and paid for the yarn I ordered the week before on my trip there with Donna. It came in the mail on the Thursday before Mother's Day.

I cast on for Patti almost immediately.

Check out the knitted box pleat - I love it.

Here is a back and two fronts, with box pleats everywhere.

Here is a set of half finished sleeves. And here is all the yarn I've got left.

I have run out of yarn. I need another ball, two to be safe. Back to the Wool Inn for me then, probably only by phone though because it's two hours away.

So close, so far away.

This is why I knit shawls. My garments use too much expensive yarn and I am never happy with them anyway.

Shawls on the other hand, who cares if I don't wear them?

I love making them and I love blocking them and I love looking at them.

But just maybe, this Patti might be the one.

Brother Lee Love

2007-05-23T16:01:00.000+10:00

The retreat was positively gorgeous. Relaxation, hilarity and plenty of bitchin and stitchin. And no washing up.

My favourite bit was our bushwalk. The four of us - Donni, Sharon, Zena (with a belly full of arms and legs) and I went for a walk through the rainforest to check out the bush chapel. It's so beautiful, the pews are the only man made thing, the walls and altar and everything else are all natural. It's a bit druidy actually, but really gorgeous.

I got behind the altar and did jazz hands singing 'brother lee love' at the bush chapel. Do you remember the Kenny Everett sketch where his hands just kept getting bigger and bigger? Too funny, and such a blast from the past - pitched right at our age group. Zena is probably too young to remember, but she smiled politely anyway.

Brother Brother Brother Lee Love - (repeat whilst jazz hands get bigger and bigger)

'It's gonna be AWWWWL RIGHHHHHHT!'

Anyhow, camp was awesome. Donni makes the best gluwein on the planet, and I don't want to know how much full fat milk was in the porridge - it doesn't get that creamy from water alone. Incredibly yum.

You coming next year?

The view

The other view

Camo print yarn painting

The faithful

The cooks having morning tea (they were lashed and sent back to work moments after this shot was taken)
There were so many gathered in the name of knitting, I hoped a miracle might have ensued.

Tianne, what's the time on that sundial?

The fruit of the dying workshop (sic).

I love yarn.

Off to knitting retreat

2007-05-18T17:06:00.000+10:00

Thank you guys so much for all those comments - a real record!

I've done the necessary, and Grenadine Girl, you're the winner. Iffen you emails me, we can work something out - I've got a few ideas for prizes so you can have an input.

And Michelle, I owe you a little something extra too, so it'll be on it's way early next week, when I come back from .......

KNITTING CAMP!!!

That's right, two wonderful nights and two wonderful days of knitting, felting, spinning without interruption.

Woo Hoo.

Seeyamonday.