I'm really bad. Haven't updated in a long time. BUT I'm still being constructive and creating stuff. I've learned crochet! At least some very simple crochet, and I'm making a veil for belly dancing! Here's the progress so far:

And I know you can't see what I've done to the edge. so here it is:

So simple yet effective. I'm putting on another row with some coins so that it jingles a little bit. My grandmother showed me how to do it, and now that I know, I reckon I could make entire dancing outfits. My next feat will be a coin belt with gold-flecked maroon thread on red or purple velvet (haven't decided yet). I think the veil will be finished by tomorrow.

The veil is actually a royal purple chiffon, though of course you can't see it in the shot, and the crochet is this lovely glossy cherry-coloured thread; it reminds me of that Beatrix Potter story, I think it was The Tailor of Gloucester or something like that, and the tailor is freaking out, because he's run out of cherry-coloured twist (actually, the cat hid it).

And next:

Oooooooooh!!

Aaaaaaaaaaah!

I am so spoiled! Madeline you are a legend! It's funny to be getting these pressies from the other side of the planet, and then find they're being sent by an Australian! Everything is beautiful. I can't believe you told me I could rip out the panta. I love it! It's a bit warm to wear it for too long at the moment, but it'll be perfect for Winter. Nice and big, almost hides my new short hair (good for greasy days)! I liked it so much that I looked up the pattern and knitted another one, but somehow the shape isn't as good as your one. I forgot to take a piccie before the batteries died in my camera. Next time! As for the wash cloth, it is so beautiful that I don't want to wash my filthy face with it! The Rowan cotton feels lovely and soft. One day I'll knit something in cotton. The stitch markers will be good too. I've made some for others, but the only ones I've used myself are these little plastic rings from spotlight, half of which are broken before you open the packet. And that soap is humungous. It smells lovely.

I've had such a great time with this secret pal business, but I've been so busy that I feel I haven't had enough time to do it justice. Who would have thought that the day I started this blog, May 11 I think, that my brother would be diagnosed with a brain tumour and my whole world, and that of everyone I love, would be turned upside down. It's been almost 6 months since then, and I feel like a completely different person. I would never have survived without the support of my lovely boy Luke, and having knitting there to keep me busy when I started to become obsessive with grief. I've taken up belly dancing, which I love so much, and I started running three days a week, and have lost over 10kg as a result, and regained my self-esteem, I've quit smoking and I now only eat beautiful food made by nature, not man, and my body is loving it. Watching someone struggle for their life makes you re-evaluate your own, and I've discovered that life is absolutely fucking fantastic.

Enough drivel. The Melbourne Cup is about to start, and I've got some crocheting to get on with.

Damn Buggeration

Alas, I've decided to rip the sock and start again. Ladders! Freakin' ladders are forming between the needles, and it doesn't matter how tight I pull the stitches at the ends of the needles, they just won't go away:


I've never had this trouble before, and I've decided that it must be that the tension is too loose, so it's getting ripped and I'll start again on 2.25 needles with 60 sts round, instead of 48 sts on 3mm. I did actually notice earlier on that it seemed a bit loose, but I chose to ignore it, and now I pay the price! Very slow progress, but I've just been busy doing other things. It's getting pretty hot these days - was 33C the other day. Not natural knitting weather I suppose. We'll get there though.

Hair 'n' Stuff

Here we go, a bona fide blog entry!
Well after 20 years of long hair, I've finally had the chop. In this pic I look pretty haggard, but it's really not that bad!

I think maybe I look older, but like I'm having more fun! I did actually cry a little when she cut it off, which was pretty embarressing, but the haridresser had been a bit snappy with me before, and after I cried she was a lot nicer. That's terrible isn't it? It makes me sound like a sooky lala! Anyway, that's how I am I guess. Crybaby at the drop of a hat.

And in other news, I have been knitting again! I went to the Canberra Spinners and Weavers group this morning with my grandmother, which we usually do every week, but lately I've been busy travelling with my bro, getting him to appointments etc., but today I finally started those socks with the Fyberspates sock wool generously bestowed upon me by my lovely one skein pal. While the exchange is supposed to be over, I have the excitement of having it drawn out a little longer. It's funny, but I feel this strange connection to you secret pal, although I have no idea what your name is, what your sex is, what you look like, anything. Despite this, it's nice to send off or receive a friendly email. It seems you're like a guardian angel watching over my shoulder - or at least my blog! Well I'm sure that's all silly. Here is the beginning:

This one is a toe-up, which I've never done before. I've knitted so many top-down socks that I'm sick of them, so I thought that I could learn something new this way, plus I can use up all of the wool and make the socks as long as possible. I started the sock using the toe cast on from Anna Zilboorg's Fancy Feet (a book I love and adore and am dying to get a copy of), but I don't like how she does the heel - leaving a gap and putting it in afterwards - so I'm trying a heel from Wiseneedle.com. At the top of the sock I'll be doing some entrelac like on Dad's socks, but this time I'll try to avoid making them bulge so much. The width of the foot and leg is 48 stitches on 3mm needles, so they're about 18cm around. Seems to be working out so far. I absolutely hated starting on the toe - so few stitches on so many damn needles! But now I'm on to the brainless knit, knit, knit. I can't wait to see what the entrelac will look like with this wool.

I'm having a bit of an issue at the moment. Knitwankers. People who think that they're king shit because of how they knit. I've had several knitters mention to me that they don't use patterns when they're doing this that or the other, as though that makes you amazing, a genius ahead of your time! Sometimes I use patterns, sometimes I don't, but who gives a crap? Knitting is a creative process which people do for their own entertainment. It doesn't matter how you do it, and thinking you can piss all over other people who are enjoying themselves anyway is pretty pathetic. Besides, there is always someone better than you at anything you do, no matter how good you are at it. Comparing your skills to others is just pointless and soul destroying. Do it for the love of the art, not to make you feel that you're better than others.

Sorry, bit of a rant there. We're all equal. That's all. Man, I wish I had some kindred spirited knitters to talk to. The spinners group is okay, but often some ladies just sit around complaining about the younger generations (of which I am helplessly part, no matter how hard I try to be 50 years older!). Last time I went I was getting so offended that I had to go and sit outside with another lady who was on her own in the sunshine, and we had a lovely chat. Life is so beautiful, aren't there better things to do other than complain about everything? I guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite hey? One good thing I've noticed about the older ladies is that (most of them) actually listen when you talk, pay attention to what you say and remember it for later reference instead of just waiting for you to finish so that they can talk about themselves!

Ah, enough bitching. Better go before I become annoying.

I'm in Trouble

Whoops, haven't updated for almost a month and I got in trouble with the Aussie web ring dudes. I just haven't been knitting! I'm a very changeable person, and I have about a trillion hobbies. I've been sewing new clothes, which I desperately need, and working on my Kombi, which needs a hell of a lot of work. I didn't really think knitters would be interested at all! I'm also about to get my hair chopped off. It's been long for as long as I can remember, so I'm a bit freaked. Sigh. I'll try to do something knit-related to update with. Not enough bloody hours in the day.

Holy Balloony, Batman

Wow, I don't know where to start.
I just realised that people have left comments on this blog. I had no idea! I'll have a look at them when I've finished this. I can't believe that anyone is actually reading this!

Well, maybe I'll start with this!:

Yes! It's me and Bubby about to take off in a balloon! And here's proof that we did:

I particularly like this photo. We had to drive around for about an hour to find the right spot to take off from, and I was sure that the wind would be wrong and we'd have to wait till the next day, but then it just happenned!

Bubby was very snap-happy. And before you say it yourself, I know that I look like some kind of freakish gypsy witch or something. Here I am on my broomstick! Cackle cackle.

Well I didn't finish the socks in time for Father's Day, so Iwrapped up the first sock and gave it to Dad, and the other should be finished soon. Everything's been so crazy. I just found out that one of my friends has just bought a house, and my best friend from primary school has just had a baby! Jeez, and I still feel like a little kid messing around and having fun. Apparently I'm supposed to be all growed up now! Well I can tell you, I ain't doin' either of those things for quite some time.

Anyway, now on to the grand finale. I got a box from Mr. Postman. I opened it a little bit and there was a box within the box...

So I opened it a little bit more, and discovered a little treasure trove of red goodness!

And then I just went apeshit and opened all of the little packages and squealed with delight at each one!

Well Jeanne, this is absolutely beautiful! You put so much thought into it, and it was so exciting! Oh yeah, and Pussal enjoyed his part in the excitement!:

Mmmmm, Tasty Morsel!!

Pussal is so unaccustomed to receiving gifts that he wasn't quite sure what to do at first, but he soon made short work of that morsel!

I'm starting to feel a bit guilty that maybe my packages aren't quite up to scratch! I loved how every little parcel had red stars on it! I'm wearing the lipbalm and earrings right now, I've eaten half of the skittles (whoops) and I've drooled over the magazine several times already. I love this world, where you can receive a beautiful gift from someone on the other side of the planet who you've never met and there's so much thought put into it! Sorry, I sometimes go all gooey over the beauty of life.

Thank you once again Jeanne, and I hope that the present you receive from your pal makes all your care and attention worthwhile!

One sock down

Well, it's been quite a while. I've just been so busy. It's funny how life always has lots of stuff happening to keep you busy all the time. I went to Newcastle for a few days last weekend, and back home I've been making meals, cleaning up and washing clothes. That stuff keeps me busy all week, and then on the weekend I have back logs of people who want to see me. I seem to be forever running around for other people. It doesn't really matter, I have a good time anyway.
Tomorrow I'll be sending off the last package to my one skein secret pal, and the package for my favourite colour swap pal. Other than that, all I've managed to do is finish the first father's day sock.

Apparently Father's Day is next Sunday, so I'd better get cracking on that other one!
Gotta go and make lunch.

Flaming Pants

I'm a liar, thus my pants must be on fire. I didn't update the next day, nor the day after, or even after that. Sorry.
Anyway. This is going to be a long post, but I have to be quick because I have to cook a lamb roast tonight for my grandmother's 88th birthday. That's insane, 88. May we all be blessed to live so long. FO's, there are a couple. The chevron scarf as promised:

And a close-up:

It's quite long but I love it. I wanted to have a photo of me wearing it to give an idea of scale, but I feel funny asking people to take photo's of me, and the best I could get myself was this:

That's me looking shitty because I couldn't get a decent photo. Lovely, isn't it?

Then there are my purple pots - my felting (fulling) experiment:

I felted some handspun and threaded it through for a little coin pouch. I think they're cute. Everyone laughs at them. People are stupid. I guess I'm just a misunderstood genius. Sigh.

I don't have enough time left to say everything else damn it. Well I'll try. I've been dyeing again, this time with food colouring. It works really well. I don't know how fast it is, but according to my source, it's no worse than other dyes:

A bit blotchy, but a bit more attention will sort that out. I was so excited by them that I went out and bought every colour I could find (except black). Then I bought some spun silk from the Spinners and Weavers shop so I can have some more dyeing fun with it:

I also borrwed this:

People are always going on about this book, so when I saw it I thought I'd better have a look. It's a nice book to read, chatty and laid back. I've decided that I'll be starting a sweater soon for next winter. Speaking of Winter, it's crazy, look at this:

Violets! And Winter hasn't finished yet! Well if the violets think it's Spring, then I will too. They smell fantastic. Pussal helped me photograph them:

Pussal likes me to take photo's of his bum.

Anyway, in the meantime I've started some socks for father's day for my Daddio:

More insane socks. I'll tell him that's they're just bed socks so he doesn't feel obligated to wear them to work and get picked on by the macho wankers he works with. My dad is such a legend.

And of course, last but definitely not least, the moment you've all been waiting for - well the moment I've been waiting for - the second package from my one skein secret pal!:

Thank you once again, secret pal for a lovely present. The yarn is sock yarn by Fyberspates in Wales. I already know what to do with it. After I started the socks above for my Daddio, which were inspired by some Tibetan entrelac socks from a special sock edition of Spin Off, I decided that I'm going to make entrelac socks with the yarn, because I think the effect of the striping on the entrelac will be really interesting. Another project to start! Oh well, I'll finish the socks for Dad first. I really must start that jumper too. Anyway, the magazine is fun. There's a nice ribbed camisole I'll try out some time. I love looking at ads in magazines from other countries. Maybe I'm a bit weird. No, it's that misunderstood genius coming out again. I just find it fascinating to see what people can buy overseas. We're so deprived of quality here in Australia, especially Canberra. All of the independent small manufacturers and shops are pushed out of business by huge chain stores who sell the cheapest nastiest crap they can find. I'm so jealous of the variety overseas. Back to the point. The pencil case is great, especially now with my new-found interest in felting. I'll fill it with knitting crap soo enough! At the moment I use this really annoying box for my stitch markers and wotnot, so now I have something groovy to use instead! Lots of fun. It's from Paris! I find that very exciting, since I've never been out of Australia. I find the whole concept of just being able to pop overseas for the weekend fascinating! We're so isolated here that it costs thousands of dollars to get anywhere, even to the other side of the country. I think it's quite cheap to go to New Zealand. I will one day! Actually, I just discovered a 22 day textiles tour to Peru. You get to learn Andean textile crafts from the locals, and it includes trips to Lima, Cusco and Macchu Picchu. I am so going there! The tour itself costs $3,900 US, the flight there is separate, so I'll be saving for a while I guess. It's called Puchka Peru.

I just noticed that I've been moaning a bit about my country. Well the goverment is fucked, but the land itself is absolutely beautiful. Some of the people are okay too!

In other news, I've been collecting for my favourite colour pal. I hope he/she/it likes what I've collected. I think I would explode with ecstasy if I receieved it, but I guess that's because it's all to my personal taste! Besides, a surprise is always much more exciting than something you choose yourself.
Ah, all finished. Better get going.

Excitement and productivity

Oh so much to be excited about. I think I'll have to make them a list so I don't forget anything:
#1: The package slip has arrived for the package from my one skein secret pal has arrived. I'll have to wait till tomorrow to pick it up, but I'm getting pretty excited! More news on that tomorrow.
#2: I've been collecting some treasures for my favourite colour swap pal. I hope that this person will enjoy what I'm putting together. It's definitely more expensive than it's supposed to be, but I just can't stand the thought of sending someone a crap package. I just hope that I've chosen the right shades of this person's favourite colour. There's a lot more to a colour than its name!
#3: I've been dyeing wool with food colouring! The colours are fantastic, and so cheap. I'll have to see how fade resistant they are. I'm once again left wondering how people can eat this stuff - what is it doing to our insides? So far I've been dyeing these skeins of 12 ply Merino that have been hanging around for years, just annoying me. I had 3 skeins which were white and a few more that had suffered from a bad dyeing job some years ago with a eucalypt I can't remember. I overdyed those ones and got some lovely orangey shades. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find some big bottles of the stuff. It goes so far! At the moment I'm going for 5ml dye per skein, and there's still a little colour left in the pot.
#4: The chevron scarf was completed several days ago, and I think it's fantastic. I'm going to try and get a really good shot of it tomorrow in the sunlight.
#5: I've been felting! Although apparently to the purists it's called fulling. A rose by any other name still smells as sweet (or something like that). I've knitted up three little pouches and chucked them in the washing machine on hot (shock horror!) and I think I rather like the results, although everyone around me responds with polite silence.

That's it for now. Back with pictures tomorrow!

Stupid Happy Girl

Here I am at last. I've moved house, back to Mum and Dad's place; I swore I wouldn't ever do it, but you would never predict the situation that has arisen in our lives at the moment.
The bamboo scarf is finished.

Yes, sorry, it's an extremely crappy picture. There's a problem. It's far too long. In fact it's about twice the length it should be. I was so keen to finish the ball that it didn't occur to me that maybe I didn't need to finish it. So you know what I'm going to do - I'm going to rip out half of it. I haven't gathered the courage to do it yet, and new projects have kept me from thinking about it too much, but if I don't do it, I'm just going to have this beautiful scarf hanging in the cupboard for the rest of my days, and it would be such a waste. Anyway, it'll mean having more bamboo yarn to do something with. When I get this done then I'll take a proper photo.

The chevron scarf is on its way.

Here it is after one row was completed - all 453 stitches (it's knitted lengthwise). I spent hours casting on and doing that first row (the first row is always the worst) and the next day realised that I had made a great error, and ripped it all and started over, only to realise once I had cast on all 453 stitches again that I hadn't actually done anything wrong in the first place! Stupid girl! You live and you learn. So here it is about 10 rows in:

And you can already see the zigs and zags coming through:

I'm having great fun with this one. Do you like my colours? Well I do. I don't know why it's suddenly come to me that I have to knit all these scarves. This one should be done pretty quickly, and then I have a couple more projects up my sleeve.

Guess what I got for my birthday?

eep! So pretty. Noro Silk Garden. 45% silk, 45% kid mohair, 10% lambswool. I chose two different colours so I could use the beautiful slip-stitch pattern in Boo, Too from Knitty. I have to use them wisely, as this is all I could get. I'm thinking of mitten-type thingo's which go up the arm for as long as I can get the balls to go. Arm-warmers I suppose. The other option is of course a scarf, but I already have more than I can use, and Winter only lasts for one more month. Oh I am ever so happy.

The other project in the pipes is Snowball's Chance in Hell from The AntiCraft for a friend of mine who I think would love them. She's one of my favourite people, and I thought she deserves something funky. Only problem is that you have to measure the person who's going to wear them. How will I manage that? Maybe I'll have to get her really drunk.

IOU 1 Real Blog Entry

I'll get to it soon. Just a quick update. The bamboo Branching Out scarf is finally done. It needs to be blocked, then the piccies will be forthcoming. Tonight I'm starting the chevron scarf I mentioned earlier, but decided to use some stuff from my stash rather than buying some new stuff. It'll be a nice fun quick project to ease me up from the seemingly endless Branching Out scarf, a bit of a relax before I do something more interesting. It was my birthday on Wednesday and I had the best birthday ever. My lovely boy bought me a ride on a hot air balloon, which I've been wanting to do for about 15 years (there's a bit of a balloon fetish in Canberra), and Mum said she'll take me to one of my favourite yarn shops and we'll get whatever I want... she should be careful what she says... there's some Noro there with my name on it I think...or this handpainted merino...or this blue and green mohair........
Well, I've been moving house, which is why there are no piccies and no progress. Have to be out by Monday, so after that, the entries will be back to their usual sporadic selves. I've been so busy that I forgot that my driving licence would expire yesterday and I should get another one, but the motor registry is closed till Monday, and I have to move my crap by then, and I don't legally have a licence!!! Damn bureaucracy!!

Favourite Colour Swap Questionnaire

I've been having so much fun with the One Skein Exchange that I've joined the Favourite Colour Swap.
Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire

1. What are your top three favorite colors?
Scarlet/bright red, sea-tone bluey-greens, and royal purple.

2. What crafts do you really enjoy?
Knitting, spinning, dyeing with plants, simple weaving.

3. What products do you really covet?
I mostly really enjoy handmade things or things which are quirky or unusual

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things?
I love bushwalking and hiking, silversmithing (which is my trade), sewing, baking, eating, reading, lounging around, patting my cat.

5. Is there anything you collect?
Natural yarns for knitting up, cat figures, unusual handmade jewellery.

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol?
Leo and Year of the Dog

7.What are your favorite……scents/smells?
Rose, Jonquils, coconut oil and Lily of the Valley

…types of music and/or bands?
So many I can't even think where to begin. My latest favourites are Elbow, Queens of the Stoneage and Supergrass.

…authors?
I like Sci-Fi, particularly the older classics such as HG Wells and Jules Verne. In fact I love lots of ninteenth century English authors such as Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) and Oscar Wilde. I also adore Jane Austen. I really prefer novels to poetry. I'm actually also a graduate with a Classics degree in Latin and Ancient Greek, and I love Homer in particular.

…animals?
Puss Cats

…places to shop?
Anywhere that sells non-mass-produced things. I really love objects which have a touch of the maker in them.

…season?
Hmm, difficult, they're all beautiful in their own ways. I think it's probably Spring, because I love flowers and life and fresh new beauty.

…yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies?
I'm not so fussed, I look for beauty and uniqueness, although I'm not all that hot on synthetics, but I can live with them!

…candies or goodies?
Oh it's all good!

8. Do you have any wish lists?
Only in my head!

9. Are you allergic to anything?
No.

10. Do you have any pets? What are they?
Pussal - have a guess! (He says "meow")

11. Please include anything else you would like your secret pal to know about you- anything that would be helpful in finding you little gifts that you will really enjoy.
Well, it's obvious by now that I really love handmade things, even simple things. I also love receiving things from places which are unique to that place - for example a lolly which can only be found there, or something produced by a local industry which you would never see in little old Canberra, Australia.

This has been a really fun questionnaire!

Observations from my Sick Bed

Okay, so I don't really have any observations from my sick bed, because the last few days in said sick bed have been spent puking, grasping my stomach in agony, running from sick bed to the toilet to, well, release my bowels, in a very severe and (sorry) runny manner, and then sleep and wish the whole thing would just f*** off. It wasn't pleasant at all, as you may have gathered. I did a few rows on Branching Out, and I have a photo to prove it:

Pretty exciting huh? You can tell how it's progressed hey? And it's blurry to prove that I really was sick. Just for good measure, here's a picture out of my bedroom window/door:
It's the middle of Winter here, so it probably doesn't look too impressive, but right in the middle is a rose I planted about 10 years ago, Queen Elizabeth, and behind that is an apple tree planted at the same time which has the most delicious apples I've ever tasted.
So that's why I haven't posted recently. Tomorrow is my birthday, and I've decided that I want to finish this scarf by tomorrow. I don't know if it'll happen. I've done about 4 and a half repeats today, and the ball is getting quite small. I'm desperate to knit something else. I am getting so bored.
I'll update soon, when this damn thing is finished!

The Wonders of Golden Hands

Well, I can finally get on with this blog. I've just spent the last eternity uploading pictures for this entry. I think that I am possibly on the slowest broadband connection ever. I swear dial-up isn't as slow as this.
First, I thought there should be a proper piccie of my finished Eucalyptus cinerea Scarf:

Well, it's good enough. You get the idea. Maybe I should have smiled or something... You also get to see the lower half of my ugly mug (face) and my new earrings I just finished making today. Did I mention that I'm a silversmith? Well I am, so there you go. Actually, the earrings and the scarf go well together. I'll have to remember that. I'm kind of tossing up whether or not to block this scarf. I think it looks fine as it is. I guess it could be a bit longer. I'll just leave it for the moment I think.

Next is the progress of Branching Out:

I'm pretty sure I'm not half-way yet. I've done 19 repeats and there's heaps of yarn to go. I'm starting to get a bit tired of it, but I really want to finish before I start anything else. I just know that I won't finish it otherwise. By now you may be aware that I always have a million projects up my sleeve... Oh yeah, in the picture the scarf is draped on a pedal organ. It was the only dark thing around. The pattern shows up so much better on a dark background.

Next up, some friends gave me this for my birthday (which, incidentally, is coming up on the 26th of July):

A good old Golden Hands publication from 1976. I've already decided that I am definitely making that zig-zag scarf on the cover. I've been against making scarves in the past because they seemed so boring, but I'm getting into them like crazy at the moment. They can really make an outfit if they're good. I'm thinking I'll try it in autumnal colours - someone once told me that those colours are my natural match, whatever that means. I'm thinking of red, maybe maroon, yellow, a chocolatey brown and plum purple. Maybe that combination sounds rough, but it works in my head. I'll have to try to find the colours.

Of course, as comes with any old publication of this type, there are some god-awful patterns. Exhibit A:

This thing is so ghastly that I've decided to learn how to crochet just so I can make this monster. I think that just about every household has one of those rugs that looks like this, and it doesn't seem to matter what colour combination is involved, they still look rank. But there's also a kind of familiarity about them, that every single one you see looks practically identical, even though they represent hours of work by an individual who was trying to make something great. In the radio oncology waiting room where we go every day for my brother to have his treatment, slung over the back of every chair in the room is a knee rug made up of these squares. While they are a bit depressing, more so because I've never seen anyone in the waiting room actually use one, they do warrant some respect because someone, probably a patient or the relative of one, decided that the patients here needed something warm and comfortable, something handmade and given with love from a complete stranger. It's a small expression of how beautiful humans can be when we're not screwing eachother over.

Another pattern from this book:

I actually really like this one. Maybe it's the romantic fuzzy focus, the unbound silky hair and the spring-time meadow, but it's just so pretty. Of course I would have to change the colour scheme. I'm thinking mohair in grape for the patterned section and red (again, the colour I can never escape from) for the ribbed parts. I think it could work, if I can get past the sizing. The largest size is for a 106.5cm bust. I'm pretty sure that mine's at least 120. I am, how do I say it...fairly well endowed. Might have to jig this pattern a bit.
That's it for today kiddies.

Lace Nuts

I have just found the most insane knitted lace here. It is absolutely incredible. I just don't understand doyleys and lace tablescloths though. They're beautiful and must be so rewarding to make, but I know that I would just end up having them folded up in a drawer somewhere for decades. Maybe if I had a mansion with millions of tables which need covering and vases to put on doyleys. I really prefer to wear my knitted stuff - I guess so I can show it off....
There are so many knitting podcasts now. I really wish I had time to download and listen to them all. I haven't even had time to listen to Cast On for a couple of months, which is my absolutely favouritest thing in the world to listen to. I love Brenda Dayne. I want to give her a big warm hug. When my brother was diagnosed with a brain tumour, he was in Newcastle, about 5 hours north of Canberra where I live. I stayed in Newcastle for about 2 weeks, miles away from everything I know: my home, my friends, my partner, everything familiar. I had no one to comfort me or to cry to. I'd had about 5 minutes to pack my bag before the plane left, and I had no idea that I was going for more than a couple of days - I'd thought we could bring him home immediately - so I had about 2 changes of clothes and my iPod, and just by chance that day I had uploaded about a dozen episodes of Cast On to it. Well I stayed at the hospital all that time, and my life seemed to be falling apart. My brother is 5 years older than me and we've always been very close. He's my hero, always has been. I can continue living through anything that gets thrown at me as long as I have my lovely brother. Words can't express it, you know what I mean. Some things are too profound even to contemplate. I spent most waking hours sitting by my brother, trying not to cry in front of him, while my family sent me crazy with their bizaare antics. During rest periods I would walk or run in the beautiful forest around the John Hunter Hospital and just listen to Cast On. I swear Brenda saved my sanity - she took me out of my situation and reminded me of the rest of the world at a time when the rest of the world didn't seem to exist, or matter particularly.
I knew I said this wouldn't be a journal, but I really had to explain how much I love Cast On! I really want to listen to It's a Purl, Man. I find male knitters fascinating. I've never met one. I bet they're really attractive. Actually, while I'm on the topic, have a look at Menknit Magazine. They have some great patterns, which, once again, I will have to try out some day. I really should put all these links up the side. Next time I have a while to spare to fool around with html I'll do that. Actually, just quickly, before I forget, there's also The Panopticon and Crazy Aunt Purl. See ya!

A Clean(er) Slate

I just went through that last entry from yesterday and deleted some crap. This blog is not about my personal life, it's about knitting and spinning!
Just bought some fine undyed 1 ply silk and some purple 2 ply silk from eBay.

The undyed stuff is apparently about 3000m long! That's 3 km! I'm planning to divide it into separate skeins and dye them different colours. Never dyed silk before, or used synthetic dyes (other than Kool-Aid!). Have to try not to screw it up. I want to use it to do more plying with dyed handspun wool. It's just so fun and looks beautiful.
For the purple 2 ply I'm thinking of something really luxurious, like a fine lace shawl. I'm getting into Branching Out, I'm not getting lost anymore, and I don't have to concentrate so hard. I am starting to get a wee bit bored, because there's no variation. At least each repeat is 10 rows. I think I've finished 11 or 12 repeats, and I'm nowhere near even halfway through the bamboo yarn. It's so lovely and silky. I found some for sale on eBay for far more than I'm willing to pay. Anyway, I think I could enjoy a larger lace project, and I think a lovely dark purple shawl would be just the thing.
Had a look at Knitty today, and there's a new issue out with some beautiful socks and glove-type things. I am so grateful that there are some beautiful and funky patterns out there for free. There's just no chance at all of finding any good patterns in the shops around here.
I need to bite the bullet and knit up this beautiful green handspun which my grandmother gave me. I want to make something beautiful and worthy of the wool. There's this New Zealand company called Possumdown who make absolutely beautiful knitwear. There was a particular cardie kind of thing with a zipper which I was thinking of trying to copy. I went to find a picture of it on their web page and I found this instead:


Okay, so it's a bad picture, but you get the gist. I've never really been one for asymmetrical collars, but this thing really works. It's a pity it costs NZ$330. Possumdown has this amazing look. I can't begin to describe it. So I thought I might try something like this. I'll probably change my mind soon enough.
That's it for today I reckon.

Rushing...

Here I am at last. I lied about updating the next day. Sorry.
First I must show you the grape Kool-Aid dye batch:

You can't really see the colour terribly well, but it's reasonably close. It smells like wool and bubblegum. I must think of a one skein project to use it for. My skeins tend to be really short too...

Next, my Eucalyptus cinerea scarf:

I couldn't get a better picture. The light today is terrible - really overcast and miserable. You can kind of get the gist of the colour and design here. It's a little more red, and the scarf is about 30cm wide and 150cm long. It had to be pretty short because I only had 5 skeins, and as I said, they're pretty short. The stitches are very large, so the scarf is a bit like a net. On Thursday night I'm off to the exhibition opening of a friend, and I'm intending to wear it. I'll see how it goes.

Lastly, bamboo scarf:

This is Branching Out from Knitty. I haven't really tried any lace before, and this pattern is supposed to be a good one for knitters who want to get a start into lace. The thing is, I think this pattern hates me. I can be going along just fine, thinking that everything is working out, and then I discover that I've screwed up big time! In the first repeat I somehow got a stitch reversed or something, so one stitch looks a bit wrong, and in the third repeat I somehow managed to drop a stitch without even noticing! I've never had that happen before. It has been so infuriating! I managed to fix it though by undoing several rows to get to the root of the problem - it wasn't just a simple matter of pulling the stitches back through with a crochet hook! The yarn itself is lovely, but I think it might be why I'm having so much trouble. It's lovely and soft and smooth, which means that the stitches happily drop off the needle. It acts a little like cotton, with no stretch like wool has, but it's so lovely and smooth. I definitely want to get more of it! I had a look at the website of the supplier, http://www.soysilk.com, and they also have fibre made of soy and corn, all in beautiful colours. There are also some lovely patterns which I'll have to attend to some day...

Dyeing to use a bad pun...

Okay, where do I begin? I have no pictures at the moment, but I've been dyeing like mad. I did several batches of Eucalyptus cinerea which worked beautifully. I got the most gorgeous rich oranges. The other day I looked at them and decided that they would look very nice as a scarf worn with black, for when I need to look a little classy for exhibition openings and wotnot. So I just did a simple scarf in garter stitch but with gigantic needles, about 15mm. It came out beautifully. Really simple but effective. I'm certain that the key to elegance is simplicity. I'll post a picture tomorrow or so. Maybe, just maybe, I'll model it for the camera...maybe...
I have a couple of branches of E. nicholii, another eucalypt that produces oranges, I'll try them soon, but I have to spin some more now, since my skein collection is running low.
I've tried out the grape flavoured Kool-Aid (thank you secret pal) and have a lovely purple (which smells like bubble gum). I'll try the watermelon-cherry flavour after a bit of spinning. I can't believe people give this stuff to their children to consume. I really like having teeth, they enable me to eat solids. Anyway, my aunt got excited about the Kool-Aid and checked it out on the net, and discovered that you can also dye wool with jelly! Well, that's readily available here, so I'll give it a go. The wool must get a bit gooey, but some of the colours would be fun. I discovered one source of Kool-Aid for Australia, but it only seems to have the sweetened varieties, and I hear that you shouldn't use them for dyeing.
Yesterday I acquired some madder root from my grandmother's spinning group. I'm excited about trying that out too. It seems fairly straight forward. Not like using indigo, which I read about last night. Complicated. You can't even drip anything into the dye bath. I don't know how the hell I'm going to manage that.
Anyway. I need to have a bit of a whinge. I don't want this blog to become my diary, because reading people's diaries is somewhat akin to having bamboo shoots shoved under your fingernails. However, stuff isn't so good. I've been evicted from my lovely flat. I have to be out a couple of days after my birthday (happy birthday Dina, now get the hell out). I can't find anywhere to move that I can afford, so I have to go back to my parents' house for a while, which I swore I would never do. I also found out today that I have to take leave from uni until next year. I am going to be stuck in a hell hole with my two angry f---ed up parents, one with a superiority complex, the other with an alcohol problem, with my poor brother who can't do anything for himself, or get away at all. I won't be able to go to uni and do my work or enjoy my friends, I won't have any space of my own at all. The only way I can get out is to stay with my boyfriend who never cleans up after himself, whose room smells of dirty clothes and has dirty cups and used tissues all over the floor.
Okay, I'll calm down now. I'm hoping to rent a studio to share with a friend, where I can go and make stuff from time to time. Maybe there'll be room for a couch and a fridge with some beer. I have my life and my health, I live in a country where I can get an education, good health care, and I won't get shot, raped or mugged when I walk down the street. Life is great.
Piccies and happiness next blog.

Blah Blah Blah Kiss!!

Well, I'm going to see if this works.
The computer I'm forced to use at the moment doesn't seem to like blogger at all, and whenever I've tried to blog, it logs me out and I lose what I've written, but it seems to be okay so far, so let's see how it goes.
I have so much to say. Have to get everything in order. First thing, skull bag. All the knitting is finished, or has been for a while. After going my own way and just making up bits of the pattern, I decided that it looked awful, so I frogged the bottoms of the bag itself and the unas and did them all flat instead of three-dimensional, and I think it looks a lot better:

And here's the back, with the hidden una revealed under the large una:

As for the shoulder strap, well I just can't seem to be bothered to hurry up and finish it, so I do about a centimetre a day before I get bored and do something else. Here it is so far:

I'm not enjoying it at all, I just have to finish the damn thing and then I can use the bag - at least after I've woven in the ends and sewn up the floats. So that's just around the corner.

Next thing, dyeing. Every two or three years I get a sudden enthusiasm for dyeing with native Australian plants. There are some amazing colours, especially from eucalypts, so I've been doing some of that, but I'm not doing very well so far. I've been using lichen, and I know that once I managed to get the most beautiful dark brown from rock lichen, but I've never managed it again. Maybe the lichen around here has absorbed too much pollution. So these were my attempts without a mordant:

Wow, you would not believe that 24 hours has passed since I wrote that last sentence. I have had that much trouble just getting this picture to show. Anyway, back to the point. So I ended up with two revolting colours. The one on the left could possibly end up okay if used amongst more interesting colours. The one on the right is about as beautiful as jute twine. So today I finished dyeing a couple of skeins with alum and Argyle Apple, a type of eucalypt. It's well known, at least in my family, for its dyeing properties. I got the most beautiful bright orange from it, but tomorrow I'm going to double the amount of material and try for something closer to crimson. Here's the pot on the stove:

I've gone a bit crazy with the dyes lately, and it's good to finally see some good results.
In other news, I bought a lace knitting book on eBay. It mostly has doyleys and stuff and these beautiful lace tablecloths which I think would make great shawls, so here's the one I think I'll knit one day, when I've knitted the millions of other things I want to knit:

I hope it won't just look like I'm wearing a tablecloth...
The book is called First Book of Modern Lace Knitting, and it's by Marianne Kinzel.
And finally, there's my day yesterday. My brother had headaches and nausea at the breakfast table, which were the problems he was having before they discovered the tumour, and then he discovered some pus on his head. We all started freaking out a bit, wondering what was going on. He starts radiotherapy on Monday, so something going wrong right now is just not good. So mum drove poor Alex to the GP, while I drove my aunt and grandmother to their thing they had to go to, and then I got a call from the girl I live with saying that the landlord had given us one month's notice to leave! So I went over to my place. I live in a sort of granny flat thingo out the back of the house which my friends live in. The flat is all mine, and I love it. It's rundown and is freezing in Winter and boiling in Summer, but it's so cute and funky. Maybe I'll put up some pics sometime. So I talked to Cara and Miguel, and they said that the landlord was either going to sell the place, or raise the rent, but he was going to come around and look some time. We were all upset, because we really enjoy it there. So I was pretty bummed, and I went to my front door...and there was a package...a package from the UK...a package with squishy things and hard things inside, so I opened it and.....

Eeeeeep! You just made my day secret pal!!! I was so touched with how well thought out the presents were. You could obviously tell that I'm a bit of a daggy old hippy, at least it seems you could, because there's this amazing 100% bamboo yarn, which is really right up my alley, and organic chocolate - I'm constantly trying to move to the organic lifestyle, and failing when I realise I'm too poor, and Kool-Aid! I've heard so much about this mysterious Kool-Aid stuff, about dyeing wool with it, and I'm pretty sure you can't get it in Australia; Whenever I see stuff about it on the net, I just pass it off as another weird American junk food, but now I can give it a go! Thank you so much. Even though I've been expecting the package, I didn't realise how wonderful it would be to get a present from someone I don't know on the other side of the planet. This whole experience is ten times better than I imagined it would be. The bamboo yarn is amazingly soft, like silk, and the colours are so subtle and beautiful. I've showed it to all of my family, and they're amazed. My dad in particular just can't get over it. Whenever he sees it he just goes "wow, that's incredible, how do they make that?". It's quite a feat, because my dad is rarely amazed by "girly stuff" as he would think of it. I should get him knitting, I'm sure he'd find it much more fun than he imagines. Maybe when he's old and grey and I'm looking after him, I'll threaten him with a nursing home unless he takes up knitting. Sorry, getting a bit side-tracked here. I've decided what I'm going to knit with the bamboo yarn, I just decided then. Of course I could change my mind, because I'm a pretty inconsistent person. I think I'll try Branching Out from Knitty. I've been wanting to do it for a while, but now I'm pretty sure this yarn would be perfect. It'll make a beautiful Spring scarf.
The point is, secret pal, I want to kiss you, I couldn't be grumpy after that. And in the end it turned out that Alex (my bro) just had a bit of an infection from the brain surgery, and after some antibiotics, it's cleared up reasonably, so he can start his treatment tomorrow just fine. As for my flat, well I'll just have to wait and see.