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.