This is Tropical Cyclone Laurence...



TC Laurence, Laurie to his friends, is new in town. He's been traveling down North West coast here trying to make friends.

I for one am always eager to meet new people and make new friends, welcoming new folks to the community and trying to be warm and inclusive. Since TC Laurie is making his way closer to my camp, and thus possibly making friends with ME, I'd like to offer him some advice...



Laurie, I find the best way to make friends is not to come whirling in, aggressive and showy - but to be polite, well mannered and friendly. You don't need to be the toughest, gnarliest, most hard-core kid in the class to stand out and be admired. Uprooting towns and leaving people cowering inside with torches and radios does NOT ingratiate you to a community. Laurie, settle down a bit then you can come out to play.

Mystery knit!

I have a bit of mystery gift knitting going on!!



I just hope I can get it finished in time... Isn't that always the way?!

p.s. Crowd surfed for the first time last night - AWESOME!

I Only Like Pompoms as a Friend

I fell in love with the 'i HEART pompoms' pattern and after some extensive Ravelry stalking, finally cast on! Knitting with the Bendigo Alpaca yarn is a dream, it's perfect for this pattern and so lovely



I'm only moment from the finish line with this one - it is sitting on my shelf pompom-less and bereft, I really must get my act together, whip up a couple of pompoms and cord and then it will be DONE!

Lovely weekend with Lovely Mum!

Shortly before I flew up here to work away again, I spent a wonderous weekend with my lovely Mum. It was just the two of us and we spent three glorious days together crafting, talking and relaxing.



I feel so blessed for my parents, and count them amongst my closest and best friends in the world. It feels such a special treasure to have been able to spend the time together with Mum, nestled away in her gorgeous home delighting in each others' company.



Mum has recently re-taken up the knit, so we spent quite a bit of time knitting in various places; cafes (with delicious meals), the loungeroom (watching movies) and of course sitting on Mum's fabulous decking.



As is always the way with magical times, it seemed to be over all too soon - but I know there will be other wonderful times, and we can keep the magic with us for now in the memories and shared delights until next time :)

No Deja Vu here

There's so much I want to blog about - adventures, crafts, fabulous times - but at the moment I've barely had time to log on, let alone upload pictures and put together a post!



I'm back up North in the Pilbara working on the next construction site job and it has been INTENSE! Even though we did this last time - I flew up first, shweetie was brought on board a couple of months later - and I've already spent over a year and a half living in a Fly-In Fly-Out camp, deja vu doesn't seem to apply!

Since the day I flew in (5:10am no less...) it's been non stop action with a totally new project, new team, different site, with different and stringent regulations to remember and adhere to, new camp and room... the list goes on! How do I get to work in the morning? Where do we pack crib (lunch)? What's the postal address here? Who do I see to get hooked up to the work server? and so on! So much to absorb and get right!

Suffice to say I've been pretty exhausted each day when I finally get home to my little room.
But the last two days I've been feeling myself again and settling in a little, much to my relief! Last night we had our Christmas party which was great fun and today was officially a Rostered Day Off (RDO - this site has a 6 day week: every Sunday off, an improvement on the last site which had a 13 day fortnight with only every second Saturday off!) but my manager and I headed in to work anyway which was fine. So much can get done without the distractions! We cranked some tunes, smashed through the work and went out on site and climbed to the dizzying heights at the top of the steelwork. A small crew of dogmen, riggers a crane driver were in too extending the boom on the big 250 tonne crawler so we headed over to say g'day and were able to help them out pulling some of the collosal cables into place - like pirates on a huge rope!

So no exciting crafty posts just yet I'm afraid, but hopefully soon, as long as the rather dismal internet service out here can manage photo uploads and such!

ICANHASHILARITY!

Icanhascheezburger delivers again!

My Retro Skirt!

Allow me to finally display.. My first sewn skirt!



Terrible photo - at night with a mobile phone - bad combo!

But I didn't have time to take a better one at the time, and now I have washed the skirt and discovered it DEMANDS ironing after a wash! Ah well...

The gorgeous monochromatic retro flower print was actually nestled in amongst a scrap grab bag of fabric I snatched up when I first bought my sewing machine. My shweetie suggested a grab bag of fabric practice on, and lo! This fabulous fabric (I keep almost typing 'yarn' I'm so used to always utlising THAT craft material!) was in amongst the mish mash, in two long strips.

I took the pattern from my favourite skirt, but had to adjust it to suit to strips of fabric - hence the black panels!

Over all I'm very happy with it, the only downfall being the recently discovered high maintenance nature of the fabric! Ah well, a quick ironing and I'm off! Promise to take some better photos once the iron has been wielded ;D

NaKniMo 2009!

Can it truly be November already??

Yes it seems to be, and that means all the NaMos are out!

• NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month (30,000 word novel in November)

• NaKniSweMo - National Knitting of Sweater Month (30,000 stitch sweater (American, hence 'sweater' not 'jumper') in November)

and the NaMo I'm a part of...

• NaKniMo - National Knitting Month! (30,000 stitches knit in November)

I like the freedom NaKniMo gives me, which something like NaKniSweMo can't offer - I'd have to knit ONLY the jumper and that won't work with me, since I've several gift knits and things to work on, plus my own personal knits.

This is the second year I've signed up for NaKniMo and I am PUMPED!! Very excited to crank out the stitches and achieve the goal of 30,000, an average of 1000 per day.

I'm not off to a great start since I've had to rip back my cast on and first rows of the I Heart PomPoms hat I've just started, and also the beginnings of the Girasole blanket! DRAT!



I had finished chart A of Girasole and had pressed on for the next 6 rounds to then realise I had HALF the stitches I should have! Gah!

Nevermind.. I'll sort out these fiddly beginnings and then I'll be on my way. I find the start of projects, particular circular ones, the most time consuming. Once the knit is on the go it's much easier to zoom along and tally up those stitches!

If you'd like to join us in our NaKniMo adventures, head on over to the group on Ravelry HERE. You'll find guidelines, tally posts and so on plus MUCH enthusiasm, encouragement and good times :D We'd love to have you join us, and you can still jump in now! Of course if you're not a Raveler you can always tally your own stitches in a wee notebook or some other method. It really is a great way to bust out a project or two you've been having trouble committing to or getting done.

Not a knitter?

What over 30,000 tally will motivate you to meet a goal and achieve something big and satisfying?

Cross-stichers - A 30,000 stitch cross-stitch design?
Golfers - 30,000 golf swings?
Gamers - 30,000 point score, or 30,000 slain zombies?

Plied!!

Despite some tangle-tastic frustrations yesterday (which I wisely stepped away from to sit on the couch with my sweetie watching a ridiculous hollywood action flick instead).... the madras spritzer is Navajoed!! (can that be a verb?)

Hard Core Fibre Pr0n!

Madras fibre - Treetops Colour Harmonies


I loved Bon's comment on the last spinning post so much, I had to name a post after it and dish out some more!!


Separated/pre-drafted and balled up


Mmmm... the colours conjure thoughts of pina coladas, lolly water and tasty fruit spritzes....


Sunday spun singles

Baublery

I picked up this tackle box for a wonderful bargain this weekend from the local camping and outdoors store.



It may seem a little odd for a vegetarian purchase.. have I truly taken up fishing?

In fact no, the case isn't for organising fishing hoo-hahs but to finally put my baubles in order!!

Previously they were in such a state I barely wore any of my lovely things because I couldn't find them, or forgot I had them. So I did a complete re-evaluation and laid everything out...



But now look at the wonderous order of the baublery display!



Hurrah!! :D

The Tale of Two Fibres

Recently I made a purchase of some wonderful fibre from Treetops Colour Harmony, with gifting in mind!



This lovely merino in Rhubarb from Treetops Colour Harmonies came in to my world with some other fibre destined to be shaped and moulded to be gifted to my lovely Mum as part of her birthday gift this year. Though Mum has knit in the past the skill has long been in hiatus until recently, when she has once again taken up the needles! *crowd shouts 'Hurrah!!'*



So this year for her birthday I wanted to gift her some handspun, and spin some of it in her presence so she could be part of the process :) We would have loved to do some spinning together, but time didn't allow this visit, but next time I hope we will have a craft fantastica with loads of time for spinning, quilting, knitting, crochet.....!!

I digress...

The first yarn spun for Mum, and spun while staying in her gorgeous home, was the Gypsy JamBerry - of which I have only progress shots to share so far (though I'm sure I can grab some finished shots from Mum!)



I wanted a very exciting, alternative feel so spun a thick & thin, then plied with a thin golden thread to give a very corrogated and textured, wild looking yarn.



The rich magenta, purple and red with little flashes of gold here and there made the yarn seem like a Gypsy woman's hair, wild and curly, with the rich colours of her silk scarf and the golden glint of her hoop earrings...



The other fibre I took back home with me and have just now wound it up into an edible looking cake ready to send off!



This Rhubarb is my second experience of the Navajo ply (which I LUFF) and I'm so happy with how it's turned out :D



It feels like a nice medium weight yarn to my hand, but I'm not a terribly good judge, so I'll do my best to measure it up before I send it off to Mum! But it looks to be just the ticket for a born-again knitter ready to hit the needles again after some time off - enough yarn to make a decent accessory (hat, scarf, cowl, mittens, cushion, cozy of some sort..) and with personal interest and colour but not too daunting - hurrah!!

New yarn!

Oh how delicious!



I fell in love with Koigu KPPPM when my secret pal sent me a two skeins years ago. So when I saw the fabulous giant tree of coiled skeins over at Calico & Ivy I simply couldn't resist!

The only problem was which colour?? So many to choose from!

This colourway was so unique I was so drawn to it, and now the question is... what to knit?!



I thought of a Baktus (non Ravelry link)... but that didn't look how I wanted it to... so now I'm thinking of perhaps the Sockhead Hat (non Ravelry link). The yarn is too variegated to knit lace, and I could knit up another triangular shawl with eyelet ridges and garter ridges.. but I think I'd like to do something a little different... hmmmm!

Any other suggestions?

Commencement

This evening I learnt the circular cast on and have taken the first weeeeny step on the way to a wonderful experience....



Some time from now this homley, warm, Australian, lofty and earth-hued yarn will become a Girasole-like creature by my hand - and we shall snuggle beneath it my shweetie and I :)

Where the Wild Sash Is

Hehee!!



I just LUFF opportunities like these!!

DPN Danger!

Be warned!!

It can happen to YOU!

I bring you the next slasher movie....

WHEN NEEDLES ATTACK!

DEATH BY DPN!



Well, alright, that IS a little dramatic... But this is exactly what I saw when I pulled my wallet out of my bag the other day - My bag that was also housing my socks-in-progress.

One DPN had leapt free of the bundle and KEBABBED my (rather sturdy) wallet! It is seriously stabbed in their folks and I promise I had NOTHING to do with it! That picture is taken with a camera phone on the table of the cafe directly after discovery!

Heed ye this cautionary tale....

Back!

Well.. after an INTENSE week of step mum life including loads of fun, challenges, tender moments, frustration, laughter, tears, excitement, exhaustion, delight, wonder and learning across all fields... I am BACK!!

Plan to claw my way back in to control of my life any moment now - tidying things up around the house, finishing abandonned projects, replying to emails, updating Ravelry, uploading pictures to flickr, catching up on Bloglines and all those things that were put to the back-burner while we had a spunky 9 year old staying with us!

I can hardly wait until next time we have Scamp to stay - every time we see him we're more and more bonded and seem to have a better time than the last. This time we even did some crafting - not something this very sports oriented boy has ever seemed interested in before.

And he loved it!
Pencil case is still unfinished due to camping and riding, shooting range adventures, reading our book, playing wii, visiting family, remote control car, learning to juggle, playing darts, bush walks, cooking, watching movies and toasting marshmallows.....

<

But we can finish it off amongst all our other adventures of next time!!

Phat Knits

For more amazing design work such as this, check out the incredible Phat Knits!



I badly feel the need for a ginormous squooshy couch/bed made from knitted noodle!!

Forecast is for Navajo

So I've been spinning up the lovely Forecast yarn from the Spunky Eclectic fibre club from years ago.....



Spinning singles as I normally do, but something was a little different...

Something was brewing.



The Navajo Ply cloud that had been growing on the horizon for a good while now finally broke!



It was a little tangley to start with so I had to leave it for an extra day for the residual twist to relax a little... but once the storm had broken, there was no going back



I am in smitten, head-over-heels, wonder-eyed love with Navajo Plying - I even give it capital letters!!



I love how the yarn feels so balanced, I don't know if that's the right technical terms, but that's certainly how it looks and feels to me. It seems round and plump and happy - and that's always good in a skein of handspun :)



It comes in at 11 wpi, so about a DK weight/8ply weight. I just love how the colours sometimes barberpole in TRIO!



I don't have awfully much to work with - around 150 metres is my guess, but I need to measure it properly - but I'm sure I can make something lovely out of it. For now I'm happy with it sitting in it's little yarn cake (yes I've wound it up already!) for me to gaze at!

The Many Shades of Stash

I've wanted to do one of these for a long time....



Hurrah!! :D

Ta Da!!

Well the anticipation for the contest has certainly been building these last *ahem* ten days... and I not only have a prize, but a lovely somebody to present it to also!

Thank you all so so very much for all the suggestions - there is such an amazing buffet of information out there to keep a novice quilter researching, bookmarking and craving for more!

Since I've already kept you all waiting for so long I shan't delay any longer in declaring the prize and prizee!

I assigned each recommendation a number and cruised over to random.org for my first ever random number generator experience!



4? Number 4 = ERIVEN!!

I was so delighted that Eriven's number came up since I had in mind sending a little thank you parcel independent of the contest anyway since she provided such an incredibley expansive tome of suggestions!! So clearly the gods of random also thought you deserved to take the booty home!

And what is the booty I hear you ask?

The main component is a skein of this delicious, delectable and delightful Handmaiden Sea Silk!


It is an absolute dream to knit with - I hope you enjoy it Eriven!

In keeping with the Quilty Theme I have a couple of fat quarters to pad the parcel and I'm sure I'll find some other goodies too ;)

Thank you again to everyone who contributed, sorry for the delay, congratulations to you Eriven and a big thank-you hug!!

p.s The delay has been so long I actually have some quilty style projects to share already!

Quilt Inferno

Lately I've become increasingly fascinated with quilts and patchwork. The feeling has been simmering for a while, but I always tried to leave it at bay since I seem to have limited time for my currant craft passions (and limited stash space!) so I couldn't fathom adding ANOTHER such obsession to my life!

But then we went down to stay with Mum in her lovely new home, kitted out with so many of the gorgeous elements she always spoke of when we would talk about dream houses etc.. In the lovely guest room the bed was all made up with bedspread and such, and laid across the top of the covers was a beautiful square quilt. I think that was the spark that has lit my quilt inferno!!


1. Quilted Gelati Log Cabin, 2. The 'Forever' Quilt---Finally Finished. . ., 3. Detail of "Spot On" Circle Quilt

I've been having a little squiz around at various books and things, trying to find inspiration and, perhaps more importantly, education. I'd like to have a few great books of colourful, textural quality magnificence to inspire me and fuel the fire, but I feel it's very important to get at least one decent book that will cover all the basic How-Tos, hot tips and so on.

After having a bit of a trawl around the internets, I thought I would put it to you, gentle reader, with your cumulative score of wisdom to share your suggestions of wonderful quilting and patchwork books and sources.

I'll be making this a little more fun, and encouraging the wall flowers out there to get involved, by adding a priiiiize!

I would love to hear your suggestions, so please leave a comment with firstly, your recommendation for inspiration or educational quilting/patchwork books or sources, and secondly what you love about that particular volume! I'll draw the prize from all suggestions received - and I'll try to cater the prize to suit the crafts of the prizee!

Let the inspirations roll!!

p.s. Forgot to give a closing date for prize entry! Let's say, have your suggestions in by the end of Sept 18th if you'd like to be in the draw for something lovely! But if it's past that date and you'd like to comment - please do!