Winkie Squares

I've spent some time lately learning how to crochet; first chains, half double crochet, and I have now learned the classic Granny Square!



When I flew back home recently, I had returned for the day to give support to my family and attend the funeral of a wonderful great aunt of mine - known as Aunty Winkie. I think I will always think of Granny Squares as Winkie Squares as she was as sunshiney, reliable, versatile and free as my first Granny Square. What a wonderful memory to embed into a fibre art :)

Turn a 180

I recently flew back home for a one day family stop over, and while I was there was able to gift the finished Lovely Warm Slightly Fuzzy beanie to my wonderful Papa. He loves it, and is currently over in the snow testing the warmth in some seriously cold climes!



When I first planned this beanie my shweetie recommended the classic fold up brim style, extolling the virtues of added warmth over the ears. So I looked through my favourites and found Jared Flood's Turn a Square and decided the pattern could be easily adapted to include a fold up brim. The yarn I used, Entwine, is a bulky weight, so I followed the 60 stitch cast on others had used for bulky weight - which worked out brilliantly!

The colours are so perfect for Dad, and the geometrical crown pattern adds a nice element of interest. Dad is a keen snowboarder (yes, I'm aware he out-cools me by a long way!) and this year he plans to learn the jump 180 degree turn (okay, by a long long way) - so I've christened this project Turn a 180, and hope it will keep Dad's bonce and ears nice and toasty, whatever awesome moves he gets up to on the slopes!

RDOs

In the knitting world we're familiar with many acronyms;
FO - Finished Object
WIP - Work in Progress
LYS - Local Yarn Shop
...and so on.

In the construction industry the two most important acronyms are;
R&R - Rest and Recuperation
RDO - Rostered Day Off

Some times an RDO isn't actually a day off, we need to come in - but on those days they ARE actually a day off, they are blissful.

This photo is from the last RDO I had off and it shows just the type of day off I love - lounging on the bed with a plethora of yarn and knitting projects around me! How delicious!

Lovely Warm Slightly Fuzzy

This last week past I have been knitting with lovely warm, slightly fuzzy yarn, on a lovely warm slightly fuzzy project for my (you guessed it) lovely warm, slightly fuzzy Papa!

He's the coolest Dad around, and each year heads over East to the snow for a snowboarding adventure. I have knit him a beanie in the past (***) but it was a little short on his forehead, and though he wears it, it is an inside beanie, not a thrashing down the white slopes, keeping Dad's ears warm from the crisp frosty air kind of beanie.

So the race has been ON to finish the beanie before Dad flies out to the snow!

I'm basing the beanie on Jared Flood's excellent Turn A Square pattern, but with a couple of changes.

These shots are from last week and the good news is.. I've finished! FO project photos to come :)

Fuzzy Ferret Feet

I was so inspired and filled with the Frenzy-of-the-Felt following my shweetie's Fuzzy Feet that I cast on almost straight away for a pair of my own!

I'm using the same brand of yarn, but in a different colourway which I'm sure will felt just as wonderfully with those great colour changes.



Unfortunately this poor knit has been way-laid on numerous occasions, and is in fact still in hibernation! First I lost a needle, so couldn't very well knit with just one. Then I did the wrong thing once I picked the knitting back up again after so long so had to rip back a few rows. And alas! It turned out I HADN'T done the wrong thing, so had to reknit it exactly as I'd undone!

But now it's ship shape and ready to go - just as soon as I finish my current deadlined gift knit!

Sorry Fuzzy Feet, but your time will come eventually!

52 in 52 : Mid Year Check In

It's high time I did a damage report - I mean status report - on how I'm trucking along with the 52 in 52.

You may remember (for those who have been taking notes for the test later) that I'm doing a 52 CRAFTS in 52 weeks, and also the 52 BOOKS in 52 weeks - as I did last year.

Well, that is, I'm trying to do them - but as you can see from my whiz-bang spreadsheets below I'm a bit behind!

I can't really explain this lack of finished objects and books - the only thing I can think of is that my work hours are longer now than on previous jobs, although we do get an extra day off each week. So who knows?!



It's so good to touch base like this though and regroup for the second half of the year. The Onslaught, it shall be. It shall be an onslaught of projects and books - fibre and wool scraps will fly across the room in the frenzy of knitting, spinning and general crafting - books will be churned through like the great thumping unstoppable water wheel I always imagined at the BeanStalk Giant's home. Yes, yes it shall be so!

Let's see if I can keep that passion and make it happen! I also notice the difference between times when I'm away on site on my own (February this year) and when Sir Shweetie and I are together - obviously I spend a lot of my free time with Sir Shweetie - and we don't tend to spend much time helping each other finish hand knits or reading aloud! Below is a shot of some of the books on my 'list', a few of which I'm already part way through. (Could that be a reason? Non-monogamous reading?)


Since my job now doesn't involved tedious hours of data entry, plus we're not actually allowed to bring mp3 players on to the construction site - audio books consumption has been lower than last year. But there's still home time, there's still the bus ride to and from work, the flights home and now there's even CROCHET! I can still make it!

Re Dipping

Another post on my newly finished super cozy and soft handspun rainbow beanie. I had lost the camera so couldn't post any shots of the beanie BEING a beanie!



So there you have it - officially a beanie that fits on my head, covers my ears and gets LOTS of laughter and comments from work colleagues when i wear it into work *grin* (This morning was quite breezey and cool so I donned the beanie!)

I may still crochet the black around the ear flaps to match the bind off at front and back - but for now it's definitely fulfilling its purpose :)

Maiden Voyage on HMAS Crochet

On R&R I finally took the plunge, opened the Happy Hooker, picked up my hook and crocheted!



I am thoroughly enjoying it so far - it's so very different from knitting, and I don't think it will steal me away from knitting (my first fibre craft love) since it a wonderful craft in its own right, but different. The structure is so fun to put together and I'm learning a few new stitches as I go.

Dip My Head in Rainbow Juice!

Finished Object! Hurrah!!


Well dip my head in rainbow juice and call me a hippy! I am thrilled with this lovely, soft, warm beanie - knit up from a combination of rainbow handspun striped with Katia black.



I simply started at the pointy red elfin knob and worked down to the necessary circumference (isn't it the easiest thing, knitting garments for yourself - you can try them on as you go!). Then I cast off over the front and back leaving live stitches for the ear flaps. The back and forth knitting on the ear flaps was a little more fiddley as I had to carry the yarn along like in fair isle work. But that makes for very snuggley warm ear flaps!



The ear flaps are finished off with some icord and then a little tassle at each tip - I'm becoming quite fond of tassles!

Unfortunately, the weather up here has turned decided warm and muggy the last few days - it seems that our quota of one cold week for winter is up! But when the cool weather returns, my rainbow juice hat and I will be ready!

What I'm Reading

I have just finished speed reading the novella cousin to the Twilight series (groan if you must, I find the books so engaging, but yes a little vomitous - but when did vomit get in the way of good clean fun?!) which has reminded me how much I really do love to read the printed word - actual hold-in-your-hands books. LUFF!

So while we were waiting at the airport to head back up north I found myself lured to the bookshop. I felt like a kid in a lolly shop! I was almost in a frenzy glancing from book to book and settled on a few but didn't want to just buy for the sake of buying. So I was very good and went to sit back down with my shweetie to wait for our boarding call. I looked up the online price of one book that had particularly taken my fancy, and with a small amount of encouragement from the Shweetie I dashed back across the lounge (dodging the hawkers) and picked up this little number right there and then (I am enjoying it immensely);



Jackie French's A Year in the Valley fills my heart and mind with thoughts of what our life will be like once we're nestled in our own wee farm house living off the land :)

Fuzzy Delicous Coat Go Yum Yum

I have a new coat!

It is absolutely my new favourite thing and I want to wear it ALL of the time.
Down at home this was an option, but now we're back up North it's really not so practical!

F I

We've had a brief interlude of R&R but now it's back to the Fly In part of our FIFO lifestyle. There's a prize at the end of the tunnel though. It's important to remember that the sacrifices now set us up for wonderful rewards in the future together :)

Lace Knitting Makes Me Feel Nice

This lace knitting does anyway :)

I think it's the combination of big, smooth, rhythmically clicking needles in my hands, the yarn so organic and real, and the pattern seems to flow through my fingers wonderfully.



I'm very much enjoying the process - chilled out and relaxed, as-I-get-to-it sort of project. Very nourishing, very forgiving and very nice.

p.s. Had some reassuring news from a lovely nurse and Dr today about a bump in my bosom that had me a little concerned yesterday - phew :) I have celebrated the relief with choc-milk :D

Thick fluffy stripes

I have been knitting up a lacey blanket (more on that later) but found I wasn't getting enough knitting love mainly as the lace was difficult to knit in the bus on the way in to work since it's completely dark here at 5am and these roads have few street lights to knit by.

Clearly a nice simple, stockinette in the round project was required...

I had brought back the black yarn from R&R to use with the rainbow handspun for the super-fun-pointy-topped-ear-flap-with-tassles-beanie, and it didn't take long to get stuck in!



I'm now up to the stage of binding off the beanie edging and knitting the ear flaps down. The yarn looks like it will make the distance and still have some left for the tassles - hurrah!! :)

These yarns are working so well together - the textured vibrant handspun and the soft fluffy ultra thick Katia yarn I picked up when we were holidaying in Canberra - don't you love knitting with souvenir yarn?!

Ten!

Very soon our little man who lives away will be coming to visit us, and he will be big bad DOUBLE DIGITS - ten!

Since he's turning ten while he's at his mum's, but will be with us shortly after, we've decided to throw him a belated birthday bash. We have never had him with us for a birthday or Christmas and decided even if it were belated, we will have a party, I say!!

Since he lives with his mum and only visits us in holidays he doesn't have any friends his own age here, but we will have all the family and extended step-family in attendance to make the day.

We're brainstorming at the moment - cakes, parks or beach, games etc... What do you remember as being awesome from your tenth birthday? Or any birthday for that matter!

sunrise

I've got a couple of books on the go at the moment, one of which is Eric Harrison's 'Do You Want to Meditate?'.

I came across a section I particularly liked and wanted to share it with you.

Disclaimer: Eric refers to 'God' in this segment but he himself is Buddhist, so doesn't necessarily refer to the Bible-esque God. I also have a different type of belief system, so I implore you to view the 'God' reference as whatever your deity or entity works in your belief system - be it Christianity, Buddhism, Mother Nature or a mix-breed variety like mine! The focus is the quality of a clear mind.

Sunrise - ANZAC Day 2010

Spiritual Awakening - Meister Erkhardt said we must become a space for God to enter into... Awakening is like gardening: you clear the ground, plant the seed and wait.

The seed won't rise in a rank weed-infested mind. Evil is not huge and grand: it is the endless parade of banal, trivial, petty thoughts and fantasies that clutter the mind. Meditation weeds them out as they arise, moment-to-moment. "When you master the small moments, the great moment is at hand."

I found this to be a very thought provoking and enlightening. I hope you find some insight in the excerpt too :)

Ravel.me

My goodness!

I must be the slowest Raveller there is - I have just discovered the fantastic 'share' feature!



So if you click here or here you will hopefully be zoomed off through cyber-space to see my current projects as per their Ravely pages! How RAD is THAT?!

Those links I've done with an accesss link only - so I wonder, can you actually access them from the link I've used here? This one I've done with totally open privacy, so you it's even easier I hope!

New Yarn Exultation!

New yarn!!

Exult in this wonderous new yarn, dear reader!!

-We interrupt this post to bring you a Request of the Reader-

No really, you must, please extoll the many virtues of the yarn - because it seems my poor Shweetie has been all yarned out! When I returned home today and presented my wonderous skeins with glee - to be praised and admired for their colour, twist and goodness.... He wasn't interested. Sir Shweetie said he has seen too much now and has been "yarned out" and now they all look the same!! Oh noes!! So until he has 'un-yarned' enough to appreciate my yarns again I must ask you, gentle reader, to declare your thoughts of these wonderful yarns after you've read the post! Do please, I implore you! I am in LUFF with these wee skeins, but it is so much more fun to share the delight!!

-Now resuming regular blog post-

What a glorious day!! Today my lovely Mum and I ventured out for a morning (and some of the afternoon actually..) of yarn fumes, fabric and fibrey delights!

We visited two yarn stores in our town - one an old favourite, the other a brand newie neither of us had been to before - and had a rejuvenating cuppa in between. Of course we spent all of this time, including the drive there and back, talking in depth since we live so far apart a lot of the time and relish every opportunity for Mother-Daughter times!

After my last visit to the sumptuous Calico & Ivy I've been hankering for some Colinette Jitterbug action. At the time I was a very well behaved stash-diver and didn't succumb to any of this delectable jewel toned sock yarn, but this time I went there with the MISSION to take some home with me!!

(I have a specific plan for this yarn - but more on that in a later post)

My lovely Mama is the most generous person I know - which is a big call given the amazing generosity of those around me! - and she was determined to give me (another!) Birthday gift, this one a little belated, yarny and SO WONDERFUL!!

I had significant trouble deciding which three skeins would do the trick...

~or~

...but ended up with the three I had originally plucked from the shelf (isn't it always best to listen to instinct?!); Vincent's Apron, Vatican Pie and Velvet Bilberry.

Don't you love those names? They even make a story - you borrow Vincent's Apron to make Vatican Pie from the delicious Velvet Bilberry harvest.

When we continued on to the next yarn store Mum found the perfect yarn to make her next jumper!

It's such a luscious tweed from Jo Sharp and the wonderful mixed purples are just the ticket for Mum's cardi! We were both so excited at the prospect of the new project - the first cardigan Mum has knit for a while, so it's very thrilling to begin! Mum has such wonderful tension and an amazing eye for art so I know her cardi will come up a treat! :D We both gushed to each other on how delighted we both are to have a mother/daughter who can share the joys of creating!

Two

I'm still fairly struck down by this lergy - and at times like this a little Question and Answer time seems easier than original thought!!

Two names you go by:

1) Ferret

2) Knitnutt

Two things you are wearing right now:

1) Central Park Hoodie (handknit)

2) Rainbow shawlette around my neck

(Can you tell it's COLD!)

Two things you would want (or have) in a relationship:

1) Equality

2) Ridiculous and silly sense of humour

Two things you like to do:

1) Breathe in deeply

2) uhmm.. ohhh this is difficult.. uhhh.. KNIT!

Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1) To reach over and SHNORGLE my shweetie with cuddlings :D

2) To feel back to 100% (get rid of this lergy bug!)

Two things you did last night:

1) Watched a really bad ninja movie

2) Watched aforementioned movie WITHOUT knitting - very odd!

Two things you ate today:

1) Contraband cinnamon donut

2) Two nice flat mushies, cooked like a steak in butter and garlic

Two people you last talked to:

1) My shweetie

2) My Papa

Two things you're doing tomorrow:

1) Clearing/sorting /organising our storage room (nightmarish, but it'll feel good being able to find everything!)

2) Visiting my Gran :)

Two Favorite Holidays

(As in holidays/days off?)

1) Christimuss because it's such an awesome chunk of time off, plus there's decorations and fun food and all the family get together!

2) My Birthday - not an official holiday I know, but I have NEVER gone to work or school on my Birthday - ever. It's always a fun, relaxing day full of contentment and time with my loved ones :)

Two favourite beverages

1) Chocolate milk (in various forms - normal choc milk, thickshake, hot chocolate etc..)

2) Gin and Tonic

Two things about me! Things you may not have known.

1) I learnt to whistle very young - first heard whistling in the pram at age 1-and-a-half being pushed along by Mum! I imagine it was rather tuneless whistling at that point, so I've been working on that these last couple of decades

2) I have an anxiety disorder that I'm learning more about and becoming better (bit by bit!) at managing - but still sometimes get a nasty surprise from myself!

Two jobs I have had in my life:

1) Professional Fairy (tree fairy actually, if we're going to be precise, specialising in inter-species relations and PR through children's birthday parties!)

2) Coffee barrista

Two movies I would watch over and over:

1) Pride & Prejudice

2) Underworld

Two places I have lived:

1) The 'Top End' of Australia - Red dust, only two seasons of weather, and skies that go on forever

2) Switzerland - for a few months as a 12 year old, what an experience!

Two of my favourite foods:

1) Three Cheese Lasagne ( or any other ovenbaked Vegetarian dish made by my lovely Mum - they're ALL awesome!!)

2) Fresh mango

Two places I'd rather be right now:

1) Exploring our block in Tassie! (well maybe not RIGHT now, maybe snug in a tent on our block, since it's night time..)

2) Shnuggled up in bed with my shweetie (but I'm at a close second right now - shnuggled up next to him on the couch, so I can't complain!!)

Who I will tag for this!

1) Michelle of momo4ever.com!

2) Bon of threetomatoesshort

But of course, you both know that the tagging is by no means compulsory :) Consider it more of a polite invitation!

The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those whom you know.

Apologies for the poor attempt at a blog post, everyone! As soon as I'm feeling a little perkier and less head-congested I'll crack out some photos and updates :) Hope you're all well and enjoying the weather - it is gloriously rainy here which is SUCH a wonderful change from up north!!

Dreadey Date!

I had a Dreadey Date today - and am looking considerabley tidier!

~BEFORE ~ ~AFTER~

But still a little crook *screwed up red nose*

Ah well, a nice evening of knitting on the couch with my shweetie, a hot drink and a good bluray movie should be a giant step towards feeling better!!