A brief intermission

We're in Queensland right now. We have been visiting family (these are the big gums out the back of my parents place - it's a really big peaceful bush setting - very relaxing...except for the heat) and over the next couple of days will visit friends and pop in on extended family as well before making the 11-12 hour drive back down to Sydney. Unfortunately this year we've had the worst weather to be making the trip in. Christmas day hit 35 degrees C, and my folks don't have air con, but in spite of the heat people still liked their presents (handmade ones will be reported on soon) and had a good time generally. A very bizarre thing happened - as well as Hubby giving me a spanking new digital camera, underwater cameras also abounded. THIS IS VERY WEIRD. For some bizarre reason, everyone decided to give everyone else underwater cameras this year. We gave one to my Dad as a bit of a joke as he and Mum have just put a new pool in, Mum and Dad gave us one as well, and also gave one to my sister. ALSO Hub's Mum and Dad gave us EACH one...so a total of 5 underwater cameras given out on the one day. Very freaky... The universe is trying to tell us something. Not sure what.

Will get back into the blogging as soon as I get more regular computer access!

Happy Summer Solstice

Technically I think the sun doesn't move into Capricorn until about 10am AEST tomorrow, but I think that gives us a big enough window to say it today. So that means it's time to get some balance back into our lives. Even a pagan can't escape the Christmas craziness these days. If you have family and friends who all celebrate Christmas then by default you get swept up into the celebrations and the crazy last minute shopping. That whole mad lead-up to the end of the calendar year, both at work and personally, can really drive you nuts. So I reckon today's a good day for everyone, not just pagans, to chill out and just step back a little bit. Maybe ponder on why we make this season so stressful for ourselves in the first place.

So far I've celebrated the day with a soothing massage and a scooter ride, and now I'm off for a nice relaxing walk down to the beach - maybe even a swim. Hope you're all doing something nice and getting out into the sunshine too. Enjoy the peak of summer while it's with us.

Toesday

Not content to follow the trend of blogging just any old bit of yourself on a Tuesday (Self-portrait Tuesday), I pronounce this day Toesday, where only toes may have their portrait taken. Where they are taken is the interest point. Today they are on my balcony taking in a bit of the summer sunshine (Seamus: you will see the birdhouse you gave me is still going strong).

Sure it's great to have the meaningful introspection that Self-portrait Tuesday brings to blogging. But sometimes you just need a bit o' ditzy...and that's where I come in. Please be sure to note the toenail colour de jour is "lightning purple".

And while lying toes in air, I noticed another thing on our balcony - Hubby's arch-nemesis:

He does a lot of running to keep fit and to keep it interesting and challenging he likes to head off the road and "go bush"! Usually this will take him into some places where the scrub is thick and bushes are sweeping onto the path, and the trails are not too beaten. The trouble with an unbeaten trail though is that noone has been before you to clear the spiderwebs out of your way. So when Hubs goes through he cops nice thick sticky strands across the face - hehe. I think the extra arm-flapping to remove them keeps him fit though!

School's out!!!

Woohoo! Last day of work for me till January 3rd. No more of this for a while:

Goodbye stupendously confusing data. Hello only slightly less confusing Christmas shopping. I'll still be blogging from afar - I'll be reporting on my travels and posting piccies of handmade gifts as they are received (with tears of pure joy, of course. Warning to recipients: I want tears of joy, dammit!). Happy hol's, no pressure :)

Peristalsis stitch

Oh my...what to say about this one. I've seen knitted boobs, knitted fry-ups, and knitted zombies. But a knitted digestive system is something I never thought I'd see.

Not only nicely knitted, but anatomically correct as well. The pattern for this delightful gastrointestinal tract is available from Strange But Trewe.

Postscript...with cat

Since I mentioned the jumper I knit at Dunk Island I thought I'd better post a picture of it. The very first thing I ever knitted (and finished) that wasn't rectangle-shaped!


It's from Sarah Dallas' Vintage Knits and the yarn is Cleackheaton Country 8 ply in colour 1548. There were some tears involved as I was totally new to knitting and didn't have a clue what all the symbols meant...and there were those cables going up the arms and continuing on to saddle shoulders. Good thing I didn't know what I was in for or wouldn't have even tried.

While I was taking the previous photo I had a visitor. I figure everyone else gets to post gratuitous shots of feline friends on their knitting blogs, so why can't I? I don't know if this one is really my friend though. If he is, why does he hate my knitting so much?

Craving indulgence

Maybe it's just because I've been under the weather lately with the flu, but I am just feeling so much like a holiday lately. And not just a weekend away or a week somewhere I've been before. I'm in desparate need of a life-changing travel extravaganza. The other week I was looking at the Yukon and thinking how great a dog-sledding adventure-on-ice would be. And for a while Hubby and I were considering taking the scooters on the ocean-going ferry that goes from Sydney to Tasmania, and pottering around Tassie on the scoots.

But now I am tired and run down and too desperate for relaxation to make the effort, and nothing sounds better than laying on a beach in an exotic location, with a fancy drink in one hand, and massage therapist at the ready. So now we are looking into a trip to Brampton Island in late summer.

*sigh* Looks great. Can't wait. If you're looking for me, I'll be the one holding the drink by the pool that's set IN the ocean!:

We went to Dunk Island a couple of years ago and it was just the best thing for us ever. It was a gorgeous place, and I came back healthy and fit and nicely tanned. Nothing to do but roam around in bare feet and bikini dehusking coconuts and snorkelling, eating huge amounts of gourmet food including bucketloads of tropical fruits, oh...and knitting. I finished most of my first-ever jumper at Dunk in the downtime between luxury massages and Barrier Reef boat trips.

The only thing I would do differently this time is get a massage/treatment when I first arrive to help me chill out, rather than wait. Then perhaps another one towards the end of the week! This is the one I want at Brampton:

Ultimate Indulgence
Body exfoliation & facial
This indulgent therapy will stimulate your senses from top to toe. Relax as pearls of Jojoba beads gently polish your skin and re-energising your circulation. Your senses will be stimulated as soothing plant essences are gently massaged into the body to aid skin cell rejuvenation. Your softened skin is then nourished and rehydrated with a revitalising body treatment. The focus shifts from your body to your face, enjoy a deeply cleansing clay mask before light touch lymphatic massage techniques decongest and rejuvenate skin tissue. You will emerge from this decadent experience with renewed radiance.

Sounds perfect. Now we just have to find the perfect deal...

Sick chookie

I received a comment on my last post from Meg asking what has happened to the sewing up of my bag-cushion. Ah, such brave words from the lass who still hasn't sewn up the cardigan she was knitting when I met her two YEARS ago! Only kidding, Meg! Meg's recently posted about her occasional problem with numerical accuracy and resulting garment fit issues. I've gotta say she's right in saying that her slapdash attitude towards numbers bugs me a bit, but mainly just because I'm a statistician. Times that I have left my stats hat at the door Very Bad Things have happened. For example, after finishing the back panel of the Spring Top yesterday, I ripped the whole thing back to halfway beceause I hadn't bothered doing proper length measurements on ME before deciding on the length measurement for IT. That said, at least it got me started on the damn thing. Because of my obsession with numbers I often have the problem of not doing anything at all - I get so hung up on a cm here and a little too much bagginess there that creativity goes out the window and the whole project grinds to a halt.
Anyway the reason I have gotten no further with the bag-cushion is partly because of this problem, and partly because I have spent the last couple of days at home with a nasty virus. Lying on the couch with some nice soothing stocking stitch on big fat needles has been the best I could muster, but as soon as I am feeling less seedy I will get back onto that pesky sewing up...

New green shoots

Move over cushion, here's the new project. The green spring top:

This is a pattern from Creative Knitting. I think it was last year's spring issue. It calls for a Nundle Woollen Mill wool yarn but I am using Katia Mississippi - I thought the cotton might be a bit cooler, but what's best is it comes straight from my hideously large stash so no purchasy. It's knit up on a 10mm needle so is pretty loose and breezy (anything cool today is sounding good as Sydney has hit 40 degrees C and the air con at work has broken down - yay), and transparent too as you can see below, so I'll need to wear a singlet top underneath.

It's a really basic "straight up and down" pattern so it's a good one to take everywhere I go. And here's its new home while it's being dragged around with me. A toiletries bag from Baubridge & Kay.

The heat is melting what's left of my brain - I'm outta here.

The bag-cushion

No more wallowing in future projects. Time to get back to reality. Here's how the bag cushion is coming along:

I knitted the side panels up in the charcoal Gedifra Fashion Trend and pinned it all out in position. Even though I have a nagging feeling that I'm going to wish I'd made those side panels a bit wider, I think it'll be pretty nice once it's all stitched up and has some matching fabric on the back. But I'm just stuck for now as I can't think what colour yarn to use to sew these three panels together! It's a serious consideration because I'm such a messy sewer. It doesn't matter whether I use the green or the the charcoal - either way I'm going to end up with stitches of one colour showing up on the panel of the opposing colour. I could machine sew it...that would make the stitches invisible. But there is the risk it make the fabric buckle a bit. And the stitches won't match exactly on each piece of fabric. I do like exact matching. Looks like I am going to have to do proper mattress stitch. *sigh*

Lazy Sunday

It's time for a nice chillout this weekend, to recover from Friday's frenzied attack on the local yarn store. So I've been wallowing in my new stash of giant balls and meditating on my purpose as a knitter. Mostly the wallowing.

*sigh* Those big fluffy balls are so calming. As bountiful and generous as the Buddha himself.

I've finally lost the plot OR Crazy Beck's House of Yarn

It doesn't matter how many plots I might have lost before. This time I've lost the biggest one EVER.

I just got nearly 2 and a half kilos of Patons Caressa 8 ply from my local yarn pimps, Lincraft. And it cost me $30. For the lot!

Most of the proceeds will be going to the Give Your Mum a Christmas Present fund. Caressa normally comes out in a little 50g ball, but the balls of wool I got were those bumper granny ones - 230g of fluffy treats at $2.99 each. I notice that other pimps advertise this yarn for $4.90 for the little 50g ball! Shame on them.

So I got enough for Mum-of-the-flying-hands-and-needles-that-go-so-fast-you-can't-see-them and I to each make a jumper (in the purple #4561 - *sigh* I know, another purple jumper) and a couple of balls of the creamy white (#4550) to do something smallish. Though I am considering going back for even MORE of the white so I can make a cabled stitch or maybe lace blanket out of it. Am I completely mad? Do you even need to ask?! In my defence, I ask you - how often can you get enough of a wool and mohair (and ok there's some acrylic in it too) blend to do a whole jumper for around 12 bucks?! How can anyone resist such a bargain?!

I think I need a nice lie down.

Back the bus up

Well I said I'd be posting about the next project today but I can't now as I still need those needles. I finished what would have been the bag, but now I need to cast on again to turn it into a cushion! After the big idea yesterday I went home and ratted through both stashes - fabric and yarn - looking for something to make up the rest of the cushion. I found a couple of balls of the same yarn in a contrasting colour - an nice rich charcoal - I think it will go well. So I'm going to do a couple of narrow panels of charcoal stocking stitch either side of the green stripey panel, and then dig out (or buy) some fabric for the back. I am tossing up whether to use that fabric to also line the back of the knitted panel. I'm thinking it might be hard to find a cushion insert the right size, and I can't stuff it with fibre fill without a backing or the bits of white fluff will show through.