Il pleut!

Lovely lovely rain is falling. And I've been sitting inside relaxing with H. I've been passing on the art of the heel, passed on to me by Ms Spider. Like we did in Spidey's sock workshop, I got H to just knit the heel part of the sock on it's own, so that when she gets up to that bit in her actual sock, she knows how it goes and it's not so scary. Then I passed on my very limited carding knowledge for some lovely brown alpaca fleece she's inherited. Then we did ear-candling! Weird, but relaxing!

Went to the ANU Food Co-op today for the first time ever. (I'm so embarassed that I've never been there before!) All this wasted time!!! What a great place to shop. They have an amazing range of natural foods, yes, but it's just a pretty cool place to shop, atmosphere-wise. You feel like you're back in a pioneer-days general store! What a contrast to woolies with it's excessive packaging and stuff we don't need and screaming children and grumpy check-out chicks! I'm sure the stuff is more expensive (not sure just how much though, need to compare that)... but is it worth it for the pleasurable shopping experience, and the lack of packaging?? (you take your own bags and jars from home to put stuff in).

Sorry... still no photos. Have to pack for my yoga retreat now, I'm leaving first thing in the morning.

See you in a week... hopefully all chilled out!

So much to tell you!

WARNING: Very long and overdue post follows...

Well... I'm still alive, and have been up to lots of stuff... but just a bit behind in posting about it!

Since I last wrote, I've had a birthday. My first birthday present was D & E having their bub on my birthday!! (thanx guys, that was sweet). She is a beautiful, perfect little bundle of joy! And I think she likes her new bunny 'Herm', who I can now finally post photos of. Yay!!
He was crocheted from a pattern in the US magazine Knit Simple.

In other finished items news, I made Mr Purl a stubby holder! My first colour work... (It says 'Nancy' which is his Rat Patrol name...)

And, speaking of Mr Purl, the wonderful man got me a spindle for my birthday!!!! (and he hasn't seen me much since!!) He got it made by Pete Filmer at the OBD Markets... not sure at this stage what type of wood it's made of, as Mr Purl didn't retain that information... but I will find out. It's absolutely gorgeous!!

And that purple roving I got from Helen now looks like this:

Two little balls of plied yarn, and one ball of singles yet-to-be-plied. You can certainly tell what order I spun them in... I'm getting less uneven (although some people say that unevenness is a desirable feature). I'm a little over half way through the 50g of roving... and thoroughly enjoying the process! (so much so that I've done very little knitting since I got the spindle!!) I also really like how the slightly different hues of purple are all showing up when it's spun :)

And in other birthday goodness, my beautiful friends were very generous... including a gift voucher for Stitch 'n Time in Mawson, and some homemade goodies! Pol made me this gorgeous bag... which happens to be just the right size for my spindle and roving!

H. made me this stunning knitting needle roll. She's a talented lady!! (and sweet too).

I got great enjoyment out of deciding where to slot in each pair of needles!!

I've also been playing with some alpaca fleece which some of mum and dad's mates generously gave me (thanks also goes to the alpacas Monty and Ruben!). On my way down to mum and dad's last time I stopped in at Ashford and dropped a substantial amount of money on some stuff... including carders (which, incidentally were way more expensive than I expected).
Carding takes a long time. And is dirty. But still kind of fun. I did quite a bit of it in the evenings at mum and dad's, sitting in front of the telly.

And I spun up one little ball of Monty's fleece just to see what it looked like:

Other things I've been up to include my first picot edge - performed on the sock I'm making out of my first ball of home dyed wool :) (oh, and in other dyeing news... the mulberries are out... soon to be made into a dye bath!)

And this... (no, not me, but a dear friend who got hitched on the weekend).

Right... that's all. As you were.

Hooray socks!

Well... I've been realising that I may not actually have time in my life to upkeep a blog. But ah well... I'll do what I can!!
Anyway... excitingly... here are some pics of the turtle walk socks!! YAY for my first pair of socks ever!!! A big thanks to Spidey for the expert guidance in her sock workshop, which definitely gave me the confidence to try making a pair of socks at all!! These are for my sister, who I'm pretty confident doesn't read my blog, so I should be safe to post the photos here!

This photo is taken on Lady Musgrave Island... where Mr Purl proposed... of the fresh bebe turtle tracks in the morning... my very own 'turtle walk'!! :)

Oh...

Oh my goodness! Apparently I had signed up for Ravelry... and then promptly forgotten! So I'd never been checking where I was up to on the waiting list etc, because I didn't realise I was on it!! Then this evening, trawling through my junk mail folder I found an invite!!!! Craziness!! I spose I'd better say goodbye to that last sliver of time I had!!

In other news... I've signed up for the Southern Summer of Socks. Here are my personal goals for the KAL as posted on the SSS blog:

1)To knit my second pair of socks ever... from wool I've dyed myself (my first foray into dyeing - yay!)
2)Potentially knit my third pair of socks ever... from the very special 'purple trainwreck' colourway, hopefully coming my way from the lovely Julie, care of the lovely Bells!! These socks will definitely be for ME! (also a first...)

And... excitingly, I've finally finished the turtle walk socks!! What an incredibly satisfying feeling to have made my first pair of socks and have them turn out roughly the same size etc!! Sorry for the lack of photo... one coming soon!

Monogamy is boring!

As much as I'm loving knitting the turtle walk socks... I keep finding myself dreaming about all the projects I want to start! It would be nice to have a couple of other things on the go to be able to mix it up a bit! I've ordered some cotton from Bendigo to start on a present for E's baby... which is due in a month! I'd better get moving :)

It was a lovely weekend (hooray for the long variety!). Saturday saw me up early at a yoga class... I was dubious about having to get up at 7 on a weekend, but it turned out to be a lovely way to start the day... and even lovelier when Mr Purl met me for brekkie at Cornucopia afterwards. We got the last two chicken, almond and mushroom croissants! Woohoo! (they're seriously yummy if you haven't tried one before!). Then we explored Floriade with our favourite 2 3/4 year old (Mr Purl's goddaughter)... taking in the ferris wheel and the petting paddock in particular. Then hanging out with our favourite 8 month old, and a delicious bbq lunch... then dinner at E's house (perhaps the last dinner party before the bub?). It was a lovely, bonding day!
Sunday, I was very excited to go and hang out at Floriade and knit with Aunty Daisy and Margaret -the Indigenous ladies from the Alice Springs Beanie Festival. It was really fun... it was a shame not to see more SnBers there! (there were only the two of us, aswell as one newbie and a couple of ladies from the spinning guild). None the less it was lovely... just sitting around knitting together, without having to say much at all. Some local people came and gave 'Aunty' a traditional 'welcome to country'... and the respect they showed her, and the way they treated her as part of their family was incredibly touching and brought a tear to a few eyes. So we sat and knitted for a fair while... the only weird bit was the huge crowd that kept gathering around to watch... presumably they were watching the indigenous ladies and not us as such... but it did feel a bit like being an animal in a zoo.
Then I popped past the Old Bus Depot Markets to say hi to our mates who have just taken over the Portuguese food place. I was drooling over the gorgeous bits of fabric... sorry, 'fat quarters' (I have no idea what that means!) at the Japanese stall... and thought "stuff it, it's expensive, but I'm going to buy some because they're pretty and I might find something incredibly inspired to do with them down the track!"

Aren't they prerty??

Yay! I kind of made this decision that I don't have to have any particular project in mind to buy the odd little bits of fabric or yarn... I'll find things I can use them on :). Probably not the ideal attitude seeing as my stash is outgrowing the bottom of my wardrobe, and Mr Purl has learnt the expression SABLE (don't think I'm quite at that point yet though). But hey....

Oh, and I'm getting really excited about the prospect of learning to spin! Now all I need is a drop spindle (anyone know where I can buy one in Canberra?) and someone to teach me (anyone want to teach me?)!!

Second time round

Suffering under the obviously flawed impression that the heel on the second sock would be easier to turn than the first one (or at least equally easy), I foolishly tried to watch TV in the break room at work today at the same time as turning the heel. A trick for young players... I stuffed up in trying to continue the pattern on top of the foot... so am now going to attempt to fix it with a crochet hook without tinking back (which would involve dropping all my 'picked-up' stitches from the side of the heel, which I don't want to do!!). Wish me luck :)
See you all at Floriade on Sunday... can't wait!!! :)

The green green grass of home

I seem to have fallen off/been run over and crushed by the blogging wagon in the last few weeks. I blame my new job for my complete lack of time. But who really knows where time goes?? I haven't been home on a weekend for at least a month... so am looking forward to this weekend!! Maybe part of the problem is also that I feel un-inclined to post if I don't have much to show, or don't have any photos? Also... whenever I go near the net, I spend so much time reading everyone else's blogs (not much commenting recently either... sorry guys!) that I run out of time to write anything on mine!!

Anyway... now I do have a photo!! Mr Purl and I spent a lovely weekend down at Mum and Dad's place. It was the first time Mr Purl's been down there since we got engaged (which, considering that was back in May is kind of crazy!), so there was lots to talk about (we're getting married at Mum and Dad's property). It made the whole wedding thing seem a bit more real... I think it's kind of been pushed to the back burner while we get ready for Corinbank... so it was nice to remember that it is really happening and it's going to be tonnes of fun!!

Anyway... in knitting news... I've finished my first ever sock!!!! :) What a great feeling! And I didn't even mind that I had one still to go, because I'm so enjoying knitting the turtle walk socks! I love the wool, I love the pattern, and I'm just loving the process! I wont post a photo of the finished sock until I'm finished both... it only seems right. But here is a photo of the second sock on it's way over the Monaro Plains...

And going down the Brown Mountain (which is really much more green than brown!)

Ooh and note my thumb ring in the photos: it's made from the handle of an antique spoon! Soo gorgeous. I got it on a recent visit to Tilba, where I also bought some gorgeous brown alpaca fleece from an aplaca named Denver!! Can someone teach me to spin??? I'm keen to learn soon, because one of my workmates has aplacas!! Fluffy alpacas that will need to be shorn soon! Alpacas of all different colours! I'm not supposed to drool on them apparently.

I've settled into work at the childcare centre. I'm really enjoying the change of pace, and the relative lack of stress! (and now that my health seems to be holding up, it's definitely easier to enjoy!) The kids are gorgeous, I'm potentially becoming a bit attached to some of them (oh no!). They say the funniest things... like when I was changing the stinky nappy of a two year old and I said "what have you been eating??"... he looked at me very solemnly and said....."sand". Well... I had to take a short break from nappy changing to piss myself laughing!! I think it was mostly the seriousness with which he said it that cracked me up!! They do funny stuff like that all the time. And I'm sure there are times when it's probably best not to laugh (i.e. if they're doing something you should be discouraging) but it's so hard!!! Today one of the cutest little girls looked up at me from where she was sitting in the garden, and her face was just covered in dirt... It really was too cute! (ok, you probably had to be there!). Today one of the kids got a wave from the postman. Small excitements!

Other than all that, there's not too much news. I think the possum has moved back in to the garage... even after the handyman fixing up all the possible holes where he could be getting in. Damn it!! Possums really do stink out a garage pretty effectively! So... time to call the mysterious 'Possum Man'.

Watched "Y Tu Mama Tambien" last night - a really fun film. I've been meaning to see it for years, and finally got around to it last night when we realised wandering through the new releases section that there really is a lot of cr@p cinema out there, and made a bee-line for the foreign section (which, for some inexplicable reason, the video shop has merged with the kung fu section, meaning you have to trawl through a plethora of "that's good sake" to find the scattered non-kung fu foreign films. I suppose technically kung fu movies are foreign... but they really do warrant their own special section (which up until a couple of weeks ago they had). I hope there are some video store employees reading this (highly unlikely!!).)

Hi Mum! (I've finally shown mum how to find my blog!)

Ramblings sans photos

My lack of blogging time continues! Again, I've probably only been on the computer twice in as many weeks!! But hey... I'm going to embrace blogging without obligation!! And, I have had some good knitting time, which has been lovely! I've turned the heel of the first turtle walk sock!!! What a thrill!! I've even done some extreme knitting... (photos to come soon!!)

This weekend I'm in Melbourne, celebrating the 40th birthdays of three very close friends. It's been a stunning sunny weekend! Wonderful... except whilst packing in Canberra's chilly weather, it didn't occur to me to pack any t-shirts or anything!! Ah well! We've had a great time... slightly sore heads this morning! Heading into St Kilda for some breakfast :)

Things are going well at work... it's becoming less tiring, and is good fun. On the other hand, it's also nice to know that it's only for 4 months! AND I just found out that one of my workmates owns alpacas!! Ooohhh...

Ooh... and in Stash news... (who would've thought that I could have already accumulated a stash at this early stage in my knitting career?!), I've employed Rose Red's Standard of Stash Systemisation!! Photos to follow of that too, and of my dyeing exploits with H. Fun fun!!!

A heel!!

What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning! Learning to turn a heel! (ok that's not sarcasm... it was seriously fun... and kind of magic) I still don't think I've got my head around the whole thing... but I did it anyway!! Thanks Ms Spider!!

We got our very own mini-skein of hand dyed wool (!!!) to practise turning a heel. So I left the workshop with my very own pretty purple heel. I'm thinking of hanging it on my wall :)

He he... I know it's been done... but he looked as excited about my new-found sock skills as I was!

Ms Spider was impressively organised (she had another word for it) and had put together a booklet with sock diagrams and explanations as well as patterns! I went straight home and started my green turtle-walk socks!! (and after one false start where I didn't read the pattern properly - sorry Miss - I'm going well!!) It took quite a long time to explain to Mr Purl that no, I'm not going to attach the chunky purple heel to the fine green socks... ah well... at least he's interested!

The K1B1 exhibition was such a lovely setting to have a workshop... surounded by so many inspirational knitted objects! And it was great to have everyone there to help each other out. Big thanx to Bells for helping me get my head around the cast-on and knitting in the round on double pointed needles. Fortunately no-one seemed to think I was too crazy for attempting my first sock, first lace pattern and first knitting on dpns all at the same time!!! So-far I'm having fun. Check back in a few weeks!!

In other news... we successfully cleaned out our complete disaster of a garage on Saturday. It felt like one of those 'your life on your lawn' TV shows. Completely embarrassing to see how much junk we've accumulated! I tried to take a photo of the fallout... both of our camera batteries were too flat. I tried to take one with my phone. It's battery was too flat. I think someone up there is telling me "this really is too embarassing to show anyone. Really. You'll regret it". So... there is no evidence save the large pile of junk sitting at the side of the house waiting to go to the tip. We sealed-up the hole where we thought the possums were getting in... swept out all the possum poo... cheked there were no possums trapped in there, and shut it up for the night. Sunday morning we expectantly opened the garage door.... only to see that once again the whole floor was covered in possum poo. I'd love to know just how many possums are using our garage as their toilet. Surely one (or 2 or 3) possums can't produce that much poo in one night. Worse than the poo is the wee... but I won't go into that. So... time to call the landlords to fix it up. (was too embarassed to up til now lest they see the state of the garage!!)