we have a guest!

Last week we moved an old mattress out of our carport to take it to the tip, and a rather startled possum ran out from behind it. He scooted up into the roof of the carport where we are storing some old doors and has been there for a week. every day or so I go and check he's there - i can usually find him from a bit of fur squished between the doors, but today was a special case.
I was going back inside after staking the peas and noticed a black lump.
then it uncurled.
When I got underneath I could see he was having a sleep and had slid down into the gap between roof and door.
priceless.

In other news, the wedding plans are coming along well. we now have a photographer, invitations and a hairdresser. Research of bridal magazines suggests that brides are always caucasian and do not come in a size larger than 12 (and the 12 are often referred to as 'plus sized. Hello, fashion industry? GET A GRIP) and this has been quite distracting. The bridesmaids dresses are sorted and next step is for me to weave stoles for them.
I've been knitting a lot and losing my mind a lot more.
Have now lost 4 kilos but have plateaued, much to my annoyance. I have best results from jogging but have the most excruciating calf pain for days afterwards despite stretching. I really want to be able to jog everyday but once those muscles hurt I just can't do it - it feels like my legs will collapse or explode. I cant even bend my legs and kneel without a great deal of pain. maybe i need a sports physio (Hooray! more expense!)
work has been very stressful. I'm on school break at the moment, but go back on tuesday. and I'm dreading it. I'd only just started to shake the feeling of desperation and now I have to go back. blech. (i still love the teaching, it's the whole stupid system that wears me down. Apparently I'm still far too idealistic. Once I have been beaten down til i have no hope of anything working properly I will find the job bearable, or so I'm told. sigh).

Anyway, the possum is cute!

Ms Spider xo

"Unfortunately Penny"

Thanks Naomi :)

Unfortunately, Penny could very well be dead. (It has been a rough week!)

Unfortunately, Penny’s daily care has been increasingly more difficult to maintain for her adoptive parent. (oooh interweb grammar... blech)

Unfortunately, Penny is very nervous at our Shelter. (perhaps?)

Unfortunately Penny was not used to being handled, nor was she housetrained. (oi! I may be skittish but i am definitely housetrained!)

Unfortunately, Penny only asked him if he wanted some of it. (what?)


Fun, thanks :)

if you blinked you'd miss it

Ok, so I just happened to glance at the calender today... and it's over a month since i posted. I suppose the upshot of being completely hopeless is that nobody relies on you too much. But that is a pretty sad upshot really.

Anyway, I turned 24 without incident. i can't see any proper wrinkles yet, but it could be denial on my part.

I was fitted for and ordered my wedding dress, and we found the bridesmaid's frocks.

I had a bad bout of laryngitis which knocked me out for over a week. Much better now though.

I've also been on a healthy-eating and exercise bent and have managed to lose about 3 kg. I know it's cliched, but I'm trying to trim down for the wedding. I feel like I've been trying to lose weight for ages, but now that i actually am trying I realise that before I was only whining about my weight gain but not making any real effort. My health has only really improved enough for a concerted effort recently. I know I'm not huge, but my body doesnt feel like my body anymore and i figure the longer I leave this spare tire the harder it will be to budge.
I feel better for it. I don't know if it's obvious to anyone else, but to me i appear more toned. and my clothes are just that teensiest bit looser. not baggy, but more comfortable. So i intend to keep it up; at least with the Celiac's I can't eat much in the way of cakes, doughnuts, biscuits etc. it's easier to be good when the consequences of eating naughty food is three days on the loo!

I have been knitting.
Chunky Cabled Tam from Knit.1 Fall 2009
Bella's Mittens by Marielle Henault
Front pieces of Soap Bubble Wrap from Connie Chang Chinchio Silly Apple Cozy by Casey Newman (my fruit always gets squished when i run for the bus in the morning - this is remarkably effective!)

And yet another BSJ, for a friend of a friend who just had a little red-headed boy.

I have been weaving.
Using Bendigo Rustic 12ply in Pacifica, a birthday gift for my future Mother-in-Law.
And I have been teaching. this is the 6th week of term and all is well. I have some lovely classes and delightful kids.

And as a result of all of the above I am completely exhausted. And it's nearly 10pm which is well and truly my bedtime!

I'll try to be better from now on!

Peace out,
Ms Spider xo

feeling hot, hot, hot....

Sorry guys, more weaving! Scroll down for knitting...

Wide stole using leftover sock yarn (10dpi). Was aiming for a sort of rainbow effect - the warp ran from green through blue, purple then pink and I tried a similar thing with the weft. Unfortunately a certain primate bumped the loom while i was warping and somehow it's much tighter on the pink selvedge. It's a nice width though, i think it may live in the loungeroom for guests who need an extra layer in cooler weather (if anyone can imagine such a thing).


A sort of narrow scarf or belt using my self-striping sock yarn in Gothic Princess. (10dpi)
My first attempt at houndstooth (10dpi). I used Bendigo classic 8ply in Blueberry and Spotlight basic 8ply in a sort of deep plum. I'm very pleased with the results!
And the warm weather made me cast on something that's been on my queue for a whild - Shetland Shortie from Knitty.com. At school we are theoretically not supposed to wear sleeveless tops but in this heat common sense prevailed. However, I thought this would be a good way to make some of my tank tops a little more wearable for work by the suggestion of sleeves.
It was quite a fun knit - the lace pattern is really clever and stretchy!
I used Cleckheaton Merino Bambino in cream and used just under 6 x 25g balls. I doesnt make me look quite as... well-endowed as in this picture, it's just to do with the proximity of the only good mirror ;)

School is going well, I have some really lovely kids in my classes. As always there is plenty of drama, but very little is to do with the kids and more to do with admin mix-ups. hopefully most craziness with have calmed down by next week.

Hope everyone is coping with the weather! We had to drag the mattress into the office and sleep with the air-con on last night. I actually slept right through til 7 am for the first time in months! I can't wait for the cool change though! Bring it on!

My birthday went well :) it sucked having to work but my lovely colleagues bought a gluten-free chocolate mudcake so it took the edge off a little :) and now I'm 24! time to invest in anti-wrinkle cream?

Peace out
Ms Spider xo

and more...

You were all already aware that I get a bit compulsive, right?

Wide scarf using Jet bought at the outlet store in an intriguing beige/lilac colourway. This may be for my grandmother.

Wide scarf using Katia Venus in a lemon/lavender colourway. I wouldnt weave with this again, it's basically a fuzzy single and was sticky and resistant.You can probably tell from the pictures that the tension is a bit off.

Skinny scarf using my own handspun (BFL/Soy from EGMTK, colourway forgotten). This was so much fun!

Skinny scarf using bendigo black 8ply cotton for the warp and the same handspun from the other skinny scarf for the weft.

After a couple of days sans knitting (yes, really) I had a break from the loom and whipped up this little guy. He's one of the lovable toys from last-minute knitted gifts and was quite fun. A nice easy pattern with a cute outcome. The other bunnies in my house approve.

Back to school tomorrow, darn it all to hell. I will never get over how quickly holidays run past, I really feel like it was only last week I was tearing out of there... but i suppose lots has happened.
We got engaged, booked a venue, found a dress, booked a celebrant, chose bridesmaids and some groomsmen, a make-up artist (or genius, if you prefer).... I think my plan to 'deal with the big stuff' before school went back was a roaring success, just quietly.
And a fair bit of knitting went on in that time, and in the last four days a great deal of weaving. I watched Gilmore Girls for the first time, all the way through (still sniffing away). I had three boughts of accidental-gluten-consumption sickness. I had my Coeliac's confirmed, as much as i can without a biopsy. I had an awesome road trip with one of the coolest women I know. I spent too much money on yarn. My attempt to eat healthily and excercise more has resulted in a 2 kilo weight gain (go figure) but I don't feel any fatter so I think I can deal.

And in exactly a week I turn 24. it's so odd. I still have to check myself because I always want to say I'm 22... I need to pause and add a year. Now it will be two! I'm also kind of dreading it, I always get a visitation from my black dog on my birthday - and to make matters worse it's the first full day of teaching for the year! But on the plus side, I'll be glad to see all the kids again. I've missed the little buggers (although I had a dream last night that some of them were shooting at our house.... premonition?).

Ok, off I go. Prepare for a sudden drop off in posts, school is a WIPEOUT! (if you do not have 60's surfing music in your head right now, your are either much cooler or much less pathetic than I).

Peace out,
Ms Spider xo

warp speed

Some more weaving pics.

The loom in action.

my 2nd project: a skinny scarf using white merinospun and some of my hand-dyed 12ply singles.
A drapier, wide scarf using a collection of leftover sock yarn.


another scarf using an entire ball of Lincraft Hot Socks - funky tartan!
And I go back to work in 4 days....
eew.

Peace out,
Ms Spider xo

my Knitter's Loom arrived today!

and i found another use for leftover sock yarn ^_^