Happy Birthday Leah!

Ok, as you all may have guessed, my best friend Leah turns 21 today. She is a funny, wise, beautiful, smart and mature woman who is only very slightly accident prone. I am proud to know her and be her friend, and wish her the very best birthday ever. (ha ha Leah, you're an old lady now, ha ha ha!). Just kidding babe, you're the best :)

Went to a (different) 21st last night which was a genuinely strange experience. A whole lot of people I havent seen since high school, jelly shots which wouldnt come out of the cups (looked as though everyone was performing gelatinous sex acts), a battery-operated swearing parrot and my ex boyfriend. Drew was a funny little boy i went out with in yr9 and we were absolutely terrified of each other. we used to meet in the library (ha!) and if he brought all his friends (which he always did) i would hide under a table. i'm really not sure why. He rocked up to the party sporting a very furry looking beard and a very purple earring (could explain 6 months of being treated like a leper). Also a strange young man who used to sit in the front row and get straight A's proceeded to try to chat Leah and myself up... and he was suprisingly succesful. as in, i laughed instead of decking him. and thats quite something for me :p

The Very Blue Day Blue Berry Dye Socks are quite fun. I thought they would kill me (2.25mm needles) but i'm really enjoying them. of course, it is only the first sock, so Second Sock Syndrome has yet to kick in. but socks always make me feel clever, and socks with fair isle bits make me feel even more clever. Add to the mixing pot the fact that i dyed the yarn and designed the fair isle myself and i feel like a frickin genius! they are some patons 1960's mens socks i found a pattern for, and they're supposed to be knee-high (fair to say they wont be that long, though i think they should be longish... for dagging around the house warmth). i shortened the ribbing by 3 inches (i ask you, 4 inches of 1x1?! Nuts!) and added on the fair isle bit. they are fun fun fun!
I tryed to dye the yarn with jelly crystals, since all you American ladies use Kool-Aid which you can't get here. I thought it might work... but no. luckily however, i had a bottle of blue food dye and tossed that in the dye pot... simmered for about an hour, washed, rinsed, dried etc. I will warn any would be food-dyers that i tied my skein of 100% wool with bits of white cotton... and the wool was bright blue and the cotton stayed white. so maybe not an all-purpose solution :p but definately fun. next try will be self striping food dye socks.

and here is a shrug for Gypsy's 21st. yes, i know it doesnt look like alot, but i do have a few weeks and the needles will only get bigger. but you all know how much i like ribbing. and there's a metre of ribbing in this baby. whose idea was long sleeves anyway?? ech. at least its 2x2 so its moving along ok. and i can always aim for her real birthday which conveniently falls 11 days after her party..

Stitch and Bitch is on this thursday, which is really exciting. Gyspy and i did try to go to a Sunday one last week but nobody else showed! oh well, salt and pepper squid made up for it. Am going cherry picking with my grandmother on tuesday and am working all week, so might not be very frequent blogger for a while. on the other hand im really stressed out so i might need to vent.

Ciao.

PS. i dont want to jinx it, but it looks like the lady who bought the spinning wheel at work might cancel her layby. and if she does, my boss said i could have it for $50!!!!! eeeeeehhhhhh!!!

PPS. i have now had a boyfriend for three years. we are going down the coast to eat nice food and go on boats next weekend to celebrate the anniversary. oh god im so old!