all wrapped up

sorry, there are only so many puns about wraps and the finishing thereof that one can make (see previous). Ignore the slightly psychotic facial expression, my mother refused to click until i smiled and i was in the process of telling her why it didnt matter if i smiled or not when she got me! wench!
it's done, it's over. and as my mother so kindly pointed out this one is a far far better colour for me than the beige-y one i knit before. oh well. i dont care. its over. i should probably wash and block it but i think i will just steam block and then send it tomorrow... and then i will be free of the green! and i can knit my new cleckheaton country silk cardigan (its so beautiful, ToD picked up the yarn for me today and i am starting tomorrow night on friendsday wednesday abc comedy, hurrah! before anyone asks, its the plain cardigan which is the second picture, and the yarn is colour 7. thanks ToD!!!!!!!).

oh and fellow SnBers? i have one entire ball and one scrappy partial ball of this yarn remaining - i dont want to see it anymore, first in best dressed. requests on behalf of other knitters count, but you got to be the first :p

bumped into monica today at uni! sadly outed myself by recognising her socks first. she appears to be succeeding where i failed and has already convinced four people to bring needles and yarn to the next tute! go monica go!

and i have rather alot of richard III to read so i shall scoot... cant wait to see y'all at SnB on thursday!

ciao!

seamingly endless

ok so Sophie's wrap jacket looks like this:


this is not so bad, as at least all the knitted bits are done (!). i cannot express how close to defeating me the front collar piece was... but clearly i need some chocolate and to get a bit liquered up... i do believe we have chocolate liquer in the pantry...

apologies to other bloggers and dear friends over my absence of late... i feel as though i have been hit by a great big university shaped bus. normal spider web patterns will return shortly.

also, in regards to the spider in the car. it is an orb spider picked up when my dad drove through our farm on the weekend. it was driven at 8pm the night before and the windows were all closed. it is quite safe and has another ginormous web in the garden. pretty or what?

knit on my dears, i miss you and will be back soon.

happy spider?

I have this thing about driving. it scares the living heck out of me. i dont know what started it, but i have been utterly terrified of getting behind the wheel since about age 3. maybe i saw a car crash or something but.. if my parents were out late i thought they had had an accident. i have nightmares about being behind the wheel and it crashing. i have nightmares about being hit by a car.
fair to say, we do not bond. im sure eventually it will have to happen, but when the very idea of sitting behind the wheel sends my heart rate right up and puts me on the verge of tears its probably a little way away still.

so imagine my surprise when my dad and i were about to go into town today to see my name sake hanging out so happily!

but after i thought about it, this is a pretty obvious connection. clearly this is a representation of myself, because if i am in a car i am knitting... this is the same thing in my book. go fibre addicted spiders of the world! unite! (apologies to arachnophobes).

still on the sleeves of the wrap, it could so happen (denial is not just a river in egypt).

the other happy spider

uni.... eewww

i am not impressed. why? why do i have to go to school? why is the universe so unjust? by rights i should not have to work or study, be able to read what i want, sleep when i want and knit and spin to my hearts content.
but no. spinning wheels are large and awkward and near impossible to take on a bus. If the unimaginative people at UC think knitting is weird, can you imagine if i pulled out horace in the middle of the refectory and started spinning away... (am actually enjoying the mental picture. if you are going to be noticed for something, better that it is your visible insanity than the size of your bosoms).
knitting is portable i hear you cry!? yes it is, but when you are on a sole project diet for reasons of guilt and persuasion.... well i have finished the back of Sophie's wrap jacket, the two front pieces and am nearly past the ribbing on both sleeves (worked together so they are even). when those are done then i get to do the ridiculously painful fringe, seam and post it to melbourne. in my hallucinatory state of denial i think this will be early next week (trips off to la-la-land). oh my lonely socks are weeping...
and yes.. uni. eeeeeeeewww.

had SnB yesterday with LOTS of newbies! its so great to take over the world, we had about 15 i think!! new additions were monique, esther, monica... there were lots anyway. its getting so its hard to talk to everyone in three hours! i took my new books and assorted sock yarns and basked in the best friends a girl could have.

in other breaking spider news, BFG has brilliantly set up my family's old computer in my bedroom... so now i am blogging from the quiet of my own bedroom. not interrupted by my dads 'hiroshima hell in harpsichord' or my brother watching tv so loud my ears bleed. Oh the joy!

anyway, no pictures today because i am a) tired, b) lazy and c) the new computer is virtually empty.

ciao for now

jay walkin'

Am so in love with this yarn and this pattern thought i'd just quickly show off... i did 1cm of ribbing instead of 1 inch and i LOVE the scallopy effect.

try it! its great!

addictions

lets talk about socks baby, lets talk about you and me, lets talk about all the good things and the bad things that can be.
i dont actually know why this happened to me. anyone who has been following this blog since day one will see a distinct prior preoccupation with sweaters. cardigans. wraps, jackets.. the occasional hat. but socks? when??
the very blue day blue berry dye socks may have been the beginning of the end for this spider. something in me snapped.
i am now completely obsessed with sock yarn. i am a big girl and i can admit it. self-striping is like music to my ears. i am accumulating it at an alarming rate and in 10 minutes i will have three pairs on the go (one is very near completion and there are no real due dates so this isnt TOO bad.. but still! thank dog for yarn harloting theories!)

The first thing that happened last week was i had birthday money and went to cassidy's with irene, liz and ToD. my spoils of war were quite good i thought. the sirdar is driving me batty, i am not worthy of it. it is too beautiful for words, and though i intended it for my fathers feet... i dont know if i can bring myself to do it. i may stick to 8-ply for him... im so bad :(

i also rescued this gorgeous hand-dyed mohair from its plastic prison ($10 people, you cant tell me you wouldnt have done the same). It does not know what it wishes to be. I am not worthy of it either and this may become a felted blob from much loving and little knitting.
the other thing that happened was we had a sort of mini-snb on sunday at taphophiles house. Oh. My. Guiness. So. Much. Fun. i brought most of my 4ply bendigo white wool and some orange villawool and we dyed sock yarn (ahem, yes i DID need more actually... hey look over there!). we read aloud from yarn harlot and various other hilarious books. we ate lots of delicious food and grew rotund and jolly. we knit!! it was the best ever :) thanks so much taph!

this yarn is called 'Splice' and wants to be the magknits Jaywalker socks. i dyed it with two shades of green and will hopefully get stripes of each... subtle but still fresh and clear. i think it smells a bit like fresh cut rose leaves... but that could be a vinegar induced olfactory hallucination. the fact that i feel the need to smell my yarn could be a tell-tale sign...

and then this morning i awoke breathless with excitement at the prospect of my amazon books arriving, and was instead greeted by another self-gift (that had almost slipped from my memory and was therefor a pleasant suprise). sadly the books did not arrive on a conveniently lazy and house-ridden day off, but i am clearly abundant with karma-yarn and should just count my blessings (and invest in a better storage solution).
so tell me... do i need a therapist or just a few more sets of 2.25mm dpns?

all klass

OK, so nothing very exciting today.

little story about He That Smells Alot AKA the brother. My brother turned 18 the day after i turned 21 (yes yes seasonal breeding, zip it). he's been a smoker since he was about 16. its gross and i hate it but i actually have a very strong relationship with my brother and occasionally (ie. quite often) lend him money.
He marched off down the corner shop with my $50 (i got $40 back no fear)... and then come storming back 5 minutes later all shouty and red in the face.
Turns out the corner shop man just ID'd him for the first time in two years (the only time he was actually legal)... and he didnt have his wallet with him :p
Anyone who doesnt believe in karma just got hugely shut-down.

Also, the gorgeous Irene has a new blog which is solely knit-related and you should all go and tell her how gorgeous her first attempt at lace is. yes, now. i wouldnt tell you if i didnt mean it.

also, i couldnt help but notice a particularly stressed out monkey i know... who seems to derive relief from pictures of toilet paper. as i have been sitting on this pic for a little while i thought i would drag it out... along with the question: is it possible to have a one-word oxymoron?
adios amigos

birthday

Well i have been getting nagged by various friends to put up pics of my gifts. I blame my parents who went and told everyone in the universe what they were giving me.... leading to a week of "i know what your parents are getting you" and "they're really proud so pretend you like it even if you dont". Hey, friends of spidey:- remember me? the one who goes nutty with anticipation? you guys are cruel!

OK. so. my parents gave me this. Its gold, the stones are emeralds and the leetle white ones are diamonds. I was a little bit uncertain when I opened it (not that anyone could tell - opening gifts is so embarrasing, i usually have a face like a torture victim) because im more of a silver wearer than a gold wearere. but i decided the antique-y setting would look dumb in silver (and polishing around stones would be stupid). and the colours do suit me - i LOVE dark greens. I must apologise for lack of modelled photos - nobody is at home and i wanted to get this utterly materialistic post over with :p

My brother gave me these white opal earrings which are really lovely. i got a bit teary because our late grandmother was a hobby geologist and had a jar of uncut opals in her kitchen. i've always wanted something opal-y so it was a lovely gift.

BFG outdid himself. It never even occured to me that i should ask for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, even though i've been plotting to fill my shelf with them for years! as its also a good 18months since i last watched one, he is deserving off lots of hugs. Also the romantic-y stories Agatha Christie wrote under a psuedonym.

My SnBers have ruined me totally also (sorry again if i looked less than thrilled, its the out-on-the-spot-ness. its happended since about age 4). Taph gave me a great knitting/bookcrossing tote and some gorgeous lantern moon needle sleeves ( i didnt tell you, but when i showed them to my folks my mum said "oh are you sure they are for knitting needles? they look like stockings for people with really skinny funny little legs". at this point i should mention that whilst playing balderdash a few years ago, we got a name and had to say what that person had invented. her answer read "inventor of a machine that allows the user to travel between dimensions" and couldnt understand why noone thought it was the real reason). Jejune and Othlon gave me a home-made row-counter bracelet (which works like a dream btw).

And irene, the naughty girl, gave me bling and boxes! naturally boxes are now full of yarn ( i am in heavy denial and am pretending all my sock yarn fits in the big box.)

Two out of my three aunts on my dads side of the family appeared on my birthday (evil she-devil aunt was naturally absent). My aunt Jill and her family gave me Diesel feminine perfume, and my aunt Sean and family gave me a handbag and some earrings. It was a really sweet gesture because we dont see each other very often and to see two aunts and one uncle AND a cousin on my birthday meant alot to me.

And BFGs mother presented a badly-needed sewing basket to the cause (red to match my dress form)

and then there were the gifts spidey bought :p. we all know about the amazon books and there may or may not be a ball of rainbow opal sock-yarn in the wings as well. but i really did need more clothes (nods) and these were cute.

Dress.. just fell in love. It has BOW at the BACK people!

Tshirt seemed strangely appropriate.



Oh and some yarn and bamboo dpns.. (oh look, a diversion!)

Ok, after all that a need a lie-down and a cup of tea. sadly bex was taken off the market >_<

Thankyou to everyone, and i had a lovely birthday (SO OLD!)

rule bending

Reading Yarn Harlot, recently, I came across an ingenius concept: socks don't count as current projects! here.

Clearly, for my 4-ply-addicted self this is simply Brilliant. In fact, she has several pairs on the go at any one time, one for the computer, one for her handbag, etc. (seriously, this woman is skilled at denial).

I still think more than three pairs is marching down the road towards the house with the padded bedrooms, and leads to mismatched pairings anyway. But... yes, three is good.

Particularly as I got the current Creative Knitting in the mail yesterday and there is a truly scrumptious pair of cable rib socks... (swoon!). It also indicates to me that I must swiftly hunt down this rainbow colourway of Opal. Divine or what? (I think Ashford Australia sells Opal... Hello Mr Visa-Card).

Just finished sock one of my Corporate Giant Socks (so named because I realised halfway through that the colours are the same as McDonalds, eck. It's actually not THAT bad, but the name sort of stuck in my mind. That and Globalism.). They have been somewhat delayed by Jamal's cross stitch (is it just me or do all the little chart symbol thingies look exactly the same as all the other little chart symbol thingies?). I'm enjoying it, though it has made me realised I'm alot better at knitting than I used to be - lots of things I do without even thinking about that drive you crazy when you first start. Speaking of which, go check out Irene who has finished two (2) count 'em beanies!!! YAY! And she's started... MITTENS!!! I HAVE HER NOW MHUAH HA HA HA HAA!

Have decided to hold off on dyeing my Bendigo 4-ply until my sock book comes, because i want to have a good read up on it first. And lets face it, I have plenty of sock yarn to go on with :p. I will try to do the rest of the orange Villawool by thursay evening though, because i need the room quite frankly, and would you say no to tiger sock yarn? I thought as much.

SnB tomorrow night - can't wait! Thank Dog I have actually finished a few things, i felt pretty silly last time ( I just keep accumulating yarn and books and mags.... where's the knitting?).

And I turn 21 in 2 days, which is a Very Strange Thing TM. I managed to get the day off work which is a huge relief (for any non-australian readers, it was 35 degrees celsius today and my work is without A/C). But... 21. so many things i havent done that i ought to have. I still don't have my P plates (or my L's anymore). I've never tried anything more adventurous than alcohol, and i've never been ill on the stuff (not that i ought to have been, but it seems to be a right of passage). BFG is my 3rd boyfriend... and also the third boy I ever kissed. I am SUCH a GEEK.

I guess I sort of worry that in 10 years or so i'll be settled down with a real job and kiddies (and a bloke i guess) and will suddenly realise i had no youth and go off and get crazy on LSD (coincidently, that's what my boss calls Liquid Crystal Display TV's). Ok, so I'm not VERY worried, but I'm nearly 21 and i can count the number of times i have gone clubbing on my fingers (and i don't need all ten). Aren't these supposed to be the Wild Years?

Pass the Patonyle, Beryl, and pop the kettle on, that's a love.