and now?

Ok so this is a definite giveaway. Congrats to loribird it is indeed the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rock and Weave sock pattern. Is BEAUTIFUL, I highly recommend it.

As for the yarn, not to be a salesperson or anything but i do have some on eBay... But really ladies you know how i work. Just email me if you're really keen and we'll see what we can do :)

I'm having a day off. It's very nice but i'm in that terrible disatisfied mood. I knit for a while but its not what i feel like, neither is dyeing or spinning. theres some writing i should be doing (and really want to do) but even that just isnt doing it for me today. Last week wasnt a good one for me. I dont know if its the incoming birthday blues or what but i feel.. unattractive. Not that i usually feel like a stunner or anything, but usually it doesnt really arrive on my little shore of awareness to give a damn and suddenly here i am freaking out that i might have cellulite. I know it sounds daft, i have a sherpa employed full time to tell me it sounds daft.
I think it might have something to do with working so much and being surrounded by mirrors at work. and ladies this little spider is working HARD in the sun and with dirty, sooty things so its kind of miraculous if i get to the end of the day and i dont look like i got spit out of the back end of a camel. maybe i should try harder to sell all the mirrors ;) (was very nice to get visitors on saturday, apologies if i was a little flustered)

Went to visit my cousin yesterday which was nice. She's one of my favouritist people in the whole world and i hardly ever get to see her. Stupidly i took no photos of her and her daughter but even if i had i wouldnt be putting those up here. Just imagine a laughing lovely woman and her manicly grinning blond 7 year old. got that? yup.

anyway, i might go an have a second attempt at not being a total layabout.

Oh oh before i forget, anyone want a menapause bar? I have no intention of eating it, it looks disgusterous but i couldnt resist the purchase at 75 cents.

see you all on tuesday AND thursday and i will bring my ball-winder and swift for Kylie on thursday should anyone have any skeins that need balling :)

Ms Spider xo

three guesses..?

hi ladies,
just dyed the yarn for and cast on a new project and i'm LOVING it. who can guess what it is?
havent quite decided on a name for this colourway but i think it might have to become a regular one :)

also.. well tis Australia day and for some daft reason i still have to work (could it be i'm paying rent this week..?). But, joy of joys, the bus timetable is different on public holidays which means i get to go in an hour late, wheeeeeee!

also i'm nearly 22 which is weird. a week from saturday :s it isnt as old as it sounds really... but man! old lady spider at 2 oclock!
oh and Sherpa is plotting very studiously... did i mention i can read him like a book. i've been trying VERY hard not to think about it because he really wants to surprise me... but honestly! woops, started to think about it again... well if none of you show up to snb next week i'm sure i'll see you anyway ;)

the psychic (psycho?)
Ms Spider xo

PS. Afterthought: I did name it and forgot.. its Belladonna. Silly Spidey.

6 weird things

gee thanks bells :p is this your way of telling me to get my act together and post already?

i have been tagged. 6 weird things about myself. lets see if i can stop at six..

1. i am hyper-sensitive to temperature. i used to think it was because i was pretty underweight for a long time but now i've grown a little more cushioning nothing has changed. if it gets above about 28 degrees C its too hot, and below 21 and its too cold. (strangely, i cast on a pair of thrummed mittens during the hottest week since 1968... but we do have a/c in the office and i was finding it a little cold).
2. when i get sick, the glands around my neck and chin do not swell. this made for years of joy as a child when i would insist i was too sick to go to school and then my dad would check my glands and send me off in disgust at my attempted deceit. i didnt discover i was right about this til i got glandular fever when i was 15 and totally freaked out the doctor. i do however get one that swells and gets sore in my armpit to warn of incoming colds.
   
3. i am terrible at taking compliments. i can handle ones about my knitting because usually it isnt my yarn or my pattern so i can say "its a brilliant pattern, so easy". i have never been able to handle compliments about my appearance. boys my own age tend to get royally told off for telling me i look 'hot' (HATE that word) because they dont know me and how dare they!! and women... i really dont trust and deflect it swiftly or go bright red or pretend not to hear. not that it happens that often but i do not handle it with good grace.
4. i have never related very well to women. i was always a Strange Child and while i had girl friends i tended to be the butt of all the jokes. i could draw quite well and i was always cosied up to so i would illustrate other girls assignments.. until it was handed in and then i was dropped like a stone. by the time i got to high school i was seriously over the 'cool' crowd and pretty much just did my own thing and strangely ended up with some of the best female friends i've ever had. now that i've joined SnB and met other women i am a much happier person. even if one of my favouritist people ever happens to be old enough to be my mother, as i was informed over the weekend! friendship is ageless.
5. i hate wearing shoes. i love shoes themselves but prefer to look at them, if i have a choice i'm always barefoot.
6. i have an inner dialogue most of the time, and over the years this has developed a predictive side to it. as i get out of the shower i immediately see what it would be like if i slipped, where i would hit my head, which teeth would get knocked out, whether or not i'd survive.... morbid and everything but its very matter of fact. i cant help it, its just what my brain does. it doesnt scare me... except around small children and roads!

well there we are.

And here are a few photos i took at the merino show over the weekend.. the lovely knitting ladies and their display items, and then a sheep getting its little sweater pulled off. if anyone is curious i will explain this next time.
ciao for now
the tagged
Ms Spider xo

flying too close to the sun

So, as promised, the spider got her wings.

For those of you who need details, this is Icarus from Interweave Knits Summer 2006. I knit it in bendigo 2ply that i dyed in Blue Lagoon colourway. I used 3.75mm needles and did the last couple of rows in a 2ply handspun i had knocking around from my handspun shawl because i wanted to anchor it a bit. I love the edging, it really made me happy when i saw the yarns together. I cast off a bit early, i still had 2 rows of the chart left and i just did a stretchy cast off instead of the four row edging in the pattern. i cant tell if theres any difference, i'm happy with it :) VERY.

I am off to play house with Othlon and her bro for a few days so i may be absent from the blog... but i hope not. the yarn fest ought to be documented, no?

Ms Spider xo

blocking is my crack

Coming soon: Spider posing with wings and more details ;)

happy gnu year

Ladies! Welcome to 2007! It is strange, no? I still catch myself writing 2002 on things...

Firstly, for my own records, some resolutions:

• Get fitter (suddenly some of my clothes are very tight... this is disconcerting.)
• Do my uni work when i get it.
• try to take it easy with the random startitis fits - or at least learn some finishing stamina. (and for those loyal readers who just gasped and said i finish everything very quickly... the blog is the tip of the iceberg. you dont need to know everything i cast on....)
• have a berloody housewarming party already! (may coincide with my birthday)
• Be more social. I have gotten rusty. apart from sherpa and anyone who knits i really struggle to make an effort socially. i would like to excersize this muscle until i am comfortable chatting to strangers again (i always say the stupidest things!!!)

I think that covers it for now.

Now, to the interesting stuff.
I finished one mitten. It is beautiful. i love it. the floats are beautiful. the texture is beautiful. unfortunately there is a small problem...
my hand.
apparently my hands are in no way 'adult medium'. Sherpa who is in no way resistant to colour thinks it is pretty swish... but i dont want him to get killed in the street.

this raises a slight ethical problem for me. if you comment, please vote on this. If you are gifted yarn, are you only allowed to use said yarn on projects for yourself? or is it ok to knit a gift for someone else out of gifted yarn? Guidance will be appreciated.

Here is my 'Blue Lagoon' shawl. I decided against the yarn harlot shawl (i prefer top down shawls) and have instead cast on the Icarus shawl from Interweave Knits Summer 2006 (this is Jejune's mag, I'm sorry I've had it so long!). It's simple but it does chug along quite nicely. I cant wait til i get to the feather tip bits... drool. and the blocking. just magic.

That probably covers it for now.
Hope everyone had a lovely new years and all. hope to see everyone at SnB on thursday (i need my fix of sanity)

the knitty
Ms Spider