BeatleWear

knitting and the life I almost have around it

Monday, February 26, 2007

anticipation

hello ladies. thanks so much for all the well wishing, i am feeling much improved. i'm still in pain and hobbling about but it's starting to itch a lot too so i am able to keep positive because i know it's healing. i went to get checked out by the nurse today and when i saw my stitches i had to have a little lie down... it looks absolutely hideous but i am assured i am healing well.
i have to admit to being a leetle disconcerted when the nurse saw my wound, mostly because her first question was "what did you have removed?". it's ok, i dont have a nice picture of my stitches for you ;)

however, what with being banished to the couch pretty much all the time i did finish my peacock feather shawl today - a good week before i thought i would. yes, i did punish myself through the last few rows and it took an hour and a half to do the loopy crochet cast-off... but you know how much i needed to block it, right?

here it is all scrunched up and looking like a pile of poo.blocking....
watch this space

the wicked tease,
Ms Spider xo

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Friday, February 23, 2007

a bad day

as the title may suggest, my day was not brilliant. the reason for this is following but i want to warn you that its a bit gruesome and some of you may want to skip it.

this morning at work my boss and i were moving some furniture and stuff into the trailor for a tip run. after all the rain we had we flooded a bit and some of it really wasnt salvageable so we thought a clean up was in order.
now, since the fire some of you may know that half of the shop is a construction site and the builders are not that careful about how they do things. we went to move a gate together and something scratched my thigh. it felt like a bit of wire or something and stung a bit, so i glanced at it and.. well. i had brushed the corner of a sheet of galvanised steel roofing and really sliced my thigh open. like, about 3 centimetres deep.
so my boss panicked, wrapped my leg in something, carried me through the building site and got me to the hospital where i eventually got a local anaesthetic and 10 stitches.
it hurst like a bitch now the anaesthetic has worn off but i feel ok now. was pretty queasy and in shock initially.
i get three days off work and am promised it will heal fine - i was lucky that it was a straight cut and gruesome though it looked it missed all the scary veins and only just got the muscle. so, so long as i escape infection it shouldnt be too much of a drama... except the pain for a few days.

and nobody worried, its all covered by workers comp (though it was in no way my boss's fault, the building blokes are liable). sherpa is teasing me that i ought to sue but.. well as long as it heals nicely like the dr said and all (and i get paid for any days i miss work - i'm covered for this week, dont you worry) i dont think thats going to be happening. and yes, nobody expects me to go back to work in a hurry - i thought my poor boss was going to cry, he was absolutely freaked out! but apparently i am a real trouper (truth is i had to stay calm because if i lost it then there wouldnt be anyone who knew how to spell my name ;)

and i can now say for sure i have fat thighs - i've seen the fat in question!

on more pleasant topics, i'm onto the 7 chart for my peacock feathers shawl and it's gorgeous. i'm very happy with it. luckily i am now lucid enough to read the charts again so i guess thats what i'll be doing while i rest and recuperate. i'll pop a picture up later tonight or tomorrow.

the wounded
Ms Spider xo

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

the happiest sight on earth


lorna's laces, eat your heart out.

the somewhat chuffed
Ms Spider

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Thursday, February 15, 2007

my funny valentine

This arrived for me at work yesterday morning with this little poem:

It seems to me a trifle funny
that one should part with time and money
on flowers, or chocolates and their dispersal
on a date so blatantly commercial.
And so, my darling valentine,
(since what's mine is yours and your is mine)
this rose can sit upon our shelf,
but I've kept the chocolates for myself.

happy valentines all :)
Ms Spider xo

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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

you can stick your ecru shoes lady

well i find it very exciting when i have a photo so obscure no-one gets it :) but yes Taph, it is blocking on a plate...
and here it is:The Lace Tam by Lois Young from A Gathering of Lace. I knit it out of 1 ball of Grignasco Bambi and didnt use the whole thing. I knit it on 3.25mms because i couldnt get gauge on the 2.75mms the pattern called for. cute or what?

Now ladies, i went into the new Wool Shed store in manuka on monday. it recently changed owners and the shop moved a few stores down, but they still have a good range. i went in because they had called me to say that the new order of the Jo Sharp Alpaca Georgette had arrived and i want to knit a vest out of it.
i found the new yarn on the shelf and was suprised to note that the colours had appeared VERY different in the pattern book. i had myself set on a nice sky blue but it turned out to be grey. completely grey, not even a blue-grey. so i take it up to the counter to ask if maybe there's any from last season left or whatever. and the MOST CONFUSING CONVERSATION ever happened.
the lady behind the counter apologised that she usually worked out the back so she had no real idea about what was going on. i asked to see the alpaca kid lustre which was behind the counter. she called out to another lady. I'll call her tweedledum. i repeated my query to T'dum and she went on into this big anecdote about how she only knits Jo Sharp yarns and the colours are incorrectly labled, how she has a pair of shoes that colour. I blink and say that none of the colours are any good for me because they are all 'dirty' colours and i really need clear ones. T'dum proceeds to tell me that pastels are IN this season (T'dum and T'dee were both wearing bright orange). i repeat that pastels aren't the problem... she starts talking about her ecru shoes again. i ask to see the alpaca kid lustre. they both ignore me.
By now i'm feeling pretty frazzled, half expecting someone to jump out screaming "Gotcha!" but no. Sherpa starts to catch my vibe and comes in to rexcue me. i say, thanks but i guess i'll just have to substitute.
T'dum says "what size is it? it's a five ply".
I say "No, it's a 4-ply".
She says "what size are the needles?"
I say "3.25mm"
she says "2.25. well.. blaa blaa blah"
SHERPA says, firmly "NO, 3.25mm"
T'dum says "oh its three two point five... well thats almost a baby yarn. thats like a 4-ply"
ME - grabs addi turbos and strangles her to death.
or not. but it did cross my mind. i am editing somewhat, but i counted and i asked to see a ball of the alpaca kid lustre EIGHT times and neither of them payed any attention.

and these are the women who patronise me on a regular basis "do you know how to rib dear?"

here is the start of my fiddlesticks peacock shawl. I'm knitting it in my own colourway "Grape Juice" it's a nice pattern. I find charts very... comforting or something. its nice to have a post-it note to tell you you're halfway there.

Off to work. yuck.
The sleepy
Ms Spider xo

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

guess again

Hi there ladies. It's quite late and i shouldnt still be awake but i had a nap this afternoon and now i'm a bit buzzy.
anyway, i will try to post properly at a reasonable hour (that is, after at least 8 hours sleep) but i just finished something and thought i'd see who's clever :)
what could this be??

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Friday, February 09, 2007

properly finito

hello again, just wove in the ends and found some beads for the placket and... well, whats a blog for if not to show off?

thankyou for the nice feedback, i just couldnt bring myself to put hearts or teddy bears around the middle... yeuch. and its nice and soft and cosy :)

ciao
Ms Spider

Thursday, February 08, 2007

i wish i were size 6-12 months...

just a quick post to say "lookit!!" baby things are so quick, its awesome! i still have to weave in the ends and find some appropriate buttons for the placket but really? its finished. its actually a really good pattern, totally seamless. you knit the body on circs to the armpit, then you knit the sleeves on dpns to the arm pit. you graft those together and then knit the raglan shaping, turn to knitting rows for the placket and do the collar. it's a bit fiddly but.. wow! no making up at all! and i'm charmed by the little vine running around the tummy...

ciao!
Ms Spider

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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

well aged

so, saturday was my 22nd birthday. yuck. i hate birthdays. not so much the getting older thing, but more the whole "o my goodness so much i havent done" thing. which i guess is similar, but while i joke i'm not actually that worried about wrinkles.

this birthday, however, was pretty damn good. i got a four day weekend from work and a lovely semi-suprise party on sunday (started as a suprise but i figured it out a week before hand).

and i was SPOILT! oh my goodness! Sherpa was a very very naughty (wonderful) wicked (attractive) and deviant (rowwrr) young man. I am now apparently subscribed to interweave knits, vogue knitting and yarn magazine (How well did he do!!!???) . i am also the proud owner of a set of lantern moon ebony 2.75mm dpns and some rosewood 2.25mm dpns. AND four sets of addi turbos.... AND a really cool labelmaker. I'm a bit scared of it at the moment but i'm always like that with new technology - soon everything will be labeled.

also on friday part of my amazon.com book order arrived... as per the pictures. so did i spoil myself or what? i'm arguing that its all educational...

and here is the first complete rock and weave sock (im on the second heel and a bit bored..)with it is a sock i started on my new 2.75mm dpns on jawoll sock yarn in a chevron pattern from sensational knitted socks.
...and a sweater from last-minute knitted gifts ( i added the fair isle band) in cleckheaton country for sherpa's work colleagues little baby girl.

erm and this is a little image i took of my father last week Heh heh as he attached my mirrors to the wall so...
tada! i have a dressing table in an empty teensy wardrobe recess! LOVE IT

cough! and i was forced to purchase some seasilk... OMG. yum. gasp. drool. and yes taph, it does smell a little like the sea... in a good way. This is in the 'Vintage' colourway.

thankyou to everyone for such a lovely birthday. i'm not going to give a list of all my lovely gifts but i will put a blanket thankyou out - i received without exception the most thoughtful, useful and beautiful gifts and i am extremely grateful - thankyou!

well... i really want to pull my finger out with blogging. i'm knitting so much stuff lately, and have so many ideas happening... and of course now another million patterns to look over so i really need to keep you guys posted. thanks for all the kind thoughts lately. i'm ok. i have been a bit blue and its no-ones fault and there's no reason in my life beyond being a bit overworked at the moment. but not having a good reason doesnt always make it easy to snap out of it. so i appreciate everyone's support lately. i'd be lost without you all.

and i sign off again. please nag me to update! before i know it a fortnight has passed and i feel overwhelmed again!

the older and not yet wiser
Ms Spider xo

PS for those of you who dont know - i've been sitting for an artist. she's amazing! and no boobola nudity or anything, just face and hand type stuff. but i get to be Pandora in a painting! how cool is that??? (i totally think seasilk should be in the box... the evil wind that blows away your bank balance...)

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