Not the doctor

So it's April now! Funny how the time goes.
Right now I'm just past the half-way mark of my term break. And, quite frankly, the break part has yet to kick in. After the first weekend, every ACT teacher had to go back to school for two days of Professional Learning (which is always something I've already done to death at uni, is badly presented and involves at least three painful and unnecessary role-play exercises - with "someone you don't usually talk to". Seriously, as a professional, give me enough credit to know who I can work well with!). Then I had a couple of days off, and even went on a road trip on Friday, down Braidwood, Batemans Bay and Mogo. I needed to get out of Canberra and was starting to feel a bit normal again.
And then on Saturday... Shit Went Down.
It's not my story to tell and I can reassure you all that I am ok and so is the husband. However, the result is that I have had someone living on my couch since Saturday who needs to be coaxed to eat anything and swings between teary self-loathing and sullen silences. This person has a history of self-destruction and really needs to be monitored a lot. Husband is working during the day and doesn't understand why I am so exhausted by the time he gets home. Of course I want this person here because I love them, they need to be looked (after much as they resent it sometimes), and it will pass. It's just kind of impacting my ability to do any school work or have me-time. Considering how close I was to burning out this term and how much I needed a break, I can't help feeling a little desperate right now. Forget getting any dyeing done!

Enough complaining and on to the good stuff! I've just finished my 4th sweater-esque project for the year, and am very happy to be on track still for 12 in a year.
This is Cassidy from Chic Knits. I used about 12 balls of Panda Woolbale and got gauge on the recommended needle size. As usual, I lengthened the body by a couple of inches and I'm glad I did. I like where it sits. And I don't know if it is a record for me, but I finished it in 14 days.

I also finished the Loretto vest for my mother, which was my third project of the challenge. It's without buttons because I had none :p Mum and Dad are camping across WA right now, so she took it and b0ught buttons and sewed them on in the car. She really liked it, and it actually suited both of us, which is an unusual occurrence.

For the record, Crapacious means crappy. I've been at my students to find more creative ways to complain about things than to swear... and one of my poppets invented a word to suit the situation. :)
On the last day of term, I talked through the plot of Romeo and Juliet with my yr 8 class to give them a little bit of a heads up on next term. They always groan at the beginning of the lesson and then don't want to leave when the bell goes: lust, murder, suicide, poison and dirty old men who want to marry 13 year olds! Sucks them in everytime! And every time, I get a comment like:

"Wait, what? Miss, I didn't know Romeo was a stalker!"

or
"Romeo's kind of Emo, Miss..."

It's seriously my favourite text to teach :) they always get so into it, often despite themselves!

Ok, I've got to persuade my couch-surfer to eat something.

Peace out,
Ms Spider xo

PS. Happy Belated Easter! (these booties)

assorted nonsense

Well, in a round about sort of way, I spent my weekend cleaning and drinking.

After the week back at school, Friday afternoon started with a few rounds of drinks at Tilley's with my co-workers... and sort of went from there. Monkey came and collected me, plied me with gluten-free treats from Deeks and then took me home to imbibe some more. Foolish child has still to work out the physiology of this Spider and was rather dismayed when one took oneself off to sleep at about 8pm. (Sleep was somewhat disrupted nonetheless, due to morons next door having very loud, drunken and boring conversations at the crack).

On Saturday we voted. YAWN. Then Monkey went off to work and I started to prebble*. The prebble became a full-blown clean and took up pretty much the whole day (I may be avoiding doing some marking). Beautiful friends and pseudo-relatives came around at about 6 and an evening of food, wine, board games and fibre-fun ensued. Much better explanation here.

Sunday was spent in a slovenly state after a very rude youthful magpie went "miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss" out in our garden at about 5.30 (and yes, strangely like one of my students) until I gave up on sleep and got up and... cleaned up the mess from the night before.

We also moved a few shelves around so the bunnies can be housed inside from now on. There are some neighbourhood cats that have been hassling them and Monty in particular gets very grumpy about it. They are still getting used to the new set-up but it is so far successful.

And I sorted out my earring collection yesterday. I think it's the teacher thing for me. Being relatively young, it's kind of hard to wear age-appropriate clothing that is not too revealing or innapropriate. a lot of the time I wonder if i look like lamb dressed as mutton, if you know what I mean. So... I guess I get my unconservatism on via my ear-wear.I'm rather proud of my collection, I only got my ears pierced when I was 17. I really like them to BE things, like fruit or animals or objects... there has been a good deal of recent movement, I blame etsy. I now have cats, rabbits, hello kitty, grapes, cherries, toadstools, watermelon slices, pea-pods, pears, upside-down flower pots, teapots, plums, strawberries, apples, daffodils, lady-birds, flowers, birds, 8-balls and cue-balls, fish, butterflies, buttons etc. It's rather nice.

Now I have exposed yet another side of my crazy to the world. Soon there will be nothing left! just a jumble of yarn and earrings.

Peace out,
Ms Spider xo

*prebble : a word my late grandmother used all the time, meaning to clean 'lightly' or superficially. Shoving all your toys under your bed so your mum would let you watch tv.... that sort of thing.

holi-yay!

Whoops! More time has passed than anticipated.
In the past 19 days, Monkey turned 23, i tested negative for coeliac's, i finished another pair of frilly socks, my flutter sleeve cardigan, my handspun scarf, my green diamond socks and school for the term. This is a great relief and I am celebrating by 'acting weird' (according to Monkey) and running about doing all sorts of things.(spring also arrived at chez spidey)
firstly the coeliac's thing. It is highly likely that i have either coeliac's or Non-Coeliac Gluten Intolerance (try saying that three times fast) but as it is so likely... i stopped eating gluten ages ago. Well before i took the blood test. so (i now know but didnt at the time) i would test negative no matter what because the little doovies wouldn't be active. Anyway, we're just making like I do have it because when i eat it by accident I feel wretched for days and I'm not inclined to munch on pasta for a week just to get a piece of paper that says: "you shouldn't eat pasta because it will make you feel like shite".
knitting!
these are more frilly cuff socks in my own sock yarn, colourway Kelp Forest. I LUB them. so fun! My mods on the pattern were to up the needle size a bit and decrease the stitch number to 64 and they fit really well.
I also finished my flutter sleeve cardi in time to wear on the last day of term. I like it a lot, but it's not much like anything else I own. I've never really understood the whole short-sleeved-cardigan thing, so I think it might take me a little while to get used to wearing it. If I were to make it again I would make horizontal button-holes, as the vertical ones were far too saggy in cotton and i had to reinforce them.

Also, pretty handspun scarf. Single spun from EGMTK merino/silk in Alchemy. Purdy.

Yesterday we went to Floriade. I took my camera but it was damn near impossible to get a pic of flowers without 40,000 other people and... well. we took a little break under a willow tree and took self-photos instead.Check out monkey's owl socks!Hee hee hee hee hee!Self-snap fun (the only one where monkey was not scowling or pretending to eat my face) I also caved in (for the third time) at Belissa and purchased another skein of their hand-dyed cashmere laceweight. It's 25 grams and I got my little forest canopy shawl out of a skein of this a couple of years ago. It gets more expensive every time i buy it - three years ago it was $28, 2 years ago $35 and yesterday $38. but it is such lovely yarn... i guess i forgive them. and it's still a pretty good price for hand-dyed pure cashmere that wears like a dream (it just keeps blooming!)


RANT
On saturday evening, Monkey and I went out to dinner and a movie with Monkey sister and her boy. we had dinner at Cream in civic. Now, I have an allergy to chilli. It won't kill me (as far as I know) but I am very sensitive to it, it makes my lips puff up, my entire mouth/nose/face hurt and burn and gives me tummy aches. I was already limited in choice because of the whole damn gluten free thing but they had a risotto that sounded nice. Except: it had chilli in it.
I have dealt with this forever and have no faith in restaurants, so i started looking at the salads (used to be fairly safe to choose a salad, but watch out! every amateur or trendy chef in the world throws chilli in instead of learning anything about flavours, herbs and spices). Everyone at our table got indignant that i should be forced to eat something green (heh heh) and hailed over a waiter.
"Can we order the risotto without chilli?" "Yes, of course you can" "it's not an issue of how hot it is, we have someone with an allergy." "Yes sir, that's fine" "You understand, she can't have any chilli" "yes sir."

So i order the risotto. And before I had even swallowed my first mouthful my reactions kick in.
we hail over a waitress with too much makeup on.
"excuse me, we ordered this risotto without chilli." "Yes sir" "well it has chilli in it" "I did tell the chef" "well it has chilli in it, could you ask?"
waitress with too much makeup on goes and talks to the chef for a while, while i mutter under my breath, mortified about being that person at our table.
ditzy waitress returns.
"chef left the chilli out of the risotto but he used the Master Stock which has chilli in it. But it's not hot" Smiles and drifts off.

So i ate Monkey's caeser salad and he ate a bit of my risotto. When it came to paying, Monkey's very brave sister went and had a go at them and we got the risotto for free... but it really got to me.

I was so embarrassed. nobody ever takes the chilli thing seriously, they make me feel like some pathetic loser who can't cope with a little heat. If i said I had a peanut allergy would anyone have the nerve to suggest "it's not very peanut-t, i doubt you'll even notice". It's not like I'm just some fussy person - it makes me very uncomfortable and if i'm paying for a nice dinner i kinda expect not to have an avoidable allergic reaction while eating it, especially when they are pre-warned.
Anyway, the long and short of it is: i won't be back and they're bloody lucky I'm not anaphylactic.

Anywho, I have things to knit, things to spin and bunnies to wrangle so i shall leave you all to it.

Peace out,
Ms Spider xo

PS. i dont usually rely on other people to talk for me, but i get so embarrassed about the food stuff that monkey just sort of takes over.

fail

So this afternoon I went to my Doctor to discuss the results of my blood test. Normal liver, good kidney function, normal thyroid... and yet. Apparently I fail at vitamin absorbtion. Big time.
My Iron levels were half what they should be, my B12 was at a 5th of what it should be and D barely registered at all. Dr was very composed but her micro-expression gave away a good deal, and now i get to have weekly injections of B12 until she's no longer concerned. It was the the most calm and composed internal "holy shite!" I have ever witnessed.

I'm in two minds about all of this.
Mind 1 says: Awesome! Just what you wanted! Something really simple and obvious and easy to fix. It explains the trouble sleeping, the difficulty concentrating, the lethargy, the headaches, the queasiness, the depression, confusion, dizziness. Dr says within three months of high dose supplements I should be a new woman.
Mind 2 says: ... I have been having all the above problems since I was seven. It's gone up and down but these have been my demons. So, how is it that my old doctor never even suggested any of these things? Have I been feeling like crap on a daily basis since I was a small child because my doctor overlooked a few things like vitamin levels? Am I on a reasonable dosage of happy pills that I don't need? Or, is this a mirage and while I'll feel better... it won't be the end of it.
Monkey's mind says: Awesome! This is the best news ever! Also, can we sue your old doctor for a million billion dollars and buy a castle to live in?

I'll get back to this whole thought process when I stop coughing my lungs up (did i mention I have laryngitis again? Yup. I'm just so much fun the people around me can't help dancing)

Current bus project: sock-it-to-me scarf from 101 designer one-skein-wonders in handspun silk/merino (fibre from EGMTK in Alchemy). It is now about four times this length but... well see above, including lethargy, roll your eyes and move on.

Peace out
Ms Spi-er (because I'm all out of D :s)

anything else?

You know that thing, when you were a teenager, where you were so caught up in your own dramas that you were utterly convinced the universe was screwing with you? Well, I guess I didnt get as old as I thought.

Reasons i think the universe is screwing with me:

Monkey just lost his job after they decided to close 61 of the 85 starbucks stores in Australia. As a sub-point, of course he is now out on the town with all the other bereft employees and I am left at home to worry.

On Saturday, silkydoll and I were on our way to Kingston and our journey took a detour due to a burst open tin of square crackers sitting in the middle of the intersection. (It's not the detour that freaked me out, it's the tin of crackers. I didnt know they even sold crackers in tins anymore)

A student told me I was as 'scary as a bucketful of kittens'. I know I am the approachable one but I did think I was scary when I had to be... sigh

I have had seven new students added to my assorted classes in the last week, which means that there are no longer enough copies of the books we are studying for three of my classes. Somehow this is my fault for not being better organised (organised enough to see into the future?) and does not warrant 'outrageous spending' on a few copies of Macbeth, Much Ado and Goodnight Mr Tom.

We have a mouse. I am not scared of mice, and this one is very cute but it does not bode well. I also cannot kill anything since a childhood experience and the thought of putting out any kind of trap makes me tear up. This means I rely entirely on Monkey to do the deed and for whatever reason this little fellow has been our companion for some 4 months i think. Now that this 'one' mouse appears to be a significantly different size every time I see it, I have to accept that there is probably a mummy mouse and some baby mice... which makes the house seem much dirtier than I thought, and has the added bonus of making me feel positively wretched at the thought of having them killed. A family! With babies!

There are ants building a nest under my clock-radio. You don't believe me, do you?There (ooh, ignore the dust). There are usually big white eggs as well, but I looked at them this morning and they've moved them. No, I don't know where to, but I suspect I should be careful to shake out any knickers vigorously before putting them on.

Oh and I have serious issues with my black dog at the moment (this one, not this one). Is partially a hormonal thing but knowing that there's a biological reason for the sense of impending doom and hopelessness doesn't necessarily make it easier to deal with. Anyway, having dealt with serious bouts that go on for months and months I'm always terrified that it wont end when my hormones settle. I think I'm also just in the middle of a self-pity party: sick of being sick, sick of headaches, sick of being tired, sick of dealing with crap at work, sick of spending my time off cleaning and never getting ahead of myself. Really sick of being barely functional and collapsing in a big weepy heap every three weeks. Really truly sick of being a massive burden (and often a complete dickhead) to Monkey and to my friends. (Also getting really sick of these pity-party decorations... getting pretty dusty from being up too long!!)


And now I realise I'm still writing because I don't feel like knitting but am completely lost without it and dont want to return to the couch and have to deal with the unease. blech. I'll try reading.

Please excuse the revolting display of self-pity.
Ms Spider xo

PS. If you see Monkey, send him home with a boxed ear.

nothing but the tooth

hello all! it's the third day and I'm feeling a little more human. My mouth isnt actively bleeding anymore and i'm allowed to eat food that is warm and requires chewing again. this is a Good Thing TM. Spider cannot live on custard alone!
i also have a new favourite painkiller - prodeine forte. it stops things hurting AND makes me sleep. this wins it many points because usually my trouble sleeping affects my recovery time. Now, for once, I'm sleeping right through the night and it's Monkey who's taking spells on the couch (maybe I snore when sedated? i should be more sympathetic but after 23 years of chronic insomnia I'm not that upset by someone having a few restless nights).

wow, pain maketh me meanish!
shake it out Spidey!

In my drug induced haze I have managed to complete some knitting... and how!
presenting the Bell Sleeved Jacket by Daniel Adamczyk. I used just over 13 balls of Cleckheaton Country 8ply and I chose not to knit the belt - I'm going to get a nice wide piece of satin ribbon to tie it with. I am really happy with it - it's just so pretty! It is very fitted and quite busy - it really needs to be the focus piece of an outfit so it's not an everytday thing. Was great fun to knit and didnt take me too long - just over a month i think?

I did also take a pic of the inside of my mouth - complete with tooth hole, stitches and injection sites but Taph informs me it is much too horrific so i'll keep it to myself.

I was actually completely terrified by the operation. it might have had something to do with fasting all day and being left alone in a room with no clock in a hospital gown for what felt like ages...
and i am apparently a complete geek. When i was recovering, the lovely anesthetist told me that when i went out i muttered 'The drugs are quick" and when i woke up they gave me my tooth in a jar and I said (to the tooth) "take that, you bastard!" and then passed out again.
I have no recollection of either of these events but they amused Monkey a good deal.

right now my biggest concern is that i have to stay home for two more days and i have no idea what to knit...

Peace out
Ms Spider

resolution is relief

So a few of you may remember my dramas last year with the tooth from hell? Well, my appointment to have it out wasnt til June and it's flared up again. So I've been a bit crippled, drinking tea on one side of my head and still getting the explosive pain that is an infected root.. ugh.

anyway, managed to (finally) see my dentist who freaked a little, showered me with scripts for antibiotics and got me an appointment with a different (and way more efficient) oral surgeon today... who managed to fit me in for Saturday! (i love efficient people... who just say "let me check now" not "here's 12 numbers to choose from, maybe call one?" because when I'm in pain I don't follow directions well)
I'm actually kind of.. excited. I know that sounds weird but the pain is excruciating and i want it to GO AWAY. I am having the tooth out because my mouth is crowded anyway and it's at the end of the line. I won't be allowed back to work til Thursday next week and Monkey gets a carers cert to look after me for 2 days. and i kind of need a mental health day anyway so I'm sure more than just my mouth can heal in that time :) so after the initial 2 or 3 days of feeling shitty I'm hoping I'll get some knitting time :)

In more interesting news, the market of yarn whoredom was on Sunday and our stall rocked! we had so many lovely people come and chat, old friends and new and we all had the bestest time. I totally want to do it again - Fibre day anyone?

I'm a little spaced out (tooth pain make me stoopid) so i cant think if i have any other interesting news or pics...

ooh! i bought a drum carder from Mandie! She is awesome and helpful and didnt tease me when i said i felt like i was propositioning her :D more about it when it arrives. But if you need help with Ashford or Louet you MUST contact her. Most helpful and idiot-proof (believe me!).

off to take my antibiotics (damn those biotics, who invited them anyway?)

Peace out
Ms Spider

I'm so dizzy, my head is spinning.

Apologies if I just got that appalling song stuck in your head, but I think I might be broken. Looking at medical sites identifies what I'm feeling as vertigo rather than dizziness and let me tell you - it ain't much fun. The world is spinning, rocking, refusing to stay still and I have to hang on to the walls to stay upright. As I'm feeling a little head-cold-y and have one ear that feels pretty deaf I think it's probably related to that rather than a brain tumour (I know, I know, googling your symptoms is for fruit-cakes because unless it's nice and obvious like a broken leg, everything is always a symptom of brain tumours).

This is a little test. See, now I know that if I don't improve by Monday I can function at work. Walking around holding the walls makes me look a little inebriated but might raise my street cred with the kids? Possibly less so with my colleagues though, which might be unfortunate.

While I am still upright, i shall share my knitting.
I finished the skirt... but apparently I need to wear a slip under it. Interested parties can go see it on ravelry but somehow the blog is a little too public an airing for the outline of my knickers :p
I am rather happy with it, though it has to be worn with heels or the curvy-ness looks disproportionate.

On Sunday evening I started the Bell-Sleeve jacket from Vogue Knitting Holiday 06 by Daniel Adamczyk. It calls for a 12ply but I got gauge with Cleckheaton Country 8ply and I am loving the resulting fabric. I have completed the back piece and the left front so far and all the cables and such make it an engaging knit. I LOVE the cleckheaton at this gauge, particularly post washing and blocking. It is soft and has enough drape without going floppy and the details just pop! I can see this becoming a favourite garment.
As well as vertigo I apparently have a slight case of Startitis because despite the joy of the aforementioned jacket... I just keep craving new stuff.Hence this little mess.

There has also been dyeing.
Yummeh!


And I'll leave you with some bunnies of doom. They really are such good company. even when they are stealing my chips.Or my man...They are finding the current weather a little chilly and this sprawl was the result of my having the heater on in the office - happy bunnies! Monty's winter coat is coming through and he's like a little nugget of fur. that double chin thing? all fur.

wish i could argue the same thing for me... :p

Peace out,
Ms Spider xo

blech

So I went to work on Tuesday.
This was apparently a Very Stupid Thing. I am now worse. I have not stopped coughing for 24 hours. and yes, this made sleep awkward, nay, impossible.
my throat hurts, my lungs are crackling and squeaking and wheezing and every single cough hurts my whole body - clearly i am too flabby for tummy-crunches, even sickness induced ones.
cough lollies arent working, cold and flu tablets aren't working, even the ridiculous size of my stash (all of a sudden) hasn't helped.
I think it's bronchitis or pneumonia. the earliest appointment i could get is tomorrow afternoon and if i havent ripped out and eaten my own liver by then through sheer frustration then i think i'll have done well.
Yeah, sleep deprivation makes me cranky. sorry guys.

the last of the stash arrived on monday and tuesday. There is a lot of crap, as was expected, but i did well too. lots of sweater quantities of 8ply in colours i can wear, 6 packets of Jet, 4 packets of Merino Spun... lots. Anyone who looks at friends activities on Ravelry has every right to be shocked. I'm trying to feel guilty, really. But it's just... i was looking through some old knitting mags today and i realised - i have the yarn to make every thing i like in this stack. I can even choose the colour! pretty happy about it :)

I'm not going to post pics... yet. if you need a shock you can go see my flickr account... that's where new stash starts and if you work back to page one you'll see the recent uploads. this may take a while.

I dont think i got tagged but everyone's doing it so i'm going to.

7 Things
1. I am apparently wired so i really get a buzz off full packets of yarn. You know, the original manufacturers bags with 12 in them, all neat and dust-free... goosebump. Even the ickier novelty yarns... that new bag thing. sick.
2. I love teaching essay writing. Well, essay argument planning. I think that too many teachers do it in a really painful dry way and i love getting up there and scribbling all over the board and arguing about which episode of the Simpsons we can use to exemplify Homer's abusive behaviour, etc.
3. I am really driven to squeeze blackheads and pimples. and i dont get that many. I find it really distracting if i'm talking to someone with a blackhead on their nose... and usually it's not because i'm grossed out and i want it to go away... i just want to squeeze it. Pity my Monkey.
4. I like the smell when you strike a match.
5. I've never smoked anything - except when i was 6 and i rolled a gum leaf up in a piece of newspaper... this may be WHY i have never been driven to smoke since.
6. Despite now having several very good female friends who i adore, i don't understand women. I find it very hard to figure out what is expected of me... men are simpler really. So i often come across as aloof, bored or kind of... conceited i guess, when really i just feel awkward.
7. I don't drive (see previous post).

ok. brain dead now. am going to try to sleep semi-upright on the couch to help with the coughing. grump grump grump

Ms Spider

the weekend just 'flu by

So, yes, full-blown, two-days-of-fever, chills-and-aches, cough-your-lungs-up flu hit me on friday. Awesome! I made it to work and through roll call... and managed to hang around for about 40 minutes before my denial was overtaken by the realisation that the fever was causing me to lose split-seconds of consciousnous and that even sitting hurt because the chair had to actually touch me and everything hurt.
So i went home. Didn't think about a taxi until after I'd been sitting at a bus-stop in the wind for 20 minutes... and Monkey called and said "why the hell are you catching a bus????" (I did mention that stupidity was a symptom of flu, right?)

The rest of the day is a little blurry, but i do remember the phone call from the vet, letting me know that (despite getting three people to sex him on two different occasions) Winston is a girl-bunny. And we're bloody lucky she wasnt up the duff.
So. My buns are now desexed and not as homosexual as i thought. I had always thought Winnie (now Winifred, Duchess of Cardigan) had a pretty face, but Monkey is now overwhelmed by how female she looks. Perception is a funny thing.
They are healing up nicely, and apart from blatant chair theft when the sun is in the right spot, we've been having a nice time recovering together.

Yesterday Monkey went out for the second Saturday in a row to go car shopping. And came home in this. I am very pleased with him. It is a Toyoto Corolla Seca (i really wanted to type Toyota Shmenennne Haanneennaane but thought it would increase the dopiness of the thing I'm about to say) and it's RED. I SO need a matching sweater... not that it's my colour. I already have matching shoes.... For those of you who don't already know: i don't drive. After years of freak outs I've finally narrowed it down to this. I get many migraines and the bit before where you get all dizzy and half blind and your depth perception completely vanishes... happens to me two or three times a week with no warning. I bump into people and objects, but the idea of this happening while behind a wheel scares the bejeezus out of me... i used to call this a phobia but i dont actually think it's irrational. So now i'm trying telling people the whole story for a while. it has nothing to do with being too lazy to get my licence. It is a quality of life issue. This said, Monkey does most of the driving for us (i am including in the list of drivers, not me, but our parents and friends). I do however share petrol costs and am splitting the costs involved in the new car. It is our car. I just won't be driving it anytime soon.

(apologies for that long explanation, I've been copping it about the not driving thing since i was about 12 - grew up on a farm and that was when Dad taught me but i was never comfortable - and i just wanted all the facts out there so if anyone decides to give me a hard time about it at least i can't argue that you didnt have all the facts)

((Also. I may be feeling a lot better, I am however still coughing every three minutes and have only just got my voice back so i'm taking a day off. The rant was a giveaway, right?))

The other thing i did this weekend (in between comas) was finish knitting and seam my Origami Cardi. Excuse the three days of 'flu and two days without washed hair-ness of the pic, excitement was not to be overcome by vanity. Anyone who is looking here to see how i look rather than my knitting will like me even more for looking bad... right? Nothing like someone else looking a mess to make you feel chic?Anyway. I used Totem in 4239 (i think, Monty keeps eating my ball bands). I used just under 10 balls but it was close and i had to knit the sleeves to 15 inches before decreasing instead of 18. They dont seem a bad length - i would block them longer but it would make the pattern-stitch mismatched. Like most people say, the back is a little odd. I don't mind the length, i think it's the unfinished feeling the sides have that bothers me. I do like it though, it's a cute pattern, quite fun and sensational yarn. I will wear it heaps teaching, it's exactly the kind of layering i need nearly all year.

I feel like i've forgotten to say something very important. I really felt like i was dying on friday, that weird chills, jelly, shake thing that feels like just maybe you're having a heart attack... so maybe that impressed on my mind that i had left so many things unsaid?

ah well, c'est la vie (and tomorrow, c'est la sick day, so if i remember....)

Peace out
Ms Spider xo

check up

Regular readers will know that this Spider has a tendency to be... well... less than well. Migraines, black dogs, girly cramps, insomnia... I'm one great bundle of laughs.
Yesterday, finally, i went to see my Doctor. I have been trying for a while but he happens to be very popular... and i go on cancellation lists but no-one calls me back.
So i had the hideous two-yearly girly check-up and a boobola exam (tires kicked, peered at, prodded, proclaimed "healthy") and was then told that as my black dog has not run away, despite school finishing and stress disappearing... i have to double my happy pills.
I hate altering the dose of my happy pills. HATE IT. It means I'm going to be dizzy and nauseaus for a few days, won't sleep for a week and probably wont be able to concentrate on anything I actually want to do. fun fun. I know it's better to deal with it while I'm on holiday, rather than during the first few weeks of probationary teaching.. but man! I just want the best holiday ever and this is pissing me off.

Fortunately i suppose, i had a parcel arrive from getknitted yesterday. Two balls of opal 6ply in the rainforest range and a ball of tofutsies. yummeh. You are looking (from L to R) at Tiger, Parrot and One foot in front of the other. Now that I've got what i wanted i can mention that getknitted has TOFUtsies for sale. and they have wicked-fast shipping. just saying. If you haven't ventured there before... it's worth it. if only for the drool factor. Trust the spider.
Monkey informed me (midway through secretly killing myself with his Doktorfisch slipped-stitch rib socks) that his favourite socks ever are his 6-ply basic chameleon socks. As they were very quick and easy i was pleased, but considering how many socks i have made him out of 4-ply... also a little annoyed. Luckily, getknitted still has it on sale so i bought some more, and unless my brain clears significantly, i think that 6-ply socks are it today.

yesterday i did some spinning. This is Sarsparilla from Fibreworks and it is ridiculously velvety merino wool. *drool* I've been saving this particular 100g bag of sliver for a while and yesterday i halved it and spun half. I spun a very fine single and then navajo plied it to maintain colour blocks. It's a soft, 3ply sock yarn. It is also so beautiful it makes me want to weep. The other half of the sliver will be treated in the same manner, and i WILL finish spinning the lot of it BEFORE i knit it (i've done this before and it took me 18 months to get around to spinning for the second sock... and i only finished THAT sock two days ago). You are all burdened with the sacred duty of keeping me honest. *taps on shoulder with addi turbos* Rise oh knights of the needles!
Sadly, with an addled mind i really cant be sure my single will stay fine and consistent enough, so simple dum-dum stocking st is probably the best idea for today. If only i had the mental capacity to choose.. Tiger or Parrot?

Peace out
Ms Spider xo

again with the 'flu??

So it would appear. At least i caught it on Sunday before it had really knocked me over and started taking cold and flu tablets then. Went to work this morning to take my classes and leave lessons for tomorrow... and teaching was a struggle. Lots of kids away on a camp though so at least i didnt have to shout.
Even though this was the only way Monkey would let me go to work today i still feel quite pleased with myself for recognising my limitations. Shame to lose a day's pay though. Hope i won't need to take Wednesday too :p and i need to go to a damn SnB soon... so i hope i'm ok Thursday.

Had a massive freak-out at the end of last week: got a letter from the uni saying i didnt have enough points to graduate. This totally floored me since i thought i had sorted it. Of course, by the time i got the letter, everyone at the UC who is anywhere near useful had gone home so i didnt get to sort it out 'til today.
When i started my degree it was a split/double degree: BA/BEd. Then they re-me-jiggered (technical term) it about a year in so that all courses were now worth three points instead of four and unless you had already started it the degree didnt exist. This has made for a very awkward four years. And there was a great deal of confusion in regards to which units anyone should be doing... since the degree didnt exist. AND all the education units are so shambolic that they get re-written basically every semester... so i did end up taking the same units (badly reworked) once or twice.
To cut a long story short, I have enough points to get my BEd this year. This means i CAN take my permanency next year, get a real income and start doing what i want to do officially. I can also take ONE more unit (because i need ONE measly point), wherever i like on whatever i like next semester and be awarded my BA next July. This seems smart in theory but i might wait and see if I get a placement at Lyneham next year: i know the school and the staff and the students and reckon i could cope with a little extra work if i was there. If i get somewhere random like Calwell.. maybe not so much.

Those of you scanning my jibberish looking for something interesting, the breakdown of the above paragraph is 1. Uni is stupid, 2. Spidey is stupid and 3. Spidey is graduating this year.

I have been knittin but i need to be sleeping now. Might update tomorrow.

Peace out,
Ms Spider xo

a very bad day

I like to believe in karma... and after today i'm kind of wondering what i did that was so very very wrong! or maybe i'm just due something pretty fab now.

did you know that Action buses are considered by action to be 'on time' if they arrive 7 minutes either side of their estimated time of arrival? you see wherer i am going with this? i am nearly always running after the bus (awkward if it's a heel day).
This morning i was prepared. I had my shower the night before. I was ten minutes early for the bus. it was late for the first time ever. and i discovered that i didnt have my wallet. OR my phone. and my keys are attached to my wallet.

Yes.

I walked back home and discovered that by some freakish coincidence all the windows in my house were closed. This rarely happens because i like the fresh air and with share houses someone tends to be here all the time. unfortunately, Monkey was at work and Vic and Phil were down the coast. after trying (and failing which stressed me out even more) to break a small window with a brick wrapped in a sack i tried the miniscule loo window... and it was open. It is NEVER open. It is usually locked! i sure as hell did not open it. It is also approximately 15cm wide and 1.5 metres off the ground... over the toilet. my years of gymnastics pay off.

Then the taxi was late.

Then when i got to school i was rostered on with a class every line, all day and a lunchtime duty outside with the new rule that we have to wear bright orange high-visibility vests. orange is SO not my colour.

Got home to discover i had only been paid for one week of work instead of two.

then i had a dentists appointment (which cost more than my one week's pay) which resulted in two fillings, three needles and some serious drill interference to my gums and root of my tongue.

i got home from the dentist, had a big cry (much to Monkey's concern) and then ordered thai food and watched Monsters Inc. Resisted urge to get blazing drunk. too spaced out from anastheasia to knit. sigh.

So. I didnt go to SnB. I wanted to... but i could only chew without eating the inside of my mouth half an hour ago and i dont like to be seen drooling in public (might make the yarn sticky).

I'll get back to you all when i'm feeling a little less like god hates me.

the worn out
Ms Spider

PS. i have a plethora of new books from amazon that i will review for you soon, as soon as i come to terms with god hating me.

stupid cotton

Why does it take SO long to dry? what a pain.As you can see, Cambio is resting calmly (I use this towel for blocking a lot, dont i?). I, of course, am a little less calm. A word to the wise: if you are in the habit of spinning excess water out of handwashed knitwear in the washing machine... don't do it to Cambio if the beads you managed to find were a little brittle. It's not obvious... well to me it is but i'm the Queen of Obsessivia (and on the city council for Passiveaggressivia) and it's going to annoy me that i'm missing a few beads. i may be able to sew them on.. but i dont know if it will look neat enough to be worth it.
So, Cambio is drying. I finished it after a marathon of Medium (i want her family) and am a little antsy because before i can wear it i have to get some hook and eye tape and some velvet ribbon to reinforce the edges. I'm not about to wear it without those things - i know as well as anyone how temperamental cotton can be when you give it a chance to droooooooop. But i cant decide if i ought to sew those things on by hand or by machine. Advice would be appreciated!

While waiting for Cambio to dry, i pulled out some silky mohair. holy mother, this stuff is glossy! I'm going for a fingering weight 2-ply. are you surprised? it's just the weight i find easiest to knit with. anything bulkier and i really struggle to do anything with it.

And i responded to the siren song of some sock yarn i dyed a few weeks ago and then couldnt part with. it's a new colourway that i have yet to name. And its a new sock pattern i'm nutting out as well. so, i'll keep you all posted.

The flu is pretty much in retreat. i'm still snuffley and tire easily but i feel SO much better. Actually, it's kind of doing my head in - i feel great and then get exhausted halfway through doing the groceries! Thanks so much to all the well wishers. It's been a little weird having my parents out of the state while i'm so sick... monkey is a great nurse but sometimes you just need your daddy, you know what i mean?

Ok, off to glare at Cambio some more and knit my un-named and delicious sock yarn.

the cheerier
Ms Spider xo

my cranky-pants are giving me a wedgie

hello all. I'm just going to begin by apologising if i come across as a little cranky today. If i do, there is a reason... however poor:

I have flu.
AGAIN. Is it just me getting a whopping case of the "poor-old-Spideys" or have i been crook a lot lately? anyway, it's pissing me off big-time. Which means I am not sleeping properly, not working.. in fact i'm basically spending most of the day on my butt trying to drink enough fluids that my throat doesnt give out on me. so yeah. cranky.

It does, however, allow time for knitting.
Cambio is trailing along. here it is as i knit the second sleeve on dpns. I find cotton hurts my hands a little... and 200 odd stitches back and forth in Stocking stitch is maddening at the best of times. But i enjoy the product, sitting in my lap, the blue beads glowing in the sunlight. here it is, after both sleeves have been attached and the raglan shaping started.This cotton really is ridiculously soft and drapey. A dream. I cant wait to wear this baby.
there are a few (everyone who knows me just laughed out loud, didnt they?) WIPs lying around but i cant quite put my mind on them just now. In a few days i may show you what i am up to with this lovely hand-painted mohair my future MIL gave me..

I did a little spinning today after i got my balance mostly back (you know how when you're sinuses are stuffed up, and your ears are all blocked you start to wobble a tad?). I've been at this silk for some time. It was a whole lotta silk caps and i (rather foolishly) decided to spin it super fine. Great idea, right? wrong. I started this about... mmmmm.... 6 weeks ago? finished, finally... and i do love the product. and its easier to knit something out of 450 metres of laceweight than it is to knit something out of 100 metres of 4-ply... but it was a trial. I'm glad its over!I include my thumb nail for gauge.

The lovely persons who volunteered their services as test-knitters ( i have chosen two) will find an email of the pattern in their inbox soon... well, as soon as i am happy with the one i have written up. Thankyou for offering :) :)

Ok. Now i seriously need my beauty sleep.

The crook'n'cranky
Ms Spider

something witty

again, it has been too long. in my defense, i am working three days a week and its GOOOOOOOD but tiring.
Had a serious migraine over the weekend and i'm still recovering. its one of those things that doesnt really properly go away for ages.. it hovers and knocks you about when you can least afford it.
since i last posted, several things have happened.
My grandmother had her birthday and we had her over for dinner (luckily, being Hungarian, her favourite meal is sausages. easy!).
I had my interview with the DET. scary! i think it went well, wont find out how i went until october some time. erk.

there has been knitting.
finished the Travelling Vine Stole. today actually.
Have to write the pattern up nicely and then my part of the commission is done and i get some fibre baby!
My first honeybee sock is complete. (yes, i was too lazy to find a surface away from the computer. bite me). So cute, i love it. Again, this one needs the pattern written nicely. Monkey has set up adobe for me so i can sell pdf files of patterns from this blog... i may be needing a test knitter or two though. let me know if anyone is interesting.

Harry stayed over for a few nights and helped me deal with my migraine-related lack of motivation.
He's such a sweetie. (Monkey has finally worked out how to get the camera out without Harry hiding from it.) (And i decided it was ok to have that much of my butt on the internets because i was asleep and in trackies. )here he is again... on the wrong side of the front door, as usual.

Anyway, i'm off to bed. Work in the morning (W00T!)

The erratic
Ms Spider