Earning my keep

And here we return to a bit a knitting content!

Those of you who visit the blog, may have notice that ol' Winston has been bumped down a little bit in the sidebar - I have added a couple of new self-promoting segments to the sidebar (after all... a girl needs to eat)

One is my Market Diary. As of this weekend I will no longer be spending my Sundays lolling around in bed until noon. I will be bright eyed and bushy tailed and trailing the markets down on the peninsula - the next one is at Queenscliff, and it appears that the weather will be playing the game. I'll be there from about 8 til 2, socialising, knitting and spindling - so if your inclined come down and say 'hello' to me. Feel free to bring your knitting and show it off! No pressure to buy, but I will have some yummy handspun yarn and kitchsy stitchmarkers available.

The other is my class timetable - I will be teaching a 3 hour class on a Tuesday evening at the LYS here in Geelong (Stitchery Blue for those in the know!) The class will be on sock techniques and will cost you $27 for the the evening... What does that $27 get you, apart from my wonderful company and expertise? Well, we will also provide you with a light supper, and you will leave having made a complete (albeit tiny) sock! The sock you make will teach you all the techniques needed to make comfortable, cuff-down, handknit socks - and I will be sending you home with a pattern for adult socks. If you're at all interested, call Stitchery Blue to sign-up...

No, really, please do!

I need a minimum number of students to run the class or else it will be postponed til next autumn. If you have ever wanted to learn how to knit socks, or just interested in perfecting techniques come along. I promise we will have fun (and besides - it will be in a yarn store after hours... that in itself it worth tuition fee!)

Here are a few pictures of the sample sock I have made (that you will make in 3 hours) - it makes the perfect mobile-phone cover, or alternatively - make two and give an infant you know happy feet!

Fight the black dog #6

I have to admit I have had a lot going on in my life in the past month... have you missed me???

Thanks for those of you who have been hanging around while I had a little blog-hiatus. All I can say is that it was an absence more because I was feeling happy than down - the short version is I gots me a new job in a yarn shop (yay!) and I have been busy getting a fashion / knitting design portfolio together to apply for a course, oh, and a new man (who is actually an old friend) . If you know relationships you'll understand that while this is new, I may be a little distracted of late (though I have still been getting some knitting done - hopefully I find some blog-time sometime this week!)

Welcome to everybody who found me via Dave's wonderful article in knitty.com - I didn't know the article was being written, but have communicated with Dave since to thank him for helping with the exposure to my campaign to raise awareness of mental health issues ( - and a sidenote, I also let him in on the big secret that Pierre is not me, but my dog, and I am *gasp* a gal :) Those of you who have not seen the article can find it here.
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I have had an overwhelming response to that article - it seems to have hit home for a lot of people, and will be sharing the stories sent in to me over the coming editions of "Fight the Black Dog" - however, I will be making a few changes to this newsletter.

First and foremost - I will not be trying to push out an issue every week. As you can probably tell, I am having trouble sticking to this timetable. As much as I want to create awareness for mental illness, I find that each edition I write sucks a little of my blogging energy out - I want to continue to enjoy this process, and rather than placing demands on myself that I know I can't keep, I will be making the first Friday of every month a designated "Black Dog" Day. Hopefully then, even if it takes a couple of days of blogging out of me, I will still have three weeks to get some knitting content up- after all, this is primarily a knitting-blog!

Secondly - I have been trying to get as much medical information out about depression as I could. This is something that I would really like to do, but really I am uncomfortable doing as I am not a psychologist, psychiatrist, doctor, pharmacist or someone who works in any kind of mental health organisation. I do not want to be personally responsible for someone getting misleading information and incorrect treatment because of something I tried to pass of as fact here. I will continue to talk about what works for me, and sharing other peoples stories so you may get some ideas of how to manage your own mental health from this, but I will not be passing on anything I am unfamiliar with - and I will try to provide some appropriate links, but I won't be going into any details about things such as medications.

I'll be back with another "Fight the Black Dog" the first Friday in October. Til then, I hope to get some knitting up - I have a whole bunch of FOs to share with y'all!