'scuse the silence

Sorry for leaving you in the lurch there when I was supposed to post my next Tamora Pierce review - 

...but first I got distracted when I got an email from Morris and Sons (aka Tapestry Craft) saying the new Melbourne store was open - so I just had to dash into the city. Unfortunately, the announcement was a little premature, but the love shop assistants let me in to have a look around - the Morris and Son yarns are divine. The should be open next week, just in time for the yearly May/June sale. For a better sneak peak at the store check out my flickr page (after they so graciously let me have a peek I took photos from outside the shop with my new super duper telephoto lens) 

The store is at 234 Collins st (right above Dymocks mecca) and the will be having weekly s'n'bs on Thursdays from 7-9pm (tho I am assuming they will start after the sale finishes)

...then due to parental units being in town I was out and about and busy busy busy for a couple of days

...and I got stuck down by some lurgy (not to worry, no curly tail a la Dudley, so it mustn't be swine flu. If I start oinking I'll let you know so you can disinfect your computers, because with all this panic about swine flu I am sure it must be contagious via the interwebs)

...but the best news - I got me a new macbook :) oh yay! Quick Q for all you mac pushers users out there - anyone used google chrome? It's now my preferred browser, but I am not sure how well it will work on the mac.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back into it with the Pierce book reviews.... for now I am curling up in bed and catching up on my blogs :)

mugshot

the trip home - Pitstop 1.5 and 2: Tarcutta and Wangaratta

Sorry - no pics of the hand-painted goodies I picked up at the Tarcutta Farmhouse Industries Craft Shop - but I got some loverly hand-painted mohair and some gorgeous rainbow hand painted handspun...

The volunteer shop-clerks recognised Pierre from a previous trip to the town (I stopped there everytime I was going between Geelong and Sydney) and we discussed how Tarcutta was such a handy location for a pitstop (the rest area is on the main road with easy, ample parking) and the possible highway by-pass, luckily not scheduled until about 2012. I was very disappointed to have missed Taph and her mum, who stopped by a little later on in the day - however, I warned the ladies that more fibre fiends would be stopping by! If I didn't have certain place to be by a certain time I would have gladly grabbed a cuppa in the town just to catch up with Taph once more.

And that certain place was... WANGARATTA WOOLLEN MILLS!

Behold the majesty of such a yarnaholics mecca.

The photo collage above clockwise from top left: Yarn sales around here somewhere; One of the many overflowing yarn bins; the entrance to the retail shop; must be heading the right way for the yarn sales; just a minor stash enhancement; textile avenue - must be on the right track; the ACS mills - unfortunately no tours available; wool and woolblend remnants - $27.50 kg.

The retail shop there closes at 4pm, and I wasn't sure of what sort of time I would make - but due to the new by-pass around Albury I made it to Wangarratta before 3. (Yes - I enjoy driving through all the small towns where you only have to slow down for a couple of kms before you can resume cruise control, but Albury with its doglegs and traffic lights really irked me! Also, the bakery and roadside cafes tended to have better food for a better price than all the fast food in Albury)

Some of the photos are a little blurry as I was asked not to take pictures inside the shop, but they suggested taking some through the window (well, the original response was 'why do you want to take photos...? ... weblog...? ...maybe you could just do it outside... you know... through the window...?') Anyway - remember Scrooge McDuck swimming in his money bins? Replace that coin with yarn and you have something like the retail shop and something a hellava lot softer to dive into.

Anyway - next time I go to the Wangaratta woollen mills I will definitely be taking an empty car. Or perhaps a semi-trailer (my Dad could drive - he got his truck licence on Monday - Yay and congrats to him!) I walked out with one HUUUUGE bag of woolblend yarns, and one HUUUGE bag of acrylic yarns (approx 4-5kg of yarn in total) and spent just over $100. The acrylic, which my Nan uses to knit soft toys - was $10/kg. The wool and woolblend stuff $27.50/kg. There was also some other yarns with small discounts (patonyle, whole-bags of angora supreme etc) but I didn't partake of those.

I picked up enough shadow tweed to make two garments in two different colours, and more than enough inca to make another Josephine. Considering that the retail for these yarns is approx $10/100g, or $100/1kg the $27.50/kg was a steal.

Top Ten Tips and Tricks for making the most of Wangaratta woollen mills:

1. Clean out your car (trust me, yarn takes up a lot of room)
2. If you can spare the room in your front passenger seat, take a friend to split petrol costs and therefore afford more yarn (the only space left in my car was the front passenger seat, so I ended up piling up my yarn there)
3. Know your products - spend a couple of hours swatting at the ACS handknitting sites (ie cleckheaton, patons etc) and get to know the composition of your yarns. They are bagged up without labels/ballbands with a yarn composition and a weight written on the bag. (I know my patons yarns well, so I see wool/alpaca/acrylic and know that its inca)
4. Be flexible. All the yarns are a bit of a cluster-fork in the bins. Just because you know that inca comes in black doesn't mean you will find it, or it is even there. Its remnants - it may not be your lucky day!
5. Don't stress over dyelots. No ballbands = no dyelot information. If you are worried about dyelots, do a little research into how to disguise then when joining yarns.
6. Know what you are prepared to go through in order to save money. There are tangled yarns that are even cheaper than the $27.50/kg - but do you want to waste good knitting time untying knots? I know I can't be bothered.
7. Add in your petrol costs to your yarn purchases. It's no use spending $50 in order to save $10 on yarn. (Of course, the upside of this is that the more yarn you buy the more cost effective your trip)
8. Make sure the mills are open when you plan to go. On my way back to Sydney in January I made a slight detour to Wangaratta only to find the mills were still closed from the xmas/new year break. This time I emailed ACS customer service to ensure I could get a little S.E.X. in on the way home. (S.E.X. = Stash Enhancement eXcursion)
9. Make sure you buy enough yarn to make a garment - pointless saving money on 3 balls of yarn when you discover that you need 12 more of them to finish.
10. If the excitement gets too much for you, just find a seat, dip your head between your knees and breathe into a paper-bag for a while.

And now we briefly return to retail yarn for a moment:

At my last RandL knit group two and a half weeks or so ago, I decided to make one last purchase at my favourite LYS . After much mopey browsing, I decided to go with this loverly oceanic slubby handspun from Mollydale. The colours reminded me of the harbour city, and the yarn was of (reasonably) local origin. I grabbed all three skiens of the colourway, and am now trying to decide what I should make with it.

I have 300gms and just shy of 300mtrs - its labeled as a 12ply. I would welcome any suggestions on what I can make with this beautiful yarn - I haven't played much with slubbies before so please give me your input.

And a finished pair of socks... for ME!

THE STATS
NAME: Roza-knee-hi
PATTERN: Loosely based upon Roza's Socks by Grumperina in the spring InterweaveKnits. Modified for toe-up, and extra brioche stitch incorporated to stretch over calf.
YARN: 2 skeins Lorna's Laces's Shepard Sock in Black Watch
YARN SOURCE: ebay (yarnbow's shop, from memory)
NEEDLES:15cm Tulip 2.75mm bamboo DPNs
COMPLETED: 07 May 07


An just so you know, Pierre is doing well in his new (temporary) home at my parents. My Dad and I have been working on some new tricks with him - and he can now 'roll-over'

bad knittiquette (and a give-away)

How rude is a knit-blogger who visits another city, has a special s'n'b organised for her, and then fails to blog about it (or anything at all) for at least a week after??

Well, that would be me.

Sunday last weekend, I finally met lots of Canberra knit-bloggers... including Bells, Monsqueek, Taph, the Shopping Sherpa, Jejune (and Lulu the naughty sheep), happy spider - and their fellow s'n'b-ers.

Lucy-lou (LL) and I spent a couple of loverly hours at the Lighthouse in Belconnen, being accosted by the peanut gallery (some random drunk was requesting casssshmeeeeeeere jumpers) and enjoying the free wine given by the establishment to make up for a bit of problem with the service....

This was LL's first s'n'b experience - and I think she found it rather enjoyable... once she got over the initial shock of a fibre discussion less than 10 minutes into the event :) LL even left the event with a finished object - the first of a pair of booties for the bub due in April.

I forgot to take photos until after people started leaving, but we did fill up both tables that we commandeered :)

And this is the arty, post-chardy shot! Big thank you to Taph for organising this event. I did have a good time :) I just was laying low last week, and forgot my manners...

Although I wasn't the only one....

Pierre has decided he prefers height of the coffee tables at LL's....

And Dilby decided to enjoy the little rain during the drought... and try a self applied mud-facial. You can't quite read his top, but it has little pictures of "diggers" and trucks, and has the slogan "MUD MONSTERS" written all over it. Very Apt!

LL and I had a bit of fimo-lovin' during the weekend, whilst Dilby had a bit of play-doh fun (I think we managed to avoid him eating any!)

And the spoils of our labour, post baking:- These cool little beads will be made into stitchmarkers soon, and will be in the shop (yes, a little shameless self promotion). This set will called "poppies".

Also - BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mum.

I had a chat with Mum yesterday (the day of!) and amongst other things, she mentioned that my Dad went to the Melbourne Motorshow and took something like 450+ photos... but here is one car he won't have a picture of!

Yes, I realise this did the rounds on the 'net eons ago, but I haven't put on my blog, and my Dad hasn't seen it!

And did I say GIVE-AWAY??? (congrats if you made it this far!)

I have a handful of this year's tropfest DVDs that were free with the SMH. If you missed out, and would like one, leave a comment. On the off chance that I get more comments than DVDs I'll randomly pick names out of a hat. I'll announce who the lucky people are next Monday.

Vest-ed interest

Nearly two weeks ago, at Rubi and Lana, David mentioned that he was looking for a vest pattern... I knew I had this one on hand.
This is one of the patterns I bought while Op-shopping with my Mum over x-mas/new year, and I will admit I bought it for a bit of a laugh. However, the joke wasn't the porn-star mo, the rose coloured glasses, the huge cravat nor the sprayed-on tight white pants the bloke is modelling, which assures us that this pattern was published in the 70s (1979 to be exact)

The joke was that my Mum had once had this pattern and made it for my Dad. In stylish 70s colours of brown, beige and orange.

My Mum claims to have knit this pattern in 1979 (the year it was published). I can't be 100% sure of the date it was finished, but in 1984 my Dad wore it in the family portrait. A huge framed picture hangs in the hall at my parents house with the date on it. The portrait is just Mum, Dad, Sis and I (Little big brother - aka LBB - wasn't born until '85, as if often referred to as the twinkle in Dad's eye in that portrait)

And, as evidenced here, this item still hangs in my Dad's wardrobe. (Okay - no big deal, my Dad is a terrible hoarder, a habit which one day will prove to be genetic)

Every so often, my LBB "borrows" it to perfect his "golf-punk" look - not bad for an article of clothing we have photographic proof of being older than he is. (in fact - if Mum did finish it in '79 it is older than all of us "kids")

This vest has held up incredibly well - it is made from Patons Bluebell - a 5ply/sportweight pure wool. It actually isn't longer on one side than the other - I rotated the photo and it changed the perspective so it looks like it was made for Quasimodo. Trust me, my Dad is no Sean Connery, but neither does he have a hump :) ("Hi Dad, I love you!")


Here is a close up of the vest - I am a tad bit jealous of how neat my Mum's stranded knitting is.

I really like the pink female version of this vest, so it has gone into the "one-day" pile of patterns.

Big "ta" to my Dad for taking the pictures of the vest and emailing the up to me so I could include them in this post.

PS - Wish me luck - I have a job interview on Friday arvo. Yes, I know it's a holiday, but it suited better than Saturday, which is when I plan to be knitting at the Opera.

a special xmas present...

Sometimes it can be difficult for girls and their Dad's to communicate - I know this, because when I was 16, I spent a year in Portland, Oregon as an exchange student and the longest converstation I had with my Dad went something like this:-

Ring, Ring (That's the telephone incase you don't get it!)
Dad: Hello?
Me: Hi Dad, how are you?
Dad: Good, I'll just get your Mother... (pause)
Mum: Hi honey!

Fortunately, this is something that we both have been working really hard at fixing in the past 9 years or so. When I first got my licence, my Dad worked on an old Peugeot 504 for me to drive around (this car affectionately known as The Bomber). When I came home from college on the weekends if Iwanted to talk to Dad I would start by asking him anything about this car. This was the first of many 'special' topics my Dad and I now talk about.

When I started my blog, my Dad took great interest in it - infact, I think he is my most loyal fan :) When I call home now, it doesn't matter if Mum is home or not, because Dad and I have plenty to talk about because he knows what is going on in my life.

Sometimes, like when I got my Singer, I call home specifically to tell Dad about it. Because my Dad has an interest in antique machinery, and I luff my singer, this very quickly became one of those 'special' topics for me and Dad, as evidenced by this post.

So when I opened up a present from my Parents on xmas day, I knew my Dad had a bit of input into it...



See - just like my Singer, with one small difference
As you can see - I included Pierre for scale. This is actually a cute little box of sewing accessories that my Dad found in Spotlight a couple of months ago. Apparently he didn't buy it right away because he wasn't sure I would like it, but after he showed Mum it was a big goer!

And he luffed my reaction on xmas day when I opened it.... How funky is it! When I get back to Sydney I'll take a pic of it next to my big Singer.

The other 1920s Singer

Remember my gorgeous antique Singer sewing machine?

My Dad found a different type of Singer at the Geelong Show and wanted me to add it to the blog :)

May I present Singer 1927

you can look at the number plate and can see for yourself.






I particularly like this picture that my Dad took of the top of the grill. The reflexion is great!

Bugger Blogger...

I just wrote a huge post about the week I had with my parents and blogger ate it... evil blogger, evil blogger....

First of all - perhaps this should have gone in the zoo post, but my mummy bought me this cool mobile phone charm. I have a thing for giraffes and aparently this was just too good to pass up.. I agree
The first full day (Thursday) with my parents went well, we headed down to the famous (or sometimes infamous) Bondi Beach, where I tried out my new, cute haircut (it is somewhere between Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Temple - I kept telling the stylist 'shorter, shorter') Due to the hot (spring) weather the back of my neck turned red (and not the sexy auburn red my new hair is, but that terrible bright fire-engine red - bah sunburn).

On Sunday we did Sydney's other famous beach - Manly. We caught the extremely crowded ferry across, tripped the markets and walked the foreshore, before taking shelter (in the pub) from the sand whipped up by the gale force winds. I'd never done the Manly Ferry before, so I tried to get prime position outside towards the bow (pointy bit of the boat for you non-nautical types). It was rather crowded, so I didn't quite get uninterupted sea-breezes, but the new hair got a distinctively different style due to the blustery day...
Most days started with brekky at the new outdoor setting - it got lots of use, and Pierre got to explore new territory in the front yard. Tuffers cooked us a fantastic BBQ the night before my parents left - my current favourite food is BBQ-ed corn-on-the-cob (it reminds me of 4th of July, not that I had this delicacy while in America, but it does none-the-less)

Monday was a rather quite day - Dad took Pierre for a long walk, while Mum and I enjoyed the peace and quiet (Tuffers had to fly across the country for work again). I have finished my
ISE project - well, almost - it needs a little blocking :) No pictures because I want to keep it a surprise until my pal gets it in the mail. I started my Simple knitted bodice with the silk. I really like 'working from the top' but the rows were getting rather long and time consuming before I took the sleeves out. I am getting rather annoyed working with the 'rock star' beaded yarn, but love working with the straight silk. I frogged a few rows last night, and discovered that beaded yarns are incredibly difficult to pull out... however I love the effect and really want to finish this top..

Unfortunately, with my parents being here I forgot all about SOCK WARS... I better get started or else I will just be sending a ball of yarn to my assasin... And I need to remember to keep them out of reach of the pup - he has turned into quite a sock thief of late, so I can image that hand knitted socks would just be nirvana to him...

Oh - and my addi-turbos arrived in the mail on Monday. Looks like work can continue with the cable jet sweater.. So many projects so little time....

You belong in the zoo!

While the folks were here we planned a trip to the zoo - contrary to what I posted last week, (what - over a week between posts - you're terrible muriel!) it was a rather hot day.


As this giraffe demonstrates - blah!
(yes - for you non-locals, that is the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background - a zoo with a view!)



It was so hot that these little desert mongooses (or is that mongeese??), aka meerkats, had to hide away from the sun. There are two of the cute critters under there...


This tyke decided to do a spot of 'window baking'.. I wonder if he knows his underneathers are showing??

This was the highlight of the trip - the joey koala! I have never seen one of these in real life, so it was a real treat to see such a cutie.

Sydney - sorry for the thunderstorm...

Okay - so the forecast for this weekend may be fine and 28, but that may change..

Inspired by the recent fine weather, Tuffers and I went shopping. On Sunday a brand-spankin' new BBQ was purchased (stainless steel, four burner plus extra for wok, hood with window etc etc)... and some outdoor furniture was browsed. Due to the fact that Myer couldn't order the set we were about to buy in for another month (this after we spent 45min in the store waiting for them to get their act together) I was given the order to drive out to the supacentre and find something stylish, sturdy and solid wood (Tuffers was out of town, so I got to shop but he provided the credit card...) I found a great 7pce setting, with additional umbrella and stand for half-price at Knott's Pine. Both purchases are being delivered tomorrow...

Now, why the forecast may change.. In line with washing your car, and going camping, I am fairly certain that purchasing brand-spakin' new outdoor furniture and BBQ means the weather will turn drizzly and wet therefore ruining any enjoyment in said activity. Throw in on top of that, my parents are visiting from Melbourne, and you can see why I have my doubts about the weather this weekend. Especially as we are planning to do Taronga Zoo, the Blue Mountains, the Manly ferry and markets, and the Bondi coastal walk. Alas - I have an umbrella, and we are all aclimatised to 'four seasons in one day', so I think we will survive and enjoy our outings regardless. Apoligies to the rest of Sydney if they don't...

In other news, I got my delivery from Sarah's yarns today. Tucked inside the yankee bag was some Jagerspun colour cards thrown in for free. Before you say "not more green" - I have to mention that I was really keen on Morroccan Blue, but didn't want to pay through the nose at some other retailer when such a great sale was on a Sarah's. So it was either olive, burnt olive or atmosphere. Being a red-head I had to go for the green over the silver. (aside: I have just booked in for a hair appointment tomorrow, and am considering going short [marilyn monroe-esque] and darker [auburn towards downright brunette] so that may become a moot point, although I think olive will still suit a brunette me better). I love the tilli tomas bag that came with the yarn (but is this what $US39 a skein gets you? A gimmicky carry bag?) The skeins look really teeny tiny and I am not sure I will get a simple knitted bodice out of it all, but perhaps they have mystical properties akin to a Mary Poppins bag or the Magic Pudding. But yes, the yarns feel divine and I love the beads in rock star. I now need to finish my ISE scarf so I can start swatching with my 4.5mm needles.

Update on the scarf - am up to the last ball of yarn. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have cast-off and be up to blocking...

The cable jet top is on hold - I am waiting for my addi turbo circulars (I ordered ages ago) to show up. I am sick of knitting on the bright green plastic straight things... Addi's - hurry up puhlease....

Happy Birthday to the Fat Man!

Bit of trivia for you all - my Dad (aka the Fat Man) is now as old as the year he was born in (excluding the first two digits of course :)) If your really bored, I am sure you could figure it out. I am hoping that the 'card' I send express post makes it to him today... and that he gets home early enough to pick it up from the PO.

Pub Knitting

Knitting last night was fantastic -Working in a male dominated industry I love my nights out with the girls. The main topic of conversation was babies due to the fabulous LisaG making it home from the hospital yesterday with her instant family. I won't say anything more than that because it isn't my place to brag! However, the loverly Doris did have some piccies that we all 'oohed' and 'aahed' over.

I finished sewing the ends into my Josephine jacket / coat yesterday, however, even with the belt it still gapes a fair bit across the bust. I think I will make a small monkey's fist and a loop as a fastener just below the collar. (Monkey's Fist because it lends itself to my nautical nature and also because my Dad knows all about them :)) No pictures yet (camera is charging), but the yarn used is Patons inca in a grey, cream and light olive mix. Gorgeous yarn to knit with - and oh so quick on the 7mm needles :)

Not so king Kong

Due to the fact that the liver treats were no longer keeping Pierre entertained during our mad dash out the door to work ever morning we have tried something new. Last night before going bed we stuffed his kong with kibble and such with some teeny bits of smackos and liver treats sticking out the end and put it in the freezer. The verdict - one thoroughly entertained puppy this morning. The freezing means he is entertained longer and also is soothing for his red teething gums.

More friends were made at the post office last night - I make Pierre walk everywhere but because he is so small (he has been a steady 1.2kg for the past 3 weeks) and so friendly I don't leave him out the front of shops, but carry him in either on my shoulder or under my arm. The loverly lady who assisted us recognised him from a prior visit, and then everyone who went past our counter to the back room had to stop to give him a pat. He is such a sucker for affection! He even starts wining in the supermarket when we walk past people and they don't fawn all over him. Hmm... perhaps he is a tad too spoiled!

PS - sorry no pictures today, seem to be having some trouble with blogger... will try when I get home on my new wireless adsl connection that I managed to get working on my laptop last night.... (I'm not a technical type so I have to brag about it)