'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 :)

Scarf Festival Update: Workshop Program

Forwarded to me by the lovely Gillian - http://leafygal.blogs.com/

Dear Scarf Maker

 

I am pleased to announce the festival program for Transformation: Scarf Festival 2009. I hope you will find an activity that suits your skills and interests with nearly 40 different classes on offer by 22 professional and amateur craft practioners from across Australia!

 

Bookings for the workshops open on Monday 18th May at all venues across Geelong and Melbourne. Please note the venue of the workshop and contact that venue directly to make a booking, Monday - Fridays during business hours. Bookings and prepayment are required for ALL workshops regardless of the venue.

 

Please note the special offer for the NWM membership which is open to all participants and attendees. NWM Membership attracts a 15% discount for scarves entered into the Transformation Showcase and workshop fees and free entry into the Museum for 12 months.

 

We hope you will join us in transforming your winter this year!

 

Kind Regards

Lynette

 

Lynette Nilaweera (Christie)

Scarf Festival Coordinator

National Wool Museum

PO Box 104

Geelong VIC 3220

T: 03 5272 4864

F: 03 5222 1118

E: scarffestival@geelongcity.vic.gov.au

W: www.nwm.vic.gov.au

 

The Workshop program is available in google documents here:

Scarf festival 2009 Workshop Program.pdf

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.7116d928-05b1-49d0-9d1f-76c01719933e

TAWFA Linkies :)

• Even though I didn't quite make it, you can see the full list of prize recipients here.

• Managing Director, Liz Foster, is interviewed about the Australian Wool Fashion Awards in this video here - I think the dresses featured in the interview were last years entries.

• Fashion designers say wool must go casual -  Article from abc.net.au, and I quote 

Overall winner Rachel Hunt, from The Oaks in New South Wales, says the use of wool has to change to stay modern.

"A lot of the designs on the runway tonight experiment with a lot of different shapes, and a lot of quite casual things," she says.

"I think people expect wool to be in suits or in something a bit dressy, so I think it's great that it's a lot more casual these days." 

because dressing up in a grey sueded dress shaped like a butternut pumpkin that makes you look like your pregnant with 8 is just what you would wear out for lunch with the gals.... (yes, I am narky, but you will see what I mean when I finally find a picture of the monstrosity!)

• Troubled AWI pledges not to cut wool promotion  - Article from abc.net.au - mentions TAWFA
  

• Blog post  I stumbled upon last night of one of the winners - *I think* Eva Pu. Check out the rest of the blog - it has some cute outfits she has designed and sewn on it.

Pictures of the dress, at last!

The rockin' 40s frock on the catwalk!

This dress was swatched, knitted, finished and mailed off to the competition in under a month!

It is knit completely from pure Australian Merino Wool (Patons Merino Deluxe DK purchased from great LYS "CCCK")

Construction is knit all in once piece, with the exception of the belt. The bottom 'frill' is knit side to side with short row 'pleats' and grafted together at the back before stiches were picked up on the side and the body was worked. The paneling effect is due to incorporated i-cord 'piping' and the shaping is due to various increases and decreases within the green panels. Short rows were worked under the bust before a mock cast-off 'braid' was worked between the bodice and bust. Gathering of the bust is due to slipping stitches in the middle of the bust. Cute cap sleeves were created by casting-off the underarm stitches in one round and then casting on the sleeve stitches in the next. The dress is finished off with scalloped crochet edging at the neckline, and double crochet at the hem (to prevent roll) Sleeves were left 'unfinished' as i like the small 'frill' the stocking stitch roll created there. 

Belt was worked seperately, in moss stitch to add a bit of texture and so it would lie flat. 

The only error I really had to amend was that I miscalculated the number of stitches to cast on for the sleeve about three times. (I was frequently trying it on as I worked it to see if it fit - when I didn't have the mobility to get out of the dress without help I knew I had a problem) In the end I didn't have time to rip it back AGAIN to fix it, so I got a little crazy, did a crochet chain about 5 rows before the underarm cast off and then literally cut through those rows to make a bigger armhole. This left me with a metric-shipload of extra ends to weave it, but it was quicker than trying to reknit the top of the bodice.

Of course, this model is leaner and taller than I am, and she really worked the catwalk well and deserves credit for this frock rockin' the catwalk as much as it did :)

More pics of the awards and royal easter show here http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingerknits/sets/72157616772530761/

Dress on Ravelry here http://www.ravelry.com/projects/gingernut/rockin-40s-frock

Flying Sydney Visit Update

Mum and I will be arriving tomorrow arvo - and we are staying in Homebush for the night and heading home Thursday. Drop me a line if you wanna catch up.

Let me know if you have something entered and on display in knitting / crafts - and if you could give me a hint on where to find them that would be great too.

I am very excited about the Australian Wool Fashion Awards Presentation night. I am not certain I will win anything (I think my design is a little too 'classic' and 'conservative' - ie wearable - rather than 'daring' and 'innovative' - ie sculpture, but I am just glad to be a finalist). I shall certainly have fun dressing up and attending the cocktail party and fashion show with Mum. Too bad I hadn't planned ahead - I could have knit myself another outfit to wear to the awards!

Anyway - apart from that not much happening in the life of me. Still applying for jobs, still not hearing much back, still have hurdles to jump with centrelink and still pretty much broke. 

Oh - but there is some good news. Apparently the camera with the pics of my entry (and finalist) dress has been recovered - and I should have some pics for you later this week. (I won't be collecting the camera before I go to Sydney, so I may even have pics from the fashion show before then!)

And I finished a pair of socks - holly-dazed from last years rockin sock club - I made a small change to the pattern so the socks were symetrical, and once I have camera I will share on Ravelry. 

some good, some bad...

the bad news first - 

• I got made redunant from my job at the start of March
  
• I am still unemployed
  
• I hate dealing with Centrelink
  
• The Man and I split up
  
• I need to find new digs  - somewhere pet friendly (for the pupster and I) to live 
  
• Currently I am 'between' fixed addresses, crashing at my parents and couch surfing in the interim

the good news - 

• I finally paid off my car loan with the paycheck before I got made redundant
  
• I entered The Australian Wool Fashion Awards....
  
• ...and I am a finalist !
  
• check out the details here - if you make it to the Royal Easter Show look for a green dress with purple i-cord 'piping' - very fitted and very 40s. I don't have a picture because I can't find the dang camera I used :( However, it is knit completely in one piece (apart from the belt) in gorgeous 8-ply / DK / Light worsted merino yarn :)
• I had a fairly good interview for a retail management training position last week so hopefully will be gainfully employed (and not reliant on centrelink) very soon...
  
• I am surprised at how resiliant I have become - I had quite a bit of crap land on me at once and am dealing rather well. Yay for minimum black dog issues in a time of crises!

Anyway - please excuse the lack of blogging recently... didn't really know how to start telling the negative stuff.

Mum and I will be in Sydney about the 15th of April (next Wednesday) for the presentation night of the Australian Wool Fashion Awards - if anyone wants to catch up while we are in town drop me a line :)

New toys to test drive...

Lets all be a little subversive....

Yesterday I got an email from Amazon telling me that this book was finally shipping to me:




(there was no way I was ever gonna be able to make it to the exhibition)

Yesterday Gwet posted a link to this video on facebook:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Nailed 'Em - Radical Knitting

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Co-incidence?


I think not!

knitting for psychos

stumbled upon this mildly disturbing website today...

Inspiring window shopping...

How cute is this! - found on moncloth.com.

cccxiv - Kate Hudson gets crafty to cut costs at Christmas

hmm.. this article was obviously written by a muggle - everyone knows that these days you don't save any money by knitting.

Sure you get better value by knitting - but saving money? Unless you are re-claiming yarn from op-shops you're not really 'saving' money by knitting. And then wouldn't the bigger story be "Kate Hudson goes bargain trawling at the thrift store"??

I like that when I knit I can spend approx $50 on (somewhat budget) yarn and get a lovely pure wool sweater, made to high standards that completely suits me. But if I really wanted to save money I could buy clothing made in China much cheaper (obviously not made out of the same quality fibre, but it would still perform the function of clothing me and keeping me warm).

Perhaps I should write in and explain the value of knitting.

I can buy a months worth of socks for the price of a really purdy skein of sock yarn - or at least 3 pairs for the cheapest ball of sock yarn. And that's before you add in all the hours labour - even at minimum wage you're looking at looking at about $200 for a single sock...

cccxii - designer fashion?

So at the store today I was reading a magazine (shop til you drop) while waiting in the queue - and while I was flicking through one of the fashion layouts I came across a pair of knit cable hotpants...

just like these - but in an off white/ cream colour


These pics are from the Shakuhachi spring/summer show (photo courtesy of the Grazia website) - and looking at the picture in the magazine they seem to be made out of cotton. The first thing that came to mind...

saggy butt!

...and it's only $130 for the privilege. Reckon we'll see them in the next VK S/S?

However - trolling through all the other pictures from the Shakuhachi show I turned up this dress. Too bad that ugly tie-dyed rag is covering it up - I think it's actually quite pretty. It seems to be the same cable pattern as on the shorts.

CCCX - Kniterature with the Harlot and sans Dolores...

Oops - sorry to leave you hanging after my last post. I seem to have lost track of a week or so. In fact, I lost track of the fact it was November and was planning to join up for daily blogging for the month to get back into the swing of things. Perhaps December shall be the month of daily blogging for me...

Anyway - what did I recieve in the mail to make life so sweet after a crummy day of commuting?? Only two of the worlds cutest books ever...

The Yarn Harlot's newest book - Free Range Knitter
...and...
Franklin's book of cartoons - It Itches!

First of all - I have to say that this...

Is the best book written by the Harlot since this...


These books are not the "knitter-beware" instruction manuals about how to get the most out of your knitting while still remembering the knitting goddess watches when you swatches (and gives you tangles and ill fitting garments when you don't) - which is what the Harlot has been force feeding us anually for the past couple of years...

(okay - I will probably get some hate mail here if I don't clarify this. The Harlot's recent books have been preaching to the choir - They are kinda like a really rich chocolate mudcake - one piece and you are perfectly content and statisfied. Eating the cake makes you feel ill and slightly queasy at the thought of mud cake for the next little while. Read all the Harlot books one after another, and you'll begin to get sick of them too...)

ahem...

These Harlot books - books of essays - are for all knitters (not just those Knitters with a capital "K".) If you know a social knitter in your life (as opposed to us die-hard Addict Knitters who live, eat, sleep and breathe yarn) they will enjoy this book of funny, sweet or just downright gorgeous annecdotes that relate to knitting without feeling like they need to start spending all of the play money on yarn (I hear some people have other entertainments to waste cash on... Like food...)

This is also the type of book you could give to a casual knitter who has no knowledge of the interwebs, thinks blogs are something unfortunate that comes out of your nose when you sneeze and a ravelry is a hootenanny good time spelt wrong. Those knitters out their that have never heard of Ms. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee or the Yarn Harlot would not miss out on single word of enjoyment typed in this book.

So far The Free Range Knitter has accompanied me each way on my daily commute. The book is about the same size as a paperback novel, but hardcover - so once you take the dustcover off it is perfect to keep in your bag. The annecdotes and essays are a good length too - my 15-25 minute commute meant that I could read 1 or 2 stories a trip - a great way to block out the rabble on public transport.

A great gift for yourself (or if you're really feeling generous, someone else) so go and find yourself a copy. And if you haven't read The secret life of a knitter - find that one too.

Now my lunchbreak is up, so I need to get back to work. Kniterature on Franklin's first solo publication will have to wait until the next post. I'll try not to leave it so long... okay.... ?

(PS - for those wondering, the Man, Pupster and I have moved to the inner North Eastern 'burbs of Melbourne... and I now have interwebs at home, but my computer can't hack these hot pre-summer days too well, hence the blogging during the lunch hour)

CCCI - Geelong Textile Fibre Forum

Saturday found me joining Kathy and her friend Daniel at the Geelong Grammar Campus for the Fibre Forum open day. Of course - we bumped into many like minded pilgrims from our S'n'b, as well as a few ravellers and I was very happy to bump into Doris (Lisa G's mum) from my first ever pub-knitting group at Bar 2060 in North Sydney (I think the group has now moved to another location as the pub was renovated and switched to very low wattage bulbs...) anyway... I digress...

I think our little group managed to see just about anything (except for the fabled Habu textiles that apparently were on offer) and I managed to walk away with only one purchase - a pattern book: Norah Gaughin Vol1. I'd already been in touch with Gusseting to grab one, but hadn't a chance to catch up with her to collect it... so really I didn't give in to the impulse buy nerve at all.... (yeah, I know, pure sophistry...)

My absolute favourite part of the open day (apart from bumping into friends including my tapestry teacher, Joy, we spent the week as 'Artist in Residence') was the knitting instillation I have dubbed 'The Womb Room' (don't worry none of us felt the need to return to the foetal position due to stress)

Squishy, red, knitted walls that envelope you and make you feel safe - 'womb' was just the first word that jumped into my head. Kathy and I both knit a row for this project.

(photos kindly taken by Daniel as I forgot my Camera...)
There was another knitting instillation in the next room completed by some elderly knitters in SA. (photos top row below) You can't quite see it, but one of the walls was full of knitted tubes about the size of sleeves. I could imagine people hiding behind that wall and putting their arms into those "sleeves" so they could wave to the world :)


We also enjoyed the "hogwarts" like scenery of the Grammar Campus. Yes, we really are just big kids at heart...

Everything is comin' up Milhouse!

Fringe!, originally uploaded by pierretheyarnsnob.

Thanks for the good vibes sent yesterday for my interview - I was a little bit nervous, but when I had this fantastic public art installation on my tram (as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival) I decided that it was obviously a sign that there was nothing to worry about...

And today I got a call to tell me I got the job!

I start on the 6th, so I have just over a week to get my sleeping habits a complete 180 so I am no longer keeping the hours of a vampire bat and can stay awake for my 9-to-5 :)

Don't forget that you should be leaving comments as part of my big 300th post give-aways!

I'll be doing one for the locals, and one for the OS 'tourists' (actually, do those from OS know that it stands for Over Seas - or is that a Oz expression seeing as we have coasts rather than borders??)

Edited to add this cool video that Damo posted to ravelry - if you're not a regular on the Australian Knitters boards you may have missed it

you shouldn't have...

Despite my sporadic blogging of late, I was nominated for one of these:
by Caffiene Faery of Artifically Mythic

There are a few rules...

The Rules:
The rules for award acceptance are as follows:
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her website/blog.
2. Add a link to the person who gave you this award.
3. Nominate at least 7 other websites/blogs.
4. Provide links of the nominated websites/blogs.
5. Leave a message at each website owner that you´ve nominated.


So I'll provide a few links to my favourite bloggers...

1. SallyO at PomPom is one of my best friends form Sydney. She has called herself a GOW (Grumpy old Woman) because she uses her blog to call attention to all the wrongs she sees in the world. Most of these center upon human rights issues and are incredibly thought provoking. I always drop by the minute I see that Sally has updated because I love seeing what is on her mind.
2. Lara at DiscoKnitter (also one of my best friends from Sydney). I love the complete honesty that Lara shares when she blogs - you get a little window into her life with every post. It was heartbreaking reading about the troubles that happened with her 'spawn', son Inigo, but it makes it so much more rewarding when you read about the good times. And it also helps that he is the cutest spawn ever :)
   
3. NinaRibena from NinaRibina makes and Canberra's got style (Greedy gal has TWO blogs). Another person from the 'real world' - my friendship with NinaRibena and her immediate family was the best thing to come out of (what was for me) a very negative 2 year relationship with her brother (okay - maybe second best thing. The Pupster also came out of the same relationship). Check out NinaRibena Makes for her cute and quirky creations (and the occasional quirky photo of her cute little boys).
4. Emma at Brave and slightly crazy has a very inspiring blog. Extreme lace knitter and aspiring marathon runner, Emma also is a very honest blogger. Currently she is trying to knit a yarn marathon - a goal I think I may also try to attain :)
   
5. Julie at SamaraiKnitter who I found via BellsKnits(also worthy of nomination). I think that Julie's blog is a bit of a hybrid between the programming of the discovery channel and the language of MTV, every so often broken up with cute pictures of her daughter and/or cat. Usually when I read this I can at least feel a smile creeping across my face, if not a down right chuckle forming from deep within :)
6. Jejune's Place is another blog from a Canberra resident, who I also know in real life (but only after getting to know her via her blog). Jejune is the watercolour painter behind the great knitting art that was featured in Vogue Knitting a few issues ago. Also worth checking out to find out what the cheeky Lulu is up to.
7. And finally -WendyKnits. Wendy updates on a regular schedule and always includes knitting content and pictures of her ragdoll kitty Lucy. (we won't hold that she is a cat person against her- Lucy has such a great personality that we think that she'd just about convert anyone to be a cat person.)
   

I've left the list at seven (eight if you count Bells!), but if you are looking for some new reading material I do have my whole entire blogroll in the sidebar. Feel free to click away!
(eogh

Yarn Porn..

Just when you think you fully understand the meaning of the term Franklin comes along and with a new project.

I wonder how he distracted Dolores while he was doing the shoot...

Geelong LYS

Direct cut and paste from a Ravelry forum post I thought I might keep here for ease of reference. (I have linked all of these to their ravelry LYS page - if they have one. When I have time I'll find some more detailed weblinks.)

Twisted Threads is right in the centre of town - in the main street in fact! It has just been taken on by a new owner and would have the biggest variety of yarns. It is the only store in Geelong that is dedicated to knitting and needlework.

If you are keen to go into the suburbs, there is Busy Bee Fabrics in Belmont is an outlet for Bendigo Woollen Mills and has lots of pattern books, and there is the Belmont Drapery across the road that also has some yarns (once you get past all the old lady underwear!).

Woolsy Trading Post is in Geelong West and is a stockist for opal and Ashford products.

After that you may choose to head down the Bellarine Peninsula - there is the Ocean Grove sewing centre which has a selection of yarns, Wildpurl at Port Lonsdale - which is a homewares store with a yarn section out the back, and Coloured Jules at Queenscliff - which specialised in Hand painted mohair.

If you are heading that way you may want to stop at Drysdale. Not actually a yarn store - but Shiloh is a small farm specialising in natural coloured wool that is grown, scoured and spun in Geelong. Quite possibly a good place to get some unique souvineer wool. You will probably need to make an appointment thou (and if you are keen it is right next door to one of the main Bellarine wineries)

Depending on when you are in town you may also want to check out one of the weekend markets on the Peninsula - There are a couple of stalls (including GingerKnits - me!) that sell yarn and crafty stuff.

Heading south from Geelong along the coast you may want to check out some of our famous surf beaches, and while you’re there it would be the perfect oppotunity to check out Pear Tree Yarns in Torquay. Pear Tree also sources local producers and is scoured and spun in Geelong - and has some products to die for.

One last thing to mention - the National Wool Museum (external link) is located in Geelong and definitely worth a visit for any knitter. I don’t recommend you buy any yarn there thou - it is incredibly overprices (I think it has something like a 70% markup!). Save your pennies and go round the corner to Twisted Threads!

mugshot

out of habit...

The Man, pupster and I ran away to the bush block last week, and I am now having difficulty getting the blog posting happening again...

There was lots of 'rain-on-the-tin-roof' of the shed when we were tucked up nice and warm in bed, lots of reading by candlelight, knitting by day and crosswords in front of the fire. 

I ventured down into Colac one afternoon and hit the jackpot at the lifeline shop - I went trawling through the knitting patterns and about 2kg of vintage knitting patterns followed me home for only 50cents! 

I happened to double up on a couple of them, so Taph aka Queen of the Vintage Patterns, if you would like some more for your collection get in touch.

The prototype Kimoncho is now complete(rav link - photo in progress sidebar) and will get the pattern written up pronto. I'll be offering this in different sizes so it will take a little while to up-size it a bit (It is supposed to be a loose fit so my size will be the smallest). Because of this extra effort it will be offered for a nominal price.

GingerKnits.com is also donating door prizes for the Bendigo/ ACS/ Ravelry Brekky meet-up in a few weeks time. There will be two prizes will each consist of a skein of handspun and a new product that will not be launched until after theWool and sheep show weekend - the Fibre Freak Stitch-marker Charm Bracelet . 

Well - it appears that I got into rhythm of writing again! 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back with a few photos...