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 :)

Beeched ez, broo!

Because it's beach season, and it makes me giggle*

*yes, us Aussies are so simple that the mere mispronunciation of vowels by our cousins across the Tasman has us collapsing in giggles.

Plinkten.... hehe
chups...hehe
i can't choo, broo...hehe
teeheeheehee :)

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

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...

Textile Tuesday

This week brought to us by the loverly Purls Palace in Daylesford... the LYS that, like the rest of Daylesford, is cosy and classy. While I wandered around fondling yarns and fabrics, and flicked through books, The Man and Pupster sat on the comfortable couch and read through the Age (because, like the rest of Daylesford, Purl's Palace is Dog Friendly* and caters for partners)The Man bought these goodies for me as an extra birthday present when we had our dirty romantic weekend away back in March. 
These are the shots where I pay a homage to Brooklyn Tweed and his amazing yarn portraits. Above - Noro Iro, and below, Noro Kocharon.
These beauties have been turned into an incredibly warm beret/tam that gets lots of comments at Markets. I really should take some piccies of it!

*Of course, when we turned up on the doorstep of Purl's Palace The Man, Pupster and I were all wearing hand-knit sweaters. You'd have to be an idiot to turn away that sort of clientelle!

old acquaintance...

In a couple of the blogs I read, the idea of reunions has come up... and I thought I would run with the idea. 

It's all the fault of Facebook that I am on the topic of reunions. I got a message from one of the girls I met 10 years ago when I was an exchange student in Portland, Oregon. In the greatest of American traditions, time was up for a high school reunion. The Man and I were planning a trip over to the states in September to co-incide with the reunion, but it now appears the finances won't stretch that far :( It looks like that won't happen unless we win lotto*. Alas, don't cry for me Rex Putnam High School... 

*very difficult seeing as we don't buy lotto tickets. If anyone wants to send me one, please feel free.

spoilt!

Me - well and truly! 

Thanks to everyone who sent comments, emails, messages or texts wishing me a Happy Birthday on Friday - I had a fantastic day weekend!

On Friday arvo the Man, Pierre and I departed for Daylesford. The Man had booked a pet-friendly B&B - hence P came along. We arrived just before sunset - so after finding our accommodation we took the pupster for a wander down the main drag.

When we strolled passed Frangos & Frangos it became apparent we were rather peckish -and they were rather dog-friendly, so we stopped for dinner. Well... The Man and I had dinner - poor Pierre didn't get any of our cuisine...

Due to the fact it was early in the evening, the staff weren't too busy, so I nabbed the waiter to take a pic of us when he brought out our mains - 
(The Man had lamb, black lentil jus and mash while I had canestroni with roast pumpkin, ricotta and mustard fruits - see, it wasn't mere food, but cuisine)

And there wasn't a birthday cake, but we shared this - 

Blood Plum and Rum Trifle topped with gold leaf - so good we had to taste it before we got the camera out...
Oh - and P loved being out to dinner with us!

After dinner we went back to the Double Nut Chalet (appropriate seeing as it was gingernut and Mr gingernut!) where there was champagne sparkly, choccies and a spa bath awaiting for us.

The view from the front door of our 'Chalet'
See those high ceilings? The only thing that went wrong during the whole weekend was that at about 2am the smoke alarm battery decided it was going flat... and was giving out persistent chirps every few minutes and the smoke alarm was riiiight up the top of the wall! The Man had to climb on the table to reach it to shut the thing up!
Funky cosy living (even port supplied for that nightcap)
And cosy heating (and aircon if you need), a good supply of movies, and electric blankets if its your thang (we prefer to snuggle under an extra woollen blanket thou)

MMM... Spa!

After our lingering breakfast on Saturday, we found Purls Palace (more on this in another post!), the Convent Gallery and had lunch (well, I had Devonshire tea coffee) at Rhubarb Cafe and stopped at the bookstore before heading back to Geelong to catch up with The Man's family for dinner. (All dog-friendly... except the 'Bad Habits cafe' at the Convent Gallery, as it doesn't have al fresco dining)

At the Queenscliff Market on Sunday I tracked down  the "Tea with Alice Cupcakes" stall and bought this goigious lime-iced vanilla as a birthday cake treat for myself.

(Well - to keep with the theme, Sunday was actually an UNbirthday for me, but I am sure the Dormouse and Mad Hatter would have approved!)

Bliss!

Rain on a tin roof...

Distant thunder rolling by...

The refreshing smell of wet bush-lands...

A wood fire crackling nearby...

Soft candle light...

Collinette Point-5 on the needles...

I love it when we escape to the bush block!

like a tiger... grrr

The Man and I have reached Kanchanaburi - historically infamous for the Bridge over the River Kwai. Those not in the know, the Bridge was part of a rail system that was built using POW labour during WWII so Japan could have an alternate supply route to Burma (now Myanmar). It was estimated that rail system would take 5 years to build, but it was complete in 14 months - many of the POWs being literately worked to death. There a a few movies about the Bridge over the River Kwai and lots of museums and monuments around Kanchanaburi. The man and I went to the Allied Forces War Cemetery last night, and plan to make it out the the bridge today.

Fortunately, Kanchanaburi does have a far less grim claim to fame - Some of the Monks in the area started a wildlife rescue a few years ago, which has resulted in the attraction "Tiger Temple". We are going to get up close and personal with the big cats this afternoon, where we will have oppotunity to pat and touch the carnivores.

Tomorrow we head back to Bangkok (or Krung-thep, as the locals know it) for a bit of sightseeing before jumping on a plane Sunday night to head home.

Oh.. and slightly knitting related - I managed to pick up a couple of skeins of beautiful rough silk yarn when we were in Chiang Mai. Picture will be forthcoming when we get home :)

on the road to Chiang Mai...

After our relaxing week at Koh Chang, the man and I are running like crazy around the country trying to get to a few different places we are keen to visit.

We spend a couple of night in Khorat, where the man organised a visit to a silk weaving house. It was an amazing experience - the only mechanised part of the process was the skeins being put onto bobbins and the the bobbins being wound onto the shuttles. The warping and loom work was all done by hand. By request the man took lots of photos and some short movies, which I'll figure out how to put up when I get back to Oz.

Of course, we couldn't walk away without some of the gorgeous silk - I definitely have to start working on my sewing skills so I can make garments worthy of all that hard work.

Today we are going to catch a train to Chiang Mai - there are supposedly lots of little handcraft cottage factories there so we are hoping to see some more of the local crafts in action.

We have done some amazing things since we have been here - we swam with an elephant (again, there is a movie), played with a pet monkey (that tried to steal my new carved elephant necklace), and saw a baby porcupine for sale at a pet stall (the same stall also had some bunnies dressed as dolls with bows in their ears and everything - it was a very scary sight). We plan to visit the Monks with the tame-ish Tigers in Kanchanaburi before we head back to Bangkok,

Pierre is apparently coping okay without me, however the housemate has mentioned that the pupster has tried to snuggle into his bed in the middle of the night. I guess Pierre is missing all the cuddles he gets from me :) I'm missing my pupster lots too - The man has mentioned that a couple of times I have been searching for the dog in my sleep, and we can't walk past cute fluffy things without me stopping to say hello...

Oh, and Kate, you would love all the sewing machines here - it is quite common to see someone working on a treadle machine at the bus stations to make a quid. And we saw a shop that had brand new cast iron treadle machines for 3000Baht (about $100)...

That's all I have time for now - pictures and etc will be forthcoming when I get back to geelong :)

sawadee-ka

hi all -

the man and i have arrived in Thailand, and have been spending the past few days living in a grass hut in a tropical paradise! For those who want the details of our paradise, we are in BangBao on Koh Chang island, in Trat Province (near the Cambodian border) - tomorrow we go elephant trekking and give them a bath before we start the next leg of our trip up to Khorat where we will enjoy all the Thai Silk cottage industry has to offer, as well as some old ruins of temples.

I haven't heard from the dog-sitter (aka my housemate), but I am assuming Pierre is well, albeit pining for me a tad bit ;) I admit - I am missing the pupster terribly :(

Happy New Year!

Not sure when I will next be able to post - but til then, anon!

last one for the year...

Well, i have been pretty slack with the posting of late - however, my computer is dying (the fan no longer works and I need to sit it on icepacks to stop it from frying itself) and has trouble talking to my camera and is really really slow :(

I plan to upgrade (well, buy something that runs a little better) but will be waiting until I start studying next year (I'll be doing a studio textiles&design course at RMIT) because I am not sure whether the department uses PC or mac - and I'll want to get something compatible. Blogging will continue to be sporadic until that happens. Oh - and will probably be non-existant for the next couple of weeks while I am in Thailand. The man and I plan to rough it - a bit of a holiday from technology and such :)

I hope you all had a good xmas, solstice or whatever - and wish you all the best for the new year. I hope to be back regularly next year with all the details of my new life as a student again :)

a little insane....

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but the Man is taking me to Thailand for 3 weeks in January (actually, we leave on NYE... and arrive in Bankok at about 8pm...)

Apart from a few things I want to do (heffalump rides, silk and textiles warehouses) the plan is to spend most of our time hammocked up on a tropical island (the basic sort of island, not the resort type!)

I have a bit of a vision of me with a very simple dress I can pull over my head.... something out of bamboo and cotton... oh.. and I want to knit it myself.... hence the insanity :)

I have spend the last couple of days knitting away at this dress while sighing over DVDs of the doctor ('who...?' I hear you ask.... well David Tennant) So far, I have made some progress - I am already up to the waist!

Pictures will be forthcoming...

PS - The time is Thailand is still rather fluid, I'd love any suggestions you have of what not to miss!