flyby catch-up

Unfortunately last week when I was in Sydney the visit was so short I had limited times for catch-up. Ness was keen for a catch up and luckily we had time before we headed home on Thursday morning to meet Ness at a cafe before she started work. Once I recognised her (she has great long hair these days) it was great to have a chance to chat about everything that had changed in the two years since I moved back south. Before we headed back home, and Ness headed off to work she was able to snap these pics - which she kindly emailed me and I am now sharing with you :)

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

australian wool fashion awards update

My frock rocked the catwalk. But the judges preference was for the
giant grey furry butternut pumpkin...

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. 

Going to the Royal Easter Show??

IF you are heading to the easter show be sure to head to the fashion and style pavilion to check out the Australian Wool Fashion Awards parades (details on this web page)! 

There are two different parades that will be alternating (half the designs in one parade and half in the other) so if you don't see the gorgeous green hand knit fitted 40s inspired dress in one parade make sure you hang around for the next parade 

(yes - that pretty little fitted dress is my own entry design - knit all in one piece with the exception of the belt)

I shall be around on the wednesday - the actual Awards presentation night is that evening at the show. Details of how to get tickets are at http://www.tawfa.com.au

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 :)

Tired of being a wallflower?

Funnest scarf ever (and possibly the funniest scarf ever too!)

 
From an email forwarded to me by Gillian
http://leafygal.blogs.com/
A journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step

  

Do you sit unnoticed on the sidelines  while others are picked?   Try the latest scarf fashion and you too will be the center of attention..................

Donate to Bushfire Appeal - Win Yarn

details here!

performance review

The heavy world bears down one me. Beneath its weight I want to crawl into a little ball and hide from the world. I want to be insignificant. Invisible. Inconsistant, they said. Peaks and troughs. Hit and miss. Highs and lows. I absorb this... I am silent...

 

Really, I want to yell...

 

I AM HERE!

 

At least there are highs to offset the lows! At least I aren't flatlining.

 

meh...

New toys to test drive...

tree pretty, fire bad

fire real bad...

if only tears could put those raging fires (that are yet still flaring) out...

belated shoesday...

(I am sure it is still Tuesday somewhere in the world... and if it's not, I am sure the Obamaniacs will still be celebrating this historic Tuesday :)

Today's post is brought to you by these lovely snakeskin and patent leather heels...



These gorgeous platform heels were picked up for a steal at a Novo sale - they still require a bit of breaking in - but I think they are absolutely divine!


I am a big fan of these new platforms that have that extra height incorporated into the upper - gives a much sleeker look and conceals that half inch handicap you have on everyone else (and relatively speaking, makes that stiletto a little less steep, and a little kinder to your Achilles tendon)

However, that internal platform does decrease the flexibility of the sole, particularly under the balls of your feet.The plan is to have these in the winter wardrobe rotation.

PS - Welcome to Obama and Good Riddance to Dubya!

New Year, New Me?

So I'm not completely with the idea of resolutions, and particularly new year resolutions, but sometimes you know that if you want to make a change its good to a metaphorical starter's pistol go off in your ear and hit the ground running. 

One of my big goals this year was inspired by a kooky dream I had -  

I was in an op shop, looking thru vintage knitting patterns when I decided to make a purchase. The sales assistant said she couldn't take my money as she had no change, but there was another way. She opened up a huge big book of appointments and told me I had to give blood. The appointment she gave me? 01 January. 

I know that the red cross blood bank is bleeding for donors (couldn't resist the pun) but I haven't quite been brave enough to bleed for the cause myself. I took this dream as my subconcious telling me to 'harden up, princess' and start donating this year. 

I happen to not be overly fond of needles (the non-knitting kind:). 

In order to face my fears I got a small tattoo in 2003 to 'beat the fear of needles'. However, lately I have been beginning to feel unworthy of such a tattoo if I am still giving into the fear when it comes to donating blood. 

I did get really close to donating once - I went in the door, filled out the questionaire and then got the finger prick test to check a few levels. It happened that my haeimoglobin was right at the bottom of the healthy range - and would have dropped into the unhealthy range if they had taken a couple of pints out of me. 

The plan to see this one thru comes with a little help from The Man - who is a regular donor. We are going to make appointments at the same time (as soon as he can donate again) and he will be there to hold my hand. He is also planning to feed me a heap of red meat the week before so I can get my iron and haemoglobin levels sky high so I don't work up all that nerve and then fail at the last minute.

If you would also like to join me in bleeding for a good cause check out the Red Cross Donate Blood webpage.

My second goal is to get moving - and start running a little more. This has been partly inspired by webgoddess and brave-and-slightly-crazy and partly inspired by a quote I read somewhere about "the black dog is lazy, if you exercise he won't bother to chase after you" (lucky Pierre hasn't a lazy bone in his body and enjoys runs with me in the park!)

I am aiming to do the couch-to-5km, but may do a couple of the sessions for more than the usual 1 week. The aim isn't to go fast, but just to get moving and build up a bit of endurance. If you're keen to see how I am going I have added my nike+ mini to the right sidebar. (the mini is also on my facebook profile.) So far the running is going well - although the forecast in Melbourne on Wednesday was for 39C, so I got up and went for a run at 6:30am when the temp was 31C (it only dropped down to 28C overnight) so I wouldn't have to worry about going to a run in the hottest part of the day when I got home from work. Ironically, the cool change came through at 9am and we dropped down to 21C. My desire to avoid the hottest part of the day had me running right in the middle of the heatwave :)

And the third wish for the new year? To get a haircut. Seriously. It has been more than 18 months since I last got a haircut so I am a little overdue. The plan was to go to the verrry cool gothic hair salon down the road and get the type of haircut that would dishonourably discharge me from the military (seeing as I no longer have to conform!). There were pipe dreams of dark, dark brown hair with blue/magenta and fire-engine red accents, but that will have to be put on hold for a while. Due to the office closing over the new year I ended up having to take over 45 hours of unpaid leave - so my paycheck was more than a week short this month. I may have to go somewhere for a bit of trim in the interim until I have some play money I can splash out on lavish haircuts. 

Try MOO for Cheep!

I love Moo's stickers and minicards - if you wanna try Moo yourself, check out the offer below! We like making new friends at MOO... And any friend of yours is a friend of ours, so, we'd like to offer you all something good. If you forward the following unique-to-you code to friends who have never bought from MOO before, they'll get 20% off any 1 MOO product. Your unique friend referral-code is: H94A9K

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!

Drowned rat puppy...

The Man finally got the pictures off his fone from when the pup when for his impromptu swim...

Me the Adulteress

Okay - I'll admit it. I have been cheating on PTYS and posting a bit on a LiveJournal account.The stuff I post over there is a tad bit more personal than here. It's kinda more like the angst filled diary I kept when I was a teenager (consider yourself warned) but if you want an insight into another aspect of me feel free to check it out. Some of the posts are private, so if you wanna read those you'll have to friend me (I'm GingerThomas over there - bonus points if you can figure out why hint: think literary characters)

As well as facebooking, I have also started plurking a bit if you wanna find me over there.

So I am still around - it's just a matter of knowing where to find me :)

A really important care label

y

knitting for psychos

stumbled upon this mildly disturbing website today...

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 :)

have i been living under a rock?

Docs do pumps...and they are so very funky...

My inner punk/goth/emo says "gimme-gimme-gimme"

More cute modcloth...

Re-usable toothpicks...




and cute kitchen utensils...




Oh...
and I so WANT this dress - even the name is cute - the Carmen Sandiego Dress!

Inspiring window shopping...

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

rockin xmas tree

rockin xmas tree, originally uploaded by pierretheyarnsnob.

I got this teeny tiny table top xmas tree when it was no longer needed at work. Turns out it is the perfect size for my emergency sock club keyring 'ornaments'!

I LUFF my knitters xmas tree!

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...

The loss of a colleague

No longer a close friend of mine, but someone I went through all the stages of my interviews, recruitment, basic training and some of my application course with him. Sometimes he was pure mischief, trouble or a headache - but he was always good for a laugh. The world shall miss out on many a joke with the loss of him.

NAVY MOURNS LOSS OF SUB-LIEUTENANT JAMES BENNETT

Royal Australian Navy Officer, Sub-Lieutenant (SBLT) James Bennett, has been tragically killed in an accident at Devil’s Pool, Babinda Boulders, 70 kilometres south of Cairns.

SBLT Bennett went missing on 30 November 2008 when he fell victim to strong currents while swimming at the popular tourist destination. He could not be reached by the other members of his party.

An extensive search involving the Queensland Police, the North Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and an Emergency Services specialist dive team located a body on 2 December, which was today confirmed as SBLT Bennett.

“Our deepest condolences are extended to James’ family and friends during this very sad time,” Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Crane, AM, CSM, RAN said.

“This is a tragic accident that has touched many of our Navy family. James was a promising young junior officer full of potential. He will be sorely missed.”

SBLT Bennett was serving in the Mine Hunter Coastal HMAS Norman, which was visiting Cairns before returning home to Sydney, NSW.

Norman was returning from a very successful South East Asia deployment, during which he participated in Exercise Bersama Lima in the South China Sea and the Minor War Vessels Fleet Concentration Period in the North Australian Exercise Area.

Media release taken from the DOD website

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.

cccxi - contact...

Trying to track down snail mail addresses for everyone. It seems you can find out everything else about everyone else in facebook except this. Funny how ppl live such public lives but still don't want to share this...

If you don't think I have your snail mail address please send it too me :)

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)

CCCIX - Commuter Hell...

Yesterday Connex (AKA Melbourne Public Transport) chewed me up and spat me out.

My morning run was interupted by a delayed train, followed by a late train - which was pack to full capacity and NO-ONE at my station could get on and at which stage I went hunting a tram (that drops me off a kay down the road from work, rather than the 200m re: train station)

The afternoon run was worse. After noticing the train at my station wasn't going anywhere, which was followed by a mass-exodus of people out of the train station I decided that the tram would be my friend for the second time that day. Except every passenger in the NorEastern suburbs was told at earlier train stations to get on that tram to Clifton Hill station where they would be able to catch a connecting train. FIVE trams went by without stopping at all (because they were packed) in the forty minutes I sat at my tram stop. The next tram stopped and a slim little lady of asian persuasion got off. I decided that if one person got off, one person could fit on and spent quite a bit of time redefining my personal space. At Clifton Hill station all the train commuters got off and I actually got a seat (and my core body temperature dropped back to normal levels again due to recieving actual air flow)*.

I thought this was the last of my woes. Alas, no. To complete the trifecta of badluck ticket inspectors got on the tram. And my 10 x 2hr ticket had expired that morning. After explaining that I couldn't purchase a ticket due to the earlier crush, and after hanging on the the rails by my fingernails I just collapsed into the first vacant seat without any further thought of purchasing a ticket I was directed to the metcard machine. Where I discovered that, in anticipation of actually catching a train that day, I had no coins on my person (and tram machines don't take notes.) At that point I got off the tram before any details were taken and words such as 'infringement' and 'fine' were thrown about. Lucky for me The Man was able to cruise by and pick me up...

When I got home I discovered my luck had changed.... (see next post)


*Apparently a jumper was the cause for the shutdown of the line between the city and Clifton Hill station. Grr...

CCCVIII - Want to own your own home during these tough economic times*?

Starting at just $80 (plus postage) I am certain some husbands would find this to be 5 star luxury...

This sturdy and weather durable wooden Dog Kennel with Balcony is double level for double the comfort!

Constructed from robust wood, this double story doggy home consists of two sections. There is the snug downstairs bedroom where your pet will be protected from all weather conditions. Then there is the upstairs open-air balcony with stair access!

Spoil your canine best-friend with this luxurious Dog Kennel with Balcony!

FEATURES:
Dog Kennel with Balcony.
Double story doggy home.
Enclosed downstairs bedroom.
Upstairs open-air balcony with stair access.
Constructed from robust wood.
Sturdy and weather durable.
Dimensions: 57 x 50 x 65cm.

I particularly like the use of the term "bedroom". I guess enough families are replacing traditional breeding with furkids that the cubby house needed to be updated too.

I think that if we got this for Pierre he'd need a little doggie suit of armour (or chain mail) so he could complete guard duty on the upper turret...

*or, it's monday and I'm feeling silly...

CCCVII - switching it up..

Decided I needed a second sidebar - and while I was there I had a play with the 'boring' colourscheme, opting for something a little more high contrast.

I lost a couple of my widgets, so it may take a while to get things back to normal.

Anyway - let me know what you think of the changes...

CCCVI - speaking of brain/thought/head problems...

A link for The Man -

Here is a great article by Terry Pratchett about his experience with early onset Alzheimer’s.

I particularly like this quote:

'When you have cancer you are a brave battler against
the disease, but when you have Alzheimer’s you are an
old fart'

And this picture:
My two cents - while there is nothing glamorous about illness and disease, dementia (and depression) do seem to be at the severely unfashionable end of the malady scale. I'm glad that one of my favouritest authors is forward enough to talk publicly about his own personal demons.

Oh, and one wonders whether there could be some new anthropomorphic personifications appearing in Discworld - Terry, feel free to introduce Aunty Dee to the rest of the world...

CCCV - A little less exhausted...

I think I may be getting back into the swing of this full time job thing. Today I actually had energy to go to the shops before coming home and collapsing on the couch :)

The new job is going well - the office is small and friendly, and very keen to help out an eager young upstart who wants to learn the ropes. I love the freedom of not being a uniform -but it does make for some hesitation in the morning while I am deciding what to wear (twice now I have driven into carpark just in time to see my train pullout of the station - luckily I have calculated a little leeway into the travel plans.)

Unfortunately my new life is having a bit of toll on the pupster - poor Pierre is at home for up to 12 hours without my company. He is rather hyperactive when I get home, and then switches to burr mode.

The Man and I knew that we needed to pay some extra attention to the furkid, so on lovely sunny Sunday we took him for a walk along the river. Wanting to give him a little extra freedom, we let him off the lead while we walked along the boardwalk. All fine and dandy until Pierre started bounding down the steps. At the rivers edge he stopped, sat, and stared into the perfectly still water, with algae and reeds sticking out... before leaping into the river...

Now might be a good time to tell you just how much papillons HATE water - the surest way to turn my adorable puppy into the mutt from hell is to turn close the door to the bathroom, turn on the tap and watch him panic!

...so we are fairly certain that Pierre didn't realise that he was jumping into water, and not onto solid ground.

For what felt like forever, the pupster completely disappeared. When he finally popped up (doggy paddling for his little life) The Man was emptying his pockets getting ready to jump in after the pup, while I was laying stomach down on the deck trying to fish out Pierre (that bronze medallion training from high school finally paying off). The Man picked up on what I was trying to do, lay down next to me and had the extra length in his arms to actually lift the dog out of the drink.

The Man took a few photos of our glorified drowned rat with his phone, but due to a software and/or cable problem I can't share them with you.

However, the river dip did solve the green paws problem:)

CCCIV - it ain't easy being green...

green feet pierre, originally uploaded by pierretheyarnsnob.

Pierre went for a run outside post lawn clipping.....his feet match his coat.

3 hours later his legs are still radio-active!

(yes - the photo sucks, but the pupster wouldn't sit still long enough for a better shot)

CCCIII - contest winners....

...


are....


from Oz...


DiscoKnitter Lara...


and....


from OS...


WendyKnits....


Thanks for everyone who left a comment to celebrate my 2nd blogiversary and 300th post!


Could the winners email me your address at info@GingerKnits.com so I can get your goodies out to you??

CCCII - Learning to live with the mother-in-law Aunty Dee*...

*I was going to name the post after the proverbial mother-in-law (the ultimate PITA**) but as I am quite fond of The Man's mother, thought I would name it Aunty Dee - the name I used to call my Happy Pills. (Anti - Depressants = Aunty Dee...geddit...?)

This is my new way to try and decided how to describe my Black Dog (which is now being effectively managed) - Learning to live with Aunty Dee...

Image your whole entire self as a house - everyone has a self that is a house. You may have a room or a cupboard you store your emotions in, a place for memories...you get the idea.

When you get depression, it is like an earthquake comes through your house. If you have ever seen houses that have survived that kind of a natural disaster, you know that sometimes, the house looks fine, but after a while structural damage causes it to fall apart (aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) - however, from the outside the house generally looks find. The problem in that inside the house, everything you own (your thoughts and ideas) are scattered all over the place. All your shelves and cupboards, and sometimes even the walls, are now rubble. Everything that is you is tangled up with everything else that is you and it is impossible to find anything. All of a sudden you don't recognise this place as being your house, just like when you get depression, you lose your sense of self - your whole personality changes.

Some people, when this sort of thing happens, need a lot of help to try and get the house looking normal again. This was the stage I was at when I was first prescribed anti-depressants. Taking anti-depressants is like a big, bellowing, bossy woman*** (who you are probably not related to, but still call Aunty) coming to live with you. Hence, Aunty Dee.

Now the problem with Aunty Dee is that she wants everything spick'n'span and tidy. With a Mary Poppins-like click of the fingers she has all your shelves and cupboards repaired. The very next thing Aunty Dee does is begin to put everything away. The trouble is, that Aunty Dee doesn't care where she puts things, just as long as they are out of sight.

The mistake lots of people with broken house and mental illness make here is that they get rid of Aunty Dee - which is a problem because usually as soon as Aunty Dee is gone you get aftershocks from that first earthquake and they completely destroy your house again. Quite often you need Aunty Dee back again.... (yes, I too made this mistake and stopped taking my happy pills too early...)

So back to Aunty Dee - The most frustrating problem I had with my Aunty Dee is that she stored my vocabulary in safes protected by little electric fences... I'd know there was a specific word I wanted to use in a specific context, but couldn't find it in any of the cupboards in my house. For a while I as talking quite a bit like Homer Simpson: "where's the metal thingy you use to dig stuff?" - because Aunty Dee didn't put the word spoon in the top drawer in the kitchen. In fact - spoon wasn't even IN the kitchen at all. Spoon was probably sitting out in the garage with the power tools... The problem was all of my words had been put in the wrong place. (And I am using my vocabulary as an example - Aunty Dee messes with different people in different ways, and often in more than one way.)

Now, sometimes, people find this very frustrating and kick Aunty Dee out. Sometimes, Aunty Dee is very annoying and sets booby traps around the house. Some people think it will be easier for them to clean up the mess without Aunty Dee. I wasn't one of those people. I needed that annoying big, bellowing, bossy woman throwing her weight around in order to try and sort out my own house. So I needed to learn how to live with Aunty Dee.

This usually takes time, and sometimes, a bit of outside help, like a counsellor, a psych, a padre, a very understanding friend or partner. Someone who will listen, and at times ask the hard questions you won't ask yourself. I was lucky that I had a few people to fill this role :)

But I was still having problems with my vocabulary... so I decided to start doing some crosswords and wordgames. I started going through all the cupboards hunting for the words I was looking for - and then I discovered how much fun cryptics were (anyone for some red cheese made backwards??). I think that doing this has allowed me to find where my vocabularly has been stored, but also rebuild a lot of other links in my brain... I am learning the new places where Aunty Dee put everything...

For the moment, Aunty Dee and I are living together rather harmoniously...

**a PITA is a pain in the a$$
***I may be using some stereotypes here. I am not trying to offend anyone. Some people may find that they end up living with an Uncle Dee, but for me, Aunty Dee is a very well-formed character....

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...

CCC

The VK Holiday preview is up - and my favourite would have to be this gorgeous blue dress below on the right. I'll definitely be hanging out for this subscription issue to hit my mailbox!

I f you haven't guessed from the title, this post will be the last one you can leave comments on for my blogiversary give-away. If you want to win a project bag full of goodies from GingerKnits.com just leave a comment - if you're not sure what to say, tell me what your favourite pattern is from the VK Holiday preview.

Winners will be announced on Friday (Aussie time - which may still be Thursday for some of you).

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

fingers crossed...

I am going for a job interview tomorrow.

Please send me good luck vibes :)

more goodies... and a give-away

I totally forgot to mention that there are more cute project bags at GingerKnits.com (specs at the bottom of the post)

You will find them under Knitting Accessories :)

Edited to add - These cute cotton bags are all handmade by me and my trusty sewing machine.

I also missed my second blogiversary - but I am coming up to my 300th post - so leave a comment before my 300th post (not telling when that will be) and will can go in the draw to win a special edition knitting themed project bag full of some goodies from GingerKnits.com

Pure Cotton Project Bag

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Fully lined, pure cotton project bag - perfect for keeping small works-in-progress in.

Choose from a variety of cute and fun prints to keep your projects together when you are going from place to place. Each bag is handmade, with a plain calico lining. Finished with silver rivets to ensure the drawsting won't snag when you close it.


Approx 20(h)x15(w)x15(d) cm. Will hold up to 200gm of yarn and circular or DPN needles while still closing.

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...

Adolescent Angst...

so I am considering that I may be ready to start thinking about looking for some part time work. (Yes - I know that is a frustrating sentence. Perhaps I should have said the thought of regular employment no longer fills me with unrestrained panic.)

In order to take a few baby steps in this direction I have began to look at jobs on seek.

I have decided that my 'reasonable expectation' wish list would include the following:-

1. Definitely NOT anything hospitality or retail
2. Preferably permanent part time - 2 to 3 days a week
3. Something somewhat involved with the Textiles industry
4. Relevant to my experience - I worked a Navy 'office job' for two years, so an administration type job would suit perfectly.

The though of going through the interview process freaks me more than the responsibility of a job. So I emailed a few resumes. The plan was to apply for lots of jobs-even some I may not particularly want so I could get used to going through the motions. That way I would get some sort of dress-rehearsal before I pinned my hopes on securing employment. I've applied for any sort of administration/ customer service/ data entry/ assistant job vaguely associated with Textiles. I know that I will not be quite what they are looking for, and that the jobs are not quite what I am looking for - so I can expect, and even hope for, rejections without bruising my self-esteem.

I had one call returned from a recruiting firm, and was asked to come in for a discussion. I thought I was ready for this stage - but the night before I could not sleep. In order to distract myself from not being able to sleep, I took a book to bed and decided to read until the letters and words started to turn into ants and crawl across the page (my usual way of getting to sleep!)

However, it didn't happen. Lately I have been reading historical biographies but Wednesday night I read a lovely adolescent fantasy novel lent to me from my sister. Of course - adolescent fantasy sounds rather sophisticated. I have also heard this book call 'Vampire Smut' by one of my favourite Sydney bloggers. Either way - I finished the novel, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, in one night and was rather shocked when I heard my housemates banging round the kitchen and heading off to work or lectures.

I had read through my whole nights sleep.

Nevertheless I got up and went through the motions of getting ready to head into Melbourne to meet with the recruiting Agency. And I miss the train. I was looking for a park as the engine pulled out of the station. Luckily - no great loss and a phone call sorted everything out (okay -I'll admit I did suffer a bit of an anxiety attack. I quite foolishly tried to race the train to another station to try and catch it there. May have made it if I didn't get stuck behind a 'Driver under instruction' truck going at 20kmph.) I got to go home and try to catch up on a little sleep...

Of course - After devouring Twilightin one sitting I was keen for more. I did stop by a few places in town thinking to buy the others, but rational thought took over and my sister had the rest of the series for me to borrow. Over the weekend I finished New Moonand Eclipse, and am currently up to the third book of Breaking Dawn

Apparently I am a little obsessed, because I have watched all the movie trailers and started looking into the careers of the actors in the movie. After discovering that Kellan Lutz, who will be portraying Emmett, started in the first episode of 90210 (he was George Evans, the guy who started the fight at lacrosse practice and snogged Naomi) - which was conveniently shown on channel 10 last night I have come to the realisation that I am regressing to a teenager again. I am becoming quite nostalgic for my adolescent angst.

So the job searching is on hold for the moment - but I was beginning to feel a little 'numb' (which I'd blamed on the happy pills), and these books have taken re-connected me to a whole range of emotions I haven't experienced for quite a while, some not since I was a teenager (and had an on again/ off again goth boyfriend who wanted to be a vampire). I am filled with a little hope though - that if I am able to regress to being a teenager again, perhaps I can try 'growing' into my adult self and correct a few of the mistakes and flaws I have developed along the way. I am going to give it a try anyway - try and relieve a bit of the fun and amazement and potential I experienced on a daily basis. Perhaps I can once again be happy-go-lucky, rather than sinking-down-depression...

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!