Indi hates cameras. Whenever we get one out to take a photo she puts her ears down and slinks away like she’s in trouble. Today, however, I discovered the thing that overcomes her shyness - a squeaky toy. Holding the toy and squeaking it constantly while simultaneously taking a photo wasn’t easy, but I’m pretty happy with the result.
For Joanna.
Jaywalkers don’t look great while you’re knitting them. I’m currently knitting some (my third pair) in 8ply yarn for Mark and they’re fugly.
They seem really tight and bulge in spots where socks shouldn’t.
My first 2 pairs were the same. After a wash and careful drying (not blocking but lying them flat, rather than hanging them out) they came up beautifully. I’d take a photo to show you, but I’m wearing one pair and the other is in the dirty washing.
and then I did.
After Joanna’s post about Live2Knit I went and looked and looked and promised myself I wouldn’t. But then I just could resist this on sale.
It’s Elizabeth (4ply) in Viva colourway.
And I think I know what I’m going to knit with it. I might even do it while we’re away next week…
I’ve finished knitting Helen’s birthday present and have blocked it - actually it’s still pinned out for blocking. This is the first thing I’ve ever seriously blocked. By seriously I mean that I’ve followed the instructions on See Eunny Knit! almost to the letter, because I wanted to do it correctly. I even bought a clear plastic quilter’s rule so that I could make sure the angles were all good.
I never used to block my FOs because I wasn’t exactly sure how it should be done and I figured that I wanted to get a least one use of the item before I risked ruining it in the wash. Seeing how much better the socks I’ve knitted recently looked after being washed & dried carefully changed my mind, though.
Although the term blocking refers to what you do initially with an FO to get the shape right, you kind of do it again every time you wash the item. The instruction that jumpers should be dried flat is really blocking them again after a wash. I washed a commercially made cotton jumper of Mark’s recently and took great care to pull it into the right proportions and lay it out flat for drying and it looks really good. Normally it would have been washed in with everything else and hung on the line like a tshirt. Things take longer to dry lying flat on a towel under a heater vent than if they’re hung on the line (Mark’s jumper took a good 48 hours), but the tradeoff is that they look nicer on and, hopefully, will last longer because they’re being handled with care.
I have a group assignment I need to do for the subject I’m studying. Since I’m doing it by distance and living like a hermit I don’t have a group readily available to work with, so I’m hoping my gentle (and not so gentle) readers can help me out here.
I’ve posted the details on Last Mad Puppy here. Please go and have a look and post your answers on the forum. You can read the thread without being a member, but you’ll have to join to post.
Thank you muchly for doing this.
The other day I just happened to be idly browsing eBay (as one does) when I spied some red 4ply yarn going cheaply - ridiculously cheaply - so I bid on it. And won.
Then I noticed that the same seller had some green 8ply yarn going very cheaply, so I bid on that too. And won.
I honestly didn’t expect to win either auction. I thought someone else would bid higher than me, but they didn’t. The red is going to be some mittens and socks for Finn and some socks for me. The green is going to be socks for Mark - maybe the Jaywalker pattern.
Today I was on my way to wander around the NGV and had a little bit of time before my train so I momentarily forgot that I’m boycotting Spotlight and popped in for a browse. I picked up some skinny double pointed needles - 2.0mm & 2.25mm - some Anchor Magic Line cotton to try out.
I think this will also end up as socks for Finn & I.
Imagine what would happen if I was actually setting out to buy yarn?
Over the last few days I’ve been putting the chooks in the cat run so that they can eat the grass. I expected the cats to be outraged and refuse to go outside while the chooks were there, but quite the opposite has occurred. They, Cosmo at least, seem to enjoy their company.
Zelda’s not in these pictures because she had come inside while I was getting the camera.
We had a farewell lunch today for my eldest niece, Eli, at my sister’s. As usual, we were the last to leave, staying well past Finn’s useby date. We’re all done in from the eating and the talking and the talking and the eating.
Eli, by the way, is heading off to South Africa next week for a couple of months of holiday with a little bit of volunteer work thrown in. After that she’s planning to head to the UK indefinitely to work and try life there on for size.
My sister is going to miss her heaps, but we all agree that it’s a really good thing for El to do. She may decide to come home after Sth Africa or she may not come home for 5 years - it’s entirely up to her. We’ve set her up with a weblog and a Flickr account so that she can post all about her travels.
Bon Voyageee…
This was going to be a comment on Helen’s blog, but it felt much more like a post, so here goes.
I don’t have an answer to your dilemma, Helen. I’m not even sure if what I’ve got to say is useful. It may be complete crap, but I’m feeling kind of philosophical.
It strikes me that life is a process of setting, refining, trading off and discarding priorities and that sometimes the best that we can hope for is a compromise on the big dreams. This is not to say that we shouldn’t dream, but that our dreams should not be all or nothing. It’s great to dream and hope and wish and to throw our best efforts at it, but in the end we can only do what we can do and, for our own sake, need to recognise and be satisfied with that.
Maybe you can’t afford to build the house you wanted on your block. Perhaps you can find a way to build a house of a different/smaller/less expensive type. Or maybe you won’t build a house. Maybe you’ll find something to buy. If not a house, a flat or unit. Or maybe you’ll never buy another property. Is that really so bad? I know property provides a measure of security, but you could rent and invest some funds for security.
Then there’s the work vs. lifestyle thing. It’s fairly likely that the sort of work you would enjoy and gain satisfaction from is only doable in the big cities where you may not enjoy the kind of lifestyle you can have in the country. So the question is which is more important to you? The job or the lifestyle. If it’s the job then perhaps you should head back to Melbourne. If it’s the lifestyle then maybe you stay where you are, doing what you’re doing - or go further bush.
And perhaps all of the above is just the static and it’s hiding the real issue - what is THE thing you really want or need? What is it that the house, job, etc. is supposed to deliver? Maybe, just maybe, if you can identify that the other issues will become clearer. They might even disappear altogether.
There’s my 2c worth. I hope it helps at least a little.
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