Brilliance.

When in doubt, reference Lewis Carroll. 

I'm off tonight, and decided to also say au revoir to iffycraft.

You can find me over here for knitty-ness or here for some London fun times.

Cuba Street Carnival was friggin incredible. 

I'm not going to go crazy on it here, so jump over here instead to see how OutdoorKnit rocked the place. Oh yeah.

Yesterday i returned to the scene of the crime and then took a wander along the left bank alley. That place has got it going on, graffiti wise at the moment. I can't wait to get to London and spy me some Banksy! 

[this is where there should be some photos. but blogger doesn't want to upload them. boo]

There is now less than a week until i head off. If i had a dollar for every time i'm asked if i'm excited, i'd have enough for the flight home by now. Yep, i'm excited. But all the excitement is for things i'll be doing this week before i go, rather than the leaving itself. There are so many amazing people in Wellington (and the rest of NZ) that i will miss enormously. So it's lucky we've got the interwebs to keep us all connected, right?

I think i'm ready. I'm sewing a jacket and a high-waisted skirt, i have quite a bit of knitting to get done, and i have to decide if i take any of my sewing tools with me. Do i take my sewing scissors, for example. I have lots of people to see and farewell - not that i'm keen on the farewell bit. Might live in denial sometime longer and just say, see you later. Cos i will. See you all later...

I am a very bad blogger. I apologise. 

As time is now a bit precious, i've decided to list most of my fabric on dirty old trademe. Yuck. But had to be done, i suppose. My listings can be found here, should you be interested. More will be added later tonight.

Two and a half weeks to go and am starting to get the freak out happening. The fact one of my dearest friends has taken the afternoon of my arrival off so he can meet me at the airport means the excitement is now balanced with the freaking. 

And OutdoorKnit organisation has become a part-time job, with organising London taking up the rest of my time. Which reminds me... i was going to research snowboarding in Scotland...

The one where I out myself...

I am half of the Wellington graffiti knit crew, OutdoorKnit.

And we're going to be at the Cuba Street Carnival! yay! For more info, go here.

And apologies for not keeping on with the fabric sale thingy - i'm plodding my way through the most hard core job application i have ever had the pleasure of completing. But it's not complete. Oh well, I have until 5am NZ time to finish it. Not sure of my chances, but no harm in trying, right? And I need all the practice i can get. 

Don't mind me while i swear and whinge about how my mac is currently refusing to have any sort of consistent net connection. I think it hates me because somehow it found out that i sold it. boo.

Woops, missed a day on the great fabric fire sale. Never fear, another day is here!

So above are three cottons - the one in the top right hand corner is quite light, and the other two are quilting/craft weight. Now because i'm lazy i haven't measured them. They're not huge, but they're not tiny either. Again, $5 plus p&p (about a dollar, i'd guess). email me at tashbarneveld at hotmail dot com if you're keen. The spotties from the other day are still available too.

You may remember my ranting about how crappy my year was last year. It was crap. I'm now all focussed on the future, and making the most of all opportunities. Which involves, of course, reading my horoscope and ignoring all the ones which are bad or i don't like.

I haven't had reason to ignore many, in fact i've pulled a few out of the paper just because they've been so good. (nikki, these are all yours too!)

Here's a selection:

Today's, on msn:

Don't let things bother you, dear Sagittarius. Have confidence that you are on the right track...

hmm i seem to have lost one of them. oops. oh well.

Here's my 2009 one from the Sunday Star Times:

'...2009 represents the first year of an astonishing climb. You could be the next Bill Gates. It's all possible now.'

How appropriate. I wonder if I should try get a job at Microsoft...or at least finish filling in the London job applications i've got...

it's a fire...SALE

I was procrastinating from taking photos and putting all my bits and pieces up on trademe (what a drag) and had a brainwave - so you all get first dibs!

So, this is the plan:

Each day, for as many days as it takes, I will put up an item for sale, right here. Should said item take your fancy, email me at tashbarneveldathotmaildotcom and the first person who puts their hand up, wins. I'll then correspond with the winner, and we can do the whole money deposit/detail exchange thing.

Each photo will be accompanied by measurements, fabric type, and a price. To make it fun, days will be picked at random for the fabric to be free! yep, FREE!  

Of course i'm all into sharing so let all your friends know...bloggy and otherwise.

so...first up:

large blue spots: 57cm x 45cm, 100% cotton (is a quilting weight cotton)

lavender gingham: 24cm x 100cm, poly cotton (light weight)

pale pink with white spots: an odd, odd shape - one section 26cm x 35cm, another section 50cm x 60cm, is a cotton mix, and one side is brushed. Is about the same weight as the blue spots, but softer. Has a few small marks but should wash out. Is vintage - i remember it from when i was about 8!

Sale price: $5 plus postage (about a dollar)

How hilarious is this?

I almost wet myself laughing. Man i hope the food on my flights to London aren't so bad. And my in-flight entertainment better frigging work.

I'm running out of weeks to count down before i leave. I'm down to four and a smidge. I've been ticking things off my list. Today: apply for some jobs and attempt to open a UK bank account. 

I've been in denial of the list though. Instead, i've been procrastinating by inhaling all the Stephanie Plum books. Between me and my mum, we have every single one. 

Don't judge me. They're lurid and bright but they are such good books. I judged my mum when i first saw them lying around on the floor...until i randomly picked one up, read a few pages, and was hooked. 

Obviously now I want to be a bounty hunter. I'll take the Morelli and pass on the bad hair, thanks.

My mum and I used to regularly have conversations about who would play whom should they decide to make movies out of them. The female version of James Bond, i think they should do it. Or at least make a series for tv version. When i first started reading them, i couldn't for the life of me think who would play Lula. For some reason, the casting of Lula is more crucial than the casting of Stephanie. Now, i'm tossing up between Queen Latifah and the woman who plays Dr Bailey on Grey's Anatomy. Or even Missy Elliot. I think Bailey is the winner though. It would be a very different role to the one on Grey's, but she does that 'don't mess with me 'tude' so well.

and then there's the dilemma of Stephanie. She can't be too hot, or too perfect, and needs to be able to act a bit frazzled. Might have to think on that one a bit longer.

I think we came up with Colin Farrell for Morelli. 

hmmm. Time to go start on Seven Up, methinks.

Thank you for all your comments about the doily tree grumpiness. Makes me feel a bit less of a baddie!

Speaking of trees, I had the honour of attending a friend's wedding yetserday. 

The Wairarapa, as always, was about 5 degrees hotter than Wellington, and by the time I got to the wedding bus, i was more than a little uncomfortable. It was somewhat a relief to find the other girls waving at their underarms and flapping their dresses around in order to get something like respite. We all made noises about the poor boys, in their shirts, black pants and black shoes.

The wedding was absolutely wonderful. Protected by the shade of the trees at the Pounui Homestead (on Western Lake road, and the most fantastic venue EVER), the bride looked stunning. The groom looked perfectly comfortable with no tie and no waistcoat - a look i'm totally advocating. It's hot. And you don't have to worry about putting your bridesmaids in, say pink, and then convincing the boys to wear same for their waistcoats or ties. It's win-win.

Anyway, one can't complain about sitting in the sunshine, your champagne glass being routinely topped up, eating gorgeous vege food (the newlyweds are vegetarian, so the whole reception was too) enjoying watching some rather scrumptious boys, and having a good old dance. 

I could quite happily live in the place I stayed, too. On going up to my room I found bookshelves positively groaning under the weight of - glorious, glorious art history books. I didn't want to leave. The host, Sylvia, was an absolute darling, and picked me up and dropped me off from the train station due to the fact that Greytown has no buses on the weekends. 

Not so happy about being back in the real world. 

I had a lovely evening at the gardens, with Twinset, and Charlies' Lemon Quencher, and good company. 

Then I saw this:

And I thought hmm, that's interesting. I've seen the same sort of thing on the net. Then I saw the signs that said 'artist'. Then I got a little grumpy. 

Should an artist be paid (which i assume she is for the project), for something that is essentially this or this

or this or this?

There's a blurb about it here. I wouldn't have an issue if she said, oh i'm referencing so and so, or inspired by the work of others, or simply - i'm carrying on something others have started. Or even developed the idea further, adjusting it, exploring it. 

Am i being a massive art snob here who is determined that people should be recognised for their great ideas? Tell me to get over it if i am. I don't particularly enjoy being grumpy.

i'm starting to get a bit impatient. London is getting ever closer, and yet six weeks still feels an eternity away.

The job hunt has begun. Well, the browsing has, at least. I finally know what i want to do with my life - arts administration, politics, or run my own craft business. And i'm not particularly keen on going into limbo with any of those things while i'm away.

However, if none of those work, i reckon i could be a barista.

Coffee used to scare me. Well, the concept of making it did. And i hated the thought of getting hooked on the stuff. Now a total coffee snob, i refuse to drink anything other than espresso with frothed milk aka the latte, and can't stand the taste of instant. bleugh.

Which provided a bit of a hurdle on the savings game. $4 a day for a coffee with london town on the horizon caused internal conflict. Coffee not only provides a tasty beverage, but precious 'me' time over the paper, or people watching, or writing. 

Then my mum bought a coffee machine (oh yeah, did i mention that i'm officially back in the parental abode? yusss). 

mmmmm. 

Savings galore and now i'm training myself in the art of making the perfect coffee. Still haven't quite got the hang of making the milk look all pretty, but i'm working on it. 

oh and i made macaroons to stave off the boredom. recipe? oh yeah alright:

from the Australian Women's Weekly Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits

2 eggs, separated

pinch salt

3/4 cup of sugar

3 cups coconut

and i added chocolate chips, and you could probably other nuts and other fun things too

beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Beat in egg yolks one at a time. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition; beat until sugar is dissolved. Stir in coconut (and chocolate), mix well. Spoon level teaspoons of mix onto foil lined over trays. Bake in moderate oven (i used about 170) 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool.

Easy peasy!

Right i better go find something productive to do. Rather looking forward to the inauguration of Mr Obama tomorrow, even if it does mean getting up at 5.30am to watch it. Oh if you haven't already - go see Frost/Nixon. Fantastic. I heart Sam Rockwell. The acting is quite simply spectacular.

oops, i lost track of time. 

The past three have consisted of three things: moving, cleaning and driving between the hutt and wellington. Joy of joys. My body is so tired, i think i'll treat it to a bath a bit later. 

But now,  a few blogs that I enjoy. Because, mainly, they have pretty pictures. I'm a bit too slack to update my blogroll, see....

First, Meet Me At Mikes. Please? once upon a time, i lived in Melbourne, and i went to this shop. It was at the end of a long luxurious day wandering (and buying) at the Bridge Street shops. They had cool stuff. But i'd spent all my money. I think that since i was there in 2006, they've evolved into something a bit different, and now there is a second shop, in my fave part of town, Fitzroy. 

The Craft: blog is always full of cool stuff too. Every once in awhile i'll consider buying the mag when i'm in Magnetix, but it's a bit pricey here and to be honest, i'm not so keen on the layout of the thing. But the blog is full of great, random crazy ideas that makes one appreciate just how many awesome crafty creative people are out there. Also makes one feel a tad inadequate and wonder, 'would i have ever thought of that??'

And for some glam: this chick finds some beautiful things. I love looking for and finding beautiful images (one of the wondrous discoveries of first year design) but it's not something i think to do very often. 

During the madness I did find the time to have coffee with a friend and spot some more graffiti. One has to stay sane, ya'know. The current obsession is with paste-ups. Just that much more depth than a spraycan.

oooh - lookie what I found. A knit chart generator!

http://www.microrevolt.org/knitPro/index.php

I am doing some serious procrastination. Packing? What packing? Ahem. So I bring you my mood board ( just turned into my desktop) 

And pics from my wander round town in the glorious sunshine. If they ever upload.

packing, cleaning and stuff

oh right, so, tried posting the other day and blogger wouldn't have a bar of it. How rude.

I did say:
The flat needs packing up and cleaning, the garden needs clearing and weeding.
the garden is now weeded but no place to put said weeds now they are out. discovered that not much of my stuff can be packed as it is all furniture. hmm, how did that happen?

Motivation, motivation, where are you? All I want to do is curl up on the sofa and think about life, the universe and everything. Time is of the essence.
Still lacking in motivation. Spent much time lying on the very comfortable swing couch on my parents' deck thinking how lonely life is when there is no work and therefore no co-workers. Time is still of the essence. Normally i am impatient for everything to happen yesterday, now i wish i had more time before i leave for the other hemisphere. In fact, now wish had job. oh dear.

Am also trying to decide if this year needs resolutions. Looking at last year's, i think i achieved maybe 4 of the many. oooh. how about this:

Embrace all opportunities.

I think that's enough.

in my hunt for new blogs, i found this site. Brilliance. I can't wait to wander London streets and shoot graffiti. Hopefully without getting mugged.ooh look! it's me! in Warwick! amazing what you find when posting from your parents' computer.

Welcome, welcome 2009.

Normally i'm one of the people saying 'oh, new year's, it's so overrated'. This year i wasn't expecting terribly much.

Today, the first day of the year, i got out of bed three times and went back to bed twice.

Eventually i had a shower and decided to wear my pjs all day.

I ate breakfast at 2.30pm.

Last night i was surrounded by old friends, some new ones, and had the absolute time of my life. We talked, we danced, we drank.

Hence the difficulty with getting out of bed and eating on the first day of the year.

Thanks to all those who have been reading over the past year. You're all wonderful, and I hope the New Year brings you plenty of fun, and lots of crafting goodness.

So welcome, welcome 2009: i'm ready for ya.

What, another post? In one day?! Goodness me.

Having spent the majority of today either cleaning or browsing the net, i figured i may as well drop by here too.

So, fetching are finished. The Alpaca silk is so delicious and completely worth it. Please ignore the lack of a cable cast-on. This knitter is too lazy to teach herself how to do it. Now to put them in the post to wing their way to Paris. Today it was meant to be a whole 1 degree outside. Think she may need them.

And i've added a million gazillion new blogs to my google blog reader. The theme seems to be: London. There is also the wee discovery that is the awesomeness of podcasts (yes, yes so late on that wagon), particularly those of Radio New Zealand.

Most of the blogs have also been added cos they're pretty. Post-US election a colleague and I discussed if it was inappropriate to have crushes on President-elect Obama. Damn, too bad i hadn't even been born in 1980.

Hmm, not sure that I really need to remember yet another log in and password, but i'm seriously thinking about joining this site. 

I'm not sure i'm ready for tomorrow to be the last day of the year. Perhaps if i do the whole 'what do i want to achieve in 09' thing i'll feel better about it. maybe.

The only reason i'm writing this is because i'm procrastinating from cleaning. Bleugh, cleaning. And it's too hot. 

The hedgehog that has moved into my parents' backyard. We fed him salmon for dinner. mmm salmon

How about some gratuitous photos of animals and flowers to liven things up? Taken with my pretty new cybershot that FITS IN MY HANDBAG! can you tell that excites me? I am still in love with the Canon S2IS, but it's such a pain to carry around all the time. And it's a bit embarrassing that even though it's only about 3 years old, it has fewer megapixels than the Cybershot (5 compared to 7.2). Plus it's little enough to fit one of the many many large iPod covers still lying around, so it looks even prettier.

Thinking about London (only two months to go!) has got me thinking about cameras. As in, which ones to take. 

The Cybershot will go in my bag, but will it be too much to take the S2IS too? And then there's the Polaroid which i don't want to let go but hardly ever use, and i'd really like to take my Dad's 1984 Canon SLR (no D in that, it's all 35mm film) for its second OE. 

Four cameras really would be a bit overkill, and no doubt when i get there and earn squillions (haha) i'll want to pick up some serious camera fun in the way of a Canon EOS once i've figured out how to keep from being mugged while i walk around with it.

To finish: an interesting post on a blog i don't usually read. I think all her points are completely valid - and then the comments remind why on some sites i don't bother reading all that toxic hot air. When i was employed by a certain someone comments used to make me angry and upset, and then i read an article somewhere (can't remember) that had a whole pile of stats about blog readers  and commenters. Instead of going into loads of detail, basically it made me feel better. And taught me to just ignore the nasty ones. Obviously on all the lovely crafty blogs around, rarely is anyone nasty.

ah. Christmas Eve. And it's raining. What a freaking surprise.

What with my brain needing some stimulus due to the no work thing, i finally went to a place that sold the Listener on a Monday and bought it. Usually i don't see it til Sunday when there really is not much point.

But what a cracker this week's is!

The editorial is fantastic. It opens: 'Since when has genuine happiness been dependant on money?' I like it. My year, as previously mentioned, has been full of challenges. Lots of them were not so good, and seem to overshadow all the fantastic challenges. But at the end of it, I am happy. Maybe next post can be about all the good things from this year. hmm, could be a long one.

Then there was yesterday's Dom Post article in the World section about young women in Asia (if i remember right) not being allowed to go to school in favour of their brothers. Goodness, that makes me sad. Typically, i can't find it on the Dom Post website. What does that say? It was almost a whole page article, and yet it isn't important enough to make it to their site. Boo.

Oh, also in the Listener is a fascinating piece about Jane Austen. I came across this
a few days ago and meant to link to it through here, but the lovely Louise beat me to it.

While watching trashy Christmas tv i'm working my way through fetching in the wonderful, wonderful, lush alpaca silk i bought from South Seas Knitting. Though i think i should get in the habit of actually counting - i'm onto glove number two and am struggling to get the number of rows between cables the same. woops.

Right, so that was a whole lot of randomness. Merry Christmas everyone, i'll try and keep up with the very regular posting in the New Year - but can't guarantee i'll be sober enough until oh, about January 3.

Tash xx

how awesome is this?

thanks to this lovely blog.

I have had a wonderful day.

Christmas really is more about the memories and the company one keeps than the presents, isn't it?