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.

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.

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

lady of leisureness

I just realised I won't be near a computer again for the rest of the day, so had to do my daily post now. When pretty much all i've done since the last one is knit and sew. but mainly sleep.

what i want to know - who stole summer? where has it gone?

For those who think a lady of leisure does nothing more than sleep in, mooch around, and then go to bed again, today's schedule looks like this:

up at 7.30am (ugh yuck)

pack stuff to go from coffee to gym to drinks (read: bag lady for the day)

start some knitting so i have something to show for myself at coffee

8.55am - blog

9am - leave house

10am - coffee (to teach a guy how to knit. never met the guy. feels like a really weird blind date. more on that later)

post coffee - mooch round town and maybe do some much needed christmas browsing, which will probably lead to purchasing of presents for self

12.15pm - spin class

2pm - drinks

4pm - train to Khandallah for further drinks and christmas festivities

ohh ok. it's a tough life.

Promises

One of my best friends in living the good life in gay Paris. Well, she's au pairing and struggling on the language front a little, and missing home. So when i asked if she'd like a wee knitted present, she immediately requested grey mittens. 

righty-o.

i can't seem to find any nice, slim fitting mitten patterns. I don't like how most are quite bulky. ick. 

So i'm going for fingerless gloves, considering by the time they get to her, it'll probably be spring.

Wandering round knit world lately hasn't been particularly inspiring, and then i remembered South Seas Knitting. 

oh dear.

Seeing as i'm on a budget, i'm thinking this pattern in this yarn with these needles. i think i'm drooling on the keyboard. yummmmmmmmmm

On another front, it is list writing day. On that list is going to be 'stop drinking so much'. Not really hungover today but i can tell my body is unhappy with all the liver abuse that has been going on. So post-birthday (next week!), the aim is to drink as little as possible. and seriously this time. 

Dreams

For some time now a wee dream has been evolving in my head. This weekend it's nearly fully formed, in radiant colour, and I can mentally walk around it...

It's not that much, really. It involves:

• A sewing room that is bathed in sunlight
  
• A vegetable patch
• Chickens

Which is all kind of bizarre really cos i grew up loathing everything to do with dirt. Now i find weeding oddly therapeutic. I have no idea what it is about chickens. They're awesome. I don't think i need any other reason except to think they're cool.

Yesterday a visit to Chocolate Frog resulted in some plant buying (kale) and seed purchases...i'm going to germinate them and re-start my pot-based vege garden of last summer. 

I hate the idea of putting chemicals on something i'm going to eat, so i'm doing research on companion planting. This site is great. I've also heard that a certain method of planting during certain phases of the moon makes for crazy growing activity, so might have a wee go at that too. 

Yesterday wasn't just spent daydreaming. I managed to do some more sewing. I managed to tame my overlocker long enough to make half a skirt but it's now packed it in again. ugh. I also had a go at buttonholes on thermal, and i didn't win. I tried a cable bind on and it didn't work for me ... though i'll be the first to admit i kind of tried making it up as i went along and then lost patience. Any tips? Or just forget the buttonholes and fake it?

Happy: i went for a run! And i got flowers! from the boy! and i got to hang with the boy! 

Created: hmmm, clean clothes. and endorphins, and as always, stitches.

Treat: burger fuel. more than covers the effort in the run, methinks

No Grump: decided to change the outlook to 'positive' when dealing with flatmates re: giant power bill. we'll see how it goes. The bit that drives me nuts is that no matter how nicely i ask, it's still their decision to be more power conscious. So the bill is in their hands...

I am in two minds about what to do with fave flatmate leaving. I'm not sure i can really be bothered finding a new one, to be honest. I go up the mountain for a whole week on sunday and she leaves as soon as i get back, which isn't really helpful in the time frame situation. So maybe i'll sit on it for a while and make up my mind when i get back. though it will mean paying quite a bit of extra rent. 

I'm at the point where my whole life feels a bit consumed by flat stress. So the focus is going to shift to craft: much, much more craft. I think it's time for the hottie, bed and my knitting. Thermal is on standby, which is a bummer as i hoped it would be finished by the time we went back up the mountain. Instead I seem to be replacing it with lots of little knitted projects...all will be revealed, one day...

blogging. um stuff

oh. ah right. blogging. that thing i do. normally when sober. 

let me explain. i'm normally a nice relatively undrunk lass. of late, my colleagues have led me astray. which is why i am sitting in the dark eating fish and chips at 9.32pm on a tuesday night. when any reasonable person would be getting ready for bed, soberly, and anticipating the next day. nope not me. led astray. 

so err, happy - we won netball last night. Can't remember the rest. though the boy feigned serious illness yesterday and guilted me into cooking him dinner after netball. only to be revealed that he had been drinking til 4am monday morning. where is my dinner? hm?!

and it seems that when i am drinking, i talk. alot. (i knew that) the worrying thing is, it seems to all be about knitting. oh dear.

I am now apparently knitting a fluffy red beanie and a scarf or beanie (which ever strikes my fancy) for two office males. hmm.

now i feel slightly ill from greasy chips and much gin and tonic. and vodka. oops. fun times, though...

Why i love to knit

I fully pinched this idea from Nikki. Thanks Nikki!

How much do i love to knit? Let me count the ways...

1. Thinking time. When a million ideas, thoughts and confusions are whizzing through the brain cells, knitting makes me slow down and place my thoughts in a queue for careful consideration. I solve all the world's problems when I knit. Then promptly forget them.
2. Increased productivity. I drive myself nuts with the fact that I always must be doing something. So tv watching is no longer wasted time. Whew. 
3. Creation. Watching something grow through simply sitting and working at it is so fulfilling. I also love the idea that knitting is creating my own fabric - seeing as i am also fabric obsessed.
4. Touch. I love the feel of fabric...and knitting gives me an excuse to feel more things up.
5. Learning. I am amazed at just how much there is to know about knitting,  it is incredibly technical. Plus there is nothing better than passing that learning on and watching someone else fall heads over heels with their needles, too.
6. Subverting stereotypes. Not only does it give the old ducks a bit of a thrill, but knitting in public is my way of proving that knitting is not just for grannies. It is modern, interesting and timeless. 

Hmm. That's all i can think of for now. I'm a bit bummed as i've just found out my fave flatmate is going on her OE in a month, leaving me with two very un-favourite flatties. What to do? Lame-o. This calls for flannel pjs, a hot water bottle, cookies and knitting.

It's grey outside, my tummy is grumbling, and i've got nought left to do this working day. I haven't pulled on my running shoes yet this week (thanks for the advice louise! my body is longing for a run for sure) but I am starting to feel a bit better.

This has helped - I managed to visit Meet Me at Mikes when I lived in Melbourne, and it was still much more second handy than crafty then. I love how things evolve...and now i want a shop window to fill with red shiny things on newspaper!

For any local knitters...it's world knit in public day tomorrow. I'll be by the bucket fountain in Cuba Mall from 2pm with my needles, or at the Southern Cross if it's raining. Yay for knitting in public!
Oh yeah and then i'll probably head over to Juniper for the grand opening of the new shop...think i may have to wear my new shoes for the occasion. :)

Accumulation

Fun dolls! Book from Sydney...

And the first project I'm going to make from fun dolls...gotta love the Japanese instructions

fabrics from Tessuti...

The new Curvy, Yen - one of my fave mags discovered when i lived in Melbourne, and Russh 

Don Binney book from the boy...

Mist in Katoomba

Roses...me is so lucky!

Pair of shoes number one...and new wool tights...

Pair of shoes number two...only $30 from Hannahs, and they're leather. Though they make me absurdly tall...

Thermal progress...

I thought it was about time to reemerge from the abyss where I have been hiding of late and share a few things. My sincere apologies for such heinous photos - i leave at dark and come home at dark. boohoo. It is all made better by decent food (my first real dinner in a week thanks to healthy food guide), wearing my snowboard boots around the house and being in possession of two new pairs of shoes. I actually have $3 in my bank account until Wednesday and I swear I am now going to hide my credit card in the worm farm to prevent further temptation. but hey, i didn't buy any clothes in Sydney and the last time i bought decent shoes was, um...2006. So i figure these two will do me for another two years. 

Last week was three years with the boy, and I was completely spoilt. Roses and a Don Binney book i have wanted for 5 years. How did he know i wanted it? he didn't. brownie points for him!!

The other pics...thermal is progressing, slowly. i am struggling my way through the first sleeve after frogging it. Damn being a perfectionist. I have spent way too much time on it to come to the end of the sleeves and it not fit together because of ending up with too many stitches. 

ephemera

I ADORE the illustration for their posters...mmmm

More pics from yesterday...which isn't to say i didn't do anything today. Much progress has been made on thermal's first sleeve, and i have officially converted another friend to knitting.

Nikki made it along to Crafternoon Tea and brought Hannah - my goodness she is so cute. I know have loads of pictures by her to grace my fridge!

not much

Well, the week was a bit mad. Sitting on the bus i would have sworn it was about 8pm, when it was actually three hours earlier than that. 

Though there are some exciting things in the coming weeks:

• we're doing knack! on a whim, i emailed asking about stalls - and there were cancellations!
• one new project is on the cusp of being launched
• crafternoon tea strikes again on sunday
• there are exhibition openings around about tomorrow to attend
• Surprise craft night at Juniper (preceded somehow by a pot luck slash castle construction do)

Not so exciting things:

• My skin has gone ass. In particular, my forehead. I've never had very bad skin in my life...i'm going to blame the airconditioning at work. I think i shall have to splurge on some Trilogy cleanser. It's got comfrey, ya'know.
• I'm tired
• I still can't find my camera battery
• i need to go to the supermarket before i sit down with my knitting 

i want to knit so much i'm going to prise myself from the chair right now to walk down to the giant yellow dairy on the corner. 

Here's hoping i find my battery!

the joy of the unexpected

I woke up this morning with absolutely no intention of going to the knitter's weekend out at the Dowse...until i got (woken up by) a text from my mum telling me that i was allowed to sit it on my Grandma's workshop this morning if i wanted...i wanted! So after some quick rearranging of my day, i was out the door in record time and out to the hutt for about the fifth time this week (i'm getting to know the Dowse to Petone interchange works really well, i tell ya!). 

The workshop was an introduction to lace knitting, something i'd had a go at before but had left to one side since. My reward for going? A copy to borrow of the Knitting Sutra - Craft as a Spiritual Practice by Susan Gordon Lydon and copies for my own of Mary Thomas' Knitting Book and Book of Knitting Patterns. Stoked! The covers of the two Mary Thomas books are great, and they have all these cute little cartoons and illustrations...which you'd know if i hadn't dropped one of my rechargeable batteries somewhere not to be found when trying to put them back in my camera.

 I got to see the inside of Knit World's new knitting studio and had to force myself to stop looking because, my goodness, the yarns in there are delicious. Much, much higher quality than what is stoked in the shop and a wall full of fantastically geeky knitting tools...I managed to leave with only my last balls of yarn for thermal and a set of bamboo double pointed needles - why bamboo? Do i really need bamboo? Uh, no. But there they are in my bag anyway. Ha. 

After the workshop i tootled off to the New Dowse and drooled over more yarn (please santa, bring me a sack of organic merino!), met Mel Clark who co-wrote this book, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of young'uns there. I was most impressed by the blind lady knitting, and a couple of guys dotted around the place. One, admittedly, was wearing a skirt. You see it all in Lower Hutt...

My job in the next hour is to have another crack at knitting with dpns, so that i can get some grandmotherly advice on technique tomorrow. 

Keep warm!

100!

give away give away give give give away....

more about that at the end...

I was in spasms of excitement at the bus stop last night - as you do. And not in a creepy stalkery way. Or perhaps it was...I happened to sit down next to a guy knitting. Yep, knitting. I had a serious debate with myself as to if i tapped him on the shoulder and started a slightly mad conversation, but he had headphones on so i couldn't do that...and then i tossed up about writing him a wee note, but just as i was fishing in my bag to see if i had a pen, his bus turned up. Number 7, going to Kingston. Will he ever know how excited i was to see him knitting? Possibly 

not.

The other thing i've been strangely fascinated with in the last two days is this - the giant squid cameras so disgusting, yet so very intriguing. Like a fishy car crash.

right, so giveaway! Anyone who comments between this post and Sunday 4 May goes in the draw for a full set of my cards and a tote bag...and an ipod cover if the winner just so happens to have ipod. 

A wee selection of the cards...all blank inside. Apols for the average pics, it's what happens when you get home after dark! (and why i don't have any images of the bag!)

inspiration

One of the great bonuses of long weekends is the amount of time available to do anything you want. I spent all day yesterday thinking that today would be back to the office, and it was great reminding myself that oh no, I still have one whole day left!

So yesterday was spent having lunch with my Mum and at the library doing some much needed research. The old design habits are slowly returning - I'd forgotten how much i loved looking through books just for their pictures. It is fascinating what can jump-start the old imagination machine...I have in my possession for 4 weeks: a book on instructional design (hilarious!), one on Japanese design and a source book of flower, leaf and tree designs. All it took were three completely unrelated things to pop up randomly in relatively close succession for the next project to evolve...so i have yet one more creative project on my plate. Who needs work?! I could happily grow into a groove in the couch and knit, sew, draw, read and dream all day... 

oooh...the next post is number 100! Which will probably be Wednesday...drop by for a give away!

knitting in public

For the past two days i've knitted on the bus, both to and from work. It can be a little awkward trying not to hit whoever sits next to me with my needles, but i get a surprising amount done between Kilbirnie and Lambton Quay. 

This morning a lovely older lady sat next to me, grinned, and said 'oh, i've never tried knitting with rainbow yarn before.' I get the feeling it made her day to see that knitting was still alive and well. 

There is a world wide knit in public day, and i've signed up to host a meeting. Not sure how well knitting outside in the middle of a Wellington winter will work though!

so, how many times can I say knitting in a post?!

What is everyone up to for ANZAC weekend? The plan is for a whole load of sewing and maybe a nosey around Newtown as I haven't been there in yonks. Am still tossing up as to if I am game to get up at 5.30 to go to a dawn service on Friday, but keep thinking of all the amazing photo potential there will be...

PS - i'm almost at my 100th post...hmm what shall the give away be?

IT has begun

dum dum dummmm

Crafternoon tea goodness

I really need to come up with some better titles. Or maybe i'll just give them up altogether. hmm.

Crafternoon tea was a great success! I finally got to meet the lovely Nikki, who blew me away with her knitting know-how - you rock! I taught my sister and friend the joys of casting on, and i think we managed to convince both that holes are arty. And that it gets easier. My other friend Bex, who i taught last year, is giving it another go after struggling with way small needles and yarn and has gone for the fat stuff. Her scarf literally doubled in length while she was there. Woohoo to the knitting converts!

The subject of my grandma came up very briefly and i remembered that somewhere i had hidden a shawl that she gave me for my 21st. I have never worn it but feel terribly lucky to have it. It is called 'Reflections' and is better travelled than I am - it's won a few awards at exhibitions as Grandma has a tendency to borrow it back to take to various things with her. I failed at finding it yesterday afternoon but then had a brainwave last night and did a wee fashion shoot with it. 

So am terribly consumed by inspiration from loads of crafty people surrounding me at the moment, and oh how i wish to craft full time...

And yes, there will be another crafternoon tea - for any in Wellington who would like to come, let me know! The next one may be this Sunday, but being a long weekend am not quite sure what turn out will be like. Could just be me and my needles!

The best road sign ever! Think my camera needs to accompany me out more...

vino, bad tv and collage

What a fab friday night - free wine at work, flat to myself, magazine inspiration spread all over the floor...bliss. Oh yeah, was meant to work on thermal. Got sidetracked, but it is still going!