New brakes = broke for Xmas

About a month ago I bought myself another car.  It's a 1990 Ford Fairmont Ghia.  It was only $2000 and looks pretty good for an older car.  It has climate control, electric windows...all the mod cons.  And so far its been a nice drive.  The electric windows don't actually work but the car dealer I bought it from is supposed to be doing something about that, in fact, it was a condition of the sale.  I haven't  heard from him in a while but that's okay, I'm going to ring him and be annoying today.  Not just about the windows though. There are a couple of things I need to 'discuss' with him.

On Wed the 15th I drove down to Sydney to visit with my Mother and Sister for the day.  It was my first long-ish (about 200km from my place to my sisters) drive in my new car and I was looking forward to it as I really enjoy long distance driving.  I left at 5am thinking I'd avoid the crazy Sydney morning rush hour traffic.  Unfortunately so did everyone else.  I obviously miss-timed it so I drove all the way to Sydney in fairly heavy traffic.  I got off the free way at 6.45am to find myself right smack in the middle of peak hour.  So I settled in and prepared myself for a long annoying drive through North Sydney so I could make my way over the harbour and over to Rockdale which is where my sister lives.

All in all the drive went reasonably well.  Until I got to the harbour tunnel which is when my brakes made a funny click and went all spongy.  That was a bit worrying but the brakes were still working well enough to slow the car down if needed.  But each time I depressed the brake pedal they got more spongy and it sunk closer and closer to the floor.  By the time I reached General Holmes Drive and was heading past the airport I was feeling decidedly panicky.  And then some moron cut me off, which is fairly common in Sydney.  So, as you do...I stomped the brakes.  They failed.  I even got a high pitched alarm and a nice little red 'brakes fail' warning light on my dash.  I aged thirty years on the spot.  

Luckily I didn't hit anyone and I made it to my sisters place alive but it was VERY scary during those last 15 minutes and needless to say when I finally pulled into her driveway I was a total mess.  I called my partner and told him the brakes had failed and we agreed I'd need to do something about it...just as soon as the panic receded a bit.

Obviously I couldn't drive home that night (as intended) with no brakes so I took the car down to a brakes specialist that my sisters partner recommended.  They were pretty nice.  They agreed to look at the car straight away and get back to me.  They looked over my brakes (while I sat at my sisters freaking out) and then called to calmly inform me that it was going to cost $790 (including GST) to fix them because of how much actually needed doing.  Apparently the master cylinder was gone ($300), the brake pads were all down to metal ($218) and the rear handbrake caliper ($200) had been seized up for quite some time but had had a nice metal tube inserted into it somehow to disguise this fact.  

So I rang my ever patient partner and he came up with some money and we got the brakes fixed.  This, however, meant I had to spend the night at my sisters.  With her and my mother.  I love my mother and sister but together they make a very...shall we say 'uncomfortable' experience.  It was hell.  And it only cost us $900 (including the $100 fuel I'd put in the car to get there).  Worst. Night. In.Years.

So...I'm clearly not happy about the whole thing.  The car yard sold me a car with dangerously bad brakes that had been deliberately dodgied up to hide the fact that they were dangerously bad.  They even gave me a pink slip (so I could change ownership with the RTA) for the damn thing...knowing the car wasn't actually road worthy.  They could lose their dealers license for that.  And today, when I call them to let them know just how unhappy I am that my brakes failed on the way to Sydney, and that they STILL haven't fixed the electric windows and the friggin thing now apparently has an oil leak, I'm going to point out that they probably shouldn't have given it an illegal pink slip and if they don't make me suddenly VERY VERY happy I might just decide to make their Christmas as difficult as mine is going to be after having to spend all that money. 

A cowl goes to sea

I know I promised ages ago that I would start putting some patterns up here for people to knit but I have been busy with other things.  But I have finally pulled my thumb out of my butt and written up a pattern that I'm going to give to you.  Absolutely free!  Cue excited squeeing here. 

Sea Foam Mobius (sort of) Cowl

By Evil McWeevil Handicrafts

The yarn..ooOOo

This mobius came about because I was trying to find the perfect pattern for some yarn that I had spun up with lovely ocean colours.  The yarn was a delicious blend of Merino, Angora (rabbit) and tencel that I received from Charly at Ixchelbunny called ‘twinkle bunny’.  Of all her blends, twinkle bunny is easily my favourite and rightly so as it spins and knits up so smooshily soft and luxurious. 

Finished size:  this is pretty flexible as it depends on how big you knit it. I stopped when mine was big enough for a cowl, but you might want to make yours longer.

Yarn:  my yarn is about equal to a commercial 4ply but you could easily use something else

Needle(s): I used a 5mm circ.

Notions: 2 stitch markers (M)

Gauge: I tried to make this fairly loose and lacy but that’s entirely up to you

Notes: The stitch is based on Seafoam pattern by Barbara Walker.

slip 1st stitch of every row purlways with yarn in front.

knit last stitch of every row tbl.

Using provisional cast on method, CO 46sts (or multiple of 10 + 6 for seafoam) + 8 for edging.

Setup row, K4, PM, knit to last 4sts, PM, K4

Before folding

1st row, Sl1, K1, K2tog, YO, SM, begin pattern with K6, *YO, K1, YO twice, K1, YO 3 times,

 K1, YO twice, K1, YO, K6*, repeat between ** to last marker (ending with k6), SM, YO, K2tog, K1, K1tbl.

2nd row, Knit to end, drop all yarnovers as you go except for first and last ones outside the stitch markers, which you should knit.

3rd row, Sl1, K1, K2tog, YO, SM, K to next marker, SM, YO, K2tog, K1, K1tbl.

4th row, knit to end slipping markers where appropriate.

5th row, Sl1, K1, K2tog, YO, SM, K1, *YO, K1, YO twice, K1, YO 3 times,  K1, YO twice, K1, YO, K6*, repeat between ** to next marker (ending with a K1), SM, YO, K2tog, K1, K1tbl.

The finished cowl

6th row, Knit to end, drop all yarn-overs as you go except for first and last ones, which you knit.

7th row, Sl1, K1, K2tog, YO, SM, K to next marker, SM, YO, K2tog, K1, K1tbl.

8th row, knit to end slipping markers where appropriate.

Continue with this pattern till piece is desired length and then, ending with a 7th row, take the bottom corner of your cast on end of the piece and fold it so that the bottom corner is now at the top and graft the two ends together.

Hey presto, you have yourself a mobius like thingo with a cute little eyelet edging. YAY!

© 2010 by Siobhan Colley of Soul Crafting by Shevi.. This pattern is for personal use only: no commercial uses are permitted.

Please do not sell this pattern or any items made as a result of using this pattern. Thank you.

Finally

Back when I first started learning how to knit lace I purchased some GORGEOUS mongolian cashmere yarn from Knitters Addiction.  I bought two 100g balls of laceweight in persian blue.  I bought the yarn knowing I would make lace from it.  And then when I purchased Victorian Lace Today (you can see a great review and some pics from the book here) by Jane Sowerby I found what I thought was the perfect pattern for it.  The Cap Shawl.

I did start the shawl way back when I first bought the book back in August last year, but unfortunately my first attempt ended in disaster.  The second time I started the shawl, it just didnt feel right from the moment I cast on.  The cast on was too loose, the stitches were waaaaaay too big and I decided I'd used a needle that was just too big for my tension so I frogged it again and didnt even lodge it as an event in my mind.  I was, however determined to make this shawl, so, in May this year (a year and a half since I purchased the yarn)  I cast on a third time.  And I actually finished it.  Finally. About a week ago.  YAY!

I attempted blocking it on Saturday but my blocking matts (an area of 192 x 128m) was just no where near big enough to stretch it out fully.  I took a pic anyway, because I knew everyone would want to see it, and because it looked purdy laying there and then just let it dry as it was without pinning it out.  I'll obviously have to purchase some more blocking matts (lots more apparently) so that I can block it properly and get a really good pic of it.  But in the mean time...here she is.

Cap Shawl

Beautiful silks my ass.

175g pure silk singles

A little while ago I purchased some lovely red silk thread (made by a company called 'beautiful silks' apparently) from a destash. The thread was purchased specifically so I could knit it up into my sisters Christmas present. Clearly the silk gods are against me as I have had nothing but trouble with this stuff since I got it.

When it arrived, it was in a large 175g skein of single ply. It was a HUGE amount of thread and, understandably, I was pretty stoked.

Wound onto bobbins
in preparation for knitting

But when I put it on my swift in order to get it ready for spinning, I found that winding it up was going to be impossible. The little bit that I managed to get onto my yarn winder became tangled within seconds. So I decided to wind it onto a couple of bobbins with my spinning wheel. No problem, except that as it was winding onto the bobbins it was slipping around a lot and looking problematic in general. It didnt FEEL like silk, it has a sticky plastic-y quality and it wasnt behaving anything like any silk I've ever used before, but I ended up getting it all onto two fairly full bobbins and there it stayed while I looked for or designed a suitable pattern to knit with it.

After trying to knit it

So not long ago the knitting began, and as the yarn wound off the bobbin, it quickly became so insanely tangled that I had to give up.  I tried for more than an hour just get it moving enough to wind off even a metre, but nooooooo. It was stuck. And it obviously had every intention of staying that way. So in pure frustration, just to get it off the bobbin  (so I could use it to spin something worthwhile) I got out my trusty scissors. Yes thats right...I had to cut the crap off the bobbin.

And now I have this.  

A whole bobbin cut into short lengths.  Into the bin it goes.

I thought I'd be clever and Navjo ply the second half of it so that I could at least salvage something from this adventure, but unfortunately the same thing happened again.  So the whole damn lot has gone in the bin.

Please Mr Paramedic, dont accidentally kill me.

My experience in May this year alerted me to a previously undiagnosed allergy called anaphylaxis that I now have.  My allergy is to one component of the general anaesthetic most hospitals use to induce the state of unconsciousness required for surgery and to the antiseptic solution they swab your skin with when they're about to shove a needle into you.  The allergy I have is  the most dangerous type of anaphylaxis (of course...aren't I lucky?); the type that takes your blood pressure drop somewhere beyond terrifyingly low and has all the hospital staff wetting their panties 'cos they don't want to do the paperwork that confirms that they've accidentally killed you...permanently.  

Finding out about this allergy was a complete surprise to both me and the hospital staff but, luckily, I survived the experience and went on my merry way with the instructions to get myself a medic alert bracelet so I wouldn't have the same reaction again.  

So after my recovery, I ordered a medic alert medallion as instructed and I have been intending to build it into some kind of bracelet ever since I ordered it.  The beads for it that I ordered a little while ago arrived this morning and so this afternoon I finally got it built.  Here 'tis...my potentially life saving piece of beady goodness.

You too can have one of these fake pandora style, el cheapo looking, life saving, bead bracelets for only $60 (which is what it cost me to make the darn thing) :oS

I thought I should add that this bracelet only cost me so much because the medic alert medallion was over $35 plus postage, add to that $20 worth of beads and charms, plus postage and then the leather cord and little silver clamps and you can now understand why it cost me so much

I'm looking into making some pandora style bracelets with the metal snake chain style bracelet, which I'm sure will cost less to make than this monstrosity did.  If anyone is interested let me know and I'll make my research a bit more serious.

When the packaging department doesnt really think things through

Apparently

Ok, maybe its NOT that funny but clearly I was in a juvenile sort of mood when I took this :oP

Evolution of the (blog's) soul

I have been thinking lately about how I blog and the effects that has had on my audience, or lack there of. Generally I've stuck to just updating on what crafty things I've been playing with. Also up till now I've kept things pretty impersonal, and that, to be honest is due to my love of my privacy with a teensy bit of internet paranoia thrown in for extra flavour and this has left my blog with no soul. Lets be honest, its been pretty lifeless lately. And I'm not happy about this.

So the time has come to pique my readers interest. I want my blog to have a bit more of a crunchy granola experience for my readers as opposed to the bland vanilla yoghurt you're getting now. Consequently, I've decided that I'm going to expand my blogging somewhat, extrapolate on the mundane quality of my life if you will.

I'm not 100% sure how this is going to happen, and of course I still intend to guard my privacy, but I think I can stand to show people a little more of who I am, and how my life is evolving...or devolving, depending on how you hold your head. I'm planning to just play it by ear for the most part and see how it develops naturally.

So what has been happening since my last post?

Just over a week ago I moved out of my large comfortable and mostly inexpensive apartment. I didn't actually WANT to move out of my apartment, where I'd been comfortable for over three years. I just couldn't stand living next door to the petulant, immature, insane cow living in the apartment next door any longer.

I know that sounds a bit harsh and judgemental but we're talking about the kind of person who, when told by their brother to turn their stereo down at midnight, during the week, cries and pouts and screams 'this is bullshit', then stomps around slamming doors loudly like a teenager (she's 32 by the way) having a tanty because they got grounded, then two weeks later when my friends two year old daughter has the audacity to squeal in my living room during the day (as two year old girl children are wont to do), turns their stereo up so loud (doesn't take a genius to figure out that it was some supposed to make some kind of point) that the air starts buzzing and my friends promptly leave (and never came back incidentally).

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no killjoy, I like my music loud too when it's appropriate, and I never once asked her to turn it off, just down. I only asked twice and I stopped asking after the second stream of verbal abuse. Also, I'm not against the idea of having a quiet gathering with friends to just kick back and have some fun, but when its 4:30 in the morning and you and your friends are yelling at the top of your lungs and there is domestic violence afoot that can be clearly heard in the apartment next door I'd say that's a clear indication that things have gotten a wee bit out of hand. Anyone with half a brain knows that when you're living in a place that clearly has paper thin walls you behave like an adult and have some consideration for your neighbours. Am I right?

So anyhoo, now all my furniture is in storage and I'm 'doing it rough' as my partner likes to call it. We're sleeping on a mattress on the floor of his, admittedly very large, office for the short term with plans to turn it into a bedsit. This shouldn't be an issue as he has his own business and no one else uses the building. I have a roof over my head, a kitchenette, a toilet, somewhere to shower and somewhere to store my spinning wheel and fibre stash so I'm content for the time being. My partner and I are seeing it as a great opportunity to save money for a deposit on our own house. The best thing is, I'm no longer so stressed out from living at crazy bitch central that I cant sleep.

Merino/Soy - Nplied yarn
Pretty Bird - 340m

Speaking of my spinning wheel and fibre stash, I have actually had some time to do some spinning since I moved and I've managed to make some incredibly brightly coloured yarn. I'm not sure I love it as its just a wee bit too multi coloured for my liking, but who knows, the colours might pool nicely when its knitted up.

The navajo plying turned out
quite well if I do say so myself :oP

I have been working on my cap shawl a wee bit, and I think I have maybe two or three repeats left to go on the border before its actually finished.  I'm going to do some work on that this afternoon but its probably going to have to wait to be blocked because I want to get some blocking wires before I even attempt that part of the process.  Having said that, I cant wait to get it finished finally.  Its only been over a year since my first attempt at the darn thing (this being my third attempt) and I started this one in May 2010 so its still taken me a while to knit it.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it once it is finished though, as I just don't go anywhere that would be appropriate for wearing it.  I guess I'll just put it in my wardrobe and let it sit there till I figure out what to do with it.

Well thats it for today's post.  I hope some of you at least will find my new posting style more entertaining, if nothing else.  Feedback is always welcome so please fee free to leave comments or suggestions for making the site more interesting (so long as its not pornographic :oP).

Catch you all on the flip side.

1000 metres and counting...

As some of you may already know, I began spinning in early November last year.  The 11th to be exact, so I will be celebrating my one year anniversary as a spinner in five short days.  

What most of you DONT know however, is that I originally learned to spin so I could spin my own lace weight yarn...you know, to furnish my then new addiction: knitted lace. 

It has since been my goal to spin 1000m of yarn from 100g of fibre.  Today I finished skeining my first genuine attempt at achieving my goal and guess what? Here she is;  1060.5m of 2ply lace weight (merino/tussah) yarn weighing 105g.  

Merino/Tussah Silk (80/20 blend) from EGMTK (Blue Haze)

Shiny! Smooshy! So much yarn...YAY!

An Aussie 5c coin for perspective (around the same size as a US penny)

What an AWESOME way to celebrate one year of spinning!

But I've been busy...honest!

Warning: image heavy post

Warning: some images may offend sensitive viewers.

Once again, I've been slack.   I have been very busy though so I have a legitimate excuse this time....watch, I'll show you...now, lets see...where to begin...

I signed up for a few swaps on Ravelry in the past month or so.  The first one was the 'I cant do that' swap.  The idea of the swap was that you got to ask your swap partner for something you don't have either the skill or time/space to do yourself.  I don't have a sewing machine and I don't quilt so my request was for a quilted item.  My swap partner sent me a gorgeous quilted bag including a needle holder, an abacus style row counter and a thimble pip (which currently houses my teensy tallywhacker stitch markers...more on them later).  My swap partner requested a braid of hand dyed fibre so in return for the bag I sent her a big (120g) braid of fibre (that I had  hand dyed) but I sneakily included a little (25g) baggie of white pure angora rabbit top, six hand made silk flowers and some hand made stitch markers.  This was my first swap so I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

I've been busily making a mass of fimo things, mostly stitch markers of one type or another. and for some reason I've had this thing with miniatures...miniature food, miniature penises...that kind of stuff.  I've already sold three sets of the teensy tallywhackers...who'd have thunk that there were other knitters out there with a naughty sense of humour? ;o)

Minature Hot dog stitch markers

Miniature cake slice stitch markers

Teensy Tallywhackers en masse

I've also recently been stash diving...into other peoples destashes that is.  I picked up a couple of gorgeous  skeins of Italian lace weight yarn (which I'm ITCHING to start knitting up) for a very reasonable price.  They're 100g per skein but have 1400m in each...that's a whole lotta lace I see in my future.  I also scored a 100g skein of pure silk yarn in the most gorgeous magenta shade which, when I first received it, I thought was only 1ply because it is so fine.  But its definitely 2ply and I'm sure is begging me to become a pretty shawl or something else delicate and wearable. I also got my mitts on a big 200g cone of Bendigo Woolen Mills 2ply wool in a dark blue to go with the three others of the same colour in my stash.  I have 4 cones in this colour now, that's 4720mtrs and I have NO idea what I'm going to do with it, but on the up side, my best friend has a knitting machine that should make short work of it.

Filatura Di Crosa extra fine merino yarn
x 2 @ 1400m each (phew!)

1084m of pure mulberry silk lace weight

1180mtrs of commercial 2ply wool

I decided to buy myself some knit picks (knit pro in AU) symphonie interchangeable needles to see what all the fuss was about and I  have to say I'm very glad that I did.

Yay! Knit Pro interchangeables.

I snaffled some yummy fibres from the lovely Mandie over at Ewe Give Me The Knits...she's such an evil fibrey temptress that Mandie, you really have to watch out for her ;o)

 

 

Since I was snaffling EGMTK fibre I thought it only fair to share the love with my favourite bunneh lady so I grabbed two 100g braids of my favourite blend; twinkle bunny which is Merino Angora & Tencel (70/10/20%).  If I can spin it fine enough, it'll definitely be enough to make something purdy.  This blend is SUPER soft and so lush, its almost a crime to spin it up.

Ixchelbunny twinklebunny fibre in 'dollhouse'

I managed to get involved in (read: over commit myself to) three more swaps on Ravelry.  One of which is a crochet lace bag for a lady who is making me a needle bag in exchange. One of the other two swaps was an ABC swap where I had to find 5 items, one for each of the letters V W X Y Z to send to a swap partner in secret.  I cant post a pic of that because, although I sent her parcel on Monday and its actually scheduled for delivery today, she hasn't actually received it yet. and it was supposed to be a surprise.  The other swap item is a lovely lace shrug I'm knitting, but I've only just cast on so there's no pic yet.  Here is the only pic I can show you so far...the crochet bag.

 

So far so good

I've been spinning rather madly to get finished on some spinning projects that I've had in various stages of completion for months now.  So far, I finished spinning up a massive batch of merino/silk/angelina that I'd specially blended up to make myself something sparkly for evening wear.  I have 2 huge 140g skeins of the stuff now.  Don't ask me the meterage because I haven't actually counted it out yet but because its 25WPI I think it should be somewhere around 1400mtrs.  Also, I'm still in the middle of a lace spin which might actually come close to reaching my ultimate goal (1000mtrs from 100g).  Its slow going though, but I've been assured this is normal for true lace weight hand spun yarn.  The last spin project I have going is 100g of pure merino which I hand dyed using food colouring.  It's looking to be about sock weight and I'm hoping to finish it tonight.

Purdy sparkly yarn...I'm calling it Nebula

Half my lace spin.

50g of pure merino, hand dyed by moi.

I joined an Ixchelbunny fibre club once again and have received my first installment.  A lovely braid of BFL/Bunny called Early Bird.  I also was lucky enough to win a competition that Charly was running in September and received the gorgeous skein of yarn below as my prize.  Its 100g of hand dyed yak/bunny/merino sock weight yarn, it is smooshily soft and, of course, in my favourite colours.  Charly knows me so well :oD  I was TOTALLY surprised to win her comp but also totally squeee'd for about half an hour after I found out.  Who me? Excitable? Hell yeh!

 

Early Bird Ixchelbunny fibre club #7.1

500m of hand dyed Yak/Bunny/Merino

And finally...last night I finished the shrug I've been building for my friend Misha.  Its made from 100% hand spun yarn (all by me) most of which is from Ixchelbunny club fibre with about 5% EGMTK fibre thrown in for good measure.  It's turned out really bright and super soft.  I think it will keep my friend very warm next winter.  The good news is, her birthday is coming up and even though she knows she is getting this, it will make a nice addition to her other birthday pressie ;o)

The hand spun rainbow shrug
for my good friend Misha

See? I have a great excuse for not keeping my blog posts as regular as I should...I've been SUPER busy.  At least, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. :oP

Another total revamp...and some buttons :oD

I've decided to take ALL my selling items back to Oztion as its hard to track interest on here and on Oztion I can see how many people are clicking on my listings.  I find it useful to keep an eye on this kind of thing.  So as I update (or upload listings) I'll place links on this page so that interested parties can take a look

Onto the buttons...

About 18mths ago I bought some polymer clay and made some rather chunky funky buttons.  I was going to sell them but kind of didnt get around to it.  Yesterday I was digging through my stash of creative junk (as you do when you're a crafter) and came across my polymer clay supplies.  Now I know there are a few lovelies out there who are also making buttons but I dont want any of you to stress too much as I can guarantee mine will be quite different from yours.  See?  Plenty of room in the market place for more button makers. ;o)

Here's what I've been making...

Funky Zebra patterned buttons.  Two sizes even!  Check 'em out...be quick, the clicking has commenced.

Multi coloured buttons made with fimo canes.  I have a couple of sets of these available.

My personal faves!  Glow in the dark skull buttons.  WOOT!

These ones is purdy!  Well I think so...lol. Only one set of these babies.  Be quick if you dont want to miss out.

Some funky abstract patterns made using canes again.  Two sets of 5 buttons available.

You can find all these and more here.

Yes, you have to join Oztion to buy, but dont stress because membership is free.  Only sellers pay fees. Join up by clicking the button below.

My new fascination

I have an assignment for TAFE that is generally expected to take the rest of the term.  Short version: I have to design and make a product (or two) which will be sold at an end of year market called Art Bazzar.  

I have a few ideas going on but only one that I've actually even started my prototype for.  Now there are a lot of these funky lil fellas around the place, but none of them were made using my very own special template that I designed just a day or so ago (and am still refining).  And none of them were made by ME.  Anyhoo, here is my prototype.  Its not quite finished; it needs a lot more embellishment but I think its coming along quite nicely, even if I do say so myself ;o)

Obviously its a miniature top hat, which I intend to attach to a hairband, comb or elastic in order for it to be worn as a fascinator for fancy dress applications. The hat measures about 3 and a half inches from crown to brim and the brim is 5 and a half inches wide. 

I've already adapted my template somewhat and have made a second one, which hasn't been embellished at all yet.

Ain't they cute? ;o)

Quick update

I've just started the border on my cap shawl. Here she is all laid out on my queen size bed just before I started the border (just so you feel like you got to actually see something happening :oP).

I'm knitting a shrug from handspun for a friend.  Here is a pic :oD

 

The silk bug bites again

I felt like spinning something different tonight when I got home so I pulled out my fibre stash crate and went diving. I came across a huge 150g braid of pure mulberry silk that I purchased a few months ago and dyed gunmetal grey. I plan to spin it up fairly fine and ply it with an equally fine strand of pure midnight black merino that I purchased for this exact spinning project...I just hadnt gotten around to starting it yet ;o)

huge braid of pure silk fibre


a bowl of pre drafted silk ready for spinning


the spun single

I've just started spinning this gorgeous fibre...and I'm already hooked. Again. You gotta love silk.

Ch ch ch changes

I havent posted in quite some time...sorry about that :oP

I spent the last few weeks getting all my TAFE assignments finished and handed in as the first semester has just ended. It was a bit of a struggle to get it all done as I was rather seriously behind in some of my work due to my unfortunate experience in the hospital and having to take time off from TAFE to recover a bit. But I pulled a couple of all nighters (as you do) and surprised myself (and several of my teachers, I'm sure) by getting everything done. I tell you, if it weren't for the last minute nothing would get done around here ;o)

A lot of things have been going on since I finished my first semester. I'll try to remember all the items on my list that I need to put on here but if I forget something I'll get back to you.

First thing on the agenda; I've just redesigned the blog to give it a cleaner, easier to read appearance. What do you think of my new do peoples?

I had my birthday in June. I'm finally norty forty and you have NO idea just how norty (although, not really as its just too darn cold for that kind of thing, but I DO like to think about it...a lot ;oP). Everyone keeps telling me that life begins at forty...in my case that's closer to the truth than many people realise since my brush with the infinite dark was only about a month and a half ago (read the month of May if you're not sure what I mean).

Since forty is supposedly such a milestone for women in today's society I thought it only proper that I head out and buy myself a cheap, plastic, fur trimmed tiara to wear out for my birthday celebrations. What more could a classy, mature woman (*laughs hysterically) want than a physical license to behave like a spoiled five year old on her birthday? I had a fabulous time out drinking with friends but sadly forgot to take the tiara with me so didn't get a chance to take a pic of myself wearing it, but here is a pic of it being worn by my desk lamp instead.

I received much love, cash and pressies for my birthday this year so I'm calling it a huge success all in all. My actual birthday was on a Tuesday in the final week of TAFE so I had to be in class, but my awesome classmates Joel and Stephanie went out and purchased a cake and a birthday ribbon/badge for me which was totally sweet and unexpected. The fact that these friends are 20 years my junior tells a story though, don't you think? ;o)

The week before my birthday was the June long weekend for the Queens birthday or some such nonsense and I was lucky enough to have my sister come up from Sydney to visit me for the weekend. We sat up late at night drinking and chatting and generally catching up. We went out for lunch a couple of times and I made the most drool inspiring roast turkey with crispy roast potatoes and cauliflower for dinner on the Saturday night. I invited my uber cool neighbour Terese over to join us and she kindly supplied desert...apple pie with cream...yum!

All in all the weekend was heaps of fun and I really enjoyed reconnecting with my sissy poo. She gave me a gorgeous, hand made lead light lamp shade for my birthday (along with some cash from her and my mum *squeee). My partner thoughtfully bought a lamp base to match so I could use it (also for my birthday). It now sits proudly on my corner table and looks just beautiful when lit.

While she was here we also hit a couple of op shops to see if I could pick up some warmer clothes for winter. I didn't find any clothes but I did stumble across some other stuff that I HAD to have. Many of you will know by now that I started collecting antique(ish) tea cups at the beginning of the year. I came across not one but TWO sets for only $10 each at a shop just around the corner from my house, one of which was a Queen Anne set that I have priced online for around $145 (SCORE!). We also discovered another beautiful Queen Anne set at another shop and my sister splurged and bought me a small Royal Adderley plate to go with my collection. I'm stoked that my collection is growing and now I just need to find a cute little glass front china cabinet so I can display them...plus some space in which to put said cabinet :oS

Queen Anne tea set


Regency (British Anchor) tea set


Queen Anne (Rose Garden) tea set


Royal Adderley plate


Starting to look like a real collection now

Since my sisters visit I've been knitting my first pair of gloves (for my sister funnily enough) here is a pic...not far to go and they'll be finished. I thought they'd be difficult but in actual fact they've turned out to be quite easy. I'm enjoying knitting them so much that I've planned another pair for myself.

Ive also been doing a bit of spinning lately, but I'll leave some of those pics for my next post (the rest are on the handspun for sale tab). Hope you're all keeping warm for the winter :oD