Last Post for a while

To my great disappointment, I can't get my camera to transfer pics to the computer. I had some pics of the grey/blue sock wool I had dyed and the finished jewel-coloured socks and matching beanie to take to England for my niece.
I shall take the camera with me anyway and hope to resolve the problem on my return. It's an old kodak with kodak-easy-share software and has worked like a breeze right up until today. Perhaps it has just got too old! Shame because I had it down pat and I'm not good with new technology.
I'm all packed and shall be off to the airport in the morning and be with Mum in England on Sunday. She lives in the northeast and a quick check on the internet predicts 10 degrees for my arrival.
Cheers to all, I'll be back in just under three weeks
Gillian

I have spent a few hours preparing some more self-striping yarn to take away with me. I used the same colours as the "jewel" socks, but this is 8 ply and I didn't scour it first so it did not absorb the dye so well and is more pale and opalescent. I made two 180m balls so that I can make a pair of socks and maybe a beanie or something else with the left overs.

I wound the long skeins on door handles and then when finished with the dyeing and drying, wound them on to the niddy-noddy and then put them on the swift to go from there onto the ball winder.
I have done some more, using the bulk grey 5 ply I bought off ebay and dyed it with varying dark, medium and light blue. I did two hanks at once and will have plenty for two matching socks. At the moment it is drying on the "rapid dri" over one of the warm air vents.



It did occur to me that I could get away with using a Knitting Nancy while I'm on the plane. I got it out last night and did a quick reminder of how it worked. Fine! But if I can knitting nancy/ french knit/ I-cord at 30 cm per 15 minutes, how much will I do in 25 hours each way?
But Yes! Dear Reader, will someone yank it from my clutches and use it to throttle an unsuspecting person?
If they don't, what on earth do I do with 40 metres of I-cord (counting return journey too, and allowing for eating and toilet queues)?
It will keep my fingers from twitching during the journeys and I eagerly await your suggestions. I can't think of anything else to do and news is that even Domestic/Inter-State flights in Oz are still knitting no-noes.


This last picture is from Mason-Dixon Knitting page 51. I love this book because it breaks rules. I read somewhere, only last year that there was no real rule about knots in the middle of rows. It was just a fussiness. Sometimes you feel like being fussy and other times you dont. This picture shows satin bra straps holding up some finely knitted linen and I think they look lovely but I wouldn't wear them myself because I should not frighten the world by being that exposed, but others would look stunning in them.
Cheers Gillian

Just a Little Show-off!

It has been a lovely day. I had to move my stash to have the room re-carpetted and it has been living in a giant garbage bag for a while now. As you can see I have a wonderful old set of pigeon-holes that they gave me at school when I left. The stash was in yarn types but I put it back in colour groupings. I had to force myself not to do it in rainbow or Derwent Pencil order! Obsessive is my middle name.


I also got two lots of the "Simply Knitting" magazine from England, two days running in the mail. These will take some absorbing. So many little details.


Then Mason Dixon Knitting came in the mail from Amazon, and it's just wonderful. I would take it with me to read on the plane but it's a very heavy hardback.



And I got Lavish Lace a while back and have been sorting through the patterns to decide what to do with my hand-dyed yarn.
It has charts, which I haven't used before so I need to start with an easy one.








So much to do and so little time and then...no knitting on the plane for 25 hours! I find it understandable as a safety issue. I'm not going to use my needles or scissors as weapons but someone else might grab them off me. But I still get withdrawal symptoms as I wriggle down into my seat for the journey. Not a comfortable ride when your are six foot tall!
Cheers Gillian

Lovely Day Out

This first picture is a rather lovely shot of the back garden with the young Crepe Myrtle changing colour with the autumn and the DIY garden Arbour and absolutey nothing to do with KNITTING...but it will happen!
It was my birthday today so we went to Werribee Open Zoo and went for a Tour in the Safari bus and saw...

Cheetahs. They are behind glass and do quite a bit of pacing, but they are very important because they are part of a shrinking gene pool. This one walked back and forth while we were there. That always worries me as a sign of STRESS in Zoo animals.

We took a short walk before the Safari Bus ride and woke up this little red-necked wallaby. About up to my knee tops but I am tall.

The Rhinos were asleep.

I got a wok for my birthday. I have never had a proper wok before and when we got back this afternoon, I cleansed it and had the first go at seasoning it. I have also got Kylie Kwong off the shelf so this weekend will be "Stir-Fry" with sichuan salt and pepper. Anything will get tossed in! OKAY so no knitting!. I took a sock with me to the Zoo and didn't need to. The red pair is finished and the second stripey is on the way. I'm hoping to make some self-striping yarn to take with me when I go to visit Mum next weekend. I know I can't knit on the plane but.....

Got lots of lovely books to talk about tomorrow

Cheers Gillian

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Heide and I must do it cos she sent me the simple way to do the links like I have just done to her name. (highlight the word then press ctrl,shift,A. If you are lucky a box will appear for you to type the url into, then enter)

It's strange that having a "blog" is such a public thing to do and yet answering a "meme tag" is so difficult and in some ways so exposing but here goes and if you start to read it you had better keep going till the end in case you are one of the seven to be chosen by me.

Each of these is a list of seven but not necessarily in order and I shall try not to prolong things with too much explanation. (Can't help it! Was a teacher for too long)

SEVEN THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE
* Do something really good to someone who doesn't know I did it
* Journey to the South Seas
* Get a black toy or miniature poodle
* Get some pekin bantams
* Have a positive impact on the place where I live
* Lose those 5 kilos that make me feel and look lumpy
* Have my 15 minutes of fame for a good reason

SEVEN THINGS I CANNOT DO
* Push-ups
* Jump
* Pretend. My face lets me down
* Play the piano. Did violin for ten years but never even got to Grade One
* Sing. I lost my singing voice with the chemo 3 years ago. I have sung at The Royal Albert Hall in London with choirs, four times, but now I can only sing in the car when travelling on my own.
* Make edible bread, unless I use the wonderful No Knead stuff.
* Speak any language other than English

SEVEN THINGS THAT ATTRACT ME TO MY PARTNER
* Physical stuff like...Height, almost as tall as me and I'm 6 feet
...Voice, has a lovely, deep, resonant voice
...Strength and Stamina
* Mental stuff like...Does anything I ask
...Eats anything I cook
...Says I always look great
...Lets me buy anything I want

SEVEN BOOKS WHICH HAVE HAD AN IMPACT ON ME
* The earliest was "Pookie the Rabbit with Wings". I was shattered when I went to school and was laughed at for thinking all rabbits had wings like Pookie
* Winnie the Pooh and * The House at Pooh Corner because my Father read them to us so well
* The Map that came to Life. I have loved maps ever since
* The Hobbit
* Catherine Cookson novels. So close to so much that I hold dear
* The Famous Five stories by Enid Blyton. It was a fantasy of mine to be a tomboy who had adventures.

SEVEN THINGS I SAY
* Well I Never!
* Phooey!
* Shall I get tea now?
* I'll be back in an hour or so
* Really?
* Hello Kitty
* Time for a drink!

SEVEN MOVIES I'VE LOVED
* Carousel. The first movie I ever saw
* Hitchcock stuff especially...The Birds
The Thirty Nine Steps
The Lady Vanishes
* Prizzi's Honour
* Brassed Off
* Billy Elliott

So I shall tag Beverley, Taphophile, Sue, Lori,