Yarnivorous

G'day all! Feeling hot today. Usually I love hot weather. But today I feel waaaay too hot. I guess I've gotten used to 21 degree temps already and anything over 30 is TOO hot! No new pics today, even though they are sitting on the camera, mainly cos I am TOO HOT to be bothered downloading them and chopping em down to size. But I have eventually decided to put some pics up, cos I can't link to the pics that I never put up earlier in my blogging! Hmm, what news? Well we still don't have a name for TEO Tarpaw Russett Luoco Altissipuss. She had her first trip outside today and has sat at the door for half the afternoon. We are half convinced that she is either part Abyssinian or Ocicat cos she is without a doubht *the* most friendly cat we have ever met. She likes to sleep next to us, keeping one paw stretched out if she is not actually lying against us, she positively throws herself at you for a pat.... I had a day off today, very nice but did almost nothing with i...

G'day all! At last, pictures of the blue cardi, completed. Except I am not happy with the neck. But here they are, little versions only. No click and look at the bigger versions on these! Do you like the moire effect? That is what happens when you take pics in the shadow of shadecloth. The cardi is a bit bigger than I expected, but maybe that is because I forgot whether I was making the medium or large halfway through.... the large is only a 38" bust and I don't call that large! And the baby hat after washing and ends being darned in (yes in that order - I got a bit over excited) Then I have been working a bit on this - the baby singlet. It is very rolly-up around the edges at present - I'll have to block at least the bottom hem like billy-o! A half done cloche made out of some yarn I spun up on the weekend: Hmm, that looks like an impressive list of things in progress or completed! But the hat was done a week ago, I was just a slack-butt showing it off in its ...

G'day all! Still obsessed with the cats. Here's some pics, not very flattering of TEO (the evil one) Tarpaw - still don't have a good name for her. Chester is becoming Cheshire cos she smiles a lot. Cheshire: TEO: In amazing news, I finally sewed the buttons on the blue cardi this evening. I had to buy two more buttons. I put the buttons on then tried the top on and it had grown about 4 inches all round. Amazing. No I haven't lost weight but it isn't a snug fit in my understanding of snug. But the buttonholes still gape. DANG! Ah well, it looks fine if I don't button it up. Huzzah! anon!

G'day all! I am a bad blogger, again. I have been a bit busy and am currently under assault by two cats that jealously want me to themselves. We have a rental inspection tomorrow - lord knows what they will think of the half sanded floors....and our wails about the mice and rats.... and the two new cats that don't get along so far.... If you are bored by cat stuff, jump a couple of paragraphs. Otherwise read on! Yesterday we went to the animal refuge in Keysborough. We spent an hour and a half dishing out pussy love to a range of felines. I thought I'd get upset there but I found it quite a good experience. It was nice patting all these cats and getting totally covered in cat hair and all itchy and hayfeverish. I do hope someone takes home the lovely shy black cat who hid behind the kennel for a while then crept out and said hello to me and just wanted to be patted over and over - an older couple would be good for him. Or Molly, a bee-yoo-tiful white cat but we cou...

G'day all! I was tagged for a meme about ooh three weeks ago by Kellee . I am very slow at memes. If memes relied on me to propogate them, they would not be memes. Story of my life - I am not on top of the fashionista lists! 1) Total amount of music files on your computer. Umm, err, none that I know of. But we are networked up and Nathan has gigabytes of songs that I can access if I can remember what the program's name is. 2) The last CD you bought was: (LOL) a relaxation CD of something like Crystal Brook or Camping by a Creek or something silly like that. It was a Christmas present for a friend to push my obsession with pushing Australian stuff on overseas friends. Before that the soundtracks to Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. 3) What is the song you last listened to before reading this message? Do you count what the tradie was playing when I walked past? I can't remember its name. In my car - "Jessie's Girl" on the radio. Where can I f...

G'day all! Well I would love to say it has been very eventful here at Weedhaven, but it ain't. Be warned, this post might make you a bit queasy, for one reason or another. Here are some of the goodies I picked up on the weekend: I showed off my spinning, yes that bright yarn that I am still carrying around with me a week later, to the girl at AK traditions. She was so delighted with my spinning that she gave me a knitting bag: to put the roving into: And here is the fleece and tops I dyed: These are in very bright, springlike colours cos they are going to someone who has the grey winter blahs. I would say obviously she is not in Melbourne cos it is summer here, but after the weather from the last two weeks.... The puffs are alpaca, the tops are merino and 15% silk. Then I have finally finished these: HOORAY! I don't think the alpaca fleece is as good as sheep fleece for thrumming cos it is a bit short and fuzzy and has no memory, so it rebounds out of the tight twist I p...

G'day all! Ages ago I fondled a copy of Knitting on the Edge . Oh how I lusted after it but $50, as it is here in Oz, seemed a bit steep. Well 6-9 months later I found another copy of it. I looked, I put it back on the shelf and it just leapt back into my hand. OK, so I now am a little poorer but I have sooo many edge treatments for the simple little tops that I want to make. My workmates will be JEALOUS I tell you instead of seeing another daggy Lynne top. Bwahahahahahahaha! I have my first spinning overuse injury. My wheel has only a single treadle. I have one teensy little sore tendon running up the bottom third of my tibia (shin bone). When i rub it and it goes twang! the pain goes away. I shall have to swap legs more often, but it really is set up for right footed treadling. Ah well, if I managed to save a bit I might still get a Kiwi cos it is easy to cart around. BTW, here is the wheel in question. Note the yellow electrical wire and genuine Ashford...

Mais non! Hmm, that is about as far as my fourth form French gets me. It is over 20 years since I studied French. I did Latin at HSC level (I think that equates to senior high graduation??) cos I did not have to speak it. I seamed up that blue cardi a week ago. I bought buttons for it 5 or 6 days ago. So why is it still languishing without buttons? Because of this: This is what happens when you move your bed from the loungeroom back to the bedroom, leaving behind the random piles of clothes, knitting stuff and books. Note the spinning wheel. Plus you get to see this in the bedroom: A bed! In a bedroom! All is well! Then there is this: When I saw it I had to have it. 50g of merino. I had been eyeing off a couple of other colours but this was the only one of this colour mix and the salesperson picked it out and gave it to me. I pretty much clutched it to my chest and dropped the other rounds like they were hot spuds. Seen from a diffe...

G'day all! Well what an interesting week it has been in Melbourne and here at Weedhaven. Yes, in our trip to our favourite timber place today we passed by a bush block that Nathan called weedhaven cos they had some of the bestest and biggest weeds we e'er did see. Considering our never ending battle with weeds inthe garden, I figure Weedhaven is a great name. Monday - I was crook. I would love to show you the blue cardi in its finished form, but I can't. a) the computer ate my pictures and b) it isn't finished. But I did the button bands TWICE (do you really need to know why I'd need to do them twice??) and all the seams are done and the ends woven in. HOORAY! What I can show you is this: This is about 80m of luscious merino/alpaca/silk mix spun up on my new/old wheel. I think I've managed to work it out a bit and once I had some advice about brake bands/scotch tension (along with about 2 hours of Googling) I had it done. Another HO...

G'day all! Well I was going to post many things on the blog tonight but as is often the case, time has defeated me. Plus I am sure I took a number of pics the other day when the batteries were recharged but I must've dreamt it. Can't find them anywhere. I'll have to do them again when the weather cooperates. I have the spinning wheel working to one degree or another. I've oiled its little moving parts, though I can't find the vaseline for the spindle, so it has to run on oil too. I've read that the wheel should spin X number of times before it stops, without the drive on. This one spins about 25 times - a bit less than expected - and when treadled feels pretty easy to me at least. I saw one Ashford Traveller like mine at the handweaver and spinners' guild yesterday. I bought some more bobbins and rovings. Anyway, the upshot is that I have managed to spin some yarn up and ply it as well, even though i only had two bobbins then. Typical...