Yarnivorous

G'day all! Am in an odd mood today. Lots of musings. Like realising that I replace human company with Stuff. I have lots of Stuff. I buy Stuff in place of having friends. I am not good at the friend thing it seems. Moving country and not having a job doens't help. I don't need so much stash or either yarn or fabric, not stuff that I don't have plans for. I have much more need to have contact with people than I have for Even More Stuff. I lurk around my email and Ravelry like a love-struck teenager waiting for a phone call, hoping someone will want to talk to me. Yesterday I bought more Stuff (yes I know I know - what did I just say?). It is Great Stuff. Really good quality yarn at the op shop. Don't be surprised if you end up getting some of it if you are on my PIF list. Yes, I am cheap but I am supposed to be saving for our big trip in less than three months! I would show what I got but umm well someone gave someone else the camera and someone else lef...

G'day all! Good news! I only have a severe sprain, not a broken ankle! Yay me! There might be a teensy chip off the bottom of the fibula but it only shows on one angle out of three and might just be me. So now I have a stiffer ankle brace and have been told I can do stuff within my tolerance and do these exercises and start these in a week or so and then come back for some physio. And I like the dr I saw and the staff are not rude so I think we have a new dr. He is a DO (Dr of Osteopathy) but does family practice too. I am glad to say that unlike this poor egg, it seems that my ankle has not taken one for the team. (Egg broken when I dropped the handle of my two wheeled cart - I had visions of the whole carton being smashed. You cannot believe how handy I think it is to have a pic of one smashed egg in an otherwise ok carton. Thanks, I am odd. Runs in the family.) On to the stuff you want to see! New stash! Alas the pics are in dappled sun because that is what I get here...

G'day all! Thus begins my 732nd day of captivity in the USA. Yes, that is right. Two years and a day ago, we landed in LAX and flew across to Denver to be driven up to Fort Collins. Yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of moving to the US. Yesterday. Ooops! I meant to do a big post but ahem, well I forgot! So, how has it been living in the US? Well, we've learned a lot about how different places do things differently. I think we've become more resolutely Australian. We are still learning cultural stuff. I think we can say we've got a network of friends, even a couple that we can rely on! We've been amazed at how such a rich country can't keeps its roads mended (we've driven on some totally shocking roads - interstate highways no less! - and know why Americans have to buy new cars regularly - the old ones get shaken to bits). We've been amazed at the sheer quantity of resources here, how blessed America is with natural resources, and how (quite frankl...

G'day all! Last time's wotisit was pretty tricksy! It looks like flames but is actually a cultivar of an Australian native, a strawflower ( Xerochrysum bracteatum ). They are readily available in Australia and at least Colorado, Oregon and California in the States. They are daisies and have flowers that are stiff and dry readily, hence the name common name strawflower. This week's wotisit is: What? There's a hint here , if you need a little guessing help! Pop me an email with your guess by next Monday - natiel311 at gmaildotcom. I am editing pics like mad at the moment. Expect a thousand fairly pointless blog posts. I am bored witless - I can't go out much cos of this stupid ankle, I can't ride my bike either, the chiro is a bit concerned about not being able to unlock my heel.... ice, rest and boredom! Even if a local said they would visit, I wouldn't let them in the place cos between my projects and Nathan's, there is nowhere tidy, getting to th...

G'day all! A real quickie in between playing with fleece and getting pics of the weekend's purchases together. Three people commented on my pass it on or pay it forward post. Two are already on my list to get stuff, plus a third who didn't comment. The third ( Leonie ) has a blog, so she is good to go! I said I would do this for five but I only have four people. Is there noone else in the world who would like something made by me or a RAOK in the next six months? You must have a current and active blog so I can figure out what sort of things you like. I don't want to send you a hand-sewn bag with a brown lizard print if you hate brown and are terrified of lizards. Hopefully I am off to the chiro AGAIN today. I swear that our insurance is funding her child's college education (the kid is only three months old mind). Gotta get this ankle sorted. She does a much better job than any doctor I've been to - they say RICE and take anti-inflammatories and sometime...

G'day all! I guess this starts the trip report for Black Sheep Gathering. Odd that it should start at the end... So on Sunday afternoon, when I had Well and Truly Had Enough, I sat down to watch the last fibre demo for the day. A lady called Janis Thompson from Dyelots showed how she blends carded batts. Oh boy. For some reason this really tickled me pink! I won't say how she does what she does cos that is part of her class stuff but I was so enthused! Why don't I have a drum carder and lots of luscious fleece and stuff to put through it! Oh wait, I do! But the drum carder is in Oz and the fleece and stuff is split between the two. I really don't want to buy another drum carder here, especially cos I am looking at $400 and up (getting a good second hand carder is next to impossible these days cos so many people are into spinning now). That is a lot of money. So anyway, she manouevers the batts in such a way as to make a long snake. The snake gets longer and lon...

Coming home from a weekend away and finding: and (a new shelf for the cheap bookcase. Why no it doesn't match but I don't exactly care. I expect the pine shelf will last somewhat longer than the rest of the bookshelf.) (We are ignoring the tools all over the floor and the stuff I have already fallen over twice) Plus a hubby at the train station (slightly late but I was exactly on time! Way to go Amtrak!) Wuv, twue wuv! A dweam wivvin a dweam...

In breaking news, if you remember this young chap.... (Apparently he's even more eye-candyish now... could that even be possible?) Well in Paris over the weekend in open competition (aka the Paris Open), Men's 200 breast finals : 1 CALDER Craig Australie 2:13.28 - 30.52 (30.52) 1:04.02 (33.50) 1:38.33 (34.31) 2:13.28 (34.95) 2 DUBOSCQ Hugues France 2:13.52 +0.24 30.14 (30.14) 1:03.90 (33.76) 1:38.18 (34.28) 2:13.52 (35.34) 3 VERSFELD Neil Afrique du Sud 2:13.54 +0.01 30.24 (30.24) 1:04.62 (34.38) 1:39.02 (34.40) 2:13.54 (34.52) (from www.swimmingworldmagazine.com ) Woot! My own flesh and blood won an open comp at world level! It's not a world record and not even a PB but it is a gold medal! Someone related to me! What a chap :-) (I'll be back with a report on Black Sheep Gathering - don't expect a lot of pics from the gathering itself though cos I developed camnesia, LOL)

G'day all! Good things have been happening in the last day. I found the missing pin that I dropped the other day. Why yes, it was stuck in my foot but at least I know it won't bite me some time in the future! I found my lost Lenore! She has been missing for many many months. I even knitted another unpair of Lenores, the first time I've ever knitted the same sock pattern again. I was digging through one of my bags and voila! There it was! Just to show you that I do have two Lenores in their original colourway, I give you: (the newly returned one is in the lingerie bag waiting to be washed) Just to prove it, and see? Two! Two blurry socks! It is a bit hard to see that one is shorter than the other but it is. More good things: * I am almost completely packed and ready to go to Black Sheep. * I can walk (with the ankle brace for back up - I took it off to shower and it was scared the whole time. It has a pretty bruise and swelling under the ankle bone). I won'...

Bring me another week! This has not been a good week so far. It started off quite well, with me finding I can survive riding 25km dragging the bike trailer in various states of loading and not suffering badly the next day (unless you count the never ending EATING that followed for the next day and a half!). Then on Tuesday I rolled over in my sleep and managed to rotate my ribs on one side whilst the other side stayed put. I don't know how that is possible but two or three ribs were not sitting where they should be = can't breathe, shoulder whackiness and lower back spasms! Yay me! (Much better after seeing the chiro) Tuesday I had planned to go into town with Nathan and take pics of the jacarandas that I saw on Sunday. I got as far as the chiro (half a mile) and back. Today (Wednesday) I went into town with DH so I could take photos of the jacarandas. Aren't they lovely? I'll let you admire them. Some even had knitted tree-warmers on them! (more pics on flickr ) ...

I'm having a pout now. DH was going to drinks at 5pm. At 8:30 he still isn't home. He has probably had dinner after I've cooked an enormous tofu curry. He was out last night too. I am going out tomorrow night cos I am sick of being ignored. The fortnightly knitty get together beckons! I can go and TALK TO PEOPLE! My god. Imagine that! Real people! I talked to my chiro almost not stop today (apart from breath in, hold, all the way out...) for 45 minutes. In two nights I will be on the Amtrak on my way to Black Sheep. Wonder if DH will miss me at all?

G'day all! I'm sitting here, feeling sore, editing pics when I start wondering if I am going to do something like faint. Not that I ever have (though once was close!). I was seeing black spots before my eyes. Nope, not fainting. There are black spots before my eyes. They are known as flies. There's a bunch of flies that hang around under the shade of the birch trees. Sometimes they move along and hang around under the ornamental pears. Sometimes they come inside here cos I leave the door open cos it gets warm inside. Our place is not a meat safe. It also does not have anything to attract flies apart from shade. I've been beavering away at the Neatby Faroese shawl for my LYS. My progress up to today has been steady. I've now completed 40% of it and it is too wide to be stretched out on the 1.2m long needles. My knitting progress today is slow. My progress on anything is very slow. I did something odd to my shoulder or ribs last night and boy am I still p...

G'day all! I know that you all visit my blog to see my most excellent photography. Crap lighting, crap subjects and today I can show you a NEW LOW! Yes, I have to yell it. (Oh and wotisit it taking a little break simply cos I forgot to get a macro or even odd shot of soething well known.) So over the last weekend, we've done a lot of tromping in and out of the house. This means that at the door there is a bit of a build up of Floor Bits. I usually take my pics by the door cos it is the best lighting I can get apart from sitting on the concrete where a cat threw up a hairball, which promptly stuck to the concrete and now I can't remove the danged thing. (I've tried water and scrubbing with a broom, scraping with a trowel...) Now I could have vacuumed the carpet by the door to make it Noice but that means emptying the Dyson. And after riding about 25km yesterday with the bike trailer and for three or so of those kays pulling two heavy bags in the trailer (and they ...