Yarnivorous

G'day all! I've now been blogging for six whole years. I think that deserves a crikey! I only pull out the crikeys for special occasions :-) (Actually, it was yesterday but it is still the 20th of August in the States so that is good enough for me. 8-) In honour of this momentous occasion, I think I need to spread the love around. Yep, this means giveaway time! What have I got to give away? Well, what about this lovely little quilt? It's big enough for a lap and plenty big enough for a cot. All cotton outside, including thread, and bamboo/cotton batting on the inside. Patterned fabric is Lila Tueller's "Eden." (you can see the back of it here ) But that is not all! If I get more than 100 comments on this blogiversary post, then I will add another TWO prizes to the offering. How about this rather lurid handspun, handknitted shawl? BFL and silk, hence the brightness of the colours. And the third prize will be 200g of anything you like (spinning fibre or...

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...

EJ , come on down. I have no way to contact EJ. Blogger is very concerned about privacy and only lets me know what the blogee has allowed me to see. This is what their email addy looks like according to blogger: "EJ" This is what their blogger profile looks like: "Profile Not Available The Blogger Profile you requested cannot be displayed. Many Blogger users have not yet elected to publicly share their Profile. If you're a Blogger user, we encourage you to enable access to your Profile." That sorta leaves me stuck. And rather frustrated to be honest. Blogger sometimes drives me nuts and this is one of those times. It doesn't make the commenter put in an email address = not as easy to reply. I'd use wordpress/etc but that means getting my own server = scary! So, EJ you have until 14 Jan to collect your prize - any of the hanks under $25 on my Etsy shop. My email address is on my blog's top right corner. If I don't hear from you, I'll do...

G'day all! This is my Life, the Universe and Everything birthday. Do you wanna see my main birthday present? Ta-dum! Yep, we sold out. We now have a 2000 Golf GLS. It has a sunroof and A/C and all sorts of doo-dads. It even has: (Just for Risa ) Heated seats - cos we so need them in California! When I saw the buttons, I laughed and laughed cos I know Risa is jealous of Jessalu 's heated seats in her Jeep. (Pics of anything else will have to wait - it's been raining for hours and is now dark. It is a rare day when it doesn't rain on my birthday.) I made me a heap of these for my birthday gathering yesterday (chocolate lamingtons and drop dead gorgeous pink/jelly lamingtons - YUM! I can see I will get fat eating pink lamingtons). Many thanks to those who showed and for the rest of you, where were you? I got me a haircut yesterday. First style cut in about 8 years. Here's the before: And two afters: See, it's much shorter! CelticCaston Kelly encourage...

G'day all! I am feeling twitchy at the moment. I think it is partly due to a deep awareness that winter is coming. I know that as a knitter and spinner I should *love* winter, but I don't. I am a long days person, and the short days of winter Do Not Suit Me at all. The days here are pulling in rapidly and the evenings are lengthening. The only good thing is I start to think about making dinner a whole lot earlier when the sun sets earlier. Anyway, I have to announce a winner! Sarah , come on down! You have won a set of five stitchmarkers from my soon to be launched Etsy shop :-) (Let me know what colours/styles you like - I've got colourful glass, stones, dark pearls and weird metal shapes.) Y'know how I said that I would show off some FOs? Well here they are in their before state... Um not they aren't. Ahem. Someone forgot to get pics of them in the After state. Well they will wait another day! More on the baggies when I've got pics! In other news, I...

G'day all! (edited to add another banner - thanks for the feedback so far!) I have more to post on the shop hop, don't you worry! But today I have been working on shop stuff. I am making a new banner. The old one is, well, Old. See? Here are some new candidates: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Remember if you click on any of these pics, it will take you to Flickr, where you can see the full size version by clicking on "all sizes" above the pic. Which one do you like best? To encourage some opinions, one lucky person can win a set of five stitchmarkers. Get your entry in by 8pm PDT (heh, 1pm EST in Oz) Friday September 26 2008. anon!

G'day all! Thanks for all your entries into my different socks contest! I am working my way around your blogs, if you have one... So what are the differences between the socks? Let's start at the toes, since I knitted them toe up. The tip of one sock is stocking stitch (stockinette) and then becomes garter stitch (someone is lazy! :-D). The other toe is reverse stocking stitch (someone forgot to read the pattern and didn't want to cast on again). Lots of people noticed this one. Because garter stitch pulls in more than stocking stitch, one toe looks shorter than the other. Paper Tiger noted this (no link to a website for Paper Tiger though). I didn't read the pattern again so one sock has six repeats of the twisted stitch/cable (correct!) and the other has five repeats (wrong!). Some of you with good eyes noticed this! The little gusset I like to put into all my short row heels has five increase rounds on one sock and only three on the other (oops!). The heel of o...

G'day all! One year ago, DH and I flew to the US. We landed in LA before we left home - ah the wonders of the date line (of course on the way back we lose a whole day!). (maybe I should've posted this yesterday to match up with the time we left Melbourne, not the time in the USA.... argh, time travel is such a pita!) We flew across to Denver and were collected by Nathan's possible new boss and driven to Fort Collins. Three days later, utterly charmed (particularly cos it snowed on us - our home doesn't get snow), we flew back home and prepared to move from our home to the USA. It was another three months before we moved but that is another story! In celebration of the last whacky year, with all the trials and tribulations and kindnesses and sadnesses and above all change, I declare a contest! And some new socks! Some socks that have some differences between them! Here are my Solstice Slip socks in Firebird from last year's STR club. They are an unpair. I f...

G'day all! (Argh, not posted for a whole day cos apparently I didn't close a link in my html, not that blogger kindly tells me where I didn't close the link) Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday dear me-ee, Happy birthday to me! (I have to sing it to myself cos I haven't got anyone to sing it to me - DH doesn't do that sort of thing plus he hasn't organised a cake or made one or anything - if he has, he's been very sneaky cos none of my cake mixes are missing.) Thank you to those who have sent birthday wishes, and bigger thanks to those who have sent cards and even presents! I must say the post is very slow at the moment, well I hope it is very slow - Nathan has received more parcels than me this week! Humph! Yesterday, after I picked up our hire car, I drove up to Wyoming, took a right and ended up in Nebraska (mrspao, I have to do a little piece on western Nebraska for you). After a left and a loooong wait in some roadworks, I ende...

G'day all! I got my extra-special random number generator to spew out a lucky number for the comments, and it said 20968! Hmm, methinks I needed a number between 1 and 42, or the number of comments eligible for entry into the contest.... Heck, if I get 20968 real readers (not just google, bloglines and other search engines finding my blog) in a year, I reckon I am going really well! So we tried again, and the lucky winner is Theresa , of Knitting Under Way! Theresa, come on down and claim your very purple sock yarn! I've had lots of fun reading your comments, and goshdarnit a couple of you decided you should blog in part because of me! I am visiting all of your blogs slowly, slowly because... I almost have an FO! A whole big mansize sweater, started either Friday or Saturday week ago! I've been knitting like a maniac for days and days and days, and boy am I over this sweater! I might even have it finished before DH's birthday is over! But I have to finish the neck...

G'day all! Holy cow, it is my third blogiversary ! Wow, time flies when you are having fun :-) And boy has the blogosphere changed since I started blogging - there are so many people to meet out there these days. This means it is time for a competition! Leave a comment telling me about why you started blogging (and your blog and ravelry names if I don't already know you) by midnight on the 24th of August (wherever you live) and I'll put you in the draw for something nice :-) How about some self-patterning sock yarn in purple, burgundy and a hint of olive? (I dyed it myself :-) There's enough for a plainish pair of socks for up to size 11 feet. It looks something between these two samples - these colours are really hard to capture accurately. Or Aussies can choose 100g of yarn from my Yarnivorous yarns website . Yep those yarns are still for sale and I have to put some more up now that I have found the pics I took over two months ago. Hooray for finding pics! S...

G'day all! Remember my contest for a) mishandling Dangerous Stuff and b) being a great aunt? Well we have a winner! "KnitMe , come on down! You get to pick something off my website or let me know what you would like. (note the Marta Black sock yarn is gone as is the multi-mauve laceweight, but I have plenty o other stuff not yet up so let me know what you like!) I have a little weeeeeny problem at the moment. Y'know how I upgraded my computer OS the other day? Well now it doesn't recognise my camera. It wouldn't recognise your camera either. It doesn't like cameras any more. It has forgotten its purpose in creation - to download photos. (This photo downloading software would not voom if you put 40,000 volts through it!) It is a known problem and I just have to wait for them to fix it - every second time they make changes to the system, someone forgets that the reason why this is set up like that is to avoid busting the camera drivers. So it is just as ...