The Knitting Revolutionary

What next?

I finished the little change purse that I wasn't allowed to knit during lectures. Yay!It was fairly chockers with cables, and I made a little "T" shape at the bottom corner seams to make it a slightly boxish shape so I can stuff it full of cards and change and lipsticks and things. :D

I'm thinking I might make myself a cute knitted handbag next, especially since I have a bit of wool ready to make into... something. But I haven't really decided what yet, so the handbag is as good an idea as any.

...word count: still the same (exam study at the moment!)

...days to go: 60

Handmade prezzies

Last weekend when we went to the markets, Tori says to me "I've got a present for you". Now, I'm usually the one that makes hand made gifts, and it occurred to me as she explained that she made a present for me that I very rarely receive hand made stuff. She handed me this...

SO cute, tied up with twine! She'd bought a little stamping set from Pepe's in Civic, and she'd made little notelet sets for her friends. I love the whole concept of hand made things to give to people, I imagined her sitting down happily cutting the paper, carefully stamping the tiny envelopes (they're only about 5x7cm, very small and cute) and tying them up with love.

"Are you going to cry?" she asked me, sounding both worried and smug.

"Maybe", I sniffed, screwing up my nose as I joyfully clung to the tiny package, laughing and squeaking with happiness.

Such small things can bring so much sunshine to your day.

... word count: 2415

... days left: 62

Life goes on

There's a severe lack of communication going on with the "please gimme a first draft by 9th September" for this thesis. I've just happened upon the unit outline, and it says that the supervisor isn't really allowed to critique the discussion section.

So... it seems he means that he just wants the draft, minus the discussion section.

COMMUNICATION PLEASE!

I'm actually making progress on the intro at the moment, despite not actually writing anything for a while. Since I started writing, all I seem to do is find holey bits which need more reading and more articles. *scream!* But I've almost got a fully annotated outline ready to go, which generally means with my style of work that I'm about 75% of the way done. So yay. Here comes an intro! Expect the word count meter to skyrocket very soon!

Meanwhile, I'm off to a play this evening after work. Cool! I'm not actually sure if it's an amateur or professional production, a couple of David's friends are in it. I think it's a David Williamson play, but again, I'm not sure. Nothing like a surprise, huh?

...word count: ground to a halt at 2212

...days to go: 63

Markets!

I do miss Sydney, but as was inevitable, sometimes this weirdass place does feel a bit like home. Which is good, because a girl's likely to go insane if she doesn't like the place she's living in. So one of the nifty things about Canberra is the Old Bus Depot Markets. Oh yay! Yummy food! Woolly goodness! And occasionally... a petting zoo, complete with tiny lambs and goats!!!

So we met Damien and Tori for coffee and lunch and while I petted the fibrey stuff, David ran around excitedly acquiring stuff... candle-holders for "us", bathbomb for "me", and for "he"...

...um... lawl? I took several very cute photos, which I've put into an album :D Now I just have to work out how to get the album to show. Hm.

Dinosaur nerds, quake with jealous rage. Mwahaha!

*squeak!* FO!!!

*beams proudly* 

And *that* is what you do when you have a looming deadline! Actually, it was perilously close to being finished, and I've been dragging it everywhere doing a little here, a little there, and finished it off during "television night" last night. *does the dance of squeaky joy*

...Lawrence of Arabia, eat your heart out.

Wishes come true sometimes

Several nights ago... in a loungeroom not-so-far, far away...

D: You know what I really feel like right now?

Me (bored): Mm?

D: Champagne. A nice cold glass of champagne.

Me: Ooh! Wouldn't it be nice if I went to the back door (runs to back door) and there was a box of champagne sitting in the back yard? (opens back door hopefully)

*We both contemplate in quiet joy the box of champagne sitting up against our back door*

D (face a mask of hope): Wouldn't it be nice if I went to the back door and there was a Porsche sitting in the back yard?

*We both poke our heads out and have a quick look around*

D (disappointed): Maybe it only works once...

... I love www.getwinesdirect.com.au. Hehe!

CRAP!

Feck feck feck and oh my god and CRAP! CRAP! CRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAP!!!!!!!!!!!

On the one hand, I'm really glad that I started my 120 word a day thing with the thesis. I've gotten some really good work done, and it's gradually be emerging, mostly stress free.

And then, today, our supervisor tells us that he's off to a conference after the holidays. So we have until the 18th September to submit our first draft.

It was nice while it lasted.

So on the other hand, it would have been really nice, as in ESPECIALLY nice, to know this when we gave him our projected timeline months ago. You know, the one that said "mid-September to mid-October: write up of results and discussion". *aaargh!* The annoying thing is that our supervisor is awesome, and very supportive and helpful and pretty much everything you would like in a supervisor, so it's sort of hard to be angry with him. I'm just, you know, quietly shitting myself. As you do.

... word count: omgomgomgfeckityfeckfeckshit!

...days left: do I use my actual due date of 26th October or do I use the new date of 18th September???

I don't feel guilty (um...)

I couldn't bear the thought of going in to uni this morning, so skipped this morning's lecture. And I feel GREAT! And I don't feel a bit guilty. (Yeah yeah I know, I doth protest too much and all that. Ah well.)

I did get a bit more done on the ever-present thesis though, and am about to toddle on in to a knitting-free tutorial this afternoon. *snort* Wouldn't want to distract my teacher now, would I.

So on a completely random note, I still haven't named my cute little Siamese fighting fish that I got for my birthday. Should I have a competition and put a ball or 2 of handspun up for grabs??? *grin* He's cute, though not nearly as psychotic as Harris the Wellclad Fish or Mauritius the Vicious were. I'm usually cool with picking pet names, but this one just draws a blank. Oh, and have a look a the photo... I took it yesterday arvo while David and I were playing around on the computer, and you can see him reflected in silhouette on the side of the fishbowl. Just like all those bubbles I used to draw around my schoolbooks, with little cross-hatched four-paned windows on the upper left hand area of the bubble. :D

... word count: 2210

...days to go: 72

You don't bring me flowers... or else

• I never really got into the idea of getting flowers. There are a few things I can't stand about them.
• they die
• they're overpriced
• they die
• they smell weird after about three days
• they die
• you can't put them in the same room as your pet bird in case they get chewed on and are poisonous to idiot feathered pets
• at the end of it all you get a slimy smelly jar to wash up

So, yeah. I've told David, no flowers. Ever. Please.

This doesn't, however, let him off the hook. In fact, it requires much more creativity and resourcefulness on his part. I accept, in lieu of flowers:

• lingerie (or anything lacy for that matter)
• bath bombs
• any other sort of girly bath-type-smelly-stuff
• candles
• foot massages

He went to Melbourne for work yesterday. And he brought me back, not flowers, but something so so SO much better.

Hm.

I think I'll keep this one.

Nothing to report

...except that:

• the visitors have all gone home
• David's buggered off to Melbourne for the day, taking the camera with him
• study continues
• work on the SUMS cap continues *yawwwwwwwwwn*

so basically, business as usual. Some days are a bit like that, just...

...boring. Ah well.

...word count: 1958

... days to go: 74

Niecely goodness!

We were tourists in Can-berry!

Though we decided the coolest thing at Parliament House was the water fountain. Yeah. History? Tradition? Who gives a flying... wet nappy?

Oh, and we also made some little artworks, though shortlived.

Followed by a visit to "Uncle Dave" (*snicker*) at Questacon. Soooooooo damn cute!

And we got wet.

And it was FUN!

plugging away

I'm plugging away on the thesis this morning, our stats class having been cancelled. Yuck. I really need those classes, but the upside is the extra 2 hours I have to play with the intro today. Phoebs is being her usual helpful self...

Meanwhile I read, read, read, and prepare the house for interstate visitors. We'll have kidlings in the house this weekend! Batten the hatches! Lock up the spinning wheels!!!

...word count: 1301

...days to go: 77

mmm, cables!

It's been ages since I did any cabled stuff. Yum! Once the faeces er thesis is handed in, I'll be making an aran jumper or cardy of some description, it's been waaaaay too long. But until then, I need a change purse. And I have 50g of handspun wool to do something with. And I have an urge to knit cables. Lots and lots of them. Hm!

... words: 1143

...days to go: 78

Theses and faeces

...it can't be a co-incidence that they rhyme.

So I'm sitting here at the computer last night with an article in front of me, and Phoenix begging for scratches and being cute. I scratch her head, she hangs out for a while, and as birdies inevitably do, she delicately deposits a poo right in the middle of my article.

"When I print out my thesis", I say to her, "I might get you to do a nice big shit on it too, huh?"

David looks up from his computer next to me. "Isn't that your supervisor's job?" he asks innocently.

Just one more reason to love him lots. Hehe!

What's so bad about kipping?

So today, a teacher at uni has asked me to not knit during lectures and classes. Why? Although I explained to them that it stops me from whispering constantly to the person next to me (sorry Rache!), helps me focus on just listening and following along with the notes, and helps me stay calm and happy (not to mention biting my nails) they asked that I "find other ways of coping with my anxiety". Apparently, it's distracting to them. An academic who's been teaching for how many years? Ah, yeah right. This person certainly doesn't seem to be bothered by the students sitting right behind me who chat and giggle for about half the lecture.

Hm. I just love being singled out when I'm doing nothing wrong. But since this person has made it "their problem" by obsequiously claiming that they find my behaviour distracting, they've made it into a disruptive and unacceptable behaviour. And if I fight this, I'm going to cause myself a whole lot of stress I really don't need, especially now that I feel as though I'm starting to come out on top. I would consider kicking up a stink if I didn't have two assessment tasks to be marked by this particular person, but if there's one thing I've learned from my time in both big corporate and university, it's that if your arse is on the line, just shut the hell up and don't rock the boat. *heavy cynicism*... long live freedom.

...word count: 875

...days to go: 79

Caps and Birties

... I've just spent the last few hours getting my "questions" in for Monday morning (a regular assignment for uni, and one which has already had me in tears this semester) and reviewing my focus groups video for my thesis, and I'm feeling rather chuffed. And on a roll!

I'm nearing the end of the revolting SUMS cap. The thing has been driving me crazy, I have no idea what possessed me to agree to knit something so huge in STOCKING STITCH; not just that, it isn't for me, and I don't even rehearse any more, so I don't have a regular 3-hour stint in which to amuse myself with boring knitting like I used to while I sang with SUMS. But... since I'm all fired up and going like a mad thing, I might as well do a few rows. Like my degree, the end of it is in sight. Yay!

Phoenix thinks it's all dreadfully boring, and would rather sleep. Oh, so cute! She's starting to moult, so she had her first shower in ages today, we hopped in, and squeaked happily in the shower amidst much fluffing of feathers. I do so love having birdy company! I initiated the shower after she tried to bathe in her drinking water the other day and ended up in a shallow bowl, but couldn't get her wings wet. Have you ever seen a more adorable birty???

...word count: 616

...days to go: 81

Mrs Beeton, here we come!

I started spinning this yarn when I still lived at Leichhardt with the wonderful Lizzie and Niv, and M-H, Sandra and Emma all within squeaking distance to me. It was one of the most gorgeous times of my life, with my dearest and most beloved friends surrounding me and just *being* there. It's occurred to me that the transition from Sydney to Canberra is being slowly dealt with in my mind, as I slowly finish off the projects begun in one place and finished in another, and this was no doubt planted in my mind by the inestimable Brenda Dayne. When she talked about her travelling sweater, the wool bought by her partner in Wales, taken to the US, begun in the US, and completed in Wales, I came very close to crying. Funny how certain stories touch your heart, sometimes completely by surprise.

As I tie off the loose ends of half finished projects and begin new ones, I also tie off loose ends of my life in Sydney and begin my new one here. And this little skein of yarn is one of them. I began spinning it one night sitting with Lizzie and Niv while watching Grey's Anatomy (which I still watch religiously! Ooh, this week's gonna be a good one!), the ultimate girly-bonding tv show *grin*. And I finished plying it yesterday, that momentous day when I actually BEGAN THE WRITE-UP OF MY THESIS! Ok, so I only have 266 words so far. But I'm aiming at working just one paragraph (minimum) in per day, and if I do that 120 words per day until the 26th October, I'll get it done on time.

I took two pictures with the intention of using only one, but this first one shows the yarn to scale - that's a five cent piece - and the other shows a really nice detail *and* the colours are much more accurate in the second photo. So there you go... I'm going to string some sweet little purple and blue beadlings onto and make myself the long-promised pair of Mrs Beeton wrist warmers. Ooh, so sweet, oldfashioned and classy!!! I have a feeling that the yarn's too fine for the required gauge. But if I don't use the actual pattern, I'm just going to add in a couple of repeats to make it go all the way round the wrist. And I have pretty small wrists anyway, so it should all work out. I'm hoping that the colour changes in the wool, which I've navajo-plied, will facilitate the colour contrast between the two ruffle layers. Yummeh.

...word count: 383

...days to go: 82

More beautiful things

I took this one foggy morning here about 2 weeks ago. Funnily enough, the cold hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, though I dont ride the motorbike further than about 5 minutes at night time - it's just too freezing. So... beauty in unexpected places. I like it.

...word count: 266

...days to go: 83

Presents

Yesterday, I received a present from a complete stranger, for absolutely no reason.

I was walking past a costume jewelry stall with a friend, and the woman at the stall noticed my knitting in my hand, and the colours (Rachel Meek! Oh!) are divine, and she and I started chatting about colour and beautiful things. Rachel (my friend Rachel, not Rachel Meek LOL) bought me the fleece as a present as well, and I'm knitting it into a purse. Photo next time!

Rachel and I poked around a bit on the stall, saying "ooh, pretty" and all the sorts of things that girls say when they're shopping. I fondled a little brass cuff.

"It's nice isn't it?" said the woman. I replied yes, and continued my torrent of chatter with her and Rachel, and she took the opportunity as I drew breath to begin again, and said "I have a present for you".

This stopped me. A present? The small acquisition-obsessed sleeps-til-birthday-counting child inside me perked up at full attention. Hehe! A present, for *me*? She pulled out another brass cuff, just like the one I'd been looking at. I was delighted! We introduced each other, and were no longer strangers. The cuff has a tiny dent on one edge, "and you might have done that the first time you wore it", she pointed out. I didn't care. How lovely! I clapped in delight, just like a kid, and it represents so much more to me than just a pretty thing to wear.

I've also been playing with another present, from Mary-Helen and Sandra, who brought me back a little bagling of gorgeous blue fleecy stuff from their trip to NZ recently. It looks lovely! Now, what to make it into???

Flowers

What have I been doing? And what's with the flower photos?

Well, sometimes I'm productive, and sometimes I'm not. Lately, I've not been so productive with my hands, it's all been mental stuff. Basically I'm working on settling here in Canberra and getting my head around a new and sometimes bizarre life. From meeting my ex's future wife and son, to finding out that the cold wasn't so bad in Canberra as I thought it would be, life has been a tumultuous ride for the last couple of years, and I'm just taking it easy at the moment, thinking, studying, and most of all, recovering.

So the story with the little flowers and the budding roses is this: Me and David moved to a new little place in Canberra, and the little garden at the front was mostly empty, a bit of straggly grass, some weeds, a few odd-looking succulents, a very dried-out old lavendar bush, and some bare, leggy rosebushes.

Some days here, I think that I can't stand Canberra at all, and I'll shrivel and die if I stay here permanently. Other days... well, other days I love it. And the other day was one of those days. I came home, and there was all this green stuff in the garden, it had just magically appeared! A whole row of little bulbs had been hiding under the ground, and the recent bit of mildish weather (like not below 0 at night) has coaxed them up above ground, and voila! I have flowers, flowers and more flowers! There are a few jonquils, and a few snowdrop-looking flowers with green spots on them (no idea what they're called). To add to the  joy, the roses are budding leaves all over. *happy sigh* And of course it's a metaphor, and one about as subtle as a 2x4 club. I do feel as though I'm magically coming back to life again. Oh, hello heart, is that you?

photos

These are pretty important flowers, but that's a story I'm going to elaborate upon much later today, after I've done a bit of study! How's that for optimism?

What I'm trying to do here is to type enough crappy stuff to fill in this space and see how the layout works when I try to put photos to the left and right of my post, and test how they look when I enlarge them.

I'm hoping that I have a much more productive day than I did yesterday, because... well... I know my teensy little thesis is only going to be 25 to 30 pages long. But that's a lot when you haven't even done one page.

Testpost

So... how do I look in this colour???