The Knitting Revolutionary

It's sort of like having a kid, but so much easier

...except for when it's 9pm and you're covering the birdcage and you think, hey she doesn't look quite right, and you pick her up and her tiny abdomen is so swollen that her feathers aren't even hiding the skin any more, and you sorta panic a bit. Hm.

That's what I did a couple of nights ago. David was awesome, going outside to get the travel cage while I called the vet without me even asking him to, and coming with us to sit anxiously after the vet did rather nasty things to my little egg-bound hen. We didn't get home until after midnight, all pretty exhausted but very relieved, as egg-binding can be really dangerous, and literally kill a birty overnight. It wasn't cheap, but very worth it for a little creature who I love unreservedly, and who's stolen the heart of my boyfriend as well *grin*... I'm getting to the point where I think she prefers him to me, but that's what happens when I'm the one who has to shove antibiotics down her throat and towel her so I can clip her nails LOL

She turned out to be fine, of course, and is sitting happily on her partially pilfered egg collection right next to me now. She's got 5 there, but taking into account the two I've stolen and the broken one that she passed after the vet massaged it into submission, she's laid a total of 8 eggs this season.

Now, 7 eggs, which is what she was sitting on last week, is a big ask to fit under a tiny little 100g cockatiel. She was sort of like a loony toons character for a while there, she'd fluff herself out and roll the eggs with her beak and poke them under herself, and one would poke out the other side. So she'd roll that one underneath, and another would pop out the other side. This could go on for a good ten minutes, with me staring and giggling in disbelief and amusement. I finally took pity on her and stole one while she wasn't looking, and again later the same day. Hehe! Good thing birdies can't count.

And life... well, life goes on. I've handpainted some merino roving to send to my swap partner, and it's all packaged up and ready to go. And I drink my coffee, and start another essay. *sigh*... 29 days to go!

Visitors!

Life's all about priorities.

Yeah, study schmudy. We had to go to the yummiest Indian restaurant ever, because having dinner with M-H and Sandra was a priority, ya know, like the important stuff in life. And it was an awesome night! The food was great, the company better, and the camera nonexistent. Oops! They were, apparently, sussing out the boy to see if he's going to be kept or not, but I'm still waiting on the 30-page report in the mail. Hehe!

AND we had to spend an evening of wine and knitterly goodness with Emma and Morgan, who stopped by overnight on their way to Sydney. Big fun to be had there! Am I jealous of Morgan moving to Sydney? You bet your sweet dpns I am. Lucky for Canberra it has a very attractive lure keeping me here. ;)

AND then the following morning, we were booked in for the Canberra fun run, but I'd gotten mixed up with my dates, and it turned out Adie and Wilky were visiting Sat night, not Tuesday as originally thought. Oops again! It turned out fine, of course, and once again prioritising worked its magic, and another wonderful but camera free morning of brekky at Belconnen markets ensued. *happy!* Yah, there'll be another fun run, but you never know when you're going to get your mates in from Adelaide again.

So in lieu of a photo, here's Adie's gorgeously cool contribution to our nifty leather guestbook! :D

I do hope those sheep escaped from the Evil Needle-Weilding Squeak of Doom...

The hair!

I couldn't wait.

Hee hee!

This is me... Fredless. Mmm mmm!

and in profile:

I was actually going to Anton's to book myself in to have my old long mop chomped off (that is not a typo! Mwahaha!) and saw a sign that said INSANE HAIR... and I thought... yep, that's what I need. Great service, lots of fun, and fantastic hair that's very spiky and fun and just what I wanted.

*happy*

In case you want their details, Insane Hair, Garema Place Civic, 6257 6883. It only cost me about $50. Yay!

A date with destiny

*drum roll please* ... I have an appointment.

*grins excitedly*

10am, 22nd Sept (next Friday, a week tomorrow). It's time for Fred to go.

Fred's my pet hair-monster. It all started out innocently with me and Fred, he's always with me and sometimes even keeps me warm, though not generally safe. I noticed this phenomenon that, when my hair started to get longer than about my shoulder-blades at the back, it started to develop a life of its own. It'd slip into my drink for a quick sip the moment I turned my head, or try to take a bite of my steak while I was deep in conversation over dinner. It'd insinuate itself between my friends and I constantly, and even started to get in the way in bed. And one dark night, it introduced itself to me. And that's how I met Fred.

Fred and me have had an ongoing thing for some years now, and we've gone through some great times together. Although I complain about Fred's philistine manners and inappropriate behaviour, he's been cheap and easy to maintain while I've been a student, hardly ate a thing (except for a small rodent once, but I don't talk about that until I've had at least 3 red wines), and never needed any visits to the vet... er... hairdresser.

But all good things must end... and I must say I've just outgrown him. Or maybe it's the other way round, and Fred's outgrown me. I think it's time for him to go and find his own way in the world.

Next Friday, Fred and I part ways.

Forever.

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Mmm, beads...

I'm currently working on a stats assignment and am taking a quick break to update. Last night I cast on for Mrs Beeton, and my yarn is way too fine for it. I get 32 stitches to 4 inches rather than the required 21. This is, however, exactly half as much again as the original gauge, so instead of casting on 108 stitches, I'm casting on 162, and taking it from there. I may have to add the occasional extra row in there to make it proportionately longer too.

Any thoughts on resizing/regauging them?

And... study. Hm. This is a quick summary of it all:

... word count on current assignment: 988

... word count on thesis: same as last time, a little over 6,000

... written assignments left to do: 3

... presentations left to do: 1

... number of exams left to do: 1

... stupid weekly questions to write: 6

... days left til it's all over: 44

I was thinking of adding "tantrums to be thrown", "panic attacks to be had" and "lecturers' assignment boxes to sneak dog-turds into" but that stuff is always seat-of-your pants anyway, isn't it?

Special thanks to both my supervisor and my dear friend Rachel for alleviating my panicked moments this week with well-placed hints and advice. Forty four days and counting.

Ooh! First draft!!!

It's about 20 hours late, so I'm having to take off to the other side of Canberra to drop it off at my supervisor's home. Eek! So off I go... Intro, Method and Results are drafted, and ready to be shat on.

:-) Out! Out into the sunshine go I, brave rat-poker and headshrinker extraordinaire!!!

... word count: 6021

... days to go: 47

I would walk five hundred miles...

The long distance thing.

I swore, many years ago (ooh listen to me, I'm so OOOOLD) that I'd never do it again, and then of course I met Luke and it was certain - of course I'd never do the long distance thing again cos I was stuck with this guy and he was stuck with me and that's what being married was about. But you know how these things end sometimes, and this one did end, and the next thing I knew I was in another LDR, as they're now acronymically known.

Long story short that most of you know already... I detest long distance relationships, and so I figured my two options were to find myself someone new, or move to where he was. He happens to have a job he adores, that pays ok, and that he can't have anywhere else in Australia. Doh. I thought about how much I liked living in Sydney, and wondered if I'd like living in Canberra, and decided that there was pretty much one way of finding out, and here I am.

My friend Em found herself in a similar situation with Osk, not so long after she'd warned me off LDRs and moving cities for somone, and there was much hilarity in Sydney as she good-naturedly ate her words and took off (after much soul searching) to Adelaide to be with him. But at the end of the day, you do what you feel is the best thing to do, and off you go. Incidentally, this lovely couple apparently featured in a Marie Clare article about LDRs, but I never saw it. Send me a photocopy, Em? *winning smile*

So I get a message from a friend yesterday expressing her apprehension about starting an LDR with someone she's just met and rather likes. What do I say about LDRs? In short: I hate 'em, but I'm not very independent in my relationships anyway. But life is short, and you don't want to spend it wondering, so why not try it, and see where it goes?

I said to a work mate yesterday that I'd really like to think of myself as the sort of person who could be happy in almost any city, being happy with myself and within myself, and so at peace wherever I am. She made the rather dry observation that this was a big ask, and maybe she's right. But that's what I'm working towards right now.

Thoughts? Stories to share? This blog is getting frighteningly boring these days as I pour all of my energy into my uni work and staying sane in this city, so I could do with a bit of shared writing here. Tell me what you think? Would you walk 500 miles? Have you?

... word count: 5,118

... days to go: 48

Roving swap!

Against my better judgement (past shoddy experience), because my life is boring and study-soaked and I'm in desperate need of some light diversion, I've joined a random roving-swap. Yay! These are the questions I have to answer for my secret roving person.

1) How long have you been spinning?

About 15 years. My highschool art teacher taught me :D

2) Are you a beginner, novice, or experienced spinner?

Experienced! *waggles eyebrows lasciviously*

3) Do you spin on a drop spindle or wheel, or both?

Both - but I prefer wheels.

4) What types and weights of drop spindles (or what type of spinning wheel(s) ) do you currently own?

A Kundert spindle, a Bosworth spindle, and a noncommerical handmade spindle. Unsure of their weights. I have 2 Ashford wheels - a traveller and a trad.

5) What type of fibers have you spun with before?

Wool, silk, alpaca, synthetic, goaty mohair, and cotton.

6) What fibers do you prefer to spin with?

Merino's my favorite sheep fleece, but with Australian merino being such fantastic stuff, I'd prefer a non-sheep fibre for the swap. Alpaca, or anything equally silky and lush would be nice, but if you're financially challenged at the moment, something unusual like weird shiny or sparkly synthetic or nylon for adding to novelty yarns would be cooooool.

7) What fibers do you dislike?

Mohair, scratchy wools (I like merino, polwarth etc - the fine stuff).

8) Do you prefer natural colored fibers, or handpainted/dyed fiber?

All of it! I love aaaaall of it!

9) Would you prefer all one type of roving or smaller amounts of different types to sample?

Either or.

10) What are you favorite colors?

Anything except yellow or red.

11) What colors do you dislike?

See above!

12) What would you like to do with your handspun yarn, or what do you plan to do with it? (pattern clarification here)

I don't really decide what to make my handspun in until I've finished it. I very occasionally spin something with an end product in mind, but I rarely stick to it. If it's a small sample, it's most likely to end up wristwarmers, a headscarf or hat, a purse, or a baggie. :D

13) What spinning projects are you currently working on?

Some laceweight spindled merino for a lace scarfling. Some green tweeded 3 or 4 ply wool with 2 or 3 plies of dark green and a single ply of bright lime. Some handpainted merino which I'm practising navajo plying on.

14) Do you have a wishlist?

I'm really curious about exotic fibres, but am waiting until I'm not a student any more. So, not really. I just... get stuff... and spin it. Sometimes. When I feel like it. Um...

15) What are your other favorite hobbies?

Knitting, reading, gym, WorldofWarcraft, my pet birdy Phoenix!

16) Do you have any allergies (pet, smoke, food, fiber,etc...)?

Nyeh. Tough as old nails.

17) What is your preferred shipping method (USPS, UPS, FedEx)?

Airmail if you're overseas, regular mail if you're Aussie. :D