The Knitting Revolutionary

Galahs

In the sudden, brief and intense downpour we just experienced here in Canberra, the local birds went crazy with noise and action. I watched in delight from my office window as the galahs and maggies screeched joyfully, flying around, hopping about on the ground, roiling drunkenly as they tilted their wings back and forth to catch the bright sparkling raindrops as they hissed all around. I'm certain that, in the ensuing silence and sunshine, that they are all contentedly preening the water back through their feathers, just as Phoenix always does after a good dunking.

Words words words

I got a random email today asking if I'd like to participate in a workshop discussing what the barriers to adult literacy are. I won't be attending the workshop - I'm not really qualified anyway, and I'm not really sure how it got sent to me - but it got me thinking. I think that the biggest barrier would probably be embarrassment. The people who I know who find reading difficult or impossible are quite embarrassed about it, and do a pretty good job of covering it up. So it's a bit of a Catch-22 for people who can't read, or can't read very well. Where do you start, when the biggest barrier is their pride, or even their dignity?

I can't imagine not being able to read. I have a vague memory of not being able to read - written words have  held meaning for me from a very early age. I remember copying words out of a book, letter by letter, and I remember wondering why the typed "a" was different from the "a" we'd learned to write - yet I knew it was the same letter. Same with the "g", which I was fascinated by, and copied from the book the curly shapes as they were, to compare how it felt and looked in my own hand. Most of the words I knew, some of them I didn't, but I copied them out anyway. I think it was a Dr Seuss book.

Reading has always held such joy for me, and the thought of adult illiteracy makes me, literally, sad. A typed page must be a barren landscape of meaningless and dry symbols, rather than the rich, immediate images that flash into my brain upon glimpsing phrases and sentences. Don't even start me on calligraphy and the joy of words that are both visually and symbolically beautiful. Yum.

Budget? What budget?

I got my new toy the other day.

It's SO PRETTY! And it's quite fun to spin on - because it's so slooooow. Its lowest ratio is 3:1, and so it's fantastic for ze bulky goodness, which I'm hoping to do a little bit more of soon - make me some nifty hats - I have a great pattern for a top hat which I'm thinking this chunky stuff will be poifect for. If I can remember which Knit1 it was in. Hm. The guy I bought it from said that he thought the painting had been done by his mother-in-law, and it came with the most adorable "recipes for fancy yarns" which I'll photograph during the day - the macro won't pick it up at night time. Very very cute.

I've been knitting fairly quickly (by my standards where I complete one jumper per year) on the cotton jumper, it's looking luscious(this is me knitting on the greyhound to Sydvegas), and I'm trying to pretend that The Other Green Jumper doesn't exist. Other than that... tomorrow's my last day at my current work position, and I move sideways and slightly upward through the organisation to my two new part-time job and 2 day a week traineeship in school counselling on Wednesday. Eeeee! :):):)

Prince!

...oh and I bought new stuffs to paint over the red bits as they fade.

You gotta love a product that uses Prince songs for names...

New Hairs!

Don't ask me how much it cost - I've never spent this much at a hairdresser's before. Ever. Nor even half. I couldn't really afford it, and I don't really care. So Ha! *glee*

Something to look forward to...

...I'm workin' on it. Really I am. It's a work in progress ;)

A PS to the indulgent day ;-)

Firstly, the fair trade store is right smack in the middle of Summer Hill, and the site is www.thetradingcircle.com.au - knock yourself out!

Secondly: photos of that tray of desserts and goodies, and a very excited squeak not knowing which chocolately thing to eat first:

Evil?

Absolutely. Muhaha!

A day of indulgence

Spent the day in Sydney yesterday - me and my little pink travel pillow (I shall call him Squishy and he shall be my Squishy) hopped on an early bus to Sydney (eek, 5-45 am alarm) and snored happily til we were halfway there. I got a fair bit of knitting done, so the Twisted jumper is coming along niiiicely tyvm!

I had brekky with Tamara in Summer Hill. I miss the Inner West area so much - it became the home of my alternative little soul when I lived there. Awesome catching up with glam Tam, we did uni together and it was the best. You really need a good partner in crime to survive third year stats (if I'd only known what was coming).

Tamara and me (and Squishy) went wandering around Summer Hill with our tums happy and full of poached eggies. I bought a gorgeous pair of vintage gauntlet length gloves for myself, and a copy of Captain Corelli's Mandolin for Tamara. It's one of my favourite books - it has a rather different ending from the film, and of course much more depth. The author's sense of humour is sharp and a little bit black, and I've read it twice. Enjoy, Bella!

We also went into a very cute shop that sells Fair Trade stuff for women working their way out of poverty, and got me some lush goldy-green Lao silk - dyed with marigold petals. I think it's gonna be a shawl or a stole when it grows up. Mmmm.

And then, the main event. My friend Sarah turned 40 some time ago and marked the event with a husband-and-baby-free event at the Wentworth Sofitel in Sydney, where the high tea is a-MAZE-ing. Bye bye to weight-watching for the day. But ah. What a way for a diet to be broken. *purr* So posh and happy!

Update!

It's been a while. I've been doing a lot of stuff, including changing jobs (*gasp*) and batting off the black dog with a stick. I've also been spinning lots, and have made a gorgeous new dye colourway called Salamander (which are mythical fire elementals, ooooh)

So here's what I've been spinning: The first is a teal green mix of silk and merino, all wound on to my Andean plyer and ready to 2-ply, and the other is a bunch of purple merino that Rachel bought for me (yey Rache, you're awesome) and I'm thinking I might Navajo ply that, but I'm still thinkin.

Knitting: The Green Jumper is stalled with too-short sleeves, and lies around the house looking gorgeous but fragmented. Bit like me on a Sunday afternoon. (bwahaha)

Meanwhile I've started a new sage green cotton jumper called Twisted - you can see it on Ravelry (username monnsqueak) if you're a Raveler, but here's the first shot of the back. Look at that shaping! Mmmm! Slight problem with this one already - I measured and started this one about a month ago and have since gone on (another) diet. So 2 1/2 kilos later, I'm hoping it won't look like a sack on me when I'm done. *sigh*

Anyway, I'm off to feed my WoW addiction while living in jealousy of M-H running around Wales and hanging out with other knitting legends. *sigh* Have a wonderful long weekend!