Slippery Slope

Conversation with my mother yesterday.

Taph: Mum, do you think any of the ladies over the back would like the cr****t nylon and wooden coat hangers that Nanna gave me?
(retirement village behind my parents' house - I grew up with several hundred grandparents watching my every move through the weld mesh fence and Jejune wonders why I'm good with the over 60s!)

Mum: Yes, I'm sure they'd like them, shall I ask them to make you a couple in return?

Taph: *&$^#%&$!!*&#$.

Mum: OK, so that's a "No, but thank you very much for offering".

Taph: Um, yeah. I'll bring the box up tomorrow night.

Mum: While we're on the subject, do you want my knitting machine?

Taph: Yes, thank you very much for offfering.

Sigh. A knitting machine. It's the top of the slippery slope that will only end in me mugging those women for the cr****t nylon back.

On my way out the door

Ok, so I'm stealth posting. I don't have a night at home until Wednesday week, so I'm squeezing this in between bites of toast (dinner), packing a bag for woodwork class, and doing a load of washing.

In reply to your comments

• BGK will be at SnB this Thursday - you can all fight over it then. I will give it credit for acknowledging that we are not all proportionate. It has coded the patterns as suitable for big boobs, big bums, or big bellies.
• I'll also bring my White Lies Designs patterns for those who are interested in looking.
• I can recommed the new Vogue mag, Knit Simple. The first two issues (all they've done so far) have had good larger sized patterns in them, although the current issue has rather too much cr****t for comfort.
• Haven't used the drop spindle yet, but will try to remember it Thursday. Maybe even bring some fleece.
• No secrets on the pattern - it's the knitted curly whirly which I have finally got to work. Just need to finish it and photograph it and the instructions will be up on the blog. Ditto a flower embellishment using the same techniques and maybe some pretty variations on the theme using floppy yarns and beads. If someone can find me a few more hours in a day, that would be nice.
• Heel of the green opal sock is all fixed, decreases worked and I'm on the homeward stretch.
• I even worked a fix for the Jenny Occleshaw baby socks and am about to graft the toe of the first one. She never did send the corrected pattern. I got fed up with waiting. It might not be her pattern but it will do.
• Got so carried away, I've done the heel of the Lacy Ribs sock as well but it's black and picking up black stitches at night just isn't going to happen, so it may be a while before I get that one finished.
• Finished No. IV of the ex-poncho hats for the homeless. Anyone with knitted donations for the Salvos can take them to Bells Drycleaners in Canberra ATM.

I know, no pictures yet and it isn't good prose, but I'm in a hurry.

Bad Donald

I'm working on a pattern design just now so haven't been doing my usual amount of blogging/blog reading. And because I'm so good a sabotaging myself, I'm procrastinating on the pattern by working on my green opal sock. The poor bloody thing has been knitted to various points and unravelled more than the usual number of times, even for a perfectionist knitter.

As most of you know, I'm a fat chick. I'm a very fat chick - that's right, the picture to your left is not really me (it's Joan Hickson as Miss Marple). This means knitting garments for myself is a major commitment. This is why I thought socks, once I overcame heel hysteria (thanks Spidey), would be the perfect project. You know, wear my normal boring classically elegant black top and trews with something colourful over the top, but have fascinating socks under my boots.

Great plan, I even did the maths and a tension square. Unfortunately the maths for proportionate bodies (measure your ankle circumference, subtract and inch from total circumference, multiply new figure by stitches per inch taken from your beautifully wrought and deeply resented tension square, knit for a bit then do a heel flap that is equal in length to the width of half your stitches) doesn't work for fat legs. I don't need a heel flap that is 5 inches long, for a start.

I knew that all along though, so it doesn't make sense in anyone's reasonable definition of that term that I knitted the full five inch heel flap, turned the heel in a flawless manner, elegantly and without gaps picked up the gusset stitches, and spent two whole evenings knitting the decreases. It is particularly stupid that even though I was pretty sure that this was a silly thing to do right from the off I persisted. Right beside the voice in my head that was saying - "Ya know, Taph, this don't look right" was another one saying "But the instructions said...". I felt like Donald Duck - remember he often had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other? It's almost enough to make a woman take up that horrible feral cr****t just to shake herself out of the "pattern is always right" mindset, even when the instructions are from the Yarn Harlot herself.

Moral of the story - if you knit like a duck, don't be surprised when you get flippers.

For those who asked, and bless you, of course I didn't take any of the previewed projects to the Celebration of Wool with me. I took 4 entirely different projects and spent most of the day playing with short rows. Photos and a pattern to follow soon.

I spent a fantastic day at the markets followed up with an SnB at Starbucks and came home happier than I've felt in a very long time. Yes, I bought wool (400gm of a 4ply merino - a black strand and a white strand plied together *swoon* and half a kilo of a lovely corriedale cross in natural white to spin with), brand new Ashford hand carders, flick brush and drop spindle, and another Keepsakes from Mothers Table book because I keep giving my copies away.

The book is brilliant. The money goes to the Canberra Mothercraft Society which has been the saviour of generations of new parents and continues to do fantastic work for families. The book contains knitting patterns, some traditional, some not so much, and recipes. It has cheescake and knitting - what more could you want? Buy a copy for yourself and for someone you love - you'll feel better for it. Also, if you're making that cheescake, I'd be prepared to review if for you. ;)

It was more than the stuff I bought that made me so happy - it was fantastic to be able to speak to so many producers and enthusiasts. I saw a lot of people I knew which was lovely. The creative energy in that place was so revitalising.

My copies of the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules and Jillian and Amy's Big Girl Knits arrived last week and much time has been spend devouring them. Despite the obvious problems in the sock instructions (see above), Knitting Rules is as brilliant as you would expect. My expectations were not as well met by Big Girl Knits.

BGK is being raved about all over the net. It has it's own blog and it's own Yahoo group (I'm sick of linking - go Google it). It's being lauded as the fat chick's bible. It's pretty good it just didn't meet my expectations. The opening chapters about dressing for your body type and how to measure yourself are very good and accompanied by healthy dollops of self-accpetance talk which I fully support. I applaud their insistence that fat chicks should throw away the bulky and the novel yarns and seek out the finer fibres. I did expect, however, to find a few more patterns that actually went beyond the US 3x (about a 24 here in Aus). There were very few and the sock pattern didn't go up to my ankle measurement either. Yes, the book tells you how to do the maths, but the whole fucking point was that I was buying big girl patterns and wouldn't have to do the maths. My recommendation on this book, read my copy and spend your money on a couple of patterns from White Lies Designs. It isn't a coincidence that Joan McGowan-Michael's patterns in BGK are the ones I like the best. Also, Joan MM is writing a new book - looking forward to that one.

No pictures today - I forgot to borrow a camera.

A little something for the weekend?

Conscious of last nights rather dark photographs, I dragged some yarn into the light of the garden this morning. Look what I found. The month of May is just a tad early for jonquils in this neck of the woods. Don't have the heart to pick this brave little bunch.




This Sunday is the Celebration of Wool at the Old Bus Depot Markets. I am planning to spend the day surrounded by yarn loveliness of all descriptions. Independent yarn producers and fibre creators of all kinds will be selling their wares. Some of our local groups will be there as well. The Spinners and Weavers are always there, I'm told the ACT Knitters, with whom I have been trying to make contact, will be there, and the Canberra Mothercraft knitters will be having a stall with their tea cosies for sale.

It's our normal SnB day, so many of my yarn sisters will be at the Markets and some will go over to Starbucks for SnB at 2pm. I don't know what I'll do at that time. I had intended to stay all day, knitting in public and generally showing the SnB flag, and I don't know if I can be drawn away from all the woolly goodness.

Now the decision has to be made, what will I be working on at the markets? Obviously more than one project will be required. It needs to be an easy enough pattern that I can do it without worrying about interruptions etc, but something a bit more visually appealing than the ex-poncho hats and the porridge watch cap which are my current gifts-a-go-go.

I could take the green Opal socks from their hidey hole (if I can find where that is), but I'm at a crucial stage in the heel on that, so maybe not. The black lacy sock is at a similar stage, and yes there is a pattern forming here. No further sock castonage will happen until at least one of these pairs is finished. So socks get a tick for portability and the green ones get another tick for colour, but they aren't at a stage where they can leave the house yet.

Hmm. What else. The Voodoo wrist warmers, while portable and knitted on dpns which add a certain danger factor, are black and will probably be finished tonight anyway. So they are out.

Obviously the Kiri shawl is far too complicated for general viewing and putting people off SnB by my foul temper and increasingly ripe language may prove counter productive. The cabled tunic is too large for carting around and I've lost interest in the Angelina cardigan which is also a bit heavy for taking out and the excitement factor of endless double rib approaches zero.

Well that means new projects in a zippy yarn, doesn't it?

How about these beauties? Recent op-shop purchases and out of my usual range of all-natural fibre. Both of these have something of the novelty yarn about them, and the Mikado has a silver thread running through it. There's 400g here of a wool/acrylic/metal blend that's just screaming to be a wrap of some sort. Big needles, perhaps on the bias?

This lot is 150g of a wool blend boucle, but aren't the colours pretty? I'm thinking a not too long, not too wide, self-fringed, end to end scarf.

What say all of you?

In an unguarded moment...

I met one of my teen pin-ups, Steve Kilbey, lead singer of The Church. Unfortunately it was at the funeral of his aunt who was also a family friend of ours. I was cool, shook hands and gave my condolences, but, man, it was freaky! He's aged (while I, of course, remain 17). One of the pieces of music at the funeral was "Under the Milky Way", still a beautiful and moving song after all these years. Steve's eulogy for Irene was his blog entry which he read at the service. Irene's husband and daughter were both strong and dignified.

A little light op-shopping afterwards to take the edge off a bit, and I popped into the National Library for a free screening of Japanese Story. Excellent film, just about in my budget and I managed to knit half a beanie. So that's two completed and one on the needles from the scary 70s poncho. Ooh look - here they are.

In other knitting news, I cast off the bloody loofah this morning. Now to work out some handles for it.

And I'm still doing the hat thing. This is a watch cap, pattern by Sarah Bradberry, in handspun I picked up in an op shop yonks ago. I didn't like it much in the ball, but it was wool and figured it would come in handy for a stripe or something. As it is, I think this watch cap is staying with me for a while. It's super soft knitted up and the porridge colour is not at all boring but has all these fascinating little flecks of brown. Yes, I am easily amused, thanks for asking.

Sound track tonight is Blurred Crusade, The Church.

The scarf, it was (not) apricot...

Reporting in to say that Miss Ann was very happy with her peacock scarf. The selfish urge to keep this item of beauty was very strong but her reaction when she opened the bag and realised it was all her very own chased away any lingering regrets. She wore it all day at work, showing everyone who walked past. This reaction is so gratifying to a knitter, particularly when half my family prefers non-knitterly gifts because knitted stuff is so much work to look after, you know. *sigh*

Despite a variety of avoidance tactics Mum's loofah is 3/4 knitted. What I don't understand is I've reached what should have been the finish mark, based on how much nylon it took to knit the first half and the nylon isn't anywhere near run out. It's cruel and those of you who are reading this and laughing (and I know who you are AND where you live) should stop right now.

What have been my avoidance tactics? Well reading kniting blogs is one of them. I have read the entire Yarn Harlot archive and am most of my way through The Panopticon archive, but I can read those and knit so it's not that effective an avoidance technique.

I went to Tuesday SnB and knitted the loofah some more, then started unpicking a wool cardigan I picked up on Monday for $1. It's destined for a dyebath and then I'll think about a project. This was a more effective avoidance technique, particularly as the creator of the baby-blue-short-sleeved-single-button-at-the-top-cardigan had stitched grosgrain ribbon down both sides of the fronts. There are no bands. It took over an hour to get the ribbon off.

I started another Butch Hat in remant greasy wool but ran out so it's unravelled and waiting for more remants. This hat was destined for one of the local charities which distributes warm clothing to the homeless. I really want to knit a few of these hats so I found the 1970s (and barely worn) poncho picked up at an op-shop on the weekend for $5 and unravelled it. The wool is lovely. Spun thick/thin with two yarns, one cream the other caramel, the poncho was heavily fringed *cack* and the edges cr****ted *retch*. Because it's naturally textured and is being knitted in double rib, there's no need to skein and relax the wool before knitting. I wound it into balls straight from the garment and am a fair way up the first hat. There's enough wool here for 6 or 7 hats. There's no goal here beyond one hat at a time.

Photos later.

And another thing..

I really was convinced it had only been a week between posts, but Kate quite rightly demonstrated this evening, using maths and everything, that it had been two weeks, or a whole 14 days, if, like me, you are chronologically challenged.

I remembered, then, that I had spent last Sunday at the Canberra Spinners and Weavers exhibition, wonderfully titled "Warped and Twisted". A exhibition showing the depth of local spinning, knitting and weaving talent that delighted Mum as well me. I joined the society on the spot and hope to get into the next spinning class intake.

I also met an inspiring woman who has just bought her first loom. She bought it off eBay and had to drive over 1,000km round trip to collect it. She's going to weave leftover textiles from St Vincent de Paul op-shops which would otherwise have to go to landfill. Isn't that wonderful?

You may also have noticed in the sidebar, an additional SnB meets. We were contacted by the lovely Judes this week about our bi-monthly meets. Turns out she was organising her own meet at Woden each week, so we've joined forces. Judes describes herself as a knitphomaniac; so she's definitely another one from the same mothership as the Happy Spider would say.

And if all that wasn't enough, the lovely Judith and I are investigating setting up a branch of the Knitting Guild of NSW here in our fair city. We have to overcome the fact that Canberra is not in New South Wales, but that's a mere technicality. Email me or leave a comment if you're interested in joining or knowing more about a local guild.

Oh, and there was a record 22 knitters at SnB on Thursday and the lovely Beau, our Starbucks boy-manager, loved his hat and wears it home from work to counteract the autumn chill. As they say in the classics, "Noice".

And before I toddle of to sleepy bo-bos, a word about the wheel. We will not be having a wheel-naming competition. Going with the two nominations, Madam Tricoteuse from the Sheep Rustler and Charlotte from Jejune, I've decided on Mlle Charlotte Tricoteuse. From the look of her, Mlle Charlotte has been around the block a time or two (there's a NSW TAFE stamp on her, nuff said), but she retains an innocent quality that doesn't quite match "Madam".

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Bad blogger; bad, bad blogger. No posts in ages. Many of my bloggy mates seem to be similarly affected so perhaps it's viral.

Use What You Have Month

As some have pointed out, I am constitutionally unsuited to restrictive diets of any kind. I managed not to buy any magazines or books but failed at the "no wool" part.

I did what the month called for in name, though, and used stash to create several items (see previous post) and there are still further stash inspired items on the needles. Also, much agonising, gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair thinking was done about acquisition for the sake of it and consumerism in general. I thought carefully about each purchase and did not go mad at the Royal Easter Show, despite many, many temptations. In fact, the homeward journey was weighed down with only two skeins of yarn to make a single garment, a few sets of dpns bought in op-shops and two lengths of fabric for winter clothes, also bought in op-shops.


(crap photo of black and white herringbone wool for skirt and french navy fine wool and lycra for dress)

I also found items in stash I'd forgotten about, which is better than buying stuff because it's like getting new yarn for free and home-delivered!

So, despite corrupting Jejune's resolve (if I was sinking, someone else was going down with me), UWYH Month was a success in the Taphophile household.

Finished Objects

If thoughtful purchasing and justification of expenditure were the upside to UWYH Month, then a mania for small and quick projects, particularly scarves, may be the downside. There is much to recommend the garter stitch scarf, but knitterly challenge it ain't.

This is for one of my work team. Presenting Ann's Peacock Scarf -


I was knitting it at lunchtime Friday and she fell in love with the colours. Can't blame her - it's a fantastic yarn. Purchased earlier this year in a local op-shop, it's 3 balls of Robin Charade colourway named "Panache". The peacock colours against the black are a knock out and I'm giving it to her tomorrow before I change my mind and keep it. Here's a closeup of the colours. Not quite perfect representation, the green has gone yellow, but it's close, very close.

For the record, it's 15 stitches in garter stitch on 12 mm needles. 132cm long and 18cm wide. That's 52" x 7" in the old money.

The TASDA Shawl, aka the Green Menace

The Textile and Surface Design Association (TASDA) has an annual charity raffle. Members donate an item they have created. Items are displayed at various functions throughout the year, such as craft shows and TASDA's annual exhibition. The raffle is drawn at the exhibition. As many people win as there are donated items. Last year the money raised (over $2,000) went to Stasia Dabrowski for her soup kitchen.

This is a pic, stolen from the TASDA website, of a small section of last year's raffle prizes. More than 80 bags were donated last year. This year, the items must be wraps.

Using Sarah Bradberry's pattern and nearly 10 balls of Shepherd Accent mohair (78% mohair, 13% wool, 9% nylon) from stash, the Taphophile donation is a feather and fan comfort shawl in jade green. I calculated that the yarn would have cost me about $50 new, so that amount has been donated to Medicins Sans Frontieres. As promised, a charity double-bunger for UWYH Month. The remaining 5.5 balls of the yarn will go into the Stitch 'n' Bitch swaps basket and I get to be a Tricoteuse Sans Frontieres. Everyone wins.

The shawl isn't blocked yet - happy to receive advice on blocking mohair - but it doesn't have to be submitted until the end of the month, so no pressure.

Knitted on 6mm bamboo circs, dimensions to be determined by blocking. It's a little small for me, but some of the slim young things tried it on the other night, and it was fine on them. I just got so sick of being covered in jade green mohair that I had to cast off.

On the needles

Motherly Mohair

Mum's birthday came and went and her Kiri shawl still looks like this.

She really loved her Tupperware icecube trays, though!

I'm using some stash Cleckheaton Studio Mohair as a test run before breaching the Rowan Kid Silk Haze. The Cleckheaton is a bluey grey colour - more blue than this picture shows, but it's very grey day here. It's lovely yarn, but a real bugger to unravel. This yarn has been knitted then unpicked so many times that it's starting to get bald patches. The shawl will get done eventually, probably when Mum and Dad make their annual migration north (51 days to go and counting) for the winter. I'll have more time then and more head space.

Loofah, aka This is How Much I Really Love My Mother

Apart from the chronic heart-lung thing and the 24 hour oxygen, Mum's main problem is dry skin and an itchy back. For Mother's Day, she's getting a knitted loofah at her own request. Her requirements were minimum length of 70cm, handles and quick drying. Certainly purchase of such an item is possible, but it was April, I was in the grip of UWYH Month and I have a box full of that abomination, Cr****t Nylon, donated by my grandmother (who knew she hated me that much?) .

I'm 2/3 done knitting a tube out of doubled cr****t nylon. Bet you thought you'd never see such an admission on THIS blog! The colours are mauve and white, but knitted together come out a particlarly interesting lolly pink. Mum loves the colour, btw. It has to be finished in a week. So far it has been knitted at the computer while reading email and knitting blogs and at last Thursday's SnB. I can just about manage it if I don't actually look at it while I'm knitting.

The idea is the tube will be turned inside out so that the seamless reverse garter stitch side will be the working surface. I need to attach handles of some description so it can be used in the shower to scrub her back. The virtues of this object are that it is definitely UWYH, it's creating a useful gift to the specifications of the recipient and the recipient has accepted that this is adequate compensation for the black mohair cardigan I made her knit me, at night, 23 years ago. I will also point out that I am still wearing the black mohair cardigan. I expect she will similarly cherish the loofah.

Here it is about 2/3 done and looks rather like a wind sock.

And finally, socks

This week I have failed to successfully complete two different socks 5 separate times. Note to sock pattern designers - please put ALL stitch numbers for ALL needles and ALL needle positions, particularly after gusset pick ups, EVERY time. Not all of us are experience sock knitters and the instruction 'use your favourite heel' is NOT helpful.

Just to show that I am incapable of learning from past mistakes, I am now most of the way down the leg of a new sock. This one's for me in black Clan 4ply (60% wool, 40% nylon) that I picked up off Ebay for $5 for 12 x 25g balls. I work that out to be less than $1.70 a pair of socks, if when I get them finished.

The pattern is a Lizzie's Lacy Ribs by Fluffy Knitter Deb and goes up to an 11" ankle. Forgive the crap photo - it's hard to stop the flash going off, hold the sock and take the shot.

And as a reward for getting all the way to the very end of this dull post, a shot of the Quality Control Supervisor letting me know what she thinks about knitting in general and knit blogging in particular, on cold, wet and windy days when we could be cuddled up on the couch with chocolate and a good book.

The Finishing Post

Much to report for a week of non-blogging. Well I tried to blog but blogger buggered it up.

I may have fallen off the Use What You Have Month (UWYHM) wagon, but I've still completed several projects from what I had.

We have, for your viewing pleasure:

The Knitting Cape

The pattern is A capella from Knitty.com. My version is not elegant but it's serviceable.

No, knittydoll, unfortunately the Knitting Cape does not confer on the wearer knitting super-powers, like the ability to knit lace in an instant with no tedious unraveling when a YO has been missed! It does, however, keep this knitter toasty warm without all the bulk around the arms that too many layers of clothes adds.

This was knitted from two strands together of the homespun donated by my SIL's godmother in February. It used about 400 g. I will admit to buying the buttons ($1.80 from Big W) because I had no suitable ones at home. You can't see them in the pic because I hadn't sewn them on at that point, but they are now firmly secured and are a lovely mother-of-pearl finish, very thin and about the size of a 10c piece. There are four of them. I added the ruffle on the bottom, knitted in garter stitch with increases in every 4th stitch for 4 rows because cr****t and fringes are forbidden in this house.

I will admit to not really liking this wool when it was donated, but knitted up it's just lovely. The pearly grey colour gives way to mauves through to indigo with some pale pink and crimson.

Java Jarmies, Versions I and II

We rise early in the Taphophile household. We like to greet the day slowly and with generous doses of caffeine. Now that the weather has turned in Canberra, my early morning plunger of coffee is usually tepid after the first cup and stone cold by the third.

As I was finishing the ruffle on the Knitting Cape, I pondered the problem and immediately solved it. What was needed was a cosy for the Bodum. A few calculations later and we have Java Jarmies Version I.

It's double rib with the homespun knitted on two needles with a button hole flap to accommodate the handle and a v-shape in the centre front to accommodate the pouring lip. The bottom 3cm is stitched together.

Version I didn't have quite enough length in the button hole flap (only 6 stitches). Version II has 12 stitches which is too long. Version III will have 8.

Now there's one for work and one for home and have to create them for the other sizes and styles of coffee presses in the house. It works really well and the coffee stays at a drinkable temperature for about an hour, even in the arctic reaches of the kitchen.

Cap for Claire

A member of my work team loved the donated yarn so much she demanded I knit her a cap. She also demanded a jumper but that was never going to happen even had there been enough wool.

I used the Mark Thrailkill's Watch Cap pattern again and it worked a treat. The model here is Baby Chrissie. There's about 150g of the donated handspun left. Not sure what it will be yet.

Matinee Idols

The handbag usually contains a matinee jacket or other small and portable item of knitting. These two are the latest versions.

The aqua is sweet and the yellow is really very buttery. There will be more of these in the months to come as they are knitted in one piece from the top down on a circular needle and after the sleeves it's all plain sailing. Also, stash contains an awful lot of 3ply.

Beau's Beanie

Beau is the boy-manager of the Starbucks which is the SnB and BookCrossing venue. He is a lovely man who is very supportive of both groups so I thought he needed a little knitterly gift. This was knitted from the leftover Wedding Hat yarn to Needle Beetle's Sea Cap pattern.

He whipped it out of the bag this afternoon and stuck it straight on. He appeared delighted with it and it fitted quite well. Don't know about you, but I get very nervous giving knitted gifts, so his response was quite a relief.

Several things have been started, unravelled, restarted, unravelled and chucked in a box and some progress. More later.

Hold it

Just a little post to jot down some reminders for myself more than anything

FO: Knitting Cape (UWYH); Java Jarmies Mark I (UWYH); Beanie for Beau (UWYH)

OTN: Java Jarmies Mark II (UWYH)

THE ROYAL EASTER SHOW: Magpie Mohair; Back to Back Challenge & Baaarbara; Donna Hay; Tea

GIFTS: Fleece; Ack

A Very Good Friday

Finally left work at 4 on Thursday afternoon. Yes, I know I was leaving at lunchtime but sometimes I just have to be the boss and lead by example - that and there was a lot to do and very few staff to do it.

Anyway, a few stops for petrol etc. and I was on my way. The road to and from Sydney I have driven hundreds of times and in the gathering dark is not particularly interesting. The audio-book was fine company, "A Spell of Winter" by Helen Dunmore, won the Orange Prize a few years back, and reached Sydney in reasonable time. Stopped at Coles at one of the big malls, and ran full-force into Easter. It took 90 minutes to get out and I had 4 potatoes, 2 zucchini, a carrot, some broccoli, a litre of soy milk, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, two lamb steaks, a packet of dried apricots and some soy icecream (So Good Chocolate - definitely OK particularly when on special).

Screaming kids and late evening after a long day; thankfully I had my knitting! I nearly left my handbag knitting at home but at the last minute chucked it into the daypack and now I'm REALLY pleased. It's amazing how much of a baby's matinee jacket (yes, another one) can be knitted standing in a supermarket queue for an hour, while inching the shopping basket towards the checkout with one's foot.

Eventually got to Gaye and David's just after 9pm. Unpacked the groceries, unpacked the clothes, sorted out the knitting projects (I brought 5, not including the handbag knitting). This may be overkill but due to babysitting the nieces and nephew on Wednesday night with no notice at all, there was no time for decision making.

Yes, Jejune and Judy, a sock is among these projects, along with Angelina, JEC's cabled tunic, a capelet and a shawl.

Friday - it was forecast to be 29 deg so this little black duck opted for continuous pots of coffee, a book ("Elegance" by Kathleen Tressaro - definitely better than your average chick lit) and knitting the capelet. Radio National played a very good recording of the St Matthew Passion all morning. I had a lovely day.

Capelet no. 1 is a bit (read only a young child could wear this) small. Obviously the homespun (regular readers, yes both of you, might remember the gift of homespun from my SIL's godmother) isn't as chunky as first thought. Using the A Capella pattern from Knitty. And before anyone can accuse me of not doing a tension square the pattern says guage isn't important! Obviously the designer lied and wanted me to buy hideously expensive American yarn but I won't be beaten and there's LOTS of this wool, so I've started another one using two strands of wool. This one is definitely chunkier and it's absolutely Use What You Have.

Right, now it's time for a shower and my assault on the op shops of the Inner West, Reverse Garbage and Blue Bags v Tigers at Henson Park (I'm HOME, my lovelies).

Holiday Knitting

I'm off to Sydney for Easter. Four whole days to myself! One day at the Royal Easter Show, an afternoon watching my favourite Rugby League team, the mighty Blue Bags, play at home (I MISS Henson Park, people) and trips to Kumfs for a new pair of boots and shoes, Haighs for some chocky frogs and maybe an Easter bilby, and one work related trip, but just a small one, promise. I'm not telling the Sydney crowd I'm in town. Selfish, I know, but I REALLY need a break.

Food staples are packed - cereal, coffee grounds, thermos, packet of sweets, travel mug and water bottle. Clothes are packed - two pairs of jeans, four black t-shirts, a black jumper, a black spray jacket, jim jams, an appropriate quantity of socks and jocks, one pair black boots. I've selected the audio books for the car and packed a couple of novels for other times.

Major dilemma - what knitting to pack?

Do I take one or more of the current projects to complete or do I pack something new so I have a souvenir? Decisions, decisions.

Definitley not the Motherly Mohair, which has been shelved. Mum's getting Tupperware icecube trays for her birthday instead. Sounds dull, I know, but these icecube trays are FANTASTIC. The SIL and nephew, who also have birthdays this month, are getting cash, so gift projects are off the list.

I'm wavering between socks and a wrap. Will decide tomorrow, I guess.

Constitution: Weak

At least the fall from the "Use What You Have Month" wagon is cushioned by wool.

Sorry everyone, but 22 balls of black Cleckheaton 8ply, all in the same dyelot for $1 a ball was too good an opportunity to walk away from. I will admit that the two balls of Patonyle and four balls of vintage Patons Azalea for a total of $5.50 wasn't strictly necessary, but as I was buying the 8ply anyway...

I did leave lots of other beautiful wool there, though. St VdeP at Curtin if anyone's interested. ;)

Mood: Chuffed

For several reasons, I am chuffed.

1. I'm still on the "Use What You Have Month" wagon. Admittedly working all day yesterday limited the opportunites, but I could have been bad and wasn't.
2. Yesterday's work was staffing an information desk at the Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra's genealogy showcase. Not busy at all and I knitted most of the time. Finished another matinee jacket and also my first "Use What You Have Month" item, a black beanie from the yarn left over from the Wedding Hats. I think this beanie will be a gift to our favourite barista, Beau the Boy Manager of Starbucks, Civic. (pics later)
3. The intermittant decluttering at Chez Taph reached a whole new level today. Two young women of my acquaintance (work with the mother of one and am a neighbour to the other, who's father was in the Airforce with my dad - it's Canberra, happens all the time) are about to move out of home. This afternoon they collected a two seater couch and a pine wardrobe to add to their furnishings. In order to find room for the stuff that had been in the wardrobe (TV and DVD/VCR, videos, dvds and large amount of stash), I cleared out a chest of drawers and another wardrobe resuting in 5 garbage bags full of clothes and shoes going to St Vincent de Paul, 3 bags to my SIL and another bag for JEC.
4. Franklin mentioned me in his blog. My reaction was the opposite of cool.

Easter bunny arrives a little early

Popped over to see my friend Gaye this evening. She's down looking after grandchildren, so not staying with me this time. David stayed in Sydney.

I had to go over to hear about their most recent OS trip -
a couple of weeks in New Zealand and pick up these; the keys to heaven - well to Gaye and David's house in Sydney. I'll be staying there for Easter while they are in Melbourne.


I also had a lovely surprise of this; Lindt carrots - yum ;)






and a mystery box (not the fabric behind - that's a kid's applique thing that's going to become a needle roll sometime this month, but it suited the Easter theme).

The box is old, small and heavy and all the way from NZ. What can it be?



Woo hoo, it's a vintage yarn swift! The kids (3 & 5) were intrigued and then enthralled when I produced knitting from my handbag and we wound the ball onto the swift, then rewound it into a ball. Many rousing renditions of "Round and Round the Garden" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" were sung to keep our spirits up.

The box is original and contains the original instructions. They are priceless! When I get the scanner's valves warmed up, I'll post it over on Vague. I'm in charge until the HappySpider returns from her island retreat, so I should do something soon.

Knitting in public

It is an established fact that I knit at any given opportunity. My handbag almost always contains a piece of small easy knitting that can be whipped out at traffic lights, in queues (God’s little gifts of knitting time) and while walking around in general. I have been known to knit and push a supermarket trolley with my tummy.

It was not unusual, then, for me to be knitting in the queue for the supermarket checkout yesterday. A woman in her 60s began a conversation that ended with me conducting an informal knitting in the round tutorial based on the problems she was having with her current project of a baby beanie on dpns.

On Saturday, at a Blue Hat Project follow-up, we were discussing the portable nature of knitting, how it lends itself to social and group activity and why was it so?

I ventured a thought that knitting in public is rather like walking the dog or being obviously pregnant – other people feel that they can speak to you (or the dog or your abdomen in some cases). There is a pretext for conversation and perhaps a commonality of experience that allows people to contravene unspoken but strong social taboos around personal space and talking to strangers (try starting a conversation in a lift/elevator and see what happens!).

So next time someone asks me “What are you knitting?� or even the annoying and ridiculous “Are you knitting?�, I will not roll my eyes, even metaphorically, and through gritted teeth reply, “Yes, I am knitting� adding internally “you moron.� But will smile and acknowledge that for a brief time another person wanted to make contact with me and that something I was doing allowed them to transcend powerful social taboos and I will rejoice - any positive (or even benign) human contact nowadays is a very Good Thing TM. :)

New Toy

Ok, so it doesn't count as a corruption of the Use What You Have Month principles if it's something you've wanted for a long time and something you got outbid on eBay for last month and if it's a bargain - does it? I'll think the answer to this question is "no", otherwise I've fallen of the wagon on the very first day and might as well indulge. Definitely a "No", then. ;)

Last night I won this on eBay. Is she not beautiful, mes amies? We will have a poll to name her when she arrives and perhaps a little christening party?

Spin Sisters, when shall we meet?

Spidey, Mon and Heidi - I'm going to NEED you. Now that's the kind of spin class I'd be interested in joining!

In knitting news I spent yesterday afternoon in the company of some wonderfully talented craftswomen following up on our hat workshop from last month. Our facilitator was the wildly talented Lynne Johnson . I am trying to make fine wire and yarn work together in hat form. Not there yet, but getting closer. Will also try and incorporate the wonderful sinimay fibre.

This is all for the Blue Hat Project which I urge you to support. Make a hat (doesn't have to be an actual hat, could be drawing, painting, poem, jewellrey, embroidery etc) that expresses what the blues are to you and send it to the another amazingly talented and creative woman, Waltraud Reiner, by the end of June. She will exhibit it in the Hat Extravaganza during Hat Week (first week of September) at Federation Square in Melbourne. The hats will be auctioned to raise money for Beyond Blue.

If you don't think you can make a hat, you might like to buy a button or a key chain. I have some buttons - they are $4 each.

Canberrans, there will events around Hat Week here, including a Knit-In at Duffy School on 5 September. It's a work day, but I'll be applying for leave and it would be great to see as many of us there as possible. More details as they come to hand.

Replies Recent to Comments

Thanks to all who have commented in the last few days and also to those who have been too shy to comment but have emailed.

Specific questions etc

KATE
We haven't decided which Sunday in April, but it will be 23 or 30 rather than 9. Keep the drinking game ideas coming, though :) . I'm thinking more along the lines of 1 chocolate for every row unravelled - would suit me just fine at the moment.

JEJUNE
Thanks for letting Knitty know about the shirt Denise was wearing. I should have given Jenny my Chicago Stitch 'n' Bitch t-shirt, but it's white and I don't think she could have worn it.

SHOPPING SHERPA
I've left a comment on your blog concerning op shops. :)

15 minutes - thanks, John

Today's Canberra Times, page 14. Pretty picture of two of my favourite people.

Click here for large version of text only.

Do not mess with a knitter armed with dpns

Look what Clare at Benbah Blacksheep did! I am in awe.