Apparently David wants me to put the essay up here, so he can link to it. I think it might be an etiquette thing. Like I would understand….
Anyway, here it is.
Category: Knitting
Knitting as Blood Sport.
Road trip pictures
The Masked Podcaster, modelling WIP
The beautiful Hunter Valley
This is what open cut mining looks like. If you’ve ever had a wine from the Hunter Valley, or used electricity in Sydney, then you ought to know what goes on here. I thought I had a clue, but this is was a bit of a rude shock.
On the road to nowhere
The coal travels to the power station on a conveyor belt, and we should be comforted that the clouds of grey stuff are just clouds. Nothing to see here folks.
Around here David got some bad news on the phone. We’re too far from Sydney to go back, so onwards we go….
This was the second “event” of our trip. First, we saw a totalled motorbike, with a dust covered helmet beside it. Not a happy sight. We pulled over to look for the rider, and found him, gushing blood, by the side of the road. We took him to the nearest road house. Steve – I hope you got home OK.
(When I was a kid, our neighbour lost one of her teenaged daughters to a motorbike accident. A car knocked Cheryl off the road, and she died of her injuries by the side of the road. Nobody stopped.)
We saw a sign with a picture of a cow and a sheep. The cows came first. There were a lot of them, and they were on both sides of the road, and on the road. Not a lot of grass to eat on the road, but cows are not allowed to join mensa.
Then the sheep. Note the sheep dog mid leap into ute.
Dog in ute.
Sheep bums.
Still life with cow.
We made it!
A rustic wool baler.
The masked podcaster finds his mark.
A wire sheep
The big bad ass ball winder
Machine number one. No idea what it is called, or what it does. See further posts for excuses.
The drum carder.
A lot of roving.
Two drum carders.
Unspun being turned into singles.
Plying.
The dye bath.
Yarny goodness.
Waiting for the dye bath.
Unspun. I bought some of this, and am killing braincells thinking of what can be done with it.
Raw Merino fleece. See the little crimps?
After carding.
Hmmmm…. Unspun.
Of course we had to shop a little…
Here is some of the yarn we didn’t buy.
The shop.
As we left, I spotted a calf in the neighbour’s yard.
Back off, human.
I’m eating.
OK?
And then there were sheep.
Sheep with black faces.
And a hunger for whatever we have in our pockets…
A great day was had by all, and we are already planning the next road trip!
I didn’t get home until nearly 11pm, so I had rather a slow start to tuesday.
An event made for knitters ?
Kate tells me that this year it’s Turandot. Kerry tells me that the title character is a bloodthirsty princess, and that there is one particularly haunting aria. I have only been to the real opera once (Tosca), but I try to go every year to the pleb opera. Usually I try to get there a few hours early with a picnic, a bottle of wine and a few friends, so that we can soak up the ambience before the main event.
This strikes me as a great opportunity for a knit. Anyone up for it ?
PS. The Opera in the Park is on Saturday, January 27th. Concert usually starts at 8pm, I’ll probably try to get there around 4pm to grab a spot. I’ve added the event to the <a href=”webcal://ical.mac.com/rhubarbandcustard/Stitch%20’n%20Bitch.ics“>Sydney S’nB calendar</a>.
And here is a link to the Opera Australia calendar. You’ll have to navigate to January 2007 to find Turandot because there is no direct link (that I can find).
An Essay
David was kind enough to include an essay of mine in this weeks podcast. We recorded it last week, and I listened to it this morning on my way in to SSK.
It made sense to me, and I hope some people will be amused. Obviously I am convinced that I sound like a moron and that no-one will laugh, and that David is just humouring me by including it. The more rational part of my brain recognises that David really cares about the quality of his show, and he actually included it because it doesn’t suck. So I am going with the grown up interpretation, and hoping that I get good comments about it.
The bunnies (from left to right Vernon, Vice and Virtue) live with my friend Damian (not a knitter), and he was kind enough to loan them to us for a week while he went to a conference in QLD. He was also kind enough to give us a case of wine for the privilege. Yes ladies, he’s single….
And another FO. Last night I gave Andrew his birthday cross stitch, and he just sent me a cameraphone pic that I can put on the blog…
So I’m not going to die
Many thanks to Emma for telling me about eggs and shitake mushrooms. We agreed that 200 eggs a day isn’t feasible, and Evan is calling in a family favour to ask his cousin (a Naturopath) to find veg friendly D.
And also to Mary-Helen and Sandra. It’s wonderful to have a nurse in the family!
No pictures, because I am a bad blogger, but last night was REALLY FUN.
It was Andrews birthday on thursday and last night we went to Ya Habibi in Newtown to celebrate. It was an intimate group of rowdies, and a good time was had by all. Emma knew the belly dancer, so I fulfilled my dream of seeing her dance before she leaves, and Andrew shook his Ya Ya’s for all he was worth. Good times.
A million years ago, Emma went to Melbourne, and bought some VERY PINK yarn. Check the sidebars, you’ll get the idea…. She started to knit some lace, and then we never saw it again. Nothing suss – that girl usually has a few dozen projects on the needles, and she only brings “easy” stuff to the pub. Of course, Emma’s idea of easy would make most of us quake in our very large boots, but Emma is not afraid of a challenge. Unless, of course, it is a challenge preceded by alcohol intake. So the complicated stuff stays at home, and we only see her knitting insane fair isle, and endless circular lace, and lace socks – you know, easy stuff….
But last night, she brought out the pink laceweight. In a gift bag. With my name on it.
Some yarns, like Jussi’s Scarf, can tell people what they want to be. Apparently this yarn told Emma who wanted to come and live with.
I am astounded by it’s cleverness, but even more so by Emma’s thoughtfulness and generosity, and general wonderfulness. She is leaving, but she has left me with such a special gift, I will always have a little bit of Emma to wrap myself in, and remember the confidence she has given me over the years.
A quote
Tonight we had a Greens meeting that was a little more interesting than usual. We were supposed to preselect a candidate for the state seat of Epping, but a health scare and a work commitment prevented the candidate from standing, which is a great pity. She isn’t someone I know very well, but apparently she is a woman of faith, and she quoted St Augustine of Hippo in conversation. He was born in Africa in the 5th Century, and is believed to have said,
“Hope has two beautiful daughters, and their names are anger and courage. Anger about those things that need to be changed, and the courage to change them.”
Lee Rhiannon spoke about the Lane Cove Tunnel, as did Ray Kearney, Chair of the Lane Cove Tunnel Action Group, and Professor of Immunology and infectious Diseases at Sydney University.
Two things made me angry. Apparently the CSIRO are quashing the findings from emissions research for financial gain. I knew they accepted large grants from the Meat and Livestock Corporation and then released a diet book heavy in red meat. But I didn’t know that the problem was widespread. I was also shocked just now after doing a google search for meat and livestock csiro to see just how many links there were containing those words. Apparently you can buy the CSIRO.
Secondly, we are all aware that cars are dangerous. We are bombarded with media attention on young drivers in fatal accidents, kiddies that get squashed by high speed police chases and lose limbs when cars crash into day care centers. But I had no idea that the number of pollution related deaths in Australia each year outnumbers road fatalities by a factor of about three to one. That the cost to our public health system of air quality related illness is absolutely massive, and makes a poor joke of arguments that we can’t filter tunnel emissions because the cost is too high.
I had no idea. None at all. Isn’t it funny that we can live in a world and think that we are aware of the issues that affect our day to day lives, and yet there are massive issues like this lurking literally like clouds over our heads, and we are oblivious.
I am finding the anger, just waiting on the courage.
And in knitting news…..
My last Christmas knitting project is nearing completion. Last night I was on the 5th line of the last chart when I discovered I was about 50cm away from the end of the ball. The only ball. So today I popped in to Rubi + Lana to pick up another ball. BUT THERE WAS NONE ON THE SHELF.
Cue panic attack. Rapid inhalation and exhalation, resulting in not much oxygen getting to the brain, and I almost cried. I am waaaay overdue for a big cry, but this was not the time, nor the place. Pamela, this is where you come in. Apparently, you ordered two large balls of the same colour, and some clever person had put aside on small ball for you. Apparently, there is more yarn at the warehouse with your name on it, but some helpful person snaffled the last small ball and hid it from view, just in case you might want that before the two large balls came from the warehouse. Apparently, I was able to convince the very helpful staff that my need was greater than yours, and they you would understand.
Apparently, the universe owes me a few blessings, and I am now well on the road to finishing. And Pamela, I owe you one. (And I won’t use much of this ball, and it’s yours when I’m done!)
Finally, a finished object
It started life as a pile of string, but after a bath and a brutal stretching, it looked like this.
And then I gave it to Bev (who is nothing like the mothers-in-law you see in the cartoons – she is lovely), and it looked like this…
We love Ecto !
I am slowly getting the hang of the image resizing stuff in Ecto. It wasn’t as idiot proof as I prefer a Mac app to be, but eventually my wild double clicking in random places paid off (yes, I am a self taught mac user), and I found the image settings. Would have been nice to have that documented chaps, but still….
Yesterday I worked, and apparently it’s ok to say why I’m looking for a job. My brothers company – the thing he has put his heart and soul into for nearly 20 years, is dying. It was a great company, with lovely customers, and a philosophy that was all about helping customer find the right solution for them, and making sure that everything worked together. Telling our customers and distributors these last few days has been awful. Many of them feel an attachment to the place that is rare in a business – Adam’s shop was more of a community than most apple shops, and its demise is a blow to more than just the staff. But for Adam, it must be horrible. He’s got a new baby arriving at the end of January, and I hope he soon sees the positives that are bound to happen because of this nasty and abrupt change. I understand a bit better now why he’s been more prickly than usual, and I probably could have been a little more considerate (though not knowing what was going on was a bit of a handicap).
I’ll be OK. Two competitors have already called to ask me to come in for an interview, and two of my customers want me to sell their products. One of my suppliers has fixed me up with a his brothers company too. And I have probably only told less than a dozen people about what is going on up till yesterday, when everyone at SSK was treated to my tale of woe.
Speaking of SSK, there was a bumper crowd yesterday! Kate modeled her finished Picovoli, Jussi looked splendid (her skirt had shiny bits, I was distracted). Emma showed off the beginnings of her wedding shawl, (so I retaliated by stuffing up my latest swallowtail and demanding that she fix it). Mary-Helen was weaving in ends for the cutest little cardi ever, and Sandra was the official photographer.
I gave Julie a lift home (it’s so nice to finally have a knitter in my suburb), and she showed me her very productive little garden, and even gave me a cucumber. Yum! There were other people there too, but I think they may be blogless. They still exist in the real world, but I can’t talk about them on the internet. Sandra is an exception, because there are pictures of her on M-H’s blog, so she almost crosses the divide.
A Christening
Today was a very special day for a family that is very special to me, and if they weren’t so special I might have stayed in bed….
I made my fabulous hommous with parsley, but at the last minute decided to add a touch more salt. The universe decided that a tablespoon would be more appropriate, and the dish was ruined. Exasperated, I threw myself in the car, but I decided to race back inside for some perfume (if I’m stressed, smelling good might help a little). On the way inside, I tore my fab new dress, and then knocked my head on the door frame so hard I nearly knocked myself out.
I held my poor battered head in my hands, and counted my misfortunes.
1. Hommous
2. Dress
3. Concussion
Yup – three. A nice round number. I was now safe to leave the house.
It was a good day.
And in knitting news, the podcast is out, and I didn’t say anything too awful. I even liked the sound of my voice!
Check it out here.
I can’t talk about it
Work has been pretty stressful, but I can’t talk about it, I am planning a honeymoon to Vietnam, but I don’t know if it’s going to pan out, and I can’t talk about it. Mark has some issues right now, and I can’t talk about it.
I’ve just finished a major project, but I can’t talk about it, because it’s a gift. I also took up a new craft, but I can’t talk about it because it’s a gift.
There’s more, but I can’t talk about it.
So here is a picture of a gorgeous birdie. Peachy.
Disco Knitter 