In the spirit of finishing -

This has been waiting for the white stitching and the borders since 2004. As with most of my cross stitching thus far, I don't know what to do with it now.


















A rooster is good feng shui, I think it wards off gossip. Apparently I need a phoenix at work. I might look into my Christmyth designs from Dragondreams.

I miss having chooks and I have been thinking about frog friendly gardens. There is a vacant block the next suburb over, every time I walk past it I dream of building a small house in the corner and having fruit trees along the back wall, a vegetable patch and the rest set up to provide a haven for native birds, reptiles and frogs. Are you allowed to shoot starlings in the city?

Finish-itis -

I only feel like finishing things at the moment. Maybe it is because I am starting so many new things at work and my head is full of that.















Maybe it is the weather and my thoughts are turning from knitting warm and snuggly things. Maybe because the next project to cast on is Venezia and it is scary. Scarier than lots of things. I did marking today instead of casting it on.















I am worried about my boobs in Venezia, bevata nono would just be the start of it, hee, I just made a bilingual pun. So I think I will follow Garn Boet's V-neck modification, and take her advice on starting/swatching.















I am enjoying learning how my camera works. I should go look up those tutorials.

Coming home -

Walking home tonight I passed a ute, one boy was leaning against the door, three were sitting across the front seat wearing wife beaters and looking to see if I was looking at their flexing muscles.

Just as I was passing through their thick cloud of marijuana smoke I heard one say, 'Yeah, ever since I gave up the ciggies, my speech has been really slurred.'

I have found the love for this project:














When I started it last year I was doing data entry. Inspired by All Tangled Up, it flew along, I finished a repeat a day, or more. Then I started teaching. Suddenly I managed barely a repeat a week. Then gave up altogether because 'fire bad, tree pretty' - lace too hard.

My eyes sting and I stink of scorched metal -

Home from my third wrought iron class. I ache all over (a lot of metal shaping tonight). My project is going to look like I made it, but because of something mum said I don't really mind.

On the phone, I started to complain about my lack of hand-eye coordination. She cut me off and said, 'Enjoy it, just let it be a part of the design.' So I did, and I relaxed and the pieces look different/similar (and I like it).

I played with the maths and made the numbers perfect instead.

The walls of the workshop make me think weird thoughts:














My favourite tools are the ones that make lots of sparks:


















And I'd rather fancy one of these:


















On the way home I stopped at the weird pizza place. I had a fake tan and almost didn't save the rest for lunch tomorrow.

Pear and Pecan -

I decided to celebrate Cup Day by having a go at a new cake recipe.















I tend to stick to cakes I know well like carrot cake or Mum's fruit cake, especially when inviting people over. But Nikkishell's cake sounded delightful (and it was).

I changed it slightly:



















(this is why I shall never write knitting patterns).

Oh, look at me, I'm a flippy little dolphin, let me flip for you -

I just finished casting off (twice). I cast off the first time and ran out of yarn. I have no idea how to join cotton while you are casting off, and I didn't want to start on the 11th ball anyway. So I ripped it back and did a different cast off. It is not as flippy, but you can hardly tell.















Now just sewing in ends, and I-cord. Ugh, I-cord. Wait, didn't Eunny do something different? I'll go check. Hmmm, looks like she's got a ribbon. I've got ribbon. I've got green ribbon.

I'll report back when it is washed and really really finished.

Cast on in a weak moment -

I needed something that I could knit in the dark, that I could knit while I was reading essays, that I could knit while using my 4mm Holz und Stein needles. They really are the most magic things to knit with. It was an illegal cast on and fell outside the rule of finish three, start one.



















The yarn was from the Handweavers and Spinners Guild and I think it's alpaca. It certainly didn't mind when I bashed it around in hot soapy water yesterday.















You'll excuse me while I experiment with the camera?

An ashtray, but -

I saw this table outside a secondhand shop the other day. I thought, 'Cute table, pity about the ashtray.'



















But it stuck with me and I decided I had to have it, maybe I could put a pot plant in the ashtray holder. It inspired me to clean out boxes of stuff that have been sitting around since I moved in to make room for it and, as a result, I also have three bags full of yarn to take to the Salvos. It became my good-luck throwing-things-out table.

I went back to the shop and upset the lady there who would never have sold anything with an ashtray on it. I was despondent, what would I do without my good luck table?

Ah, the joys of being really really tired. I worked backwards through my brain and eventually realised I'd been to Birdie Num Nums and there is a great secondhand shop near there...

On the edge of the picture you can see the sleeve of Spindleshanks, all done now, but for the sewing up.

I might make another -

It's lovely. It is soft on the hands, easy enough to knit during meetings and it draws a lot of positive attention.















I have three balls of heavenly in a gladbag up in the cupboard... but of course I will finish this one first. I am going to be good and finish things. No starting. Not even with that delicious mohair I found at the bottom of the stash.

NaBloPoMo -

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I joined joined NaBloPoMo on this and one of my other blogs. I suspect this will mean there will be content that is not knitting as a result, but I'll try and keep it crafty. Wish me luck.