Friday, June 30, 2006

That might be okay for laughing person

Okay, so I wrote a long post, it was great, but I kinda didn't save it and then lost it. So this will be a pared down version of the same thing. I have been back from Melbourne for just over a week. It was an excellent weekend away. There was the mad dash to get myself some shoes for the wedding, after I realised the shoes that were 'in my old wardrobe at mum and dad's' weren't. There was the pre-wedding overview of my MC duties with the groom, which included watching Father Ted and drinking vodka. There was the delight at seeing this imgp1781
at the wedding. It's my brother with his scary and funny handlebar moustache. With only this moustache, a pair of sunglasses and a beanie, he managed to make sure that no-one sat next to him on the train a couple of weeks ago. Go tiger go!
There was the reaction of the family to 'the dress'. My cousins and I used to dress up for the grown-ups when we were kids and perform. We'd make up skits and then act them out. I can't remember content, but I can remember that my cousin Keiran (now a married father of two) always used to wear an old ballgown of my grandmother's. I found the dress at my aunts and after some adjustment to my less-than-ample bosom, we had a dress that fitted. Everyone was most impressed and recognised the dress. Well, those of us who were old enough to remember. Keiran didn't seem too upset that I'd stolen his dress. Here is a photo of me in the dress, standing next to the previous owner/wearer, Grandma.
imgp1790
I, unfortunately, do not have any better photos of the dress (with me in it) at the moment, so this'll have to do. I'm banking on someone else at the wedding having taken a better shot at some stage. I certainly remember posing for one or two.

I had a good time MCing and didn't swear once, if you don't count bugger as a swear word. I think it all went pretty well and the food was excellent.

I had the good fortune to be able to catch up with some friends over the course of the weekend. MF and her beautiful son Jack came over for lunch and we had some yummy bagels while Jack scared Sheddy the local cat who likes to come and visit. Sheddy evidently doesn't like babies, actually, I don't think any cats like babies. He decided against joining us for lunch.
We had dinner, the same night, with newly married couple EE and ME and with good friend VE. It was Mekong for mains, noodle soup all around and Max Brenner's for dessert. EE ordered a choc/orange hot chocolate that looked like this:imgp1831 VE made a comment about it's appearance. Apparently, it looks like a vagina. We giggled to ourselves about this. But were laughing very much out loud when EE's husband took a sip and said 'that tastes familiar'. We, according to the boy, laughed so loud that the entire restaurant was looking at us. I think EE was a bit put out by that, so apologies mate, it wasn't directed at you. We just have dirty minds.

In other news, I have knitted a fair few pair of socks in the last couple of weeks. JJF finally got his red socks:DSCN2189
which are slightly different reds. I ran out of the first lot of wool without finishing the first sock. So I made them kinda similar, with the body of the sock being one colour and the toe being the other colour. I think I'd forgotten that dye lots could vary so much and that JJF has really big feet. But it's all fine, he's colour blind so probably can't really tell the difference between them anyway. I have promised to teach him and my housemate SKW to knit in the near future. I think we'll be starting with scarves and beanies.
I've also started on a sock knitting project. I have a group of really good friends, who are currently dispersed all over the countryside. I am making us all pairs of socks that have red toes (the linking factor) so we can remember that group of friends, even when we are a long way away. It's a bit daggy I know, but I want to do something to make these people remember me! So, I have just received foot size from RU, finished the socks for MB (who's birthday it was this week) and started on the socks for VE. Once I work out how big size 7 is in European sizes, I can get started on EE's socks too. Here are the completed and semi-completed socks.
DSCN2208DSCN2209

Next time I'll tell you a tale of mountain climbing and shoulder repair.

Friday, June 09, 2006

I'm sick, so photos!

NEW SHOES
Here are my gorgeous, 1920s style T-bar shoes. I got these at a bargain price and they were perfect to go with my 1920s style dress that I wore to a wedding in Tassie. The next photo is of the shoes that I bought recently to make myself feel better, but on the feet of the bride from the wedding in Tassie, if that makes sense.
ellen
pretty, yes?
Next up, my brother and I, see he's the tall one, I'm the short one. But I'm older, I promise.
me and my brother
From the same night, but a different perspective, my dogs. Hamish first then Macbeth. Hamish certainly does love feet and Mac loves snuggling. Which do you think is cuter? I know which one is smellier (mac).
hamish loves feetmacbeth#1

And finally, I'm looking forward to meeting again the person for whom this quilt was made. Jack Peter Forbes. I've been friends with his mum for quite a number of years and we're catching up on my next trip to Melbourne. Apparently, he loves searching for the cat, the dog and the car. This was so much fun to make. Lots of squares, lots of handsewing (I hand pieced this quilt) and a mad search for some nice flanelette for the back. Enjoy! Fingers crossed my brain will be once again functional next week and I can produce more than photos.
jack's quilt

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

there were going to be photos. . . . .

I had intended to post a whole bunch of cool photos today that i'd found of craft projects, my brother (he's quite the silly and tall) and my dogs. But flickr is having a massage or some shite, so I'm stuck with words yet again.
Today's theme is my immediate family. They are great. Really great.
MUM -IK
My mum is a worry-wart, but I know it's only because she cares. She has the same passion for Pride and Prejudice as I do, and the same passion for knitting and sewing. I guess it's hardly surprising, perhaps it would be more correct to say that I have the same passion for those things as her. In any case, we can craft shop until the cows come home, and then we can sit at home with our purchases and watch Colin Firth for hours too.
DAD -CK
My Dad doesn't necessarily look after himself as well as I would like sometimes, but he certainly keeps a keen eye out for me. I can rely on Dad to give me sensible advice and to consider all sides of the story before coming to a conclusion. Again, he has the same passion for science that I do, or rather I share his passion for science. We studied pretty much the same areas of study during our respective BSc's but mine was just 30 years later. His former lecturer runs the lab next door, and gave me a chocolate today. Dad would always let me stay up past my bedtime to watch Quantum with him on a Wednesday night.
BROTHER- PK
My brother can bug me like no-one else and has some 'interesting' ideas. But he completely understands my sense of humour and the ridiculous. He and I share a delight in jazz and rhythm, I as a swing dancer, he as a drummer. We, obviously, have a shared history and as such can understand each other better than a lot of other people. Friends of mine have often been surprised at how well the two of us get along. We, at least from my perspective, have a really good sibling relationship and are pretty close.
Recently, I've been reminded of how good my immediate family are. Dad has been calling (now that he's employed again) from work and updating me on Grandma's position and advising me on various issues. Mum has called from home to let me know similar things, but from her perspective. PK has also called to get my advice for his girlfriend, A, on attire for the upcoming wedding and to discuss sneakiness (more on this later). Mum flew from Melbourne to Canberra as soon as she could to look after me, after my accident. Dad followed shortly afterwards. I'm very lucky to have such a nice family, very lucky. So, thanks Mum and Dad for looking after me and PK so well and creating a pretty kick-arse group of adults (and pet dogs).

Next post. . . . . . . . .pictures of the dogs and the craft and the brother and the other stuff that is interesting and cool and not so sappy as this crap.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Sunday evening musings

This weekend has got me pretty tired. I've been on a mission to get black velvet ribbon, about 4 cm wide. Does Lincraft have any? No. Does Spotlight have any? No. Do any other fabric shops in Canberra have any? No. It's ridiculous. I think I'm going to have to get the boy to go and get me some from his local Spotlight (assuming they have some in Melbourne). But the other thing that is making me tired, is my late night last night and the walk up Mount Taylor this morning. Seeing as they are in chronological order in that sentence, they will be in the following description.
Last night was an excellent night. Just enough of a mix of some excellent, and sometimes scary, dances and the social element that I love. I had some wonderful chats with my fellow swing dancers. Topics ranged from comparison of poor vision to our mutual delight of the dance known as Balboa. My vision isn't nearly as crap as I thought, but I'm about the only one with crap vision who actually wears glasses. The rest of them are contacts people. I'm far too lazy for contacts, but was wishing Saturday morning that I had some. (couldn't find my glasses because I wasn't wearing them, which is the evil paradox of poor vision) I had a few really nice Bal dances with DC from Sydney and also with JJF and some regular lindy hop dances with A and J. Lots of fun. I was given a Lincraft voucher (they know my heart well) to thank me for my time on the committee, which I recently quit. And to top the evening off, some students from my Monday night class that I teach with CP turned up and had a good time. YAY! Excellent night.
Unfortunately, an excellent night is quite often a late night. So after about 6 hours sleep, I woke up to get myself ready for the walk up Mt Taylor. After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and crispy bacon, JJF, myself, UW and SKW made the trek up the STAIRS OF DOOM and looked down over the cold wintery, windy Canberra we had this morning. I don't think my thighs will be thanking me tomorrow, I think they will be trying to find ways to cripple me, so I will never do that to them again. Next time we go up those stairs I'm getting a photo to prove how evil they are.
So I'm now just sitting in the lab waiting for a few things to get sorted out before it's off home to sleep until next week. I will probably dream about stairs that say they lead to black velvet ribbon but actually lead me to more stairs and more stairs.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

random shite

I went to a dancing thing last night, it was a 'masters class' and then social dance with Dax Hock. Admittedly, I decided against doing the class, I was worn out and Dax isn't exactly my cup of tea. He's a fabulous dancer and the like, but doesn't really inspire me. Instead I was door bitch extraordinair and ended up having an hour long chat with another dancer about this and that. It was a good night, especially because I didn't have to ride the scooter and I also got a couple of really fun social dances. Yay social dancing.
So today, the plan goes as follows:
-dissect gential discs from 3rd instar larvae
-fix said discs
-go to spotlight for velvet ribbon and some goldy-greeny thread (for 'the' dress)
-hang out and knit/handsew with JJF
-head off to the dancing birthday party

So, in the land of crafting projects I have a few on the go, alas no photos, maybe one day. I have the socks for JJF, one is already completed and has been confirmed as a sock that fits. I have the petticoat to wear under 'the' dress, all it needs now is a hem. I have 'the' dress alterations to allow for my lack of bosom. And I'm desperate to make a moebius scarf and have found some yarn that would be fabulous for it here after reading about it on this man's blog. I'm totally stealing his idea/project, but the yarn sounds fantastic and too good an opportunity to miss out on. Hooray for the internet and purchasing thing via it's international goodness.

Something else I've wanted to get onto is stenciling, as seen around the place, using freezer paper. Alas, Australia is somewhat lacking in freezer paper, unless you count the stuff that they charge exorbitant prices for in craft stores. I'll have to wait until I'm next in Melbourne to steal some from my Mum, who got some from a friend on their way back from the states. It will happen, I'm sure of it. Then I can make a t-shirt for my cousin that says 'phwheat' and another that says 'muscle beach is cheese'. He'll love both of them I'm sure, well at least the first one.