Pea Soup

random snippets on a Monday

2008-05-12T12:08:00.005+10:00

• Last night I started reading The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett and can't put it down. Looks like it will be as good as Bel Canto if not better. Hooray!

• The day before that I started Intuition by Allegra Goodman. I could only get a large print edition from my local library and it actually hurts my eyes to read it. What's up with that? Enjoying it nonetheless.

• I am loving the blog Record the Day.

• That book Heroic Australian Women in War, the selection for bookgroup tonight which I was so looking forward to, was terribly disappointing. If I were less polite I'd say it was appalling. How could the publishers let typos, spelling mistakes, sloppy scholarship and lifeless writing get through like that? I noticed that the front of the book states that the author lectures at the University of Queensland, yet when I got to chapter three, there is a little sticky note on University of Queensland letterhead saying (and I quote) "Much of the info contained in this chapter is not accurate and the quotes attributed to A.K. are manufactured. This work should not be used as an academic text." Then throughout the chapter are little pencil marks denoting all the errors. (I wonder if the author still works at UQ? My guess is no.) I must say I felt vindicated when I read the note as I always feel oddly guilty if I criticise a book, especially one from a respected publishing house. Is it just me? I always presume people who choose to write about facts check their work, and that they have editors who recheck their work, not to mention provide ghost writers to wrangle flat, dull writing into elegant prose. Sigh ... I stopped reading at the end of chapter two.

• Mothers' Day around here featured three homemade cards, a small boy in tears because he'd left his present at school, and a mandarin tree. I nearly have the full complement of citrus trees now, but as Son #3 pointed out, there's still a grapefruit tree to go. Next birthday is my guess. I did not get a fish oil capsule and now feel a little unappreciated, frankly.

• Mothers' Day also featured the distinctive smell of death. Throughout the afternoon that familiar rank smell grew and grew until we realised that another mouse had gone to god behind the refrigerator (where god resides apparently as all mice go there to end their days. Either that or behind the washing machine. God is in the whitegoods, clearly). Mr Soup did the honours with a dustpan and brush and the aid of a pissweak torch given to me at work the other day along with a showbag of other promotional goodies. That reminds me, does anyone need a new mousemat or stubbyholder?

• I kettle dyed some sock yarn recently. The lovely and gracious Nicole sent me a gift of three skeins of undyed sock yarn to play with. There's another skein in the dyepot this morning, being overdyed as it emerged looking like a candy shop, when I was after something slightly more subtle.

This skein, however, I LOVE.

I've also been continuing my ~~obsession~~ adventures with natural plant dyeing. Photos to come soon.

Spring socks for Autumn

2008-05-05T11:37:00.002+10:00

Thanks for all the shop love! (And the sales). I'm busy packing up orders now and heading to the post office.

Before I go, I need to show you these socks, finished on Friday night and blocked by wearing them to bed. (What? Isn't that how you block socks?)

The sockyarn was my Christmas gift last year from Sandra at Winterwood. She saw me ogling this colourway when we were arranging the yarn on the shelves.

I've been knitting these socks during lunch hours at work, before lectures at Uni and while various children played soccer.

The pattern is that generic Opal sock pattern and boy, I am finally ready to move on. Eager to try short row heels, lace patterns, maybe perhaps possibly even that two socks at a time method. (Uh, or not. Best not get ahead of my skills).

The colours of these socks feels very Springlike to me, all new growth and lilac buds, which is appropriate for all you northern hemisphere types I suppose even if it's all golden and autumnal round here. I don't think I can hold out until Spring to wear them though, they're too warm and cosy.

The photographs don't quite capture the softness of the mauve or the appley goodness of the green. I was so enamoured of the green I even wound a few metres off the yarn so I could cast on with the green and start each sock with a band of granny smith freshness.

This is the third pair of handmade socks I've knitted for myself, plus one pair each for the children. Must be Mr Soup's turn - I feel a pair of gentleman's socks coming on, perhaps in a distinguished grey.

Whoops, pity I've already cast on the next pair for me, in this wool.

retail therapy

2008-05-04T10:11:00.002+10:00

It is with great excitement that I announce, the shop is open!

book blogging in my pyjamas

2008-05-02T22:17:00.004+10:00

I have read me some books.

But it's 10.18pm, the fire is dying down and lately there have been far too many 1.00am bedtimes and I'm ready for bed so this is going to be quick and dirty.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I've spoken about this several times recently, but can report that I finally finished. Verdict: Far too long, in need of a bloody good edit, waffly, inconsistent, irritating and dated. As previously reported, I read this back in the day and was impressed and inspired but now I'm old and cynical and I just cringed at a lot of it. (Sorry Stephanie).

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I think I wrote about this too; I'm getting repetitive aren't I? Mr Soup is now reading this as I saw him perusing the bookshelves and thrust it into his hands, assuring him he'll love it. He is. Fast, interesting, characters you engage with, colourful. Also the cover is pretty.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. My god, I loved this book. I finished it last night and I'm feeling completely and utterly bereft. It would make a great play, or an opera as Ann Patchett said herself in an interview. The story is gripping and I became totally enamoured of the characters as they lurched toward the-ending-that-couldn't-be-helped. (Although the epilogue was surprising). I've been listening to this on audio tape during my commute to work and as it came to the final tape I was filled with the dread of the knowledge that it would end and my companions of the last week or so would be gone, either dead or devastated by the events of the four and a half months that the book covers, and also that I couldn't somehow prolong it. Which is exactly what you're meant to feel. It's beautiful, elegant writing too. Just wonderful. I've put it on the bookgroup list for later in the year.

Now in the car I'm listening to The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan but I am still grieving for the Bel Canto folk and can't quite get hooked into Amy Tan's characters just yet. I feel like an adulterer; it's too soon. It is read by Tan herself though, which is a bonus. I remember thoroughly enjoying The Joy Luck Club and also The Kitchen God's Wife but Tan's books are getting a little repetitive now. Ah well, it was the only decent story tape on the library shelves last night and my tape of Black Swan Green by David Mitchell hasn't yet arrived. (His Cloud Atlas was one of the best things I read last year).

Last bookgroup book was Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I read the first three pages and returned it to the library. Life's too short.

Next up for bookgroup is the imaginatively titled Heroic Australian Women in War by Susanna de Vries, nominated by our group's resident nonfiction reader. The sorts of books this member of the group recommends never ever appeal to me, but I've dutifully borrowed it from the library and it looks interesting really. The last nonfiction book she recommended also didn't appeal but it turned out to be a little ripper - Into the Blue by Tony Horwitz who happens to be married to Geraldine Brooks. And has a connection with one of our bookgroup members which I suspect was why it was chosen. Anyway, it's good having members of the group who push you to read things out of your comfort zone. Heck, out of any of my zones.

A friend is lending me her Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book which I've been dying to read but when I put it on hold at the library I was 97th in the queue, which means I'll get it roughly in 2011. I'm trying to cut down on my book buying, even though most of the books I purchase are from Savers and cost between $1.00 and $3.00 We just don't have the space despite a study with a whole wall of built in bookshelves, two floor to ceiling bookshelves in the dining room and another in one of the bedrooms. Oops, well that's why I just bought one of these, only ours is a 16 cube version and it's not on wheels. I built it all by myself the other night with only the aid of an allen key and I'm proud to say it is not the least bit wobbly. It's still empty but I look forward to a big book rearrange this weekend. It's totally made the family room, which is a room I've never found particularly attractive or welcoming. (Our lounge room, on the other hand, is purdy).

Ok, well that wasn't quite so quick or dirty and now it's definitely time for book and bed. Right now I'm reading Saturday by Ian McEwan, whose books I haven't readily enjoyed thus far. Was bored by Atonement (but loved the film) but liked Enduring Love very much (but hated the film). I'm only on the first chapter so we'll see. Time to take a cup of tea to bed and try chapter two.

Nighty night.

P.S. Can I just say, half the books listed here were recommended to me by the inimitable BabelBabe. Without BB I never would have discovered all these wonderful authors, and on her recommendation I've put more Patchett books and one by Allegra Goodman also on my holds list at the library. Thanks BB, you are my literary guru, y'know lovey.

Corners of My Home, by the nine year old

2008-04-27T22:50:00.006+10:00

That corners of my home flickr group is still going, I see.

I found this on the camera today. Son #3 took it. I liked the light, and the wonkiness.

This is a corner of the dining room which currently is not used for dining, as the table is covered in skeins of yarn. Whoops.

The glass vase you can see was from an op shop many years ago, and the gum leaves within it (Red Box), now ~~dead~~ artistically dried, are from the garden. You can see a little silver milk jug, which is part of the silver tea set that the mister bought me for my 30th birthday many moons ago. I love it, but had no idea how much work it is to keep silver clean. No wonder those old houses full of silver had butlers.

The print on the wall, hidden by the eucalyptus branches, is one I bought for the mister for Christmas a few years ago. It's quite dark, and depicts a scene in a house, looking down from a kind of mezzanine level to a room below that's lined with bookshelves. In the centre of the room stands a man, holding an artist's palette and gazing at an easel. The audience can't see what's on the easel. In front of the artist, but with her back to the viewer, is a seated nude who is so white she glows in the darkened room. The figures are almost cartoonish in the way they are elegantly elongated. I have no idea who painted the original; it just took my fancy one day and the mister is always saying we should have more artwork on the walls.

You may also be able to see a black key hanging on the wall above the cupboard. (See it closer here). It does not open anything in this house.

The cupboard itself is art deco style, but probably not actually art deco. It used to belong in the flat upstairs when Mr Soup and I lived in that now groovy suburb. When our beloved neighbours moved out they got rid of a lot of furniture and we scored this. I also have their old velvet-upholstered chaise (although I had to buy that one). The cupboard is our Artwork Cupboard, which means it holds all the children's paints, pencils, paper, craft supplies, origami paper, um what else, tiny little scraps of very important crappe that I mustn't throw out, glue, scissors, and a whole heap of junk. Every six months or so I clear it out and make it tidy but within two weeks it's so messy again that you can't open the door without things spewing out. I think they must like it that way.

That white mark on the wall to the right of the cupboard is where a bit of mud fell off the mudbrick wall and had to be shoved back up and spackfilled.

Yeah, not a great colour match. We are such good DIY-ers.

Lest we forget how to make Anzac biscuits

2008-04-25T22:00:00.002+10:00

Baking is a good thing to undertake on a day of national commemoration.

These would generally be considered sacrilegious because they contain dried apricot.

But they're yummy all the same.

In addition to fruit they include bran because we ran out of porridge oats. But let's not open up that can o' heretical worms again.

ungracious

2008-04-23T11:23:00.003+10:00

My surroundings are peaceful today. The trees are still, bellbirds are chinkchinking and some other kind are tweeting and cheeping in a classic, storybook manner. Apart from the birds it is utterly quiet. There are no cars or planes to clutter the stillness; now the rhythmic chop of an axe comes, the dull thuds floating up the hill to me. A kookaburra sits not ten feet away, lazily watching me as I type.

The calm here is in stark contrast to my state of mind. I can't find peace or stillness right now. My head is slack and slow, there is a thickness behind my eyes and my hands tremble. I'm sleep deprived, irritable and feel overworked although I know that really I'm not. Deadlines loom, competing for my attention and in the midst of it all and on top of it all, the mindless administrivia of running a household and family threatens to overwhelm me and drown me in its endless crushing loop. I am tired of being the one who holds it all together.

Such bitterness and resentment.

The kookaburra just opened his beak in a long silent laugh and turned away from me to face the hills.

Indeed.

Middleclass problems, I know. Sometimes I need to be reminded of my blessings.

Don't we all?

all the chicks back in the nest

2008-04-20T22:34:00.000+10:00

The boy is back and as everyone predicted, had a wonderful time. It didn't rain. Nor was it even particularly cold. No one was homesick or injured, no one had to be airlifted out (don't scoff, it's happened before) and the best bits were the evenings when they all gathered around the campfire. It was, however, very sandy and desertlike and everything, including the child, has returned covered with a layer of fine red talc. He reports that ancient rock art is very cool, feral goats are not so cool, there were a number of roaming emus as well as roos (we're quite used to those; so blase), no one had a shower in the entire seven days they were gone, and everyone slept under the stars, even those who'd remembered their tents. (Tents are just for storing luggage in, didn't you know).

I fully expected him to sleep the day away today but he was up bright and early to tune his violin, requesting he be dropped off at the local market to busk and earn enough for his next iTunes card. Life goes on in teenworld.

More dyeing?

Yep. I forgot to show you these.

This one's called "Octopus' Garden" and it's 100g of DK 8ply, handpainted with Kool Aid. I think I'm going to have to hunt down that USA Foods shop that's somewhere over here, the one that caters to homesick Americans who can't survive in Australia without regular injections of Pop Tarts, Kool Aid, peanutbutter flavoured sweets and iced tea in plastic bottles (blech) although I think we sell that last item here these days anyway. Still blech. Tea should be served hot and in china, I believe. Anyway, must.have.more.Kool.Aid.

Yep, more Kool Aid. This colourway was dubbed 'Lolly Shop'. Most of these yarns I've been transforming were rescued from the op shop and although up till now I've been lucky, sadly this one had a certain amount of moth damage. I gave the whole bag 24 hours in the freezer to kill any remaining creatures and then started winding it into skeins but quite a lot had to be cut away. As a result this skein has too many joins to be sold or given as a gift so, (how sad), I will have to keep it. It's an 8ply DK and the colourway is growing on me. I didn't like it at all, at first.

And just because I can't stop showing off and what else is my blog for, here are a couple of dye jobs that recently left my house and crossed the Pacific. This one is the 'Sacred Jewels' skein shown before on the blog, now on its way to a lovely Texan knitter,

while this lot is also off to the US, to another very impressive knitter, (and who said no good ever came of a blind date?),

who paid for the dyeing, with, what else, more yarn!

Three beautiful skeins of the delicious Malabrigo. Wow, this stuff is like butter. I love the internet.

I'm looking forward to seeing what these talented women make when those parcels arrive.

woolly wonders

2008-04-19T20:27:00.000+10:00

From the dyepot this week ...

a little 50g skein of 'Boysenberry Ripple' colourway in a bulky 12ply. I'm thinking it can be paired with two other balls of mid brown 12ply I have in the same yarn to make a chunky winter hat.

'Midnight Velvet', a 100g skein of DK 8ply. Originally a grey, this yarn was kettle dyed to make a scrumptiously dark purple.

Two 50g skeins of sock wool, purchased undyed from Live2Knit and kettle dyed by me with a mixture of two different greens and not much mixing, so the colours would be intense in some areas and light in others. I'm keeping these. Mmmm, on a sock roll these days. (Son #3 named this colourway 'Rainforest').

This yarn was originally a 1970s caramel colour. It was handpainted by me with Kool Aid (brought to Australia by the generous Sueeeus. It's 100g of 12ply Patons Jet, now renamed by one of the children 'Desert Bloom'.

Kettle dyed chunky wool yarn, dubbed 'Luscious Plum'. Yum. This is that huge 16 or 20ply wool that Steiner schools buy in for the children to learn to knit with. I bought some from our craft teacher years ago for Son #1 and he knitted most of it up, then ripped the whole lot out and gave me back the wool saying he'd had enough.

Speaking of Son #1, we get him back from camp in about half an hour. I'm going to hit Publish and jump in the car. This last hour has gone soooo slowly ... I'm aching to have him home again.

Before I go, this is what I did today. Please be impressed, cos I am.

My very first handspun.

It's thick, it's thin, it's overspun, it's totally terrible, but it's mine.

Thanks to the Spinsters, who got my wheel up and running and my fingers a-spinnin' again. I feel a whole new addiction blooming.

And now I'm off to fetch my babe.

It's not going to be a relaxing week.

2008-04-15T11:49:00.005+10:00

This is my bed. It's warm, cosy and dry. As one should be when one sleeps.

Hold that thought for a moment, if you will.

My eldest boy, my firstborn, my precious wee babe, is here for a week. If you follow that link you'll see what a spectacular place it is. It's also very very far away. It takes fifteen hours on a bus to get there. It's in the desert which means it is bitterly cold at night. He has no tent.

Can I just repeat that? He has no tent.

At his school, when the class goes on camp, the children break up into pairs or trios to share food, tent, equipment and so on. So he and two friends joined forces, and the planning between the three families began. One had a tent and we offered to purchase a little camping stove and the planning for a week's worth of shared meals began. The children had to be at school at 6:00am on Sunday so you can imagine what Saturday was like. Cooking, washing, packing, repacking, airing of sleeping bags, boot shopping, organising, sewing of name labels, the measuring out and packing into ziplock bags of portions of rice, milk powder, cereal, etc. One final phone call to confirm that yes we had the stove, yes we had the cooler for their milk, cheese, butter and sausages, they had the tent, yes. Yes yes yes. Yes.

We rose at 5:00am, dressed and packed the last few frozen items into the cooler, and Mr Soup drove him to school in the predawn light. The bus was loaded and the gaggle of overexcited teenagers boarded. Just as the teachers were about to board, the mother of the other child said ...

Oh my god I forgot the tent.

Naming colourways is easier than blog posts

2008-04-13T22:52:00.004+10:00

This one has been dubbed 'Plum Trees'.

It's 100g of wool/mohair blend, thrown in the dyepot as an afterthought when I finished dyeing some gorgeous chunky yarn for a client. A client! I know! (Photos of that yarn to come).

Dyeing lesson learnt - mohair sucks up dye like nobody's business, wow. The camera is doing its usual thing of highlighting the pinks. In reality the pink is more plummy, and the green features more heavily.

Unsure whether to put up this one for sale or hoard it for my own self as the colour combination is one of my very favourites. Oh, and the etsy shop is up, although not yet running. Stay tuned.

don't you find coming up with post titles the hardest bit?

2008-04-09T20:56:00.000+10:00

The menfolk are at a soccer match tonight so I'm eating minestrone straight from the Tupperware and downloading random thoughts.

These boulders at Mt Buffalo reminded me of sleeping lions. Or buffalo. (Buffaloes?)

I swatched the hand dyed yarns to see what they look like knitted up. Very pleased. I think I'm going to try selling them because a) I want to share the love and b) my stash is already reaching monumental proportions. Look out etsy, here I come. I wasn't in front of the computer when I was winding them from skeins into balls, so didn't have ready access to all your wonderful suggestions for colourway names, but Son #1 helped with the winding and dubbed them clockwise from top left: 'Sacred Jewels', 'Northern Lights' and 'Forest Floor'. The book was a birthday gift from a dear friend who had no idea I'd been lusting after that particular title.

The dog has an infected tooth which needs to come out. It will cost $500. I pointed out that we could purchase four new greyhounds for that.

Good thing someone loves him.

I'm still knitting baby items even though I don't have a baby on which to display them.

I do have a politically incorrect toy though. Pattern here.

Feeling wistful tonight.

In other exciting news, I bought a crockpot last week.

We are now eating a lot of brown meals.

Regular weekly blogging

2008-04-07T12:56:00.001+10:00

There's a plethora of babies around here.

And so, knitting.

These were quick and fun. The pattern is from here and is a much easier knit than That Other One (which remains half finished on my desk).

I liked it so much I made some red ones.

Also for your viewing pleasure, please behold the retina-burning properties of Son #3's new socks.

The pattern is the generic Opal sock yarn one, and the yarn was part of a gift parcel, previously mentioned. (And if that post just linked to just showed up in your bloglines, it's because I had to update it before I linked. As you were).

I finished these socks at Craft Retreat recently - boy it felt good to actually complete a project. After some discussion about provisional cast on and short row heels, I feel ready to branch out and try a new sock pattern. Living dangerously, as you can see. I'm also having fun slowly exploring and uploading projects over at Ravelry so do look me up if you hang out there too. (I'm Suse3, just like at flickr).

Look at those knobbly little nine year old knees. Adorable, no?

With guest appearance from Meggie Moo.

Lucky I didn't get around to clearing away the multitude of candles we had scattered everywhere during Earth Hour, as a few days later Melbourne was hit by horrendous storms and we were without power for 24 hours. All very early pioneerish etc but I was ready to knit under electric light again. Reading by candlelight takes an awful lot of candles too, I discovered.

Also, I forgot to remove the paper from halfway down that green candle up there on the left, so it caught fire and set off the smoke alarm. Good to see the batteries don't need changing yet.

PS. For those of you waiting on the book news, I gave up on The Gathering after skimming the last few chapters and deciding it was all too miserable. Over Easter I gulped down Water for Elephants by the campfire and loved it. Lots of action, atmosphere and characters I cared about. Very visually evocative too - there'll be a film of it soon, you mark my words. I'm still struggling through The Bloody Overrated Mists of Avalon because I HAVE TO, but the Mary Stewart Arthurian trilogy is far far superior and remains my favourite. Am on the final audio tape of Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson in the car and love how once again Atkinson writes about horrible miserable things (incest, domestic violence, time travel [ok, not horrible] and murder) but makes it entertaining, matter-of-fact and thoroughly enjoyable. Unlike Ann Enright who just weighs your spirit down. (As, you might argue, one's spirit should be when confronted with that kind of subject matter. Me? No. I like enjoyable thankyouverymuch). Edited to add: ack! That sounded so flippant. I didn't mean it to, particularly as I listened to the final tape this afternoon while driving around running various errands, and the tone of the story changes considerably. Fabulous though. I think I might be a little bit in love with Kate Atkinson.

PPS. Did you see the final episode of Life on Mars? God. Oh god.

PPPS. Guy of Gisborne is becoming smoulderingly interesting in Sunday night viewings of Robin Hood isn't he, but the American version of Creature Comforts which follows isn't a patch on the British version.

Retreat and Dye

2008-04-01T21:17:00.004+11:00

It feels sooo long ago now, but the weekend before Easter was once again Craft Retreat Weekend with the usual gang of talented pals, some with blogs and some without. It was a fabulous (hot) weekend of laughter, craft, sensational food, conversation and friendship. Wow, I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to go on these weekends.

I did accomplish a few things too which always helps.

Sooz had asked if we could have a dyeing session so she and I donned the rubber gloves and got stuck into it. I'd bought some delicious undyed sock yarn (100% superwash merino from here) and some Landscape dyes to try out.

We wanted to steam the yarn but didn't have a colander, so improvised with sticks and tinfoil in the cauldron. Thanks to Janet for taking this gorgeous shot when my camera batteries ran out.

My very first hand dyed sock yarn! (I'm so proud). I wanted socks in gently blending shades of red, purple and pinks, with a ping of mustard and this yarn turned out exactly as I'd imagined. (In real life the yarn is less pink and more red than these pics).

I had great fun winding the skeins into balls with Di's swift and winder. Look at those lovely little cakes of scrumptiousness. Now to find a sock pattern worthy of the yarn.

I dyed some other yarn too (sport weight 5ply) and although I'm not thrilled with the resultant colour combination, I figure someone might be. I'm undecided as to whether to sell it ... or how much to charge. What do you more experienced yarn fiends think? Is there a market for this? I thought someone with a pink-purple loving little girl in their life might appreciate its not so subtle charms. Anyone want to make me an offer? (SOLD. Thank you)

Here it is. 200g of Patons Bluebell 5ply sport weight 100% wool yarn.
Clockwise from top left: before dyeing it was candy pink; after dyeing it was candy pink, blue and purple; another shot of dyed and skeined; finally wound into four 50g balls.

I have other stuff to show from the Retreat, but that's it for tonight. I have a hot date with a West Wing dvd (up to Series 3 now) and a cup of hot chocolate. Sam, Josh, CJ. Oh yum.

four adults, seven boy-children and a big orange canoe

2008-03-29T10:02:00.001+11:00

Our Easter camping trip ended with a bang, literally.

On the fourth night a ferocious thunderstorm hit, collapsing our kitchen shelter and sending a small river through the campsite and into our tents. Well, into our sleeping bags and clothes, primarily.

A wet pack up and days of rain since (rain! hooray really!) have meant it's been nigh impossible to wash and dry the enormous pile of sodden, muddy clothing we brought home, let alone launder the slowly mildewing bedding and rinse off the tents.

Combine that with a few recent weekends away, little time (or inclination) to clean the house and school holidays and you have a house overwhelmed with filth and clutter and a somewhat harassed me.

Before the rain, we did manage to have a marvellous time. We shared a site with friends and then discovered four other families from Son #3's school on the neighboring site so the children all joined forces and ran as a 15-strong pack, ranging in ages from 18 months to 16 years.

There were lots of wonderful walks to be had,

scenery to admire,

spooky trees,

wildflowers and grasses,

a lake to explore,

amazing views,

and even some sunny skies.

More pictures at flickr, and also here (last year's trip; same families, same location, different walks, less rain).

And now if you need me, I'll be checking the Target catalogue, wondering whether it's worth washing and drying five pillows.

show and tell

2008-03-12T20:17:00.005+11:00

Look. Some warm woolly hats to make you swelter, just in case Melbourne's forecast of 38 degrees tomorrow and 39 the next day isn't enough for you ...

I was commissioned by a friend to knit these for another friend's children as a hospitality gift. I proudly display them here in the hope that it will guilt Bec into reopening her blog to show the hats actually on heads rather than here on my couch.

The little pink flower hat was for, who else, the Sparkle Twin.

A stripey number in peaches and apricots for the Pea Princess,

and masculine stripes [with a touch of elf] for the Gorgeous Boy.

I've had reports that they fit well and are generally a success. But gees, I'd love to see them on. (Hint hint).

That's it for now. If you need me, I'm on the couch, trying to get interested in either one of the books I currently have on the go - The Gathering by Anne Enright which I'm finding rather waffly and like every other Irish book I've ever read (does it get better? I'm losing interest) and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley which I read when I was in my 20s and I think that's the perfect age to read it. I'm finding it extremely tedious and dated this time round. I've also just finished listening to Salman Rushdie on tape (The Ground Beneath her Feet) and was fairly meh over that too. It's a [very] loose retelling of the Orpheus myth but is very long (again with the waffly) and frankly I didn't care about any of the main characters. Perhaps it's just my mood lately but everything I read is just blah. I have on my bedside table Saturday by Ian McEwan but one needs to be feeling emotionally strong to pick up McEwan so might leave that for now, The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs because how could I not buy a book with that title? and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Of course on my to-be-read bookshelf I have approximately fifty seven more books but who's counting?

gathering speed

2008-03-10T10:45:00.000+11:00

We're in the middle of another heatwave, and as I sip tea and eat lemon myrtle shortbread in the cool morning light of my study, I watch the rosellas and lorikeets nibble on the seed bells strung in the trees outside my window. They arrive in pairs and chatter gently to each other until our resident family of seven currawongs arrive and flap their wings menacingly.

The currawongs are gentle really, despite their mournful cries and funereal appearance. Several of them are babies, albeit as large as the adults, and they, together with the mischievous magpies, have a wonderful time flinging the peastraw mulch around the place, burying my tender seedlings and making a mess on the brick path.

A pigeon lands on the roof of the birdfeeder, swinging it wildly and unnerving the bird inside.

It's a public holiday here although Mr Soup has headed off to work as per usual. The children are playing Monopoly (again) and I am uploading photos, musing, planning, making mental checklists for both Craft Retreat this coming weekend and Easter camping shortly after. Food to organise, equipment to check, lists to tick off. It overwhelms me.

Tonight I'm off to the Australian Chamber Orchestra with L.

Thank you for all your birthday wishes; I felt very spoilt indeed. It was a quietish birthday weekend with lunch at a local riverside cafe and not much else. Both the washing machine and the toaster broke but I tried not to take it personally. Mr Soup pulled the washing machine apart and put it back together saying he couldn't find anything blocked or kinked or wrong with it, but it's somehow working again so in between lying in the hammock with a book and demanding tea and chocolate be brought to me at regular intervals, I did massive amounts of laundry. The cake I baked was excellent, if I say so myself.

I am missing Sueeeus' quiet presence about the house; the sound of her filling the kettle for more tea, her gentle voice as she tells the children about some snippet of life on the other side of the globe.

It feels as though I stood outside my real life for a couple of weeks - stepped sideways and experienced a brief reprieve. The juggernaut is fast gathering speed however; when I arrived at the office after a tearful airport farewell to Sue, I found there had been a tragedy at work and I will be working an extra day for a few months to help cover for an absent colleague. Together with my other little one day a week "play" job and one day a week at Uni, I'll be fulltime for a while. Blogging may well take a backseat.

Tomorrow I will buy a new toaster, kiss my babes and try not to clench my insides every time they cross the road.

The Report

2008-03-08T16:34:00.001+11:00

Sue (Sueeeus) and I met when I spent a year in the US as an exchange student. Twenty six years ago - a fact that makes me feel rather old. (Forty-four years old in fact. Today!)

Six years ago I flew back across the Pacific and we picked up right where we left off. We attended our twentieth year high school reunion, caught up with old pals and visited the neighborhood. We played tourist in the big city where Sue now lives, talked and talked and talked and talked until I flew away and we continued our friendship via email and later the blogosphere.

It's a friendship I treasure, and one that has remained close despite the distance. Last week we hooked up once again when Sue braved the airways and came to my part of the world finally, after many years of ~~nagging~~ encouragement.

What a wirlwhind! We walked, talked, admired, played tourist, met some other bloggers at Federation Square, hung out, knitted, met the wildlife, strolled along the river, played on the beach, escaped to Wye River for the weekend and generally had a totally awesomely cool sick time. (Trying to not sound like a forty-four year old and failing miserably, that's me).

I'm still dealing with all the photos, but here's a selection for you to go on with. The rest are on my flickr if you're interested.

Mr and Mrs King Parrot

He was having sweet dreams. Look at the smile on his face.

Wye River beach and rockpools

Sand games

Two grown women trying to conquer the technology ... and finally discovering the self timer setting on the cameras.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go bake my own birthday cake.

ps. I just had a funny conversation with Mr Soup who tried to assure me I can't be forty-four, because heavens! that would mean he's about to turn forty-five and he's quite quite sure that's not true. It took us a good ten minutes to recalculate and decide that yes I'm right.

I know, I know ...

2008-03-07T22:18:00.003+11:00

Look, I know you're waiting to hear about Sueeeus' visit and I did blog, really I did, but Blogger kindly ate it so I got the huffs and watched a West Wing dvd instead. (And did the grocery shopping and made the beds and went to work and missed my first day of semester at Uni thanks to a rescheduled meeting that I couldn't get out of, welcomed the middle child back from camp and did lots of laundry etc).

So it's been kind of busy ok?

But I can tell you that Sueeeus is now safely in the bosom of the Bec and Call household but prior to that we had a fabulous 10 days. Really.

Photos soon, I promise.

In the meantime, please enjoy a lemon.

oh yes. more dyeing.

2008-02-23T22:35:00.001+11:00

For your viewing pleasure, we have 150g of 8ply alpaca blend (50% alpaca, 50% wool). Wound into a very long hank as you can see below, using the entire length of my dining table. Dyed with a range of blues, and one short burst of purple and another equally short burst of rust red. This was an attempt at self striping yarn, so we’ll see what happens.

The other hank is 100g of 8ply tweedy wool. It was originally a natural beige colour with a fleck of black and sticky out thready bits. (That’s tech talk for the yarn fans amongst you). I wound it into a short skein and mixed the colours into a series of lovely autumnal hues – a combination of murky browns, olive and forest greens, and rusts and oranges – and painted it on in chunky bands.

Here are both all wound up into neat skeins (just like bought ones, as my mum would say).

Want a closer look?

Of course you do.

My camera must pick up red because in real life the red is more subtle and the overall impression of this skein is blue with a very occasional ping of red. I have no idea what it will look like knitted up; I’m just having fun trying all sorts of permutations.

I’m definitely improving at the twisting into a storage/display skein. Very professional looking. I can even do it with my eyes shut. (Kidding).

Hey, I ought to name my colourways like the big kids do, shouldn’t I?

Or let you?

Yeah ... have at it.

rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb with bonus update

2008-02-22T20:47:00.001+11:00

[Insert text totally unrelated to sunrise shot]. So. This morning I went to an unfamiliar salon and asked for a haircut. The woman was a tad more goth-like than I am generally comfortable with when it comes to people with whom I’m trusting aspects of my appearance. And when she used the words "lovely" and "silver" in the same sentence when referring to my hair I thought hmmm, doesn’t augur well. She then tried to make up lost ground by declaring me to be surely not old enough to have a baby, and when I mentioned that said baby recently turned fourteen, she dropped the scissors on the floor. It was at this point I noticed her hands had a distinct tremble.

Again with the not auguring well, etc.

But! It’s actually a great cut. Of course I may take that back tomorrow when I’m wrestling with the hairdryer and trying to style it myself. I’ll let you know.

Later in the afternoon I removed all yesterday’s newly purchased op shop yarn from the freezer (24 hours in the freezer kills any moths, apparently). I took a photo of the youngest child’s new gap-toothed smile. I collected some undyed sock yarn from the post office. I shrieked at a huntsman on the kitchen window.

I tell you it’s all go around here.

Look. I finally found the glass butter dish I’ve been searching for in op shops for two years now. I knew it would turn up one day. Isn’t it beautiful?

In other news, I’ve been very domestic lately on my days off.

Bread rolls, and nectarine chutney …

… there is nectarine jam too, unphotographed as yet.

Pears from a friend’s tree. Some eaten fresh, others became pear and ginger crumble.

And man-sized green fingerless mitts from my hand dyed green yarn. That’s my hand up there, valiantly trying to appear bigger than it is in order to show off the lovely 5 x 1 rib pattern. I had no male model handy. Hahaha. Shut up.

That’s your lot for today. You know I’m spouting all this trivia to break up the dye-obsessive posts, don’t you?

Sueeeus arrives on Monday! (Cue lots of dusting and de-moulding the shower tiles this weekend).

Saturday update: a) the haircut is not quite as spectacular today and b) this morning I cleaned the shower tiles so vigorously that three of them fell off the wall. Oh yeah it's real pretty now.

Having so.much.fun with this dyeing thing

2008-02-21T15:15:00.001+11:00

Can't.stop.dyeing. Anything that stands still for more than a few minutes gets thrown into the dyepot right now.

Behold.

The skein on the left was dyed using the method noted here. The skein on the right was done on the stovetop using the method outlined in this great tutorial, in my new (from the op shop) enamel dye pot.

It doesn’t show up well in the photo, but the pot even has a pouring lip on one side. I was beside myself with glee when I spied this at my local op/charity/thrift shop. And it’s black, so I feel like a proper witch with my very own cauldron. I already own black lace up boots so am cultivating the wild hair now.

The hand painted method give you more control of the placement of colour than the stove top method, but I’m pleased with both skeins. The stove top skein resulted in more muted colours and the dye didn’t penetrate all the way to the centre of the skein, so I either didn’t tie the hank loosely enough, or I was too timid in my gentle stirring. I was terribly afraid the wool would felt if I moved it around too much in the hot water. It’s all part of the learning curve. I think I’ll stick to hand painted dyeing, but wanted to mention the other method here as several commenters bemoaned their lack of a microwave.

Some other resources I found useful were these tutorials on dyeing here, here, and here. For Australian readers, bulk food dye can be purchased online here while undyed yarns (including sock yarn, yay!) are available here.

The skein on the left went to Perth last week in a parcel along with these …

The skein on the right is on my desk where I can ~~rub it over my naked body and inhale its sheepy goodness~~ admire it while waiting for my Olde Worlde Internette to load.

I have more skeins dyed and ready to show off, but I have to go ~~get dressed~~ and do some work now.

Until next time, ~~yarn porn fans~~ gentle readers.

In other news, Son #3 wore the cape and crown at school this morning. Sigh … nine years old.

sorry

2008-02-13T17:14:00.000+11:00

This morning at 9.00am, I sat in the warmth of my car outside the children's school. I ate a breakfast bar (recipe from Nigella), watched the cockies play in the gum trees, and listened.

It felt really, really good.

Today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We, the Parliament of Australia, respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered, as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Sorry.

favouritism

2008-02-10T22:56:00.001+11:00

So. Sarah tagged me with a meme that has seen me shut away in here for hours, perusing my archives. Having sooo much fun. I used to talk more and knit less on this blog, didn’t I?

Anyway, the rules:

Link to your five favourite posts from your blog.
Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are... what you're all about.
Link 4 must be about something you love
Link 5 can be about anything you choose.

1. Family. How to choose just one post? There was the first birth story, in which I had to assume a porn name and dodge boot scooters in between contractions; that was fun. Also, I can’t forget the second child’s birth story. And here’s that innocent wee babe some time later. My, how the innocent have fallen. There was no third birth story on the blog, because third children are always forgotten and neglected, poor waifs. However it is his birthday in ten days, as he reminds me each morning, so perhaps I’ll finally write his birth story. It was a tad more dramatic than the others which is possibly why it’s still in my head, not en blogge.

2. Friends. My friend L. (I do have other friends, I’m merely trying to be brief after breaking the rules totally in #1).

3. Me. You could read my 100 things about me over there on my sidebar. There’s also this. For those of you who clicked on that link and are totally bemused, here’s the explanation of goodbye and gobblers.

4. Something I love. Hmmm, I love ~~falling asleep at~~ going to the opera and ~~getting drunk at~~ hearing fine orchestras (and owning unusual dogs). I like words and cultural differences. I also quite like singing.

5. Anything I choose. Well, I can’t go past the penis post, now can I? (Bet you all clicked on that one).

Bonus post: remember last week when I posted the how to dye yarn info and said it was my very first tutorial?

I lied.

I’m supposed to tag five people but I’m reluctant as usual. If you want to do this meme, please be my guest.

More pictures and slightly more words - updated with winner!

2008-02-07T21:07:00.000+11:00

More laundry.

Pencil cases knitted by Son #3’s class last year and doled out to four or five mothers to sew up, add a calico lining and a button. This was my lot. A prize to the first person to guess correctly which one is my child’s.

Update: we have a winner! Frogdancer guessed correctly, 12 minutes before the next correct entry from Tut-tut, that Son #3's pencil case is top left. All oranges and reds. Froggie, please email me your details and I'll send you a prize. What, I have no idea. I'll think of something.

(Bonus points go to Stomper and Ilse for their creative comments!).

The most generous gift ever. And totally out of the blue. She nearly left it on my doorstep but thought she’d better ring first to see if a) I was home [yep] and b) if I wanted it [is the pope Catholic?]. Quite amazing really, because one of my two new year’s resolutions this year was [Re]Learn to Spin. The other was More Hammock Time (hasn’t happened yet …)

Thank you, thank you dear Shula, she’s beautiful. I hope I can do her justice.

Oh, for those wondering, she’s a Pipy. Scroll right down.

Happy Chinese New Year.

Go on, make a resolution. You know you should.