Knitting by Zen

This meme made me realise that I don’t actually know who reads my blog. But anyway - a meme. Knitting content to follow this week.

Craftastrophies tagged me for six things you didn’t know about me.  Which is hard because there’s stuff I’ll blog about, and stuff I won’t, and one little meme isn’t going to have me blabbing the private stuff. So…

1. I proposed to my sweetpea earlier this year. Yup, me - a woman! Woo!! He said yes. I have a lovely ring. I guess you may know this, but I love that people assume that because I am engaged, it’s because someone proposed to me. It’s especially funny at work when other girls get all squee about

2. Knitting and needle work mean that, as a midwife, I suture really well… which is obvious, but also rather interesting and amusing. When I did a suturing workshop I was delighted to get a gold star for my technique.

3. I have very strong reactions to colours, and I sense smells as colours as well. On days like today, which are grey and overcast, I feel the need to wear bright colours and smell citrus things. So I have an orange zip-up top on.

4. I was raised a Seventh Day Adventist but don’t fell out of any faith when I was a teenager, and do not subscribe to any religion now. I am spiritual and a little strange when it comes to zen and prescience and so forth, but not in a god-bothering kind of way. I also sing in a choir, where most of the music is commissioned by the church, and sometimes I lose sight of the fact that I’m singing god music because I love singing so much. 

5. I hate shopping for and buying clothes. I am enjoying my year-long clothing diet. This year, I’ve bought 1 pair of jeans, a few things at op-shops, and one pair of shoes. That’s it. Oh I lie - a few pairs of undies and two new bras as well. I have more t-shirts than I really need but they are in such good condition that I halved them, put one lot in a drawer and the other in a storage box and so don’t need to buy any new ones.

6. I can’t drink red wine. I’d like to be able to, but I can’t. It’s a familial thing - my parents can’t drink it either. The histamines in it give us, collectively, the worst hangover.migraines known to man. They are horrible and not worth drinking anything red. Some rose’ I have to be careful with as well. I love my white wines for this reason!

Erm - I have no one to tag. This is a bit sad. I’ll have to find some blog.friends then!

I am procrastinating from univervsity work, so I stole a meme from Kate:

1. Where is your cell phone? Bag
2. Your significant other? Working
3. Your hair? Curly
4. Your mother? Mental
5. Your father? Fabulous
6. Your favourite thing? Clapotis
7. Your dream last night? Raunchy
8. Your favourite drink? Tea
9. Your dream/goal? Completeness
10. The room you’re in? Lounge
11. Your hobby? Knitting
12. Your fear? Injury
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Employed
14. What you’re not? Warm
15. Muffins? Pudding
16. One of your wish list items? Silk
17. Where you grew up? Everywhere
18. The last thing you did? Printed
19. What are you wearing? Tubey
20. Favourite gadget?
21. Your pets? Kitty
22. Your computer? Decal’d
23. Your mood? Grey
24. Missing someone? Yes
25. Your car? Yellow!
26. Something you’re not wearing? Perfume
27. Favourite store? Online
28. Like someone? Severals
29. Your favourite colour? Red
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? July

I have finally finished my Tubey. Just when I thought it would NEVER end, and was resolving NEVER evah again to do 3x1 rib in the round (which is the true definition of "endless" letmetellyou!) I finally got to the end and cast off. Then I went back and finished the sleeve that I’d run out of yarn on *mumblemuble*inJuly07*mumble and cast off that sleeve as well.

Yay! Oh ok, here are some more photos:

So the top of the jumper has a fabulous orange contrast to the teal and it went for 1" before changing to the teal. There is a matching inch at the bottom, before I cast off using a picot cast-off. 

Yarns: Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8 Ply in Pumpkin and Bendigo Woollen Mills Mystique 8 Ply in Seaspray, which is a wool / mohair / alpaca blend that I adore. It’s a tad tickly / scratchy because of the halo on it, and for the first few weeks it is pilling but from talking to other users of the yarn, this is usual and you just need to pick them off and it won’t happen again. I knit on 4mm needles (Clover bamboo) and past the waist I changed to 5mm for the bottom part, instead of shaping it.

The pattern is elegant and well constructed but - I am yet to work out why you start somewhere on the back and work across the sleeve to one end, then unpick the provisional cast on and go back the other way. The only thing I can think is that it’s so the cast off is a cast off on both arms, but I’m not sure. The neck had to be adjusted after I had finished it as I’d picked up too far out but that’s a Good Thing as I could adjust that rather than just living with it, had I picked up too many stitches.

This is the first garment I’ve made, sewed in the ends, washed, blocked and worn immediately… and I am OVERTHEMOON with it. I love it to pieces and am so glad I have a teal and orange jumper that is handmade, uniquely Me, and quite eye catching.

This is me in it:

The drying rack is one I got from Bunnings for $5 a piece - they are a simple tubular plastic frame with a net over the top. Very useful and allows me to easily try my jumpers even in winter!

The local knitting guild here is something I no longer have much to do with. I say "much" as some of my friends and mentors hang out there so I do occassionally go and hang with them, and "no longer" as I was a part of it last year, but for the most part I find it pointless and I already have a knit’n'natter that I go to each week usually.

Wednesday nights, Everest Cafe, 5:30pm - 9pm. 

So I have braved two meetings in the past few months for various reasons, and it reminds me of why I’m not a part of it. Jokingly, today I nutted out the kind of Guild I would *like* to be a part of:

• Friendly and welcoming
• Egalitarian and co-operative
• Organised and forward-thinking
• One where I can learn, and I can teach
• Craft-centred rather than people-centred
• No garments made of feather yarn allowed
• Responsive and accountable in what it takes to be in the guild (so some level of prestige in being there!)

I also want to be finished uni, engaged to my lovely partner, the best midwife possible and comfortably rich .

Here are some photos from some of the crazy knitters I hang out with:

Lucy and me: Lucy isn’t crazy. Yet.  

Me and V and our awkward head angle:

Me and Mel:

Mel’s stand:  

Garments that need no caption (oh how I wish You Knit What?? was still around - you’d have had to see it up close in its slightly fluffy feather yarn glory to understand, and to also see that my camera was very kind to the purple and orange eye-popping one!):

V is happy to have yarn and is not afraid to sniff, weigh, and threaten with it:

And then there were the cupcakes, and I kid you not, the cacti:  

Photos all over the place!

Names!! Ok! Names!

Top 3 are upclose and personal on something or other, and another notsocloseup, and then yay! a decent group shot. It’s like taking photos of small children who’ve been on red cordial and cocopops for breakfast.

Then Spaghettification, Cold Nebula and Quite Cedar.

Row 3 is Cat’s Pjamas, Persephone and Deep River.

Orange Meow, Emerald City and Cherry Tree Lane (back by popular demand!!!).

And last but not least - Crayons in a Blender.