Knitting by Zen

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:  

Rogue: Yep, back on the go. I’ve done the waist shaping and am moving up through the neck. It goes quickly but as it’s cabled I need to concentrate.

Tubey: is gorgeous and below nipple length, which is a plus!! But $&(&&%*&#(*(@@@! I have another foot or so of 3x1 ribbing to go. It’s mindless and perfect for uni knitting or for rehearsal knitting but it’s now a bit big for me to stuff into my backpack, so home it stays. I love the colour and can’t wait to wear it this Winter.

Cozy: again, lace is not the kind of thing that can travel with me. Which is a shame as I like it but it may yet be frogged and repurposed.

Vest: needs to be frogged and redone in something that I won’t want to scream over. It may be a good uni project (although really, I’m on holidays for the next couple of weeks/months so that’s not an excuse!)

Secret cardigan: Can’t tell you where it’s from but I’m flying through it - in two days I’ve done the collar and am halfway through the yoke. Boring uni lectures have something to answer for! It’s being knit out of the stunning yarn that Osk bought me in Japan last year and it’s lovely. Photos to come when I charge my camera battery up.

Clapotis: still going. Again - it’s too big to take to uni to work on! And I feel guilty if I knit at home instead of studying.

Feather and fan shawl: OK so really I should just finish something, huh. I have finish-itis perhaps? I’m a process knitter!! What more can I say? Except it will be GORGEOUS when done. But I’m going to have to buy a new needle to continue this project - I’ve reached capacity already.

Socks: various Tofutsies, monkeys for me, and bed socks. I don’t like knitting socks it seems. Which is a shame as they’d be good at uni! 

Erk - it’s hot here. Not a lot to blog as I’m supposed to be studying for another exam (1 down, 2 to go!) but I wanted to post a recipe for yumdelicious wheat-free treats I just made and et:

Rind of one orange
2T poppy seeds
1/3C of rice flour
1 1/2C almond meal
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, separated

Mix all of the first 5 incgredients together. Beat the egg whites til really stiff, and then separately the yolks. Mix the yolks in, then fold the whites through. Roll teaspoons of goodness together, then put on a baking tray and smush flat. Bake for 1/2 hour at 150C, cool and eat. Try not to eat the whole lot.

In exam-mode knitting, I cast on Juno Regina the other day in orange 3 ply, and it is so far darn cute and lovely. I needed to knit another scarf as it has been baking hot here the past week or so, and I’m not knitting Tubey or Clapotis in weather like this.

I am lusting after some Scout Swag again - this time with sterling silver!!! 

I’m moving house this weekend because I’m INSANE and between exams, as you do. New address is a post office box, home number is the same, and mobile stays the same as always - I’ve had the same one for 11 years now.

Hip/back/pelvis is slowly recovering. I am due to go back to work in a few weeks, which could be fun (and yay! disposable income again!) - I need new shoes like these, or these sometime soon me thinks. Oh and a new laptop to replace my nearly 7 year old one.

Here are the socks that I’m knitting. I may out myself by doing this but I need to reassure my swap partner that I am knitting her socks! I’ve gotten 1/3rd of the way down the leg now, with TV last night and a meeting today:

I also wore a very cool skirt today, and great socks:

Zaria thought they were cool too:

And - I got a package in the mail from my lovely swap partner, who dyed and knit the socks herself!!!!!

So my pal upstream has sent me her package and I’m in love with the whole thing! I seem to have an orange thing and monkey thing at the moment, and especially for magnets, so I am ABSOLUTELY thrilled!

Contents of package:

- very pretty monkey bear
- monkey socks in Yarn Lust "Heartbreaker" on merino, bamboo and nylon
- in Yarn Lust "Crushed Grapes" on superwash merino
- "Thanksgiving" on suri alpaca sock yarn from A Time to Dye
- 2 skeins of Knit Picks Gloss in "Pumpkin" - merino/silk combination
- 14g of gorgeously red 2/26 cashmere from Habu Textiles
- Ghirardelli chocolates
- monkey stamps, magnets, pens and stitch markers
- Twisted Flowers sock pattern
- and a GORGEOUS monkey card, which is ironic because I am a Monkey-year baby and that was part of why I went in for this swap.

Off to study some more! 

Hi! I have just listed a range of yarns for your edification. With Christmas coming, I thought it would be a good time to offer my yarns, either for you to turn into a gorgeous creating or to gift to a lovely
knitter or crocheter in your life.

Link to yarn 

I’m drowning under school work at the moment - I have 3 weeks left to get through exams and such, then two weeks of placement. I haven’t knit for AGES though, so not a lot to show you - a Monkey Sock is somewhere by (and my pal knows this) I will be late in sending it off because I need to uni-on before then. Tubey is getting longer and more interested - no up to date pictures but I am now an inch down the body! Here’s a pic of the sleeves, nearly done:

I have been a-travelling recently as well - I have been to Canberra and saw the great things:

Bestest buddy part the first, The Knitting Revoluntionary:

Friends Amanda and Ness with bub on board:

Horses:

Me in my beret and scarf: