Yummy, scrummy...

I'm one of the very few people that have never eaten or touched a McDonald's burger.  No.  Never.  Ever.   Just the thought of putting something like that into my mouth, makes me queezy to say the least.  McDonald's chips.... well that's a completely different story!

And I'm now very grateful that I made that choice with the burgers, after reading this article today;

Nice, fresh and plastic.

Now that's something to think about.  :/

Let me help you, help me, then help yourself again.

Meaning, buy something from me... so it makes us both happy!

Ok I few weeks ago, or is that a few MONTHS ago.... (honestly I've lost track of time and don't know where, who or what I am anymore).... no I'm sure it was weeks rather than months.  hhrrmmm.... anyway, I did state that I wouldn't post my items outside of Australia.  But I'm now confident enough to do so. 

So please feel free to check out what I have for sale here (remember, you need to sign up with www.ravelry.com for this) and give me a holler from there;

Ravelry

I'll also give you a helping hand with postage costs.  At the moment I only have Australia postage costs on most of my items, so for any other country go directly here to calculate for your country;

Australia Post Calculator

Postage is very expensive, but at least you know what I have for sale should you need something.  Pattern books are cheaper and take 3 - 10 working days to arrive.

BUT and this is a big BUT when it comes to heavier items like the wool and heavy books.....
Weight will depend on both item AND packaging, and not just the item.  I'd be happy to give you a hand with this of course, just ask!


Just a small taste of what's on offer;

Wool Cotton 

More Wool Cotton in various shades 

Kidsilk Aura in various shades

 More Rowan to come soon though, I'm just trying to decide which yummy ones I'll keep and what I'll sell!

Got money to blow?

...then send something to somebody through Australia Post.

But good news, the petition has nearly reached 5000 signatures.  
I'm really curious to find out if anything will actually happen after they've received all the signatures they need.  


But in the meantime I can now show you my latest design in last months Australia Yarn Magazine - Issue 29.  

'Galimatias' was born because of the confusion in my head when I actually designed it.  I had too many ideas and couldn't choose just one, so I incorporated the whole lot!  The frill, cables, yarn overs and more make it a nice mess.... but I think it's very appealing like that.  Ya know, like something to look at, study and enjoy when you're bored waiting at the doctors or dentist.  LOL.

Made from simply gorgeous Alpaca, it rests so warm, soft and is comforting next to the skin.  Enjoy Galimatias....

AARRGGHHH AUSTRLIA POST YOU SUCK!!!!!

Well, somebody had to say.

Australia Post hiked up their postage prices yet again yesterday.  I knew this was going to happen a few weeks ago because of the announcement on their site, but I'm sorry... they are just way too greedy now.  

I'm almost 100% sure it wasn't even 6 months ago when they last put up their prices and now again and such ludicrous prices they are.

PLEASE AUSTRALIANS EVERYWHERE.... if you feel this to be unjust and plain wrong, go sign this petition NOW! ;

https://www.change.org/petitions/australia-post-reconsider-the-parcel-price-increases

Thanks for your help.

April showers, without many showers yet.

Item No.1.

Sorry for my very long absence.  Just like a huge amount of people out there, I've been a very busy bee.  Apart from that, I'm one of those that will loose interest easily in one particular thing, then resume it again, then shy away from it a while.... well you get my drift I'm sure.



Item No.2.

Yes, I've posted about this before but I really need to push this info to the max -  and it's FOR AUSSIES ONLY:  Go and check out what I have for sale here;  RAVELRY 

It's mostly;
* vintage /old wool /cotton / acrylic (moths not included)
* newer wool / cotton / acrylic (when I say new, it's probably a couple of years old).  Includes a little Rowan.
*vintage / old knitting and crochet patterns and books (a lot of these are in good - excellent condition, but there a few that have been very pre-loved)
*...and lastly, some knitting and crochet accessories.



Item No.3.

Now with the heat out of the way, I'm trying to organize my life.  This means that there hasn't been a lot of knitting going on, apart from what I knit for Yarn Magazine and even that isn't a lot.... but there has been a lot of thinking and deciding.  I won't go into the fine details, but my plan is to 'clean up' and simplify things so we (my husband and I) can have a clean, simple, enjoyable life.  I'm guessing that's what we all strive for, but never actually accomplish it due to certain aspects that won't allow us.  

I've been giving it my all - still, it's proving to be rather difficult but I know that persistence does pay in the end.  I've even been scouring the internet for tips on how to become a minimalist.  NO!!  Not to actually become one, but there'd be a heap of great tips on how to minimize stuff and uncomplicate one's life.



Item No.4.

Since selling a lot of our 'junk' on eBay this past year, the above has been slowly sorting it'self out.  Selling is definitaly not quick, but at least I sell an average of 2 or 3 things per week.  I celebrate each sale because it simply means that I claim another little bit of space in the house.  The bigger celebrations and champagne are for when I sell something large.... the larger it is, the more space I reclaim!

I'd probably do better if I lowered my prices a tad, but hey we need the money in this bleak time.  It's hard to find a happy medium with pricing things, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

I've discovered certain items sell better than others and it made sense to me after I thought about WHY they do sell well.  I'm not going to tell you what these particular items are because then I'd have to injure you severely.  LOL.  But I will tell you this; If somebody needs something that gets used up quickly, then it's obvious they need more of it eventually.  
It's quite simple really.  ;)



Item No.5.

Oh my dear husband, bless his fluffy, white cotton socks.   His dreams have been very big this past year and he's been working very hard to make his dreams a reality.  He's been on his own private venture to start a new business for us and he believes it will be a success.  I also believe that he's onto a good thing and I back up his plans 100%.   This does not mean I'm not frightened of the unknown because everything is a risk, but if we don't try, we won't know.   I believe it's better to stay focused and positive than not.  Nothing good comes out of negativity... the people that don't try to live big or at least bigger, get nothing. 



Item No.6.

I do have a new knitting design in last months Australian Yarn Magazine which I'd love to show you.  I can't find the magazine (for me to scan and post it) in my big pile of mess so you'll have to wait a little longer for that.  ;)



Item No.7.  

Having said that blurb about not knitting a lot in Item No.3., I did start a sweater a couple of days ago.  It's just something I'll pick up now and then and have no intentions of going too fast with it.  When it's made, it's made.  Because it's just plain st st, it will fly off the needles quickly anyway so stay tuned for more info about that.



Take care, friends. 

Tuesday

I've always wished it would snow here, just like it does in other countries.
I'd almost kill for it right now because we are experiencing a heat wave.
The past week has been pure torture, but today we have some slight relief.
Oh for some snow right now.

Sorry if this is so small, just click on it to read.  ;)

Princess Zia, you're special!

My Princess Zia design can now be found on the Crystal Palace Yarns website -----> Princess Zia

I'm stoked....  thanks, Crystal Palace Yarns!

Hey Aussies!  Haven't seen my items for sale yet?  Go have a look now ----> Yarn & Accessories.

My star item for today is a 1kg bag of merino wool continuous rope for spinning from Bennett & Gregor in a gorgeous chocolate brown colour.  --->  Yum.

Yarn, patterns and accessories for sale.

Calling all pattern and yarn enthusiasts in Australia!

Aussies, you may now purchase my yarn, knitting / crochet patterns, books, magazines and accessories down at Ravelry. 

I have a small amount for sale at the moment (about 36 or so items), but I'm slowly adding more and more each week so do keep an eye out for new items.

If you are not a ravelry member, you'll have to sign up but its totally free.
Go and sign up here --->  SIGN UP AT WWW.RAVELRY.COM

After you've logged in, go directly here to see all my goodies --->  FOR SALE.

If there is anything that tickles your fancy, please contact me.

Today's 'star' item is:

This little beauty is a pre-1920's (very possibly much earlier) crochet booklet.
It has 14 lovely patterns and is in fairly good condition for it's old age.
My photo shows the front and back of the booklet.  For more details and photos go directly here --->  Needlewoman Simple Suggestions Series No. 5

Wednesday

After a lot of breathing in / breathing out / calming down and taking it one step at a time, I've finally fixed it so when you click on my pattern photos, (left for free and right for buying) it takes you straight to Ravelry.  So much easier now isn't it?  

And in the future I may even change it so it takes you straight to paypal instead of a 3rd party - now that would make it even easier for the ones that don't have a Ravelry account!   

Gosh, am I getting a little over confident or what??  lol...

@--->--------

My baby Orchids.

Thursday

My gripe today is that I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make things work on this USELESS BLOGGER PIECE OF *}&.^%@?>#%$$%^!!


JUST DO IT.... I tell this THING, that's all - JUST WORK FOR ME!  But it won't.  I bet if I had 10 people near me now trying to do what I've been trying to do for the past 30 minutes, they'd all have succeeded without a care in the world.  But no.  It can't work for me.  It won't work for me and I'm about to throw my laptop out the window.


Ok.  Breath in.  Breath out.  I feel a tad better now.  I'll screw my imploded head back in.


A simple thing.... which I gather is, can so terribly annoying and complex to me.
How can it be that I cannot make one simple little think work?  But then again, I'm only assuming that it's a simple thing.   The last thing I want to do is ask the husbeast for help.


You see all those flashy things on my blog?  It was only by the Grace of God, His help that you can see all those things working.  Not my handy work, because I can't figure out my own life, let alone my own blog. 

BUT.  See that 'slide show' title on the left hand side?  Maybe you do, maybe you don't?  Heck it wouldn't surprise me if you don't.   I can't get the slide show to work.  As far as I can see, I've done it correctly.  I can't see anything there under the title.  Can you?  Can it be my dumb browser letting me not see it?  WHAT'S WRONG??


Enough jibber jabber for today.  On with my life.

Sunday

I just about had kittens and puppies are few weeks back...

I was using my laptop and noticed it was a tad elevated.  Why and what on earth... so I lifted her up slightly and noticed something very odd.  Now I don't know what possessed me to ignore this unusual sight, but I did.

About a week later, I showed the husbeast and he firmly told me that is was NOT good!  The battery exploded, he said.  The battery exploded???

He quickly took it out and placed it on the floor outside.  Apparently it could have exploded in a NOT so tame manner while I was using my laptop and it wouldn't have been so pretty for me.  eeekk!  

How does this happen?  Has it happened to anybody else?  I was a little mortified to say the least!

This is the battery from my not so new laptop; 

This is what one looks like when it decides to have some kind of exploding hissy fit:

UGGHH!

Wednesday

If my poor memory serves me well, I've been waiting to see my 1928 (Vintage Hat) design in this months issue of Yarn Magazine (Issue 26) for nearly a year.  That's some long wait!

Friday

I betcha been wondering about that elusive coffee table that I've talked about in the past... the one I'm making the never ending square doily for, right?  No matter if you haven't.  I'm about to share anyway.  But first, if you're at all interested check HERE for more information.  Are you back?  Ok.

Here is my $10 'rubber wood' coffee table, pulled apart in bits and in the midst of getting a good stripping - twice.  Once for the ugly black paint and the second time for the thick varnish.  It was a sweaty job and it took several days...

 

 Loving the ornate legs. 

Much better after a tonne of fine sanding down.  It made me 

sweat even more, but boy was it worth it.

Don't they look great?  But have you ever stripped rounded wood like that?  Let me tell you, colourful language wasn't enough to make me feel 

better about the whole process.

But oh, this is the real reason why we grabbed the table!

Doesn't look like much now, but wait until I put her back together again.

You gotta love a little iron in your coffee table.  ;)

More to come in the very near future!

Thursday

So here's my long awaited coffee table square doily progress.  It keeps going on and on and it never stops.  I keep knitting and knitting and it feels like it's getting absolutely nowhere.  But I keep soldiering on, and keep looking beyond that rainbow as all good knitters do.  Looking at these photos for you, probably feels the same for me while I'm knitting; it's the same thing over and over again!

Thursday

So as you can see under my blog title, I've added a youtube slide.  At last I can show the world our beautiful Aja in action!  Ok, they might be a little boring...

The things is that when I film her, she doesn't 'act' for me.  But she'll do something funny or cute when there is no camera around.  Isn't that (usually) always the way?  Never mind.  At least I have something to show you for the time being.  I'll certainly be adding more as time goes by.

Here is the big BUT...
Sometimes the youtube slide won't show my Aja, it might be a bunch of other unrelated things.  I don't know why this happens (maybe it's supposed to?) but if you wait a short while or reload the page, you will see what you are supposed to see eventually - our gorgeous siamese girl.  :)

--------------

So, remember that lovely stitch I showed you last time?  Well I did find the pattern on Ravelry a while ago.  You can find it HERE.

Did that link work?  

Anyway it looks as though the first photo that the designer shows on her Ravelry pattern page is actually the back of her work, because the rest of her photos look different.  I quite like the back better than the front, I think!

But here is the front in case you aren't a Ravelrer.  It's pretty, but the back has more depth and texture which I love.  There is no reason why this stitch can't be used as a reversible stitch.  :)

Monday

I can't remember where I found this photo, but I'm in love with this knitting stitch.  How lovely is this?

 

Unfortunately I don't have the stitch pattern and it's killing me.  I'm on a big hunt for it!  I guess the most obvious place to start is Ravelry.  Right?

Thursday

I gasp when I see this type of handy work.  It astounds me how somebody can make something so big and beautiful.  Such talent, such patience.

I don't like to imagine all the work and precious time that goes into making a shawl like this because it frightens me.  It would literally take me YEARS to make anything close to something as stunning as this.  And I don't see the point of making one if I don't wear them.  

Truthfully, I've never seen anybody wear one where I live... well, I have seen little old ladies wearing them but they are crochet granny squares with every colour imaginable and made with thick yarn - possibly acrylic.  Not quite the same, is it?

Tuesday

Looks like the hot weather we've been experiencing has well and truly migrated elsewhere - and what a relief that is.  Now I can concentrate, and slowly get back into my knitting and designing - with long awaited excitement.  I have so many ideas running around in my head, it almost feels like it's going to explode.

These are the times when I wish I had 10 hands so I could start making my first 5 bright ideas.  Unfortunately I live in the real world, so I will start with one.

Update;

My poor 'quick cover' is still on the go from late 2010.  I'll have to change the name to something a little less, umm... 'opposite' when I've completed it!  After months of procrastinating, I took it too my mothers house yesterday and worked a whole 4 rows.  Please do keep in mind that each row takes a good 5 minutes to complete! 

I had originally started the 'cover up' for a small coffee table that we've been using for nearly 15 years.  All of a sudden, I'm looking in the local classifieds and spot a very cute but at the same time horrid coffee table and but much larger than ours, for a whole $10.  The photo showed it completely painted black (wood) but it had a lovely decorative iron thing around the base of the top and I guess that's what popped out for me.  I wondered if they had missed a zero at the end of their price, but I assumed that indeed, it was $10.  So off we went to pick up a striking, 'punch in the face' type of coffee table BUT I knew it had a heap of potential.  I was certain I could revamp it to my liking and that's exactly what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks.  Although it's fun, it's also hard work and I have the damaged, deformed and dry hands to prove it.

Completion of our new coffee table is near, but I find myself wondering if the 'quick cover' will be big enough and I'm really hoping that blocking the heck out of it will work wonders.  When you wish upon a star....

Ideally I should take more photos.  And that's exactly what I'll be doing very soon.

Monday

On most days I like my food simple and uncomplicated.  

Take prawns (or shrimp) for instance;

Shell, de-vein, then cut them flat...

Cover them with flour...

Pan fry them to perfection...

Let the excess oil drip onto paper towels then lastly, drizzle with lemon juice.

Too simple!