First Sock of the Year!

So it turns out that my first sock of the year wasn't any of the four that I mentioned previously. I had been determined that Twisted was going to be my first pair for the year but since the gauge disaster i decided that I should wait until my sock needles arrive as I think they'll be easier on my hands.

One of the KALs I joined is one that is making its way through Cookie A's book Knit Sock Love. The first sock on the menu is Hedera. The first sock has come together wonderfully quickly and I'm looking forward to making its pair in the next couple of days.



I've also been trying to keep a bit active while I've been knitting so I've also managed to drag my sorry self to the gym and used FitFu on my phone to remind me to get up once every 45 minutes.

Not much else to report other than having made it through The Pacific and two seasons of Spooks and looking forward to several more as I complete the socks.

Looking Forward to a Year of Socks

I feel a little bad about abandoning my blog last year but there's not a great deal I can do about it now except attempt to write more often this year. It was a pretty incredible year which saw my Dad getting remarried and three new family members as a result. Here's hoping they'll actually be able to join us in Oz on a more permanent basis soon!

Otherwise I spent a lot of time looking after myself as I'd gotten run down. This meant baking, lots of tea, some knitting and the rediscovery of sketching and jewellery making. So I have many reasons to look forward and now seems as good a time as any to start moving ahead with some projects.

2011 is being touted as the "year of legs". So in celebration of that I've decided to make it a year of sock knitting. So far so good!
I cast on the left sock of Twisted on Christmas day using a skein of my stashed Araucania Ranco Solid yarn in green which is looking gorgeous so far. The tiny 2mm needles have been proving a bit hard on my hands so it's been slow going. I've just gotten to the heel flap which I made a slight error on due to misreading the pattern but having solved that I seem to have discovered that I need to start over anyhow as the sock is a little too tight. ARGH!

Dad's Thuja socks, also cast on on Christmas day, are flying along. The 4mm needles are bliss to work with and Panda Magnum Soft is truly as it's named (soft that is, not a panda). Just turned the heel of the first sock and am a quarter of the way through the foot.

I also found the socks I had started to knit out of my pretty yarn from Norway. For the last two years they showed up around the house, I'd look at them, think how pretty they were and then lament the loss of the pattern and the broken needle. Finally the day after Boxing Day last year I decided that I could reverse engineer the pattern from what I had done already. After all I had one completed sock and 13 years of knitting experience. Armed with a stitch book and a new set of needles it took me a grand total of half an hour to work out the chevron pattern.

The final sock pattern that I currently have on the go is the Adirondack Socks which are my current crochet project. I'm making this out of a ball of Moda Vera Noir that's been in my stash as well.

Phew, that is a lot of socks! I do like working on several though as I find it easier on my hands and my interest levels. at this point I'm working on a different pair/pattern each day and it's entertaining me marvelously. I'm also really looking forward to making socks with Fi as we embark on some KALs this year.

Here's hoping I have a wonderful collection of socks by this time next year!

Restless

It's been almost a week since I posted and it feels longer and shorter than that at the same time.

I keep meaning to post about things that have been happening. New projects (knitting related of course) and general news but I can barely sit still at the moment. Proverbial goldfish-esque attention span.

Definitely time to get some work. Just something temporary and casual to help fund my future travel plans (Europe again in November with any luck). Something to stop me from feeling like I'm going quietly insane.

At the moment I'm knitting Gene a pair of Space Invader Socks which is taking much longer than anticipated. I'm glad that I decided to start early because it took me about five hours to make it through the 10 rows of the cuff (usually only a 30-40 minute task in front of the TV for anyone who hasn't had my sock knitting inflicted on them). It's also allowing me to do two colour stranding in my knitting (new technique I'm learning) which involves me knitting with a strand of yarn in each hand. Continental (a.k.a. left-handed) and English knitting (normal technique). I'm loving it but when my brain is ready to explode I move onto a pair of lacy socks that I'm making for myself.

Still going strong on the cooking front. More so as our family move to a healthier diet. Anything involving mushrooms and baby spinach is a favourite at the moment. Less baking happening on my part but Dad made a delicious banana cake last night. His first if I'm not mistaken. A proud moment as he got to use our cake mixer and blender last night. Pictures to follow.

I'm so wrapped up in my thoughts at the moment that I'm sure it's not good for me. So far the most exciting thing thats not space-invader-sock-related is my drive to label and catalog things. I spent the better part of Tuesday labeling all 253 posts in this blog. I then spent much of the wee hours of Wednesday starting to catalog my book collection at LibraryThing.

Yeah rock on I say!

Wooly Days

The last two days could best be described as wooly. I've felt a little wool in the head but it's what happens when I slow down again.

There's also been much wool shopping (oh the retail therapy) lately after speeding through my current partial stash of yarns to try and make a scarf that Naomi could take to Europe. The speeding through my partial stash comment is a little inaccurate as I still have quite a few random balls of yarn...

It's just that I can't walk past a well priced ball of lovely yarn and K-Marché and Spotlight were having sales...

So Mum and I have spent a couple of days of QT trawling through bargain yarn bins together. Mum scoring record deals like 40c for twenty balls of baby yarn while I lashed out on $24 dollars worth of mohair/wool for a long cross-over wrap. I still have a bit to learn about saving...

We've since been inspired (or possibly it's the guilt of having so much yarn) into holding a stall at the end of the month. That way we can continue to knit and crochet to our hearts content while not filling the house with millions of scarves, socks and other items.

Having finished our knitted socks for our boys (Gene & Dad) we've moved on to making scarves. I started two today... one with a pretty shell pattern (it's a peachy pink) and the other with an open-work pattern that I'm in the process of designing (making it up as I go) that's based on a crocheted block.

Knitting socks is fun but incredibly addictive. Even though it can be exasperating at times once you've made a pair of socks you just want to dive into another sock pattern. There are quite a few I want to try at the moment. One's a lacy stocking-sock from a leaflet Mum got the other day, then there's a crocheted sock... not to mention the space invaders socks that I want to make for Gene... On top of all of this we got some great self-patterning sock yarns that we can make basic socks with pretty patterns!

So many socks, so little time!

Things Beginning With the Letter "s"

Festival Fina closed on Sunday with some delightful weather and crowds after a wet and windy start. Definite favourites for the festival were (in no particular order) Quidams - Herbert's Dream, Group F, Guo Yue, ERTH Dinosaur Petting Zoo, Ulik and Le Snob and the memorable installation of Méchanique Vivante's Song of the Sirens. It was great to see all the performances run smoothly and even better to see people showing up in the Melbourne weather. Yay for Nick and Nomi coming to say hi!

I must say that's one thing I love about Melbourne. Weather is no barrier for the arts/festival loving people. They just bring their umbrellas, jackets and rugs and huddle together to enjoy the show. It's great and very much appreciated when you're totally soaked to the skin and still have at least 8 hours of your shift to go.

After a swift load-out of the bulk of the festival life's been slipping back to craft heaven for me. Mingled of course with large doses of Final Fantasy XII and season 1 of Buffy.

This Sunday we'll be getting ready to farewell Naomi with a lovely picnic and what was going to be some blues dancing that I was very much looking forward to...

Sadly I slipped down the bottom half of the stairs yesterday and landed (well but painfully) on my knee and ankle. It all happened a bit quickly and involved the dog stepping on the back of my pants causing the fall as I was holding my laptop... Laptop is in tact but my leg is still a little sore when I put weight on it. I may have to take a rain check on the dancing for a bit.

So I've decided to spend my restful time making scarves to bring to the picnic on Sunday in the hopes that they might find a good home. I'm slowly making my way through my stash of pretty yarns that have been hoarded over the years. It's good for me :)

I've also almost completed Gene's socks which he's happy about... Just having some troubles with the heel (namely I misread the pattern when I made the first one and now have to decide what to do with the second one). Yeah, post-festival life is complicated.

I'm sure I'll live though.

Efficiency

It would seem that Gene and I have been rather efficient over the last few days. Since my last post we've:
- watched all of season 1 of Love My Way which we both really enjoyed and even got Mum interested in. After we watched the first episode we watched the remaining nine the next day.
- headed to our first day of work where we proceeded to finished two days of work in just under one

Okay so that's not the greatest list of achievements in the world but it makes me think that we've at least done something!

I've also finished one of my socks and have started the second sock. After this I've promised myself that I'll start on Lisa's socks again which I started on while I was in Doha (complete with tailored design) then proceeded to lose the pattern traipsing around Europe. Typical! Anyhow, I've found a prettier variegated cotton yarn to make them from instead of the angora/cotton/wool blend which would have been bulky.

In terms of my location for the near future I have no set plans still. At this stage I'm not heading to Darwin (didn't get the job and due to poor timing on my part realised that it was good job but not what I wanted to do. Worked out well for both parties I think!) Still really keen to head overseas though. Shall have to look into this a bit more I think.

Well I'm off for a girly day of haircuts and manicures, just have to go and wake Mum up first...

Back to Baking

Happy birthday everyone. It's the seventh day of Chinese New Year today, also known as everybody's birthday (birthday of humans). I must say it's one of my favourite days of the CNY celebrations as it's the day that we feast on yu sang which is a raw fish salad. The raw fish is eaten to bring sucess through the year Aside from my love of sashimi I love this dish because it's a lot of fun to to eat. Before the salad is eaten everyone gets their chopsticks and tosses the salad together. The aim of this is to toss the salad the highest as it's meant to be luckier the higher you manage to toss it. This can get a little messy but most of the salad usually ends up back in the bowl! You're also supposed to eat noodles for longevity.

It's been a good day today. I've made progress on the sock that I started from the funky sock yarn that Gene bought me in Norway.

Sadly I am out of form with my knitting so my hand started to ache after a mere 24 rows of sock knitting.

Having been inspired by the cookie baking that occurred in Stranger Than Fiction, which we watched with Matt on Thursday, I started baking again. Gosh it's good to have an oven again!

Trundling

Eight days to go until the Closing Ceremony and I can't believe how much rain has fallen. After all we are in the desert... we're only meant to have half an inch of rain this month according to the averages. We had that alone on the 1st & 2nd December! The forecast for the next week is looking much the same. Hopefully it will clear up by the end of the week!

Life is trundling along. The usual work, with reduced hours for the next few days before we do it all over again. There have been some lovely gatherings which have meant better quality sleep but less of it. Can't win them all eh?

My copy of the Stardust audio book (narrated by the author and unabridged) arrived the day before yesterday which was wonderful. I love hearing authors read their own work because you get to hear their inflections on their words. I guess I imagine it's like hearing how it should go in their mind. Love it! Nick's copy of Fragile Things arrived with it but I haven't managed to catch him to give it to him. Belated birthday/early Christmas pressie.

Nothing is new aside from that! Getting ready to start knitting again. After all the weather is perfect for it. Planning to make Lisa a pair of socks. Hopefully that will go faster than the pair I'm making for Mum. (One sock's complete though Mum, I'm getting there!).

Okay going to go be productive now. Or dance in the rain. It's hard to tell...

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Gene should have touched down in Doha now. I feel like it's Christmas day and I'm waiting for everyone else to get up so we can do presents.

Spent much of yesterday asleep as I may have mentioned but have gotten a fair way through my book. Also more than halfway through Mum's sock (literally a sock, not a pair yet).

Argh! Impatient much!

Oh and it's hazy today. Giving the impression of possible rain without the likelyhood of it ever happening. Most of the drivers don't remember the last time it rained and they've been here on average 10-11 years.

Done and Doing

While I was planning on tidying paperwork today, I have instead completed a futher 10 rows of my Mum's sock instead. It's currently looking like she'll have one hand-knit sock to see her through to the new year at this rate.

Preparations for the upcoming trip are travelling well, if a little slowly, as I spent today purchasing more modest, loose fitting, natural fibre clothing with Mum. I now have an excellent selection of shirts, mainly white to help with the heat and a new pair of jeans to replace the pair that died in Brisbane.

My itinerary is likely to arrive some time tonight to give me a rough idea of what time to show up at the airport on Friday which is great. More details when I receive it.

Still can't quite believe I'll be in another country in four days time. It's a little mind boggling. I guess that's why I'm having trouble with the preparations today.

All that's left to do is:
- pack
- travel insurance
- osteo if possible
- tetanus shot (icky)
- notify the embassy
- procure a non-dodgy-looking hat for modesty
- leave contact details for friends/family

So far I've achieved:
- certified copies of my passport
- adding a pair of clocks to my blog so that I can see the time in Doha and Melbourne
- read the Qatar & culture sections in the Lonely Planet Guide
- added a blog subscription service so that people can still get email updates of my blog without necessarily having to check blogger regularly (if anyone does read this regularly)
- getting a conservative haircut/colour to fit in

Other good news is that Gene's joining me in two weeks time! Yay!
Okay must go make lists of things not to forget on my palm.

Ahhhh! :)

Socks & Stuff

Today, for the first time in a little while, I have completed a two part project. I have finally finished knitting my second sock so I now have a pair! In fact I was so excited that I finally finished that I've started another pair using wool half as thick and needles half as thin. I have a feeling I'm going to go blind trying to make this second pair, but it should be great if I get through them. The should be quite soft. I just hope I've got the tension right... I should probably knit a tension square...

Aside from that I also got stuck into my to-do list and have completed a couple of things, namely bill payment and general house keeping. There's still a bit to be done, and by a bit I mean heaps, but I've finally made a start.

I feel like I've been in a bit of a rut lately. My days have been spent oversleeping and watching more television than is healthy as opposed to my plan to spend some time reading. I guess it's got a little to do with the ease of knitting and watching tv as opposed to reading and knitting. It's a bit annoying when you have to turn the page... Even so, I need to get myself into gear and keep it up. I hate being this idle. I get all depressed. Too much time to think. Then again it's probably good for me. Argh! I can hear my brain holding this conversation all night...

"You're just trying to keep yourself busy so you don't have to think about anything or confront any issues..."
"What issues? I just like being busy so that I feel like my life is actually productive and has value"
"You're running away from life... there's a difference between living and experiencing and just blinkering yourself."
"Is that even a word? "Blinkering"?"
"That's not the point. You're avoiding the issues again."
"Again, I say, what issues? I'm not avoiding anything, I'm just easily distracted."

... and so forth. I do this far too often. I with I'd just come to a conclusion!

Len used to talk to me about balance. He said I needed to find a balance in my life and I agree. I just feel like everytime I finally seem to have things going well and "balanced" in my life, something happens or I discover that I was just deluding myself into thinking that I had balance. That whole something happening isn't my way of blaming the world/universe or anything. I have a nagging suspicion that I create that something. I've known for quite sometime that I get a bit bored with my life. I feel so boring. I've felt pretty boring (or more kindly termed "conservative") for most of my life. I don't really take chances as much as I used to. Somewhere along the lines I went from the kind of girl who gave everything at least one shot to the girl who wasn't sure about anything. Every now and then I like to "spice things up" but not in a positive way. I get argumentative, I get depressed, I let the little things get to me and then pick fights with people, I stir trouble socially, I tip the scales and let everything swing, swirl and spin until eventully I have several pressing problems. Then I get more depressed and the panic attacks start, I stop sleeping and then I slowly even things out again and life becomes good again.

This is not something I'm happy about. I'm glad that I can acknowledge the cycle exists. I'm not happy that I haven't been able to break it. It makes me wonder if there's some underlying issue at hand, or if I'm just thinking too hard and not living enough.

I worry too much about things. I just need to learn how to relax. I also need to remember that you can relax while doing things. It's been a bit hard to get out of bed lately. It's just so comfortable and warm in there. I love lounging in bed.

I also love having new experiences. I need to get out more and just do something.

At the moment I'm really enjoying swing dancing. It was GREAT to get out again last night and have a dance. We did some tandem dancing and I thought I was going crazy. My feet kept trying to do the opposite to what were were doing and I couldn't work out why. Then it was pointed out that when we go into lead/follow that I'll need to do the opposite footwork. Having only done lead/follow type dancing... that explained that! I still grin every time I think that Gene came and joined in. I'm so incredibly excited because it means that we'll be able to dance together. I'd really like that. He was great, despite his "I can't dance and tonight proved it" way of thinking. It's frustrating knowing that there's all these really cool things that can be done but knowing that it's going to be ages before you get to do it. He said that he'd love me to learn how to juggle clubs... I said I'd need to work on the juggling balls thing first... He agreed and said that once that was done then we could juggle together. I sort of brushed it aside, but just thinking about it, I should at least try. After all he has a vague interest in being able to dance with me and I have a vague fascination with juggling. I used to spent hours just watching him juggle instead of going to my lectures when we first met. I really should make an effort because I love him and I want to show him that. I always wonder sometimes about "signals" in relationships. Any relationship be it friends, acquaintances or something more, but I'll save that thought for another day.

The Cheshire Cat

I stepped out of the shower this morning (yes that's right morning... but we'll get to that later) and I thought to myself "it sounds like there's someone in our front yard mowing the lawn". I quickly dismissed that thought as I'm the only one here at the moment and I'm not even sure if have a lawn mower... I know we used to but it's been a while since I've had to think about that. I ambled my way to my bedroom and as I passed the window I looked down to discover that there actually WAS someone in the front yard mowing the lawn. Needless to say I moved significantly faster having made that discovery.

Well, the guy who I can only assume is our gardener (which is news to me) eventually finished up and left. Again I'm assuming there'll be an invoice in the letter box but you know what they say about assumptions.

Now, morning. It's the first time in a while that I've actually gotten up in the morning... excluding the brief trips downstairs to let the dogs out and give them breakfast (I swear they get more regular meals than me or anyone else in my family). I usually trot back upstairs and hop back into bed with a book or some knitting.

Speaking of knitting I'm going great guns at the moment with it. I'm now just under halfway through the sock. I'm a centimetre off starting the heel. Hopefully I'll have managed to finish it by the end of the week.

I can't believe I'm starting work again. Part of me is looking forward to it - the routine will be good for me - the other part is rightly thinking I need to start working out where to apply for theatre work.

I'm pretty excited at the moment. I'm going into the city for the first time in three weeks and I'm very much looking forward to it. If I leave soon I have time to get a train to our place in Brunswick to pick up some shoes and jeans for Gene (he he he, that rhymes) and then ride into meet him so that he can change. Then we're heading to Spleen for drinks and then swing dancing. Yay! Other cause for excitement is that this will be Gene's first swing class and I'm stoked that he's actually coming. Call me the Cheshire Cat today :)

Ponderings

I've come to realise that I have a problem finishing things. It wasn't always like this... previously I just preferred the last minute adrenalin... now I just lack the motivation. This is a problem.

So to combat that, aside from my to-do lists which I was too slack to write out yesterday, I've decided that I'm going to start finishing my knitting projects. It's baby steps... but I'm finishing the other sock to make up the pair that I started awhile ago - make that a month at least. At the moment I have one and an eighth of a pair of socks.

I'm trying to work out if I'll keep my rug project as scrap materials or just do some plain squares to make up the bulk... or to go with Gene's idea of random sized squares put together like a jigsaw puzzle. Gene's idea's appealing I must admit! It'd look different and I think it'd be great. Besides it'd be even less restrictive because I could play with the different square patterns. I'll work on it.

Sometimes I wonder what's changed in me. I loved being busy, deep down I still do... but I don't know... I seem to have lost my proverbial spark and I'm a little lost as to how to find it again. I need to learn how to inspire myself and find inspiration in the little things around me. As I keep saying, there's so much out there and so many stories to tell.

Maybe that's it. There's so much out there and so many choices and options that I'm not sure where to start. I was never good with the big decisions. I'm always afraid of making the wrong choice. It's worse not to decide because then you'll never find out what could have been and you'll be static.

Popsicle Toes

My toes are freezing! On the bright side they're not the colour of eggplants like they were yesterday after I got home.

Didn't end up visiting Gene today. He was planning on having an early night and I didn't want to keep him up. So instead I went to the shops and bought some foot pads to cushion the blisters that are forming after the cryotherapy, dog food for the dogs (I'm sure they'll be happier now that they get a mixture of food again) and more socks than you could shake your foot at. I made sure that they were good cotton socks so that they breathe well and I can hopefully avoid this whole pained foot situation again. I also got some rather random sock-like items like the toe covers... just imagine a sock without the heel and leg half of it. It's working out well in terms of keeping my toes warm and the rest of my foot a normal temperature. There's also a foot tube which is about the size of a sweat band but for your feet. I'm not sure why I got them... but I figure it'll be added protection for the blisters.

I do wonder sometimes... here I am getting excited about socks. I knit to pass the time and get rather excited about different wools, silks and cotton (not to mention the different needles and stitches). Sometimes I feel like I should have been born earlier back when all of these things were less strange and spinster related. Then again I can't complain because I have a fantastic guy who is supportive of most of my quirks - what more could you ask for?

I do wonder, but then I realise that I wouldn't change a thing. I am content with my life at the moment. Even when I'm feeling down, I think that I am content with my life. I guess sometimes it seems like it's too much to bear.