The Scarlet Tree

Dinner

2011-07-20T16:02:00.003+10:00

Dinner

2011-07-20T16:02:00.001+10:00

Bloody mature aged students!

2011-07-19T13:19:00.002+10:00

I'm going back at uni.

I finished my Bachelor of Creative Arts, but never completed my BA in English Literature. I was so sick with my first pregnancy - the whole idea of uni just *poof* disappeared.

Enrolment day was quite surreal. The place was swimming with nervous looking teenagers with campus maps and exhausted, somewhat frazzled looking staff. But it was actually really exciting. My life has changed so much since I was here ten years ago. I have two kids, a few extra kilos and a kindle!
I have downloaded my book list already...

My first subject is called, 'Social Justice and Children's Literature', the book list looks great. I have been wanting to read 'Uglies' by Scott Westerfield for ages and it is on the list.

I am very worried at the moment though, I am in a panic that I will not get into the Tutorial that I wanted, I only have babysitting time for the lecture, so I need the tutorial on preschool day!

Fingers crossed - xxxxxxxx

I emerge unscathed...

2010-09-06T21:28:00.004+10:00

January 10th was the last time I blogged.

I discovered facebook and blindly abandoned blogland without a kind thought or moments hesitation.

But really, who cares why I haven't blogged. My excuses are boring me.

My Husband and I watched Shutter Island last night, my gosh it was soooo good.

So good, we put it back to the start and watched the beginning again, just to see....

I have a secret!

2010-01-10T13:00:00.003+11:00

I can't seem to stick to the one story. I stop, I write and I move on.

It's almost like a "fear of narrative commitment"! It has to STOP.

I have decided to try a new strategy. I am going to keep the whole world of my story a secret. All my characters and narratives and places...all secret. I won't even be telling my husband.

It seems that once I tell...the story just - floats away -

No more!

It is my new years resolution and it is so bloody hard! I hate secrets and I hate surprises.

There is a sort of agony in suffering alone with these characters. It is my duty, sometimes, to play havoc with their lives- let them fall of the proverbial edge, and not even extend a hand to catch them.

But it is also wonderful, like having imaginary friends all over again. I often wonder, do other people think in imagined narratives throughout the day? About characters that they haven't met and places they haven't been?

Anyway, shhhhh. I'm not telling a scrap! And this one will be finished my years end, so help me!

Bit of a Dreary start to Spring

2009-10-13T22:16:00.004+11:00

But the garden likes the rain,

As do the vegetables...

Dinner Party? Fun or Nightmare?

2009-10-03T17:49:00.002+10:00

I love dinner parties.
I watched a few episodes of a British TV show called 'Come Dine with me' on the cooking channel, this evening. Four people take turns at hosting a dinner party, and the best host wins 1000 pounds.

The contestants are rude, obnoxious and ungrateful toward one another. And they cloak their 'constructive criticism', in a rather moth eaten air of either 'high society regality' or in some cases, sheer vulgarity! And they are the fussiest eaters I have ever seen! But the commentary is nothing short of HILARIOUS.

I was so excited when one episode after another came on... I loved it.

I'm going to plan a dinner party....I am....and I will give y'all a running commentary of my plans a test dishes!

'Elling'

2009-09-10T19:27:00.002+10:00

I went to see a play called 'Elling' on Saturday.
It was fantastic. I can't say that I have seen a 'really good' play in some time, not for any lack in going.
It is about two men who have lived together in an asylum for some time, they get released and move into an apartment together. The play follows their reintegration back into the 'real' world. Their story is complex, as are the characters - and there is something delicate about this story, something fragile that really appealed to me. The play was based on a Norwegian book and film of the same title. I am really keen to have a look at the film now and see what is gained or perhaps lost in the transition.

I felt absolutely sucked into the story, I found myself sitting in my comfy red chair, wanting these two odd men to find a pocket in this strange world, that would fit them.

A bite of writing...

2009-08-12T21:30:00.002+10:00

I have never posted any of my own writing on this blog. But I am often curious about what other writers are writing, when they are not blogging.

So here is a bite from my novel in progress:

I held onto James’ hand tight, pigs grunting, a fuzz of voices and animal cries; symphonies under the monotonous clang of the blacksmiths hammers. The narrow passageways between the stalls were crammed with barrels of ale and wooden crates filled with dusty ducks and cranky geese. I felt a surge of excitement ripple through me whenever we came here. I loved to look at the beautiful ladies in their dresses of fine fabrics; green and gold and even some of the ladies from the court dressed in silks as red as blood and shiny like the skin of a polished apple. They walked differently to me, I tried to stand taller – to move my hips, one pushed forward and then the other but my flat brown shoes felt clumsy and my hips were narrow and skinny.

Banana Heart Summer - A fantastic Book

2009-08-07T15:39:00.003+10:00

I am loving this book!

I am just a short way in so far, but I am more hooked at the beginning of chapter two than I have been with a book - since, OMG I don't know when!

The novel is by Merlinda Borbis and tells the story of a young Filipino girl living in a poor neighbourhood with a violent mother.

The rich and delicious language, evokes a real sense of the heat and the sensuality of the small tropical town. The prose drips with the flavours and smells of the food that shapes 12 years old Nenita's world.

It is published by Murdoch Books.

The Painted Veil

2009-07-24T23:47:00.003+10:00

My husband and I watched 'The Painted Veil' last night and we sat mesmerised by it for the whole 120 odd minutes of the film. It is an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel by the same name, written in 1925. For a romantic period film it had a surprisingly suspenseful plot.

Edward Norton plays a bacteriologist who takes his new English wife, who is much less smitten with him than he with her, to Shaghai. And after she falls head first into an affair with an English diplomat, Norton blackmails’ her to accompany him to a cholera ravaged village deep in the heartland of China. The landscape is a beautiful and a serene backdrop for what is happening all around them. The complexities of their relationship are wonderfully agonising and painful. And Norton who starts out as a slick haired; pasty doctor who prefers the light off, gradually becomes 'a bit rough around the edges' and sexy.

I won't give any major spoilers because it is too good a movie to risk wreaking it for someone. But I will say that my only real critism of the film is the frequent flash back scenes that serve only to reassure the audience that the film makers didn't think that we were cluey enough to fill in the blanks on our own. I would have preferred to have appreciated the really powerful, non-verbal, emotional conversations that were acted out between Edward Norton and Naomi Watts.

Regardless, it really was one of the best films I have seen is a while, particularity when it comes to romantic drama.

Some finished Knits to Show

2009-05-31T22:22:00.006+10:00

This my little girl wearing her Anouk, a pattern from Knitty. It was knit out of a cotton/bamboo blend. But I can't remember which. I made this while she was still in the tummy. It was the smallest size, but I made it a bit longer.

The front, little poser!

This one is my most recent FO, it is the One Skein Wonder Shrug from Glampyre Knits. I used Cleckheaton Country Naturals and the smallest size. It is going to stretch I think, so it will fit for a Looooong time :)

PLEASE NOTE: THE CAMERA WAS ON ZOOM

See that tiny red dot in the distance, barely! We were busy putting the baby shoes, onto baby feet and my son said he was just going to have a little look at the grapes. we realised they were a long way away and so said, sure just go down the hill a little way and come back (We were going to visit a local winery) and when we called out he didn't answer! My heart sunk in my chest and I ran so fast I probably looked like an athlete! (Ha! I wish) And he had gotten 1/2 a kilometer away in the time it took me to lace her shoes.

Isn't that a scary thought!

To Game or Not to game...

2009-05-31T09:03:00.004+10:00

I was just reading a post on Happy Families blog about whether to let kids have gaming consoles, or not. I find this really interesting, as we have recently gotten a Nintendo Wii.

I am not in favour of defending gaming simply because I have allowed my child to play, but because I find the topic really interesting.

Imaginative play is important, the most important sort of play that children need. But a balance between imaginative play and electronic play is still healthy, in my opinion.

Every generation feels nostalgic about the games and toys; the stories and the fantasies of their own childhoods. I certainly do; She-Ra dolls and Strawberry Shortcake, skipping ropes and elastics. But play needs to include popular culture as well, to prepare children for the world ahead of them. I think that the conventions of gaming play are as important today, as the conventions of family storytelling around the fire was, pre-television and radio. While we do sit around, as a family, and read aloud often -we also go hell for leather on the Wii sports games, and slouch in front of the T.V on cold winter days with popcorn.

I don't think that we have really found the balance yet, we still have dramas about the amount of time allowed on the games machine and computer, but on the other hand he has begun to understand some of the conventions of fantasy gaming. I say fantasy gaming, because I think that adventure and world play is more constructive for kids than 'kill 'em and smash 'em' games (although I do let him play these on occasion too) He will search through the landscape for objects before moving into a new landscape and try different objects through the worlds - summing up for me what he thinks will happen and what he needs to find to activate the next part of the game. Wall-e has been quite a good one - it has lots of puzzle and problem solving tasks. He is learning the game terminology, and about caring for disks and electronic equipment and even about using menus to save games and change chapters.

Popular culture is filled with the skills and lessons that a child of the period needs for their life. So, we have chosen to go for a balance - it is sometime fraught with tears and tantrums when mummy says no games machine right now. But I think, in the end it has been worth it.

A little bit of good news....for me

2009-03-27T23:17:00.004+11:00

Much to my delight, my little girl has decided that she likes sleeping in her own bed. A blessing for my back; which has been feeling rather crooked of late. All of a sudden, at 14 months, she has begun to sleep quite happily for two hours each afternoon as well! Quite amazing!!

While I feel ready, to now separate from her during the night, I am often surprised at how opinionated other parents are about the choices that mothers and fathers make about other children's bedtime routines.

I feel strongly that 'freedom of choice' is of paramount importance; and how long a baby shares the parental bed is a very personal and individual choice. I understand why people feel strongly about it though, ones sleep is crucial and I know quite well how exhausting little ones can be. But that shouldn't negate 'my' choice to have baby in my bed, if that is what I feel is best for baby and me.

For the first three months of her life, she slept lying on my chest all night. And no! She didn't fall off, I didn't squash her and I didn't wake up tired and sleep deprived. I loved it, not for everyone

I completely understand; but it was for me and it is a memory that I could not have deprived myself of. All of the little things; her sweet milky scent, her tiny snuffling noises and her cheeks like the slightly fluffy skin of a warm, squashy peach.

I daresay that I will not be sending her back during the night when she wakes for her 2am milk. In fact, I have - as I am typing at this very moment, one perfect little foot resting on the side of my laptop...but at least we have made the first steps toward bedtime independence: that’s a good thing.

An Epiphany...

2009-03-01T22:31:00.005+11:00

A PHOTO I TOOK RECENTLY AT THE ILLAWARRA FLY.

NB: HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POST, POSTED FOR AESTHETIC PURPOSES ONLY.

Sometimes I feel like I'm doing the wrong thing by my characters.

I change tack while I am writing and try to move the storyline in a different direction to avoid my character having to suffer.

But I think this is the mistake I have been making over and over.

It isn't my job to protect them. It is my job to let the story evolve without judgement - (my role of course depends whose point/s of view the story is coming from)

And so those 'safe' novels get dumped. Booted out into the 'major problem basket'. But this novel I started a month ago is NOT safe - And it is working out so much better. I am already up to 5000 words.

Some of the short stories I have written, I have been less worried about protecting my characters. And some of them, I think might be worth sending away....

One of my characters (although not the main character) that I am currently working on, has experienced a great loss. And I find the writing sometimes exhausting and really difficult emotionally - I think I have been protecting myself from that with other pieces I have written. While I feel 'good' about this epiphany, I also feel a bit annoyed that it has taken me 4 lots of 20,000 or 30,000 words and buckets full of bits a pieces, to work it out.

A Meme .... Can't remember where I pinched it from!

2009-02-04T23:25:00.002+11:00

My unread Blog lines list is enormous!!!! So I have no idea who I pinched this from,
but it seemed a snazzy little meme, so here goes....

Make a list of things you can see without getting up:
1) The laptop
2) The fan, the air conditioner is broken aragggg
3) My sleeping baby

What were you like when you were five?
Goodness, that is a stretch. My twin and I were serious Strawberry Shortcake fans!

What color is your bedroom?
Boring cream I have to admit, but the cedar blinds are nice.

What was the last thing you bought?
Japanese take away, my son who refuses to eat his vegetables is happy to down a dozen cucumber sushi (no fish) rolls wrapped in seaweed, go figure?

What are you listening to right now?
The fan. It is too loud! And my poor little pumpkin has a cough.

What is your favorite color, and has it always been your favorite color?
Army green, I have never really been drawn to this colour before. I have always been a red and black girl, although black will always be my staple wardrobe colour. (it's slimming)

What song are you currently listening to a lot? Jason Mraz - I'm Yours. I love this song, It has been the inspiration for the novel I'm working on and I just listen to it over and over.

If you could have any super power, what would it be? Oh easy, I would be a Vampire - I realise that isn't really a super power, more a creature with super powers, but hell I'm gonna bend the question to suit.

What was the last reality TV show you watched? Oh I'm embarrassed (Americas Next Top Model)

What is your most challenging goal right now? To finish my novel but the end of 2009.

If you could have a house–totally paid for, fully furnished–anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? It would be a toss up between The Greek Islands or something overlooking a Piazza in Italy, preferably in the middle somewhere.

Favorite vacation spot? That depends on the weather. Winter - has to be mountains, knitting and hot chocolate. Summer - Noosa - a frozen daiquiri, a banana chair and my husband.

What is your favorite children’s book? That is really tough, I have so many! Peepo is right up there and The pimpernel Seed, I have looked everywhere for this book...and can't find it.

Name one thing you just can’t resist no matter how bad it is for you: Fresh marinated curd cheese ( I don't eat dairy by the way) Italian bread rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with sea salt, drizzled with olive oil and lightly grilled. Then more olive oil and Balsamic vinegar to dip, slabs of Parmesan and an ridiculous amount of dark chocolate. I think I might need a midnight snack :)

If you could meet anyone famous - dead or alive - who would it be? Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allen Poe.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? Gosh, as daggy as is really sounds, I like what I am doing now- being a mum and writing. Except in this daydream I would have more time to write and would be snapped up by a publisher in a wink :)

Right Brain .... Left Brain?

2009-01-06T21:14:00.003+11:00

This is really interesting little video.
It is an optical illusion video, that claims to suggest that the viewer is either right or left brain dominant, depending on which direction you see the dancer spinning.
Have a look then scroll down to see what I saw.....

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I saw her spin only left to right, clockwise. Hmmmm, I did Bachelor of Creative Arts at uni in visual arts. and I am very, very bad at maths.
Try as I might I was not able to spin her the other direction.

However, my Network Engineer husband also saw her turn clockwise only.
My Son, 4 and 1/2 years old, saw clockwise too.

Not sure what I think of the claim, but it is interesting.

A POST FOR PINTER...

2008-12-28T20:05:00.007+11:00

Harold Pinter passed away on Christmas Eve, this year, 2008.

I was shocked when I heard the news the other night. I have always loved Pinter's plays, and read a few of them at Uni as well.

I saw a student production of 'The Caretaker' at university when I was in my 1st year and it left a huge impression on me. His plays are characterised by awkward, as well as profoundly poignant silences, these absences of character speech were aptly coined "Pinter Pause". They brim with tension and anxiety, making the ordinary seem almost treacherous.

I right this post as my own small tribute to Harold Pinter and the enormous contribution that he has left to the world stage...PAUSE...

Alas... My Word count was an embarrassing 3,586

2008-12-02T21:59:00.006+11:00

NaNoWriMo has come and gone, unfortunately it did not sweep me into the winners bucket, and I have no one to blame but myself - and perhaps my children! LOL While I joke, it is true. My son is at preschool three days a week, but my little girt is only 10 months. Writing with little people is really difficult for two reason. Excuses, excuses I hear you say!

But I am going to tell you anyway...

1. The most obvious one is a major lack of time, and a lack of brain clarity.

AND

2. When a small round face looks up at you; gums glistening with chewy dribble, gibberish that makes you melt with pride and eyes lashes to kill for, who isn't going to be distracted?

So, in light of that I have decided to say:

"Oh well"

At least I didn't miss out on my daughters 9th month

I have not given up though! Plod on, I will.....

Research...

2008-11-27T23:51:00.005+11:00

My favorite part of writing, beside the actual writing I suppose, is research. But it can also be a huge time devil. What I enjoy the most is creating a character, moulded and shaped by social and historical context. Then there is the puzzle; the character needs to curl themselves around the world within the book, and with the creation of their world, or the world that the invade, comes the research of places; times, ideas, whatever is relevant. What bar was the most popular for the men during the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge? What do squashed bees smell like? How did women in the 1700 hundreds go to the toilet with those huge dresses on? ........

1700's Court Dress

(image from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_C.I.65.13.1a-c.jpg )

NaNoWriMo upate....

2008-11-25T12:20:00.002+11:00

With only 7 NaNo days left to go, I am clearly not on my road to victory. November has managed to throw me a few domestic curve balls and a couple of snotty nosed little ones, who are looking spritely and well now, at the end of November:)
Although I feel disappointed that my word count wasn't higher at this point, I have not by any means given up! I still write like the wind whenever time permits.

And I am really enjoying the story as well.

I began fresh for NaNoWriMo, with no preconceived idea at all! At the end of week one I thought - "man this is shit!" Yet I pushed on, past the dialogue that sounded all wrong and that odd switch to 1st person voice in the middle. (Which I was compelled to fix and did shhh) By the second week I realised the word count was unachievable with a wakeful baby in tow, but continued anyway- this week I feel really good about the story. It is falling into place nicely at the moment and ideas a plentiful (touch wood)

42 Words...

2008-11-01T15:14:00.002+11:00

LOL I am up to 42 words so far. This is going to be a long month :)
I realise that I am not going to make the word count, but I will do my best. I was too busy playing dollies and little people this morning.... but I still have 8 hours and forty minutes until this day is over, let's see how long baby naps for.

I realise that NaNoRiMo is about getting as many words down on the page as possible until an idea comes full circle. I think this is really going to help my writing, weather what I end up producing is any good or not.

A busy month ahead...

2008-11-01T00:38:00.002+11:00

I have decided to take the challenge and put my hand up for NaNoRiMo. (National Novel Writing Month) I realize full well that I will not make the quota of 50,000 words in a month! Hey, you think I'm superwoman, I have two kids! But I will write like a demon anyway. I have some ripe, and hopefully juicy ideas to run with, so NaNoRiMo here I come!

Absurd!

2008-10-20T11:08:00.002+11:00

"PRIVATE investigators will no longer need to have sex with prostitutes to gather evidence against illegal brothels."
This is from an article in The Age newspaper. Firstly I wondered if these were married men, perhaps with children, 'collecting this evidence'. But moreover, what an abuse of power! To partake in sexual activities with prostitutes under such false pretences, it is subterfuge and it's deceitful . I can't believe it is 21st century and only now have the managed to come up with an alternative means of establishing the legality of a brothel.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/sex-called-off-in-hunt-for-illegal-brothels-20081018-53nx.html

Tears for women...strength for women.

2008-09-18T09:28:00.000+10:00

I held my daughter for a long time while she slept yesterday. The silence was wonderful and I could smell the warm caramel scent of her milky breath with each tiny exhale. And I cried and cried.

A young woman that I know, a close friend of my sister in law, has recently found out she has 2ND stage breast cancer. She has been told that she has quite a battle in front of her. At only 37 years old, with a frightened husband and three small children, she is expecting to face more than I could possibly imagine. Her most profound concern is for her children.

I write this as an acknowledgement to all those with cancers; both women and men, mothers and fathers, of the pain and the fear as well as strength and for just a moment, as a shared tear of hope with all mothers, because sometimes it is the tears of profound love that give us the most strength.

'MUTO' An Amazing Short Film Animation...

2008-09-13T21:00:00.004+10:00

This animation is amazing! The whole thing has been painted onto a wall and then painted over and over with white paint as the picture travels across the wall.

I am not sure what it means exactly. It is clearly riddled with political and social comment and probably, more specifically, anti-capitalist and anti war ideas. It is engrossing to watch; weird, clever and clearly very labour intensive art.

Please note: This short film is not sexual or violent. But I wouldn't let kids watch it. It is a little weird and some bits could be a bit scary or disturbing for kids.

My bedside book pile...

2008-09-06T00:49:00.005+10:00

I have two really good looking YA (Young Adult) books on my bedside table at the moment.
'Angel Monster' by Veronica Benett
And
The Jackie French novel, 'Somewhere Around the Corner'
I keep picking them up, reading the backs. Which one first? Reading has become a bit of a luxury since my daughter was born. But we are all settling into a good pattern now.

Words or Pictures...?

2008-08-31T10:36:00.008+10:00

I have been thinking a lot about how other writers experience the ideas that they have.

I haven't been to very many author talks or discussions over the last 4 years, time hasn't been kind I suppose. I realise that some writers see still or moving images in their heads or perhaps hear voices of their characters, while some writers see words like a thread of cotton passing from the brain and down to the pen. But which writers, see which?

For my own writing I mostly see pictures, sometimes still - sometimes moving. Like a story board. Sometimes I try to sketch out the images, that helps but I draw quite slowly and besides drawing isn't my forte.

HOW WEIRD!

I just skipped over to blog lines mid post because my mind was starting to wander, and Justine Larbalestier has recently finished her post saying she wishes she could draw... some of the comments expressed the same frustration with drawing to express their visual ideas. Interesting.

A Writers MeMe

2008-08-22T19:23:00.004+10:00

I saw this on Oh! Books Paper Real Life's blog

1) Do you write fiction or non-fiction? Or both? Only Fiction for me.

2) Do you keep a journal or a writing notebook? I suppose my blog is a journal. My writing notebook is part sketch book part note writing book. But the entries are erratic.

3) If you write fiction, do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing? Do you find books on plotting useful or harmful? I haven't read much on plotting, my own writing varies. I have a couple a ideas that I have plotted completely from start to finish but have never written any further. Mostly I start with a germ of an idea and run with it. Since I am yet to be published I'm not sure which strategy is gonna work for me yet.

4) Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
Once an idea bites me, it itches until I have is safely jotted down or on my Dictaphone. I worry dreadfully if an idea washes away. I once even took a phone photo of a man so I wouldn't forget his peculiarities. Of course he didn't know it. Is that a terribly wrong thing to do...?

5) Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time? That depends on whether I have an idea of a character that comes into me head, in which case a spurt of writing is plenty. But if I am continuing on with my novel I can write for a couple of hours before I need a snack :) Not that I get that long at a time to write these days.

6) Are you a morning or afternoon writer? Mid morning or very late at night. It depends on the weather.

7) Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate? I need to be without obligation or responsibility, I am happy to write with noise if it isn't noise that I have to watch or be aware of like my own children or husband. I prefer to be alone I suppose, I think I talk to myself a bit.

8) Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?) What's a typewriter?? LOL, I like both longhand and the computer, but is think I write better stuff when I write longhand...

9) Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One? Or do you let the story evolve as you write? No not generally - but what I am writing at the moment I do and it is really working for me!!

10) Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write? No I don't get much time to browse bookshops even if I wanted to see what was going on in the market.

11) Editing/Revision - love it or hate it? I really enjoy it, but at the same time I find it quite frustrating and it fills me with self doubt. Perhaps that is a pre-published problem, but I suspect not.

To Google .... or Gawk

2008-08-05T10:19:00.004+10:00

This morning I was able to camera zoom in on someones front yard, filled with broken down cars and scrap metal, somewhere in Alaska.

The new Google Earth Street scape was released a few days ago and my goodness it has a much higher resolution than I expected!
The program lets you move your cursor into camera spheres, that your can spin around in and get a 360 degree view of house frontages, street scape's, people, cars.....

voyeuristic? Fascinating!

And from a writing perspective it really offers a unique opportunity to get an inkling into life elsewhere and to see places all over the world as they exist...not doctored or set up for the purpose of photography. The images are so clear that I was able read a lipstick add on the side a bus in New York.

However exciting, do I want my front door to be searchable? And yes, my front door is there with my car and that pile of pruning on the front lawn that didn't fit in the green waste bin a couple of months ago. (Note: Frozen images not real time)

I'm not sue what I think of it yet. On the one hand I am excited and have spent half the morning globetrotting from New york city, Japan and London to my front door in Australia. But on the flip side, what does this technology mean for world security and privacy...it is very
Sci Fi. Perhaps next we will all have GPS chips inserted under our skin allowing people to 'Google' us? Literally...

Baby arrived five months ago....

2008-07-11T14:30:00.004+10:00

A wonderful little girl!

I wished that I had posted sooner, but this last 5 & 1/2 months has gone so fast. She was about 2 & 1/2 in this photo. But she was soooo tiny when she was born, only 5 lb 15oz and 46cm long.

There are so many wonderful things about having a new baby and I couldn't have possibly asked for a more perfect one. She sleeps, and eats and smiles and waits patiently when I'm busy.... (TOUCH WOOD)

It has also been wonderful to enjoy both of the kids, knowing that the pregnancy part of our lives is complete. That a new phase is starting, one that I am really looking forward to.

One More Sleep till Baby is Here!

2008-01-16T18:23:00.000+11:00

Tomorrow afternoon we go into the hospital for the cesarean and baby should be here by about 6 - 6.30pm. I am quite over the whole pregnancy thing now and can't wait to meet the new little girl.

I have to admit though, I haven't finished packing my things or baby's. I just haven't been able to get myself organised - I'm very excited but I'm not looking forward to to whole operation and hospital stay thing. At least they have nice food there- with little bottles of wines at dinner :)

Well, that's it!

I will post some photos when I get back!! :)

A Drama of a Morning....

2007-11-27T17:28:00.000+11:00

This pregnancy is a bit of a drama most days but this morning I woke up in agony....agony I tell you! I couldn't stand up properly, I couldn't sit down! The whole drama lasted for about 40 mins. Abdominal pain, back pain, cramping...right across my abdomen.

Contractions seems to be to blame, but possibly round ligament pain...it is hard to tell because whatever it was had eased by the time I got to the hospital, so no contractions showed up on the monitor print out. We are 31 weeks now, so it is still too early but if it happens again I wont be hanging around the house to wait and see how it pans out...I could hardly catch my breath! Straight back the noisy monitor machine for me.

I didn't have labour pain last pregnancy - it was a planned c-section due to a number of factors so the birth was scheduled for 10 days early, with never a twinge. So I have no comparison.

It is ironic though, I have been wishing the days along until this whole drama finishes and my body is back to normal, but a little hiccup like this - I'm saying STAY IN THERE!! YOUR NURSERY ISN'T READY YET !!

YEAR OF HELL

2007-11-15T21:45:00.000+11:00

I watched the Star Trek episode, 'Year of Hell' tonight. The episode is all about a ship that exists in a state of temporal flux. It is a great double episode.

My year hasn't been the best. Maybe not 'The Year of Hell', but it wouldn't be too far off :)

My mum is on the home stretch now with her chemo and she is going to be fine, thank god.
But it has been difficult to say the least. And she is a terrible patient...she is hanging out to get back to the gym and hates to be slowed down.

I am pleased to say though, that I only have 9 weeks left of this pregnancy.
I have had two horrible pregnancies.......although feeling like crap this time has been a lot harder because I can't sleep the time away like I did the first time around. My poor little boy has been so patient, he says into my tummy - 'Hurry up baby!'

At least I can say this time around that I never have to do this again :)
We are really excited now to getting our new baby, OH and did I say, it is going to be a little girl this time. My little boy like the names Apple and Bananna :) We have a few others in mind LOL

I have really missed going to every second Tuesday Knitting as well, I love knitting group - I'm in knit limbo!!!!!

Anyway, I am looking forward to the new year, new baby :) and NO MORE MORNING SICKNESS EVER!

A parcel finally acknowledged...and an apology.

2007-10-17T09:22:00.000+10:00

Before I write anything...I must apologise for the terrible delay in writing this post. So, I am sorry Heddy.

The last couple of months have been a roller coaster to say the least. One thing after another!!!!
But finally life seems to be smoothing out...not quite flat :) But at least some of the creases have ironed themselves out. But alas, I am yet to acknowledge and thank my International Scarf exchange Pal....we thought for a little while that the mail between Canada and Australia had failed us, but then! I opened the PO box and there was a big red Canada flag sticker peering out from the box :) And I was so excited...all the little gift were wrapped individually is tissue paper and inside each little gift a wonderful selection of goodies!!

The most exciting of the goodies was this....

My scarf!

It is really lovely and nice and long as well.....exactly my sort of colors too!

And in the other little wrapped pressies, there were Chicken Bone Lollies...a really yummy cinnamon sweet, Maple suckers...so good. I remember these from my childhood. I was born in Canada and my father use to bring these home from his trips back there.

And Canada pins, a gorgeous deck of playing card from her town , notepad!!! and ...............

Thank you Heddy for a wonderful ISE4 and a gorgeous scarf!

A recipe for natural oven cleaning!

2007-08-23T12:06:00.000+10:00

I have been trying to avoid chemicals in my house lately. I suppose it is a reaction to the all the environmental issues in the world but also perhaps because of my pregnancy.

Oven Cleaner

Yesterday I really wanted to clean the oven. (As you do :) But I am terrified of oven cleaner, (my mum always told me it was nasty stuff)

I sprinkled bi-carb soda all over the oven door with some vinegar to make it bubble and started to scrub. It wasn't working so well, so I tried some lemon juice. All the grease dissolved really quickly....I was so pleased that I had cleaned it with no chemicals and my little one was safely able to help, we used the cut lemon halves to do the scrubbing and made a bit of a game out of it.

And the oven smells nice too.

We often make witches brew in the back yard with bi-carb and cut the lemon on the rocks, so he was already a bit of a pro:)

Why can tiny children understand...but not whole countries of learned people?

2007-08-20T10:25:00.000+10:00

My little boy loves preschool! He comes home with lot of stories, and a blow by blow account of his whole day - all retold with a little hop in his step and a bit of a dance too.

A few weeks ago I spoke to his teacher and asked her how he gets along with the other kids and if he has been able to make many friends. I also told her that he speaks of a little boy called 'Bobby' quite frequently.
She smiled, and said, "Oh Yes, that's interesting actually because Bobby is Chinese - he speaks no English at all, but they play together all day long and seem to know exactly what they are doing!"

I was so surprised!

They manage to play every week, all day long, without understanding a word the other is saying. (Of course by now they will have learnt from each other) I wondered why my boy looked a bit confused when he talked about Bobby.

It is quite profound that two small boys can manage to communicate and play harmoniously, with such vast cultural and linguistic barriers. What our world leaders could learn from little people is so great that I find it hard to fathom. At what point does prejudice and fear of 'otherness' come into their psyches and poison their willingness to accept difference?

Perhaps early friendships such and this are the key? If that is the case what hope is there for children around the world who are encouraged and taught to hate their enemy??

When we got home that afternoon, I asked him about his day and tried to explain that Bobby spoke a language called Chinese and that is why he sometimes didn't know the words that my little one was saying and vice versa - I also tried to ask him if he knew any of the words that Bobby used?

Well, he got a thoughtful expression of his face and asked for some apple juice. He didn't care. LOL

A little boy at Preschool...and some character sketches

2007-07-16T10:29:00.000+10:00

Preschool started back today after the school holidays and for the first time I actually feel relaxed. I have been busy listening to pod casts. I managed to sketch one of the pivotal, but not main, characters in my new novel - for which I might add I have finished the outline for. My little boy actually finished off the plot for me! What A wonderful little man :)

I told him a slightly less scary version of the story and he was really taken with the idea...he then had a dream about the characters and he dreamt a really great way to tie up the ideas and close the story. I was so impressed, if i get it published (my fingers are always crossed :)) I will be acknowledging him!! for sure!

I like to sketch my characters, it help to create them in my mind. At Art school and uni, my style was always quite abstract. Real life and naturalistic drawing and painting never came easily to me. My majors were in photography and sculpture, and even then sculpture and textiles where always more my forte. But none the less I will show you my little sketch:)

This is a character who becomes more important as the story progresses; she is part of her landscape, she blends with it and is never seen, in the book, away from her dwelling.

Pregnant!

2007-07-12T18:24:00.000+10:00

We are pregnant - 11 weeks and feeling horrible!

My little boy is so excited!

I have felt so horrible though - nausea most of the day. My mum has been taking my three year old at some point every single day! She has helped enormously!!!

My little boy has also been wonderful! He has been giving me the most lovely little shoulder massages :)
Of course his little fingers don't massage very hard but they are so relaxing, the softest little warm fingers - they really take the tension away.

I have my fingers crossed that the nausea will go away by week twelve like it is suppose to, but I had no such luck the first time around.

Anyway, some new baby WIPS to show next post.

Too big, bugger!

2007-07-06T18:43:00.000+10:00

And to top it off I have lost 5 kilos! Cool hey!

But Alas, this jumper is not gonna fit, it is way too big!

I can't believe I am going to frog this much 1x1 rib!!

I'm not sure if I can! It's Cleackheaton Studio Mohair and isnt going to be easy to frog either.

This is what I was knitting. Bugger!

The novel - An Update

2007-07-01T13:13:00.000+10:00

I have felt somewhat uneasy with my novel of late. There are some concepts in the plot that I am not happy with at all. Although I have begun a new plot direction, it is discouraging. So late in the piece I am finding each page I turn I am further away from where I want to be. On a positive note however, the new direction has fleshed out some of the secondary characters in a way that I hadn't anticipated, and made the subplots more meaty as well.

My little one is on school holidays for the next two weeks, and I have been unwell, so I have decided to pack away the manuscript and not open up the file until he is back at school, in the hope that I will be able to start back in a better frame of mind.

Oh course, there is always one thing or another that a writer will dwell on, as an obstacle to some Divine prose that sprouts from the bowels of ones imagination. For me that obstacle is isolation, or more precisely a lack of it. And Isolation is one luxury that family life does not offer, but it is- unfortunately- something that I seem to need to focus my mind on my writing. Thank heavens, my husband is a quiet sort of man who also enjoys solitude, he is happy to sit for a long time together in silence. Although I am sure he would tell you that I am a chatterbox, and that what I write is untrue!

I suppose I am a chatterbox, but I also enjoy silence and need it to write. Since having my little boy however, my head seems always so full - like a shopping list that only ever manages to get half ticked off.

And what three year old is not a blissfully frustrating, and delightfully determined little chatterbox!

"Young Adult Fiction".......Ohh I see.

2007-06-13T09:01:00.000+10:00

I don't know if any other writers, new or otherwise, have experienced the blank faced response and the disappointed purse of the lips to the notion that they might write 'Young Adult or even children's fiction'?

I am often asked what sort of book I am writing, "What is it about?" A perfectly reasonable question. But why is there a hierarchy in the assumed capability of writer 's between the genres and the markets??? Was Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Story' and his other children's fictions, thought to be less accomplished or important than his more adult works?? I don't think that was so, at the time his works were embraced by children and adults alike! In much the same way that the works of J.K Rowling have been today.

In some ways there comes with writing Young Adult fiction, a greater responsibility to protect aspects of human morality and also, to refrain from describing ideas or imagery that a reader might find too disturbing for their age.

About a year ago when I told someone I was writing for children, the man said to me, "Oh, for kids I see. Well, it is a place to start" - bear in mind he was an accountant with no connection to the writing industry whatsoever - everyone is an expert aren't they!

One of the most wonderful things about children's literature is that children don't analyze the text while they are reading. They become consumed by the story and truly exist in that world in a way that I don't think adults ever truly can.

I remember being so consumed by 'Playing Beattie Bow' by Ruth park, that I read it over and over. It is set in Old Sydney Town's 'The Rocks' in Australia, and when we went there for a school excursion, I really really hoped that I might be the one, lucky child, who got a glimpse of her tattered skirt disappearing behind the old stone walls and down some alley out of sight.

Bombarded!

2007-06-07T13:51:00.000+10:00

Sometimes one feels so deprived of writing ideas, while only a few months later,

.....Oh bugger, a magpie, with a horrible, beady, yellow eye just landed on the windowsill and banged his beak really hard on the glass. It looked really pissed off too!.....

Anyway, where was I. Yes, only a few months later one is bombarded with a flood of ideas and characters, that one almost hasn't the time to note all of them down??

.......Oh gee, that bird is busy! It is still staring at me like I pinched his lunch. Probably has a nest in my yard, lucky me! They pinch shiny thing, Magpies. Spoons, watches anything shiny.

Don't be fooled though, they will dive on you if they are nesting. Poke at your head with that big black beak! They use to dive on us in the park near my Granny's house.

This post has been hijacked by the bird! .......

Back to the point, I have had lots of idea of late...and although I have a few days to myself now, with little one going to preschool two days a week, I still haven't been able to get everything down of paper - virtual or otherwise.

PINK!

2007-05-29T23:17:00.000+10:00

Went to see PINK last week.

WOW, What an amazing show!
Makes you think a bit more seriously about that gym
schedule! She has the most defined AB muscles!!!

It was a really fantastic show! She swung from netting suspended from the roof during the show and, of course, sang 'Stupid Girl', a truly addictive tune!

Phew...Daddy's home!

2007-05-29T11:36:00.000+10:00

A business trip to London for my partner (thank god a rarity) , has finally come to an end.
And my little one is over the moon. Little one was a perfect angel until about day six .... then he started to get a bit jack of the whole thing. With fours days left without Daddy, I tried to spice up our evenings with pizza in bed...(never again, the crumbs where a nightmare) and lunch squashed inside the fairy princess tent that granny so kindly gave him and takes up half the lounge room! I have no idea how kids sit in those tents, they are hot and airless and always seem to have a pointy piece of Lego right in the doorway where you kneel to get inside!

You feel some what like Alice in Wonderland when she gets stuck in the white rabbits house. An arm protruding from the window....and leg or two through the door, but no..... all limbs inside! The door MUST be zipped closed and the Velcro sealed!

Three is such a wonderful, yet trying age.

He told me this week, that when he is 'Old' :)
He will have a big orange truck and he will build parks! And as a side he suggested he could also make dummy's. It was the most interesting conversation, he went on to explain to me that his little friend had been telling him at preschool that his mummy and daddy both went to work each day. He was curious as to what I did for work, and looked at me with a confused little look on his soft, round face. I could help but laugh at him.

But although It was a tiring week, we had a really nice time together by ourselves!
I have a few hours to myself now ... they have gone to play at the park.

What should a Mummy do......?

2007-05-10T11:05:00.000+10:00

Reading is great for kids, right?

Nurturing a love of books .... yeah?

Sure, I know that.....and I'm very proud of my little ones love of reading. The way he fills his pram and shopping trolley with PILES of books and follows me around the house saying.....

"Mummy, can u read me a book....., yeah.....this one.......only 5 books.....yeah

.... no six books then..."

But six becomes seven...then seven fourteen . . . and I'm embarrassed to say how many I agree to read before drawing the line and, and then there are so many books on the floor, that my voice is horse.

But, wait I have found the solution!!!

I am going to record my own voice! On to a CD! I am going to say...."turn the page"!!!

OMG why didn't I think of it before....I have a digital Dictaphone as well.

Don't get me wrong I will still read, and sit with him while he listen to the CD....but I will be able to do it with my eyes closed :)

We have read some great books lately.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson has been a big hit and anything Mem Fox goes to the top of the pile. My little one is liking longer stories now as well, which I really enjoy reading at bed time.

Snuggled up it is nice to read for a while before flipping the page. His favorites at the moment though are the Paul Jennings, Rascal the Dragon books.

As a reward for staying at Preschool with no tears! We are off to get a new book, Mem Fox's

'Where is the Green Sheep' He was quite taken with this one, they read it at Preschool last week and it's purchase has been a great incentive to settling in at Preschool.

Sydney Writers Festival 2007

2007-04-29T00:23:00.000+10:00

I have never been to the Sydney Writer Festival , every year I plan to go and every year there is something that causes my plans to change. BUT THIS YEAR.....I plan to see at least a few things.
This years Sydney Writers Festival looks really good as well, but when I start reading the list of speakers, workshops , events etc I get a knot the size of a rock melon in the back of my throat. Planning what to go to!!!!! Things I wanna see clash! Can't get a baby sitter on Tuesdays! Someone hand me an antacid!

But....today I realised there was a personal scheduler.... phew.... I am off toschedule!

Sitch n Bitch Exhibition 2007 - A STITCH IN TIME

2007-04-28T23:09:00.000+10:00

Fruit by Kate and Cherry Pie by Knitabulous

Better late than never, here are a few pictures of this years Stitch n Bitch exhibition. Everything looked really wonderful and many of the knitted pieces were focased around the shabby chic theme that was chosen for this years exhibition.

My little boy tugged on the bottom of my shirt and asked me for one of these ....

Cookies and Cupcakes by The Stripey Tiger (she has a free pattern for them too!!)

Doughnuts by Anoymous

His little mouth dropped open with genuine suprise and with a somewhat coy little grin when I told him they were made of wool :)

Being a slow knitted, and so easily distracted....I only manged to get two items in the exhibition; the little shug in the post above and my Irish hiking scarf.

(It is there amoungst the sea of colours, but it is easier to see in the image below)

It is knitted from 100% Alpaca and is so soft and warm.

One Skein Wonder with a Ribbon

2007-03-29T22:26:00.000+10:00

Ok, it was a cold day last week and my breath fogged up the lens:)

But it is a pretty effect hey!

These a a few pictures of a OSW (One Skein Wonder) that I finished a few weeks ago for my niece, it was a bit big for her so I added some ribbons to stop it from slipping off her shoulders. It feels lovely, it is a Karabella yarn I think,(but I am not sure) It's a lovely cotton/wool blend. I will make more of these for sure, I loved knitting the pattern.

Computer Dramas....

2007-03-22T14:24:00.000+11:00

Will they ever end! My laptop is being packed up yet again, to be sent off for repairs. (Thank god it is still under extended warranty!!) So, alas, I am not able to post any pictures of my recently finished knits. This week I finished a One Skein Wonder for my niece and finally wove in the ends of my Irish Hiking Scarf that I cast off some months ago.

I have a few blissful moments before my little one, who has spent this week unwell and cranky, wakes up. I am off to search out a book that a friend has asked me to read, so he would have someone to talk to about it. It is the most recent Peter Temple novel...

Called 'The Broken Shore', I am keen to read it too. It doesn't really look like the kind of book I would head for in the bookshop, sometimes these are the ones I most enjoy... we'll see.

Second Life Part 2: Fancy a spot of virtual knitting?....

2007-03-15T14:24:00.000+11:00

A Change of Address!

2007-02-08T23:14:00.000+11:00

WAS

http://words-darkly.blogspot.com

NOW
http://thescarlettree.blogspot.com

Diary of a Second Life: PART 1

2007-01-05T12:47:00.000+11:00

I haven't been blogging too much of late because I have been immersed in this virtual world game called 'Second Life'. (You may of heard of it).

It's a virtual world that is built, created and animated by the residents of the world. Of which I can now proudly say, I am one!

While it can be a totally free game if you so choose. One can also invest real money and get a full registration, which entitles them the 300$Linden (being the virtual currency of the world) per week to spruce up you persons wardrobe or perhaps spend on a new hair do.

Anyway, the game is spent 'primming' (excuse the in-house-pun there Second-Lifer's) your person, land, house whatever. And exploring the world. And it is quite an amazing world too.

Sex has found a very comfortable place in this virtual world, a whole sex industry exists. From scripts for simple encounters to animate your person for kissing, or ones to make them perform sexual acts, through to the most sordid kinds of sexual fetishes.
A number of times now I have been confronted by men Avatars (the name of the people in SL) who have taken all their clothes off, insisting I look at their newly purchased willy's!
And what I am baulking at, it is not the rudeness of it, No not at all. I'm by no means a prude! But I am somewhat taken a back by the reality of this virtual world. There you are in a dark forest, with a nude stranger and wondering, even for a split second, if it is safe. I am no psychologist, but I do hope someone does a PhD of the subject, because I would love to read it.

Your all wondering what I did aren't you?

Well to tell the truth, I teleported away without saying goodbye. I have to admit, I though the Avatar was quite ugly but people! I am a married woman! And frankly, I think it is sort of, well, cheating? Mentally I mean. I know there is no real harm done by engaging and my husband certainly wouldn't leave me over a little virtual rendezvous with a cartoon bloke with a detachable willy! But nevertheless, he wouldn't be saying go for it either. I imagine he might feel betrayed.
Though I do find cybersex somewhat daggy? Is that the right word, I'm not sure. Not to mention the fact that the buff cartoon character on the screen is more than likely some Acne prone man in his bedroom with a tub of Vaseline.....

Anyway, now that I have really grossed you out. See ya

PS: I am going to have regular Second Life Tid Bits on my blog.

In the final hours of 2006

2006-12-31T18:33:00.000+11:00

Well, I'm in bed with a very sore back. And I have no idea how I hurt it but I feel like I am falling apart this week! And we had to cancel our party plans at a friends house as well. Bummer!

At least I have a huge plate of profiteroles in the fridge!

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS.
1. De-sress a tad.

2006 is coming to a close. I feel like I have rushed around so much this year , it has been really quite hectic. I am looking forward to simplify things a bit in 2007 (I hope)

2. Dump the spinning wheel.

Secondly, my spinning wheel has got to. The spinning motion it hard on one's body and I am feeling so time poor of late, I figure I can just buy wool to knit. Don't get me wrong though, I enjoy spinning and am very glad I gave it a go, but alas I would rather write or knit in the piddling amount free time I get to myself.

3. Dump the Beads

Next, the beads! Gotta go too! I am going to clear as much stock as I can and again, dirvert more time to my writing. Although, making jewellery is still gonna hang around.

4. Finish my novel.

My novel willllllllllllllll be completed next year. I won't say when, for fear of jinxing myself, but finished it will be. My baby goes to pre-school in May too. So a couple of mornings a week of solitude is going to speed things up enormously.

5. Go on a diet ( and stick to it)

What can I say, all that stress piles up, just like the profiteroles in the frigde!

6. Learn to finish of my garments better.

My weaving ends in and matress stitch leave something to be desired.

7. Lucky number 7!

I had to have seven things because it is going to be 2007! But I am not sure what number 7 should be.
Do I ever stick to New Years Resolutions anyway? Well, no! But that isn't the point is it. They make one feel motivated to move into the new year with a sense of purpose and direction.
A fresh diary, a fresh calender, a new pen and your new xmas undies and your set to do it all over again, each time determined to be a bit more organised, a bit more relaxed, make a bit more money and lose a bit more weight.

Stick to them or not, they are good for the soul.

PS: number 7 can be ... to have a massage at least once every two months no matter how busy I think I am!

A Festive Meme !

2006-12-18T10:41:00.000+11:00

A Festive Meme!
It has been a busy Christmas so far but my little one helped wrapped presents today and it is getting very exciting. I am surprised he didn't even try to peek at the presents, and told daddy with a pointy little finger, "Daddy, don't look at the presents ... It's not xmas 'et" Hehe

Egg nog or hot chocolate? Both! A game of cards and a Egg nog goes down a treat! But it is more cold beer sort of weather at xmas here. Or fresh watermelon around the tree.

Christmas Stockings for Santa to fill? Yes, colored popcorn is a must in the stocking and new undies and are important too!

Does Father Christmas wrap presents or just set them under the tree? He wraps them for sure, not all that neatly though. And anything to big to waste paper on, goes in a pillow case or wrapped in xmas fabric that gets reused every year.

colored lights on tree/house or white? No house lights but the tree gets a dose of both. More the merrier!

Do you hang mistletoe? No, I don't think we have mistletoe in Australia? A nice little branch of Lilly Pilly would probably do the job though.

When do you put up your decorations? Its quite random. Last year they went up Xmas eve and came down boxing day....and this year it will go up on Friday and stay a little while. Maybe next year I will be super duper organised!!

What's your favorite Christmas dish? Oh that's easy! We have a big xmas breakfast! Big slabs of fresh leg ham and fried eggs on sourdough. Umm, I do like the Turkey wing at dinner time too!

favorite Christmas memory as a child? Opening our stocking on xmas morning with my twin before mum and dad woke up.

When and how did you learn the truth about Father Christmas? Mum was on the loo, and I asked her if Santa was real and she said, 'No, he isn't!" I was so upset that she told the truth, but I was in year five!

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yep, sure do!

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With everything in the xmas boxes! No colour scheme, no regard for patterning. Just fill 'er up till there is not much green left!

Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it, but of course we have to snow here either

Can you ice skate? Yep, I love iceskating, but alas no ice.

Do you remember your favorite gift? My Strawberry Shortcake dolls, I loved them to death. (I still have them somewhere)

What's the most important thing about Christmas for you? Well, now it is the look on my little ones face and making it really special time for him.

What's your favorite Christmas dessert? My mother in laws Savoiardi cake. It is so decadent. Layers of Italian sponge soaked in strong coffee and liquor, the alternate layers are smothered in thick, full cream chocolate and vanilla custard and then topped with lashings of fresh cream and grated chocolate.

What's your favorite Christmas tradition? CD's of Christmas carols on xmas eve and few glasses of wine at mum's house.

What tops your tree? My husband and I got a fairly garish star that lights up with fairy lights. It is always a pain cause the electrical cord is too short. But it was one of the first Xmas thing we bought together before we were married, and hey I like things the sparkle, even ones that are a little garish :).

Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I like giving pressies to my little one the most, and watching his little eyes.

favorite non-religious Carol: T'was the Night Before Christmas (although more often spoken than sung)

favorite religious carol: The little Drummer Boy

Candy canes? Yep, but maybe not anymore. Im a bit fussy about teeth brushing after lollies. So I don't like the those little tempations hanging around too long for little fingers to reach.

All lost....

2006-12-13T14:47:00.000+11:00

I feel all lost today...
There are tradesmen downstairs fixing the walls for the new kitchen to go in and my little one is at his Nonna's.....
I'm not sure what to knit, my office is tidy and can't concentrate on my writing while those people are down there and my tummy's empty (although my waistband may disagree with the last bit!)

I want my little boy back, but I can't go get him until they leave! Blahhhhhhh....

A new character has nosed its way in...

2006-11-22T14:08:00.000+11:00

A new and pivotal character has nosed its way onto my pages, so late in the piece too. You know how sometimes you try to write one thing, or present a character in a particular way but your fingers won't co-operate. They type different words, they won't let your character say that 'rude' word that you had pick out for them. The dark road being spat on from above by huge drops of cold rain refuses to stay dark, instead insisting that the day be warm and bright; burning the pale skin of your protagonist.

But, in the flick of a key. The gaping holes in the story fill and the plot begins to meld in a way that it never could on that dark road. And Voila!

Well, he name is Tully. And she is more gritty than the other characters I think, and very strong. I am not yet sure of her purpose though.

Well....

2006-11-21T15:17:00.000+11:00

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Writing and Knitting....'Leda's Dream' & a bit of scribbling

2006-10-11T22:13:00.000+10:00

"Knitting is very conducive to thought.
It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles,
write a while, then take up the sock again." Dorothy Day

And I so agree!

A row of lace, a row of purl then a spot of...

"A small green box sat on the windowsill, it smelt of cinnamon and cloves...."

A time to write... I'm up to 30,010 words!

2006-10-06T11:45:00.000+10:00

My little one just said to me, "bye mum". And off he went to play in his room. This is a little boy who has refused to leave my side for the last six months! So I have brought my laptop downstairs and with one ear tuned to every bump and thump above me, I am about to printout my novel and have a look at it on paper before embarking on the next part........

A little voice just called out. "Mummy, you down there?" ... He is gone again. It is lovely listening to him play his little games :)

Anyway, I did a word count today of 'Lucian' and I am up to 30,010 words! WOW.

I am looking forward to the day it becomes a complete manuscript.
An story in its entirety, to be read as a clean narrative. Johnny is my reading guinea pig and he is very supportive of my writing , and reads it over and over with a furrowed brow.
At my current rate, I am hoping to have the novel finished to first draft stage by Christmas. WELL THAT'S THE PLAN.

Stitch n Bitch (and some new good stuff)

2006-09-30T20:05:00.000+10:00

Stitch n Bitch today, a few glasses of chardonnay and not much knitting I'm afraid. I ended up frogging back more than I knitted!

I got some good bargins from Donni though! Some cotton/wool mix that I am thinking I might over dye tomorrow. Donni suggested it would be good for a Clapotis and I am thinking that she could be right!

And an orange mix of all sorts of nice stuff! These will be very handy when trying out some of the flowers in this book that I bought from Donni last SnB.

And I have to say I will now be joining Ruby Girl on a yarn diet!

80 Words & To Dump a Character?

2006-09-29T15:32:00.000+10:00

Oh dear, I have only written 80 words today, better than a kick in the pants though I suppose. It's almost time for little one to wake up too.

Anyway, the 80 words were a new beginning for a story. More a voice I suppose than a full on novel idea. But a voice that really appeals.

My novel, that for all intensive purposes I simply refer to as 'Lucian', has come to a bit of a structural crunch point. I feel that I really need to stop now and leave it a week and then come back to it with fresh ears.

I'm beginning to obsess a bit about one of the characters. I am thinking of completely dumping him from the whole novel. His name is Tein and although I like his character, he annoys me. Every time I read over the bits that he is in, I think to myself, "What the hell are you doing in here" Dumping a person from a story is always a bit difficult.

They disrupt the space time continuum!

A Suprise for me!

2006-09-24T22:12:00.000+10:00

Some time ago I signed up for a Vacation Swap, but alas my parcel never arrived.
However, last week I recieved a lovely package from CraftLily but I couldn't post earlier cause I lost the little camera cable. (She had organised the interesting little Swap)
I was so suprised, I was not expecting it all. Which I suppose made receiveing the gift all the more fun! She sent me some lovely Peaches and Cream cotton, and wool/cotton blend. Some very handy sparkly lipgloss that my little boy had a lovely time putting on in front of the mirror. A little makeup bag, note book and card. I am very keen to try my hand at a dishcloth!
Thanks so much CraftLily!

A Bubble n' Squeak Post

2006-09-22T20:12:00.000+10:00

It has been the most beautiful weather but they are saying that the bush fire season will be coming early this year, which is scary.

This is a photo I took a few days ago from my back balcony, looking across to the neightbours palm tree. How summery!

And I think the football season must have just started too!
You know what, I hate football!

Not soccer, but that Australian one with the oval shaped ball. I was just flicking channels, looking for something good to watch and I saw all these players coming onto the feild and the crowd was booing them.!!

I don't watch sport so maybe I am a bit ignorant regarding these things but I felt embarresed. What does this say about us??

But onto the really important things!

I HAVE RUN OUT OF YARN!!!

I was knitting this simple 1x1 rib scarf from some of the handspun that I used to make my sisters hat. I have run out!
Damn, and I have none of the fiber left either. I knew I wasn't going to have enough. I'm not sure why I am acting so suprised. I suppose I was hoping it was going to magicly become a 'Knit n' come again' ball of yarn. But alas, it did not.

There is simply nothing more sublime in this world....

2006-09-21T21:34:00.000+10:00

Lace Swap Parcel!

2006-09-06T00:13:00.000+10:00

A few days back, my Lace swap parcel arrived in the mail from lyndsey at http://mslindz.blogspot.com/
(I couldn't post right away because the camera wouldn't charge properly...Blasted thing)
It is a gorgeous parcel! .

Firstly 1260 yards of Zephyer lace yarn...The most beautiful ruby colour (exactly the shade I would have chosen myself :)
And the Fiddlesticks pattern 'Lily of the Valley Stole' and some lovely sharp 3.5mm needles

AND.... The Fall issue of Interweave Knits magazine, I loved reading through this. I haven't had a copy of this mag before, and I really enjoyed reading it.

Thanks .....

Also, a big bag of lollies and chocolate....yum
And even something for my little boy, a 'Cars' pez machine and lollies. He was very pleased with his pressie! He saw it on the table only moments after opening his eyes from a nap and rushed over.

Thanks Lyndsey!

Curiouser and Curiouser! (and 'The Green Piper')

2006-08-28T23:43:00.000+10:00

I love kids books and young adult fiction.
And don't even get me started on young peoples fantasy movies - you can't get me away from the T.V when Alice in Wonderland or Wind in the Willows is on! (only the original wind in the willows though- the cartoon animation did nothing for me I'm afraid)

Lately I have been thinking a lot about a young adult, fantasy fiction novel called, 'The Green Piper' that I read it in my early teens.
It was a book on my mum's reading list for Uni.
She was doing an Australian children's Literature subject at the time, and my sister and I had to go to a lot of the lectures with her because they were after school. I loved going to uni with her, we spent most of our time doing homework or drawing pictures of the lecturers, but I did listen to the ones about the books I had read. Then mum would take us to an eatery (which is no longer there) upstairs from the uni book shop, and we would chat about books or films she was studying. I loved it.

Though I can't really remember what happens in the book , (it was about 16 years ago!)
I have often thought about lots of the books she studied- they made such an impression on me. I am going to have to dig out the 'The Green Piper' and read it again. Hell, maybe I should go back you uni and do that subject! (I don't think I'm joking?) But, it is so different there now. My sister is a tutor in the english Department and I went to pick her up today. It is so crowded, parking is horendeous and classes a much bigger now.

Anyway, I'll read it again and tell whether it lived up to my memory of it.

Another one, also by Victor Kelleher, that really stuck with me is a Bailey's Bones. This was a fantastic book. He really is an amazing author.

Thank Goodness!

2006-08-26T09:19:00.000+10:00

Little wriggle bum has been in our bed allllll week! We had to sand the walls in his room before we could paint it, and finally today it is being painted. So, come Monday, he will be back in his own bed! (fingers crossed and as long as the air is now still painty)

He wants one wall blue, one wall pink, one orange and one red!!
Ok, the colours will look horrible together! But I am going let him pick four colours. (Am I crazy!) But I might try to talk him into ones that will match a bit better.

So, It's off to the hardware store now. (I will post a pic of the result when it is done)

On Knitting:
I joined this today! I saw it on Stripey's blog and went straight off to join.
I have been really enjoying knitting cables - perfect!

On Felting...

2006-08-16T20:49:00.000+10:00

I spun this yarn ages ago and couldn't decide what to use it for - It's a blend of Mohair; silk, wool and soysilk and it has Swarovski crystal beads spun through it.

SO...I decided to go with -

A hat! Why not, I've never made a hat before and can't use DPN's (Double Pointed Needles) so I just started knitting, did a few decreases and cast off.

(A glass of wine for scale)

I wasn't at all happy with it, but started felting it by hand anyway and after it was quite felted I stretched it on to the hat block.

It took ageeesssssss.............

And for want of a better photo, this is what I ended up with.

I really like it! Although the felt is not stiff enough, I read somewhere it needs to be beaten.

A better photo on the head of its recipient coming soon.....

What a Day!!!

2006-08-16T19:09:00.000+10:00

I can't believe the day that I have had!
I am exhausted!!!!!

Mr bossy boots, now 2 and 4 months, decided some 6 months ago that he no longer needs a day sleep. He fights going to sleep like a little bull - even when I take him for a drive in the car -
Sometimes when he does fall asleep it is always at about 4.30pm, and if I let him have half hour or so, then he is wide awake until all hours!

So anyway, that constant chatting that I so love first thing in the morning, and at morning tea time and at lunch.....Starts to become so exhausting by 6.00pm when Johnny gets home.

At the moment I can hear him in the bath tub (dad has him) and his loud little voice is sounding very tired, phew! LOL.

I love him to bits and pieces...But thank god it's 'beddy bye byes time'.

PS: He went to sleep at 7.30pm. Ahhhh

Social Nasties!

2006-08-10T15:38:00.000+10:00

I am truly disgusted! !!!

This morning, I was driving along in my car with the little one singing his "Ninni Nanna Song" in the back seat, and what am I forced to endure, but a nauseating display of gross social inappropriateness.

Wait for it...

The woman (not a child mind you - WE ARE TALKING 30+)

WAS PICKING HER NOSE

and to to ice the cake ..... SHE ATE IT - She ate snot!!!

No, I am not joking.

For gods sake, why would one feel the need to eat snot!

Thanks Granny!!!

2006-08-07T15:54:00.000+10:00

Mum knit this gorgeous blanket for my little fellow and he really likes it. It has so many textures and was a real stash-buster. She has just started another one to put away for my sister.

I'm very drawn to the rustic aesthetic of the knitted square. They are so cozy and homely - we always had lots of crochet squares around and as mum made them, we would add them to the arrangement on the lounge room floor.

There are a few cabled squares in there too, and it inspired me to have a go. I have never knitted cables before and found that they were much easier than I had expected. Here is a pic of my first swatch sample - it is knit out of Cleckheaton Angora Supreme on size 5 needles
There are a few mistakes in there, but hey - It's the first sample :)

PS: I did this one with no cable needle. I found a good site with instructions.

Head Space...How novel!

2006-08-03T01:47:00.000+10:00

I haven't had a great deal of time to write since having my little one (who is now almost 2 1/2)
I have found myself unable to dedicate the necessary head space to concentrate on a novel length text.

Every minute of every day is consumed by whether he is hungry or thirsty or hot, cold, tired, safe, happy, playing, bored.....And the list goes on. But don't get me wrong, I would rather spend time with him and protect his wellbeing than anything, it is just that I have discovered that caring for a young child is much more, consuming than writing a novel.

To write, I need time to meditate on the the plot - the murders, the nuances of a characters behavior.
Before my son was born, I would lay out the sun on the banana chair and close my eyes and pace through the scenes in my head, I didn't know at the time what a luxury that was!

This afternoon however, I lay down for a little while he was having a sleep, and cuddled him.
(Which I often do)
But for the first time in ages I was able to really concentrate and think about the text in that same meditative state that I use to. I felt like I had got more work done in an hour than I had got done in months!!
He was quiet, still and safe and if I fell asleep I felt confident that I was there if he woke and I didn't even have make sure I was on time to pick him up from someone, it was really lovely and
what a sublime way to get a whole lot of work done!

All Branched Out

2006-07-27T15:22:00.000+10:00

I finished this so much quicker than I had expected!
I made it out of Heirloom Cashmerino, about $7.00 bucks a ball and it took two balls; so a pretty economical knit really! Which is great, because we have kitchen renovations happening and we are on a bit of a tight budget at the moment.

Looky here! Dad bought me, a nice lot of new stash. I have already cast on a jumper from the purple Studio Mohair. The black one is Merino Supreme and the red cone is a three ply form Bendigo Wollen Mills, I'm not sure where the purple came from but I am thinking a little blanket.

Long time no Blog....

2006-07-25T14:52:00.000+10:00

A while back I signed up for a Vacation Swap and got matched up with Zarah www.beautyschooldropout.net . She got my parcel this week! This is the first swap that I have signed up for and it is so weird looking at the parcel I sent and now it is on the other side of the world!!!! Hi Zarah!

Anyway, looky here! Look what my fellow real life knitting friend gave me the other day.
It is Zepher (EXCUSE MY SPELLING) and a bit of Alpaca Cloud too. I was telling her how I was keen to start some more lace projects (with my nose in her yarn stash cupboard) and she, "try this" cool hey!

I will post some pics of my efforts shortly.

AND I finished my Knitty's Branching out scarf too. I will post some photos next time.

Better late than never....An Exhibition goes well!

2006-06-06T18:02:00.001+10:00

Well, I haven't yet posted any pics of my Tzarina Wrap.
It was hung in our SnB group exhibition held a few weeks back. I was happy with the result of the wrap. However, I knitted it in Cleckheaton Country Silk 8ply and Zhivago together, (although the pattern called for a bulky sort of handspun), and the Zhivago sort of draped it up a bit too much, it has stretched a bit as a result. Oh well, it still looks lovely on.

He it is, still on the needles.

And TA DA!!!

At the Exhibition (you can just see the really lovely cardy that mum knitted; it's browny tones, next to the blue cardy.

And the wrap on the buff plastic bloke.
(The pic above is a closer colour match)

Not much blogging time of late, I have been so busy. The little one keeps me on my toes - but

(touch wood) he has gone to sleep at 7.30pm two nights in a row now! Yippy Yay!!!

I have a few project on the go ...I will have to take some photos for the next post.

Big Boy Now...

2006-05-16T11:38:00.000+10:00

My little boy had his first ever sleep over at Granny's last night. I was quite nervous and wasn't able to get to sleep until almost 2am! And - wait for it- the little munchkin didn't go sleep for her until almost 2am....is that weird or what. Poor Granny, I don't think she will be shooting her hand up again too soon to take him overnight.

The gremlin simply won't sleep! He turned two a few weeks ago and hit the terrible twos full throttle - you know the tantrums with legs kicking on the floor, the whole bit. But now, despite avoiding day sleeps after 1pm, he won't go to sleep until at least 11 - 12pm every night!!!!

He says, "Mummy, Play?" Squashing my cheeks between his warms little hands. I love him to death, but as gorgeous as he is, I really don't feel like playing at midnight.

Here is a pic of the Whinne the Pooh Cake AKA Ninni Cake

Winter! I'm in my element...

2006-04-26T21:53:00.000+10:00

I feel so refreshed...the cold winter tiles under my feet in the morning.
The feeling of thick wool socks on on my feet, tucked under the weight of my blankets.
The smell of hot soup bubbling on the stove and most of all; the feel of a warm, little, sleeping body cocooned in a jumpsuit. Who, I might add, learnt to say mummy properly today!
I have been 'MUM' up till now.

I feel completely in my element in the winter.

And to get into the mood, we roasted chestnuts on the barbecue this evening. We all rugged up to our eye balls and sat outside to catch the rich smell of the roasting nuts and my partner and I sipped scotch . If you have never had a Chestnut...They have a rich, creamy flesh and your peel and eat them hot, flicking them from one hand to the other so your fingers don't burn.

The knit in my first image is my current project. It is the Tzarina Wrap from Wrap style.

I didn't use the recommended yarn, I used 2 strands together of Cleckheaton Country Silk and Patons Zhivago.

It is an easy, quick knit. Hopefully I should finish at SnB on Saturday, if not prior.

In the sunshine with beads...

2006-04-17T21:45:00.000+10:00

What a lovely Easter!

Chocolate eggs, hot cross buns and the most delightful little person to spend the holiday with.

And I did very, very little which was a a sheer delight. (except some knitting and some beading)

My sister scored this necklace...

Almost finished...

2006-04-12T22:54:00.000+10:00

I have almost finished the short scarf/neck warmer for my sister. It was a pain to knit, as I knitted it from underspun (courtesy on myself) Alpaca. And I was very delicate in spots. I wouldn't rush out to spin Alpaca a again, even winding it up from the bobbin I could tell it wasn't going to wear well!

I have to just do a scalloped edge for the other side. (It is a simple Feather and Fan Stitch)

I didn't photograph well though

Buttons! My sister really likes this Swarovski button. (It is very stunning on the black) I am thinking that it will be much too heavy for the fabric now. We will see.

IT IS VERY VERY WARM!!!! Its lucky she is a bit of a cold blooded creature.

Check out this site...It is really good!

2006-03-27T00:12:00.000+11:00

It is a listing of a huge range of yarns with all there specifications.

I have been struggling with the whole, lace weight, Aran weight, fingering weight thing! It has really been bugging me of late.... Really, really, really bugging me! But the site can search by yarn weight!! How cool is that!

There is a comments and yarn review spot, (to review and comment on yarns of course).

Anyway, I was just off to buy 3 lovely balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, when I came across this site. All the comments suggested that it doesn't wear well (pills and sags!)Which I realise is a common problem with luxury fibers, but Debbie Bliss yarn is quite dear and well regarded too.
I wouldn't have thought to consider how it wears (I am a bit of a yarn amateur mind you)
But, I did find that when I was spinning the alpaca and the baby alpaca, it kind of fuzzed up and lost its nice soft definition very quickly.

A good, soft and stable wool hard to beat hey...

A bit of Stash...

2006-03-22T20:54:00.000+11:00

This arrived today, I bought it last week on Ebay and had forgotten about it already. It is a nice fine weight but a little scratchy for merino!
But might wash up nicely for a outerwear knit.
I am thinking I might over dye it though...the colour looks hideous next to my skin.
Maybe with a blue....

In my Garden...Very Very Early (7am)

2006-03-21T23:06:00.000+11:00

It was very quite in this morning when I woke up. I crept downstairs and looked out the back door. It was all misty and cold and everything was covered in droplets of dew.
I love cold, wintry days. The air smells so clean and fresh - I got myself comfy of the couch with my knitting and a hot cup of apple and cinnamon tea. I had just over an hour all to myself before my boys woke up. It was lovely!

And I just had to show you these Rose crystals...

Little Vest and Some Bad News

2006-03-17T23:24:00.000+11:00

FIRST THE GOOD NEWS:
I have managed to get one side of my little fellas vest finished. (I seems Toooooo long next to the back peice Eeekk)
I will have to go back and measure but I think I am going to have some frogging to do!
And I know, my mother keep s telling me, the other side should be on a stitch holder. But that would require a tiny bit on planning and I have been run off my feet this week.

I seems the more we play the less my little darling sleeps = very tired mummy.

We went over to Stripey's house this morning for a play and had lovely time eating green St Patricks's Day doughnuts and tea. Then we had to rush away to go to the osteopath.

NOW THE BAD NEWS:
He said I should give spinning a miss for a month or two! The bits and peices in my 1st knuckle have rotated and gotten all jammed up (Really hurts). Oh man, just what I needed .
Maybe I will be able to just limit my spinning time a little more - I'm sure my two year could help with that :)

Dang hey!

Bit more Spinning...

2006-03-08T22:48:00.000+11:00

This is the corridale I got as fleece ages ago. I spun it and didn't get round to setting the twist until the weekend, it turned out well balanced, despite having though I was overspinning.

I Navajo plyed it. I have started knitting a hat on Sunday afternoon and it seems to be the nicest handspun to knit with that I have spun thus far; which is exciting!
It still has a bit of wool fat in it though, so it isn't that easy to frog...

I am wishing that I had dyed it before winding it up into a ball though . . . I think all the different grays would have dyed well. I might have to wind it all back into a hank. Decisions, Decisions!

I have lots of Knitting and Beading pictures to post next week, I have come to the end of one of those multi-project cycles where all ends seem to be weaving in together (excuse the pun), and I haven't really got round to taking any progress pics along the way either.

A bit and this and a bit of that, all coming to fruition in one foul swoop - one fruitful harvest - one divinely crafted lump... Well, not all divine, I assure you, but I am sure you get the idea.

Oh No! I Dyed my Baby Blue!

2006-03-03T21:35:00.000+11:00

Don't fret it's only food colouring.

But we had a lot of fun; we were making icing. Needless to say the whole batch was tossed.

(A tip from one mother to another: Don't let your 2 year old pour the colour in the bowl)

Little bit o' cotton

2006-02-22T22:17:00.000+11:00

Bit of cotton spinnin'.
My first try at cotton spinning.

It was so hard to spin the cotton thicker at first, then I couldn't seem to get it nice and thin.

Fickle Fiber I tell you...the cotton has (as I was told it would be) been more challenging to spin than some of the other fibers I have experimented with, because the draft was sooooooo short.

The singles have seemed to have evened out a little now and I am just trying to work out if I am over spinning or under spinning. (Prob both!)

To tell the truth I don't think I will be knitting this, i'm glad I gave it a try though. It is kinda hard, maybe overspun but it could never ever compare to commercial knitting cotton and so really isn't worth the effort I think.

But, enough of that, I think I will Navajo ply this lot off and call it day for the cotton spinning and put it in the; "I tried that box but won't again box". Here's a pic of it on the bobbin.

And here is a little pic of the first spun sample.

Granny Squares. WARNING: they are addictive.

2006-02-18T00:06:00.000+11:00

Of all my projects, I think that I actually like making my granny squares the most. I never loose the plot of a movie while crocheting granny squares and I can drop the whole thing at my little boys every (and frequent) demand, without ever dropping a stitch.

THE PLAN
This is the centre panel and the square will go around the edges until it is wides enough, then I am going to crochet from just the top and bottom to make it an oblong rather than a sqaure.

16th Century Niddy Noddy

2006-02-12T12:16:00.000+11:00

Isn't this a lovely old picture.
"1660s This old woman with her niddy-noddy is dressed very old fashioned. She wears what is essentially a 16th c. partlet with attached ruff on the neckband. Her head covering is another of the curious tightly bound ones over a small coif."

I found it when I was try to find an old pattern for one of those little lace kerkeifs that women use to where to cover there hair with. But for the life of me I can't find even what they are called, they call it a coif but what I am loking for I think is a bit different.
Anyone know?
I would love to make one. You can just see hers poking out from under her linen head wrap.

1st Slubby Efforts

2006-02-07T16:15:00.000+11:00

This 1st Slubby effort is o.k I think, Its plenty stable enough to knit and soft too. I love the colours, but the bits of soy silk I added went a bit webby across the blocks of colour. I enjoyed spinning it as well- man it spins up quickly!
I haven't done too much spinning lately though, I have an odd little knuckle injury that I suspect is craft related- no pain no gain? I dunno, I have to get some physio give it a rest for a while.

One of my nicest spinning feats I think so far, is this skein I did when I first started. It was my second skein I did and really feels nice as well. Isn't is funny how that happens sometimes, your early efforts with some craft or art often have something that you lose in late work.

I need to go photograph the scarf that ended up a neck warmer...

Too loose!

2006-01-29T21:05:00.000+11:00

I have been busy tying up loose ends, finishing knitting projects and plying off bobbins that I just left there - not sure what I wanted to do with them.

This one is the black Alpaca Tops that I got from Kurrawa Alpacas. And it was devine to spin, (but I underspun it all to hell) I was so scared of making it rope-ish.

And just a few pics of the really lovely fiber that Kerry, our spinning guru, gave me for xmas.

Its Polwarth rovings and was really lovely to spin, it felt almost spongy between my fingers. Again a little under spun, but not too bad cause it ended up so soft and lofty. I plyed it with some

shiny rayon thread and added some bits of silk ribbon here and there.

Isn't it the most tangy, lovely orange! I think I will do a scarf - but I still have some projects to get fiished.

My little ones vest -backs done.
My sisters feather and fan scarf, that knitabulous kindly frogged back for me at SnB on Saturday. I am knitting it in the hand spun Alpaca above and I cant see the mistakes for the life of me, (I'm crappy at un-knitting at the best of times -But this its my first lace pattern and the handspun is a bit lumpy) Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou.
And my mothers pressie - which I can't talk about cause so might drop by the blog :)

Where do the Blogs live?

2006-01-17T22:08:00.000+11:00

I have been scrolling through lists of blogs recently: just wandering around blogsville, and I noticed lots and lots of blogs discussing the purpose, and the personal and social role of blogs.

It got me thinking, I jokingly call it 'blogsville or 'blogland' as I have seen others do. But the community that is created by people such as myself, wandering around, make 'blogsville' as a place; real. People meet and chat and spend time discussing ideas and personal pursuits in a way that they generally wouldn't get to. And perhaps in more detail and revealing more personal information due to the largely anoymous nature of blogs.

Of course the blogs live on some huge server somewhere in a big computer room full of wires in airconditioned rooms that smell of ozone. But the community exists nonetheless, this considered I couldn't help but wonder wheather blogging is a social or anti-social pursuit. As I type this, my husband is watching a startrek next to me and my podling is asleep in the middle. Perhaps, it is a bit of both; but I am thinking that perhaps it is largely anti-social? Either way, finding a happy medium is surely the key. I imagine that some might find themselves trapped in blogsville (addicted to blogging), finding solice in the neat and tidy place of the digital, rather than the real world. There is something very satisfying in veiwing a neat, finished blog, complete with a picture or two.

I have enjoyed keeping this blog; it is not strictly about beading, spinning, knitting or writing, and I really look forward to a stroll into the digital nether regions of Blogsville

every now and then.

But why do I blog? Because I like to put the pretty pictures of my work up to look at.

(And my major was photography and I like taking pictures) Its really very self-indulgent; It is like the visual journals that I was forced to keep all through my Fine Arts Degree and Tafe; mine were always messy and unorganised but very nice book objects at the end of the year

I have to admit and I became quite attached to them.

I see this blog in some what the same light- as a visual journal - It helps to set the creative jelly.

On the Knitting Front.

2006-01-15T23:07:00.000+11:00

I have just scrolled back and realised that I have never shown any of my knitting! How very, very silly of me. I love knitting but am quite slow and have the unravel all the time- although I have just, in this last two weeks, learnt to 'Frog' back my work rather than just pulling it all off the needles, which have be a real relief as you can imagine.
The other reason I have got much knitting done is cause I have been a bit 'spin happy' of late. I only bought my lovely spinning wheel from Donni, when she upgraded her wheel, about six months ago -and ever since I have been experimently like a mad fiberholic.

ORGANISING THE KNITTING PROJECTS

I have several projects hanging over from last year that I need to get a wriggle on and finish.

First on the list is this stripey vest for my boy. (I stopped knitting cause he got all tall and skinny and I though that I had made it way too big)

But now he is almost 2, so I better get going, or it will be too small!

This is the back, I just have the shaping left on this panel.

It is Zviago (prob spelt wrong) yarn and its the first striped project that I have knitted and I have really enjoyed knitting it.

The organising on the homefront went so well today.

Dust and dirt

Cobwebs that float

Obsolete knick - knacks

Will I - or won't

Hoard it , or chuck it

or give it away.

Put it in a box and decide another day.

THE YEAR OF ORGANISATION!

2006-01-14T14:25:00.000+11:00

This is going to be 'The Year of Organisation' ....... and where better a place to start than with the wool and fiber baskets!

Well how much wool is too much wool?

I am no yarn purist. I have to admit Zivago is a personal favorite, and I don't spend a great deal on wool because I don't expose myself to the temptation.

So, perhaps while this is the year of organisation, it could also perhaps be the year of oddballing?

If I have hardly any stash then I would be so very justified in bying those skeins of silk, fine merino and cashmere that I drool over on the net.

ANYWAY:

Next on the agenda... The plan is to combine my office and bead/wool/fiber room to make a play room for my boy; mainly so the toys stop ruling the lounge room, but also so we can set up all the people and the animals to play with. (I love toys)

Basicly I am going to be really, really organised - while I'm on a role I am off to do some filing and paper pushing while little one drifts off to sleep

A little bit of Beads

2006-01-05T23:54:00.000+11:00

Beads in the wool - I decided to thread them on as I was spinning this time, I think it is going to work much better than my last beaded yarn effort. Some of the beads are actually small pendants so I am not sure if they will be just way to heavy, they are all Swarovski crystals and so aren't super light - and the singles needed to be quite thin too to be able thread the beads on.

Oh, its adult mohair by the way, with a few bits of this and that, that I could resist throwing in.
The red mohai is blended with a silk/merino blend.

This a single spun with a bit more of the same

purple mohair blended with some Alpaca

and Kid mohair. I spun it just as a sample to see

before I did a whole skein. I actually chucked it

in the washing machine when it was finished. I

thought that Donni said that she does that

with her slubby, but I got it all wrong....

But I came out fine, luckily!! I'll swatch it before I spin more but I quite like it I think.

Xmas Was Great ! (Check out the silkworms)

2005-12-31T00:35:00.000+11:00

GREAT XMAS

We had a great Christmas, although my boy changed into a naughty little xmas elf, and didn't change back into my little angel until, well really, today.

He got a playhouse tent and tunnel that now fills the loungeroom.

(What was I thinking? But he loves it!)

And I got a drumcarder!
An Inwood Smith fitted with handcard cloth for finer fibers like Alpaca, silk and Mohair.
I been playing with it every chance I get.

SILKWORMS

Our silkworms, (in a week and a half) have grown very fat.

My little one has been so gentle with them, I'm suprised at how careful he has been.

One died though, so maybe he squished one a bit hard. :(

They have been lots of fun!

That's NOT me! (I HOPE!)

2005-12-29T22:54:00.000+11:00

You Are French Food

Snobby yet ubiquitous.

People act like they understand you more than they actually do.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Mindless Treddling

2005-12-22T00:54:00.000+11:00

Mindless treadling;

my eyes glazing across the bobbin, the unspun wool,

the spinning wheel -going round and round

and the wool pinched between my finger and thumb.

The new yarn scurries away from me,

a black web

Twisting and dancing,

winding and making my bobbin fat.

Why is it?

2005-12-16T21:59:00.000+11:00

Why is it, that when you are so busy to don't have time for lunch, there is always a spot (or a chunk ) of time for Spinning, or Knitting or Beading (or all three)?

I have no idea, but I spent this last week literally running from place to place and still managed to :

Have a go at the Navajo plying that Stripey Tiger explained to me the other day.
Then ply off two hanks of the dandruffy Kid Mohiar (that feels divine!) One hank much more successful than the other
Ply off and dye a hank of Corridale
And spin and ply and lovely hank of black Alpaca (A little overspun as I haven't used Alpaca before-still lovely and knittable though)

Here is the Corridale in the dye pot, (mums good at dying- she helped, and she scrubbed the dye off the kitchen bench for me as well!)

I'm really happy with how it came out hanging it over the skewer and all! (Have to give mum credit for the idea)

SHHhh, Don't disturb the twist!

The Kid Mohair feels wonderful, I think my Navajo plying was a little loose though?

I really want to knit this!

But I'm scared to wind it up, I just want to

cuddle it!!

Anyway, I went a bit picture happy today.

Have a good Christmas everyone and great new year everyone!

(PS: That third little hank is the extra corridale I had left over not the Alpaca.

And I used Landscapes dye- Slate)

Wool Washing and the Blasted Neps!!

2005-12-10T17:09:00.000+11:00

Neps, Neps in my Corridale grey fiber!
Sound a bit like nits really, and likely more annoying (Although I've never had nits, so who am I to say)
I spoke to our very own Spinning guru the other day, Kerry, and she informed me that the neps (the frustrating little lumpy bits in the carded fiber - like tiny little knots I suppose- are caused when the long staples of fiber are carded and the fibers snap. Leaving little bumpy knotty bits.

I have to admit though, I can be a bit of a fussy one. And now I have the fine toothed dog comb bushing them all out. Oh well, I will have to be more careful with those really long staples that I thought were the best ones in the bunch with the next lot I wash.

Here are the photos of the Kid Mohair

I have finally finishing washing it all!

It was quite thick with red dirt, and I must say I have been slow to finish preparing it

because

(ClOSE YOU EYES STRIPEY TIGER TO AVOID ANY NAUSEA!!)

It was full of dandruff. Yuk!

I washed some of it in Napisan, which was fine (although it says on the bottle dont use on wool!, and the rest in dishwasing liquid.

Neither seemed better really, but the napisan definatly made it whiter

But it spun up beautifully, (with no neps or nits) It has a wonderful lustre.

I will probably dye the hank, once it is plyed.