Eclectic Rose Knits

Cheat mulled wine

2011-06-05T20:45:00.000+10:00

So tonight I was craving comfort food - something rich and warm. Even though my dear husband had made me a scrummy Margherita pizza I wanted something else - specifically warmed cider or Nutella mug cake. In the absence of appropriate ingredients (ie cider or Nutella) I remembered the quarter bottle of merlot in the kitchen. Brainwave! Mulled wine!

I have made mulled wine before for a party. Done properly it involves lemon rind, fresh spices, even fresh apple. Given the lack of appropriate fresh fruit I did my usual thing and ~~cheated~~ experimented. Here's what I used (all measurements very approximate!).

Cheat Mulled Wine
Approx 3 servings.

1 cup of apple juice
1 squirt lemon juice (I always have a bottle in the fridge)
Half a cinnamon stick (or just powdered cinnamon)
Quarter teaspoon of ground cloves (or real cloves - I swear I have a bottle but couldn't find it...)
1 Star Anise (optional)
1 cup wine

Heat apple juice, lemon juice and spices in a small saucepan and simmer for 5-10 mins
Add wine, heat until warm (best not to boil!)
Serve in an appropriately thick vessel (it cools rapidly in a wine glass). I didn't have an appropriate flagon so I used a green tea cup (sacrilege I know).

It wasn't too bad - warm and rich just like I wanted. Not super sweet - you could add sugar to the juice if you want it sweeter. You could also add more cinnamon or cloves to make it spicier. I added the star anise because I thought the licorice flavour would be nice, which it was. You could substitute nutmeg instead.

Opulent Raglan - jumper in progress

2011-05-29T18:57:00.001+10:00

So at the start of the year I wrote a list of crafty new years resolutions. The only one I've manage to make progress on is knitting a jumper. So here it is!

"That's not a jumper," I hear you say, "that's a vest. And what's with the random blue stripe on your bust?"

Well my friends, it is a jumper, I just haven't knit the sleeves yet. And the blue stripes are lifelines - very useful and handy if you need to rip back a few inches (which I did at one point). They are placed at my bust because I was experimenting with shaping - I added some more decreases to pull in the waist more than the original did. And dang if it didn't work! It fits very nicely, although I think I would have probably been quite happy with the original shaping as well.

The pattern is Opulent Raglan and it is so lovely and easy I could knit it again. And again. In different colours. But I won't. I will knit other jumpers and cardigans because now I have the jumper bug. I can knit jumpers that are long enough to meet my jeans without the freezing gap of death, whee!

But I should probably tackle something else from my list of resolutions first. In fact I really should get back to spinning...after I finish these sleeves.

Ginger and apple tea

2011-05-27T14:14:00.000+10:00

I've been sick with various colds and viruses for the better part of May and let me tell you I am sick of Lemon and Honey tea. So I've concocted a very pleasant alternative that is still chock full of restorative elements.

Peel a chunk of ginger (approx 1cm) and steep for a few minutes in boiling water.
Add half or one teaspoon of honey.
And the secret ingredient - a splash of apple juice.

Ginger is a common folk remedy for cold symptoms, honey is soothing for the throat (and antibacterial if you believe the reports) and apple juice is full of Vitamin C. Non-caffeinated tea is also a great way to keep hydrated, which my pharmacist assures me is essential in kicking this blasted cold.

Plus, you know, it just tastes good.

Blog resurrection and Apple Couscous

2011-05-26T18:16:00.001+10:00

My poor blog is a neglected creature that reads like a list of broken New Year's resolutions, all on the theme of promising to blog more frequently. Arguably this post is on the same theme, but this time I'm hoping to follow through a bit better. Not only will I post about my knitting but hopefully a bit more about cooking, bellydance and pretty things I find over on Pinterest.

In that spirit, here is today's cooking experiment - Apple Couscous. Recently I was reminded of a sweet breakfast I tried, based on orange juice, dried fruits and yoghurt (a bit like this one). I didn't have any orange juice but I did have couscous, apple juice and plenty of dried fruit so I went in hunt of an apple couscous recipe. I modified the Fruity Breakfast Couscous recipe from taste.com.au by excluding the peaches and nuts and adding in dried apricot. Otherwise I followed it pretty much exactly.

Apple Couscous - serves 3-4

1 cup couscous

1 cup apple juice

1 Tablespoon honey

Half a cup of dried fruit (I used sultanas and dried apricots)

1 apple, grated

Dollop of natural yoghurt

Bring juice and honey to boil in small pan

Stir in dried fruit and couscous

Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 3 mins Separate grains with a fork and cover another 2 minutes.

Stir in apple

Serve with yoghurt

So how was it?

Firstly, couscous is deceptively simple yet I always end up with a clumpy mess (this time wasn't as bad as others!). The San Remo packet recommends stirring as you pour in the couscous, let it stand 3 mins and then stir for the last two. I didn't stir as I poured it in this time so I will definitely try that next time.

Secondly, the apple juice made it quite sweet. I must say I prefer the orange juice couscous I once had. If I make this one again I would try half apple juice and half water and maybe toss in some cinnamon and flaked almonds.

All in all it was a quick and filling treat with real fruit, great for breakfast or dessert. Or lunch or dinner in this case!

Pretty things

2011-01-27T20:35:00.007+11:00

This is the pretty new laptop bag I got from TrackandFieldDesigns.

It's customised to fit my netbook, a thick A4 notepad and a book or small knitting project.

I've been wanting a stylish, easy-carry padded laptop bag for ages. I got it with some Christmas money. Will be carrying it into the city for a conference this week :D

It is not to be confused with this gorgeous carry-all I got from the MIL for Christmas.

I use this every day when I go to work (I don't usually need my netbook for work).

I spun this! Merino, 2 ply. I think it will knit to 8ply/aran weight although I need to do the wpi test on it.

It's going to be a shawl I think. I need to spin up some more first! I hope I can keep the weight relatively even.

And a quick knitting update...

I am almost finished this Hap Blanket (pattern by the amazing Ysolda Teague). It is for Geoff and Sophie's gorgeous new boy Rafael Zephaniah. It's Bendigo Woollen Mills 4ply cotton held double. I threaded a lifeline in red and suddenly wished I used red as the highlight instead of green. But it was way too late by then!

That's ok, it's still pretty and funky. Even if DH does complain it's Deceptacon colours.

In which a New Year commences

2011-01-01T08:38:00.004+11:00

When the New Year comes around some retrospection is usually in order. Since this is a knitting blog that's what I'll focus on! I'm looking at my Ravelry project page and this is what struck me:

Socks. In 2010 I learned to knit socks, and I love them. Can't wait to knit more.
Lace. I participated in the 10 lace items in 2010 challenge. I managed 6 with a 7th almost complete and an 8th on the needles.
Sock yarn. Look at my Ravelry stash page and you may notice I have a wee addiction to locally purchased, hand-dyed sock yarn. Clearly I need to knit more socks. And gloves, and scarves and shawlettes.
Spinning. In 2010 I aquired a wheel and got the basics down.

So what's ahead for 2011?

More socks. I am going to knit Moonchild and hopefully enter them in the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
More lace. I want to knit something in laceweight (2ply) yarn which will be a first.
More spinning. I'd like to learn some more technique and knit something from my handspun.
Something new - overcoming my fear of knitting fitted garments. I have just ordered the yarn for a scrummy jumper.
Knit from stash. I just fell down and bought jumper yarn and (of course) some sock yarn with my Christmas money. But that's it. I have 2 crates of yarn and one of fibre. I can't get any more unless some leaves - by being knitted or by being sold.

On a more general note...

It's fair to say that 2010 was not the easiest of years for Hubster and I, so I look forward to 2011 with hope. Hope that Hubster will find a satisfying and rewarding job, hope that my health helps me rather than hinders me. I have a lot of hope for work - after spending much of 2010 in a holding pattern, changes in my team and the business' leadership have put lots of exciting projects and opportunities on the horizon. There is a lot to look forward to.

In which I am inspired by a wedding's aesthetic

2010-10-31T14:30:00.006+11:00

Yesterday hubster and I attended a wedding at the Hungerford Hill winery in the Hunter Valley. It was a beautiful location and has definitely whetted my appetite to see more of the Hunter. But what particularly impressed me was the design aesthetic of the wedding. Nature and natural things were a theme from the invitations right on through. The couple bought two fruit trees as symbols of the occasion and the bouquets included roses, gumnuts and herbs. The guest register was actually a large print of a bare tree - you added a thumbprint in green ink to create leaves. The cake was actually cheese (to see what I mean look here!) And the bonboniere were very clever - little pots of jam or mustard that doubled as placenames and thankyou cards. We forgot our cameras so all we had were our iphones - but here's a photo of the ceremony plus the delightful bonboniere. Chanel's dress was gorgeous, such beautiful floaty material.

A quick update on the knitting. I have been working on two lace projects: Oiseau de Feu (Ravelry link, non-Ravelry example) and Brandywine Shawl. At this stage they are both intended for me! The photos below don't look like much: neither is blocked and my little digital camera has significant issues with that vibrant red. I shall have to read up on photographing red projects before I model the final product!

Oiseau de Feu

Brandywine Shawl

In which I sew

2010-10-23T15:05:00.002+11:00

Spring is definitely here, and summer is on its way. Cue thunderstorms, cicadas, and sitting on the balcony of a weekend with a cup of tea (obviously not at the same time as the thunderstorm!)

A week or two ago in a burst of spring-related energy I actually pulled out the sewing machine and sewed a couple of simple bags. Now it's important to understand that I generally do not enjoy sewing. I love the concept of it, of turning gorgeous fabric into something both practical and beautiful. But the process...it's just not for me. I hate being jabbed by pins, I hate bending over cutting out the pattern or hand sewing a hem. It's painful (ask my fingers and back). There's also the fear of screwing up the measurements as you cut, or having to rip out a wrongly executed seam. So on the whole I need to be highly motivated to actually sew something. But a couple of small bags are easy enough to execute in an afternoon.

Hubster requested a dice bag (he has taken up Dungeons and Dragons) so that was first on the agenda. He turned up his nose at all my fat quarters and settled on a sturdy upholstery fabric intended to be a floor cushion some day. This turned out to to be something of a mistake as the bag has a drawstring top which doesn't really close properly due to the thickness of the gathered fabric. But hubster was happy enough to wind the drawstring around it lower down to compensate. I used a very handy drawstring bag tutorial from The Purl Bee which also showed me how to make a gusset in the bottom of the bag, which I was very chuffed about.

Bag number two was a peg bag. This has been my peg bag for years now.

Clearly it was time for a new one. So back into the stash for some more upholstery fabric and I whipped up a gussetted peg bag with a handy long handle for hanging it off the clothes rack.

All in all I was pretty satisfied with my sewing foray, although I do wish I'd used another fabric for that peg bag. Lesson learned! Next up is a lined knitting project bag using this tutorial (sans padding) from the Happy Things blog.

In which I muse on ALL THE THINGS

2010-07-25T08:51:00.004+10:00

There's a bit of an "ALL THE THINGS" meme going around the Over the Fence Ravelry and twitter groups thanks to Zephyrama sharing a blog post from Hyperbole and a Half: "This is why I'll never be an adult". In it Allie describes the cycle of enthusiasm, burnout and avoidance associated with the burden of adult responsibilities. It's hilarious and I highly recommend you read it.

It particularly resonated with me at the moment. We are thinking and planning for a baby (no this is not a formal announcement of any kind: thinking and planning does not imply pregnancy!) and this just seems to double that burden of "adult" responsibility.

On top of working full time and managing our little household we must now consider a whole raft of additional concerns, from redoing our health care cover to considering a new car, where to live, trying to work out new budgets so we can save more, and wondering and how we will ever manage to maintain a semblance of our current lifestyle with an extra mouth and less income.

Even trying to work out how we can reduce the grocery and electricity bill implies an upfront investment of time and money (menu plans! and fancy switch-off powerboards etc) along with lifestyle changes. I've been reading about making savings on these and the recommendations others are at once inspiring and depressing. Usually because the trade off for saving money is spending extra time to do so. Shopping at multiple stores just takes more time than the Woolies dash. It's hard to cook from scratch nightly when one partner arrives home at 5.30 and the other at 6.30. Without menu plans (or even with them!) it's easy to fall prey to the quick pre-packaged dinner or takeaway - but making them eats into precious weekend time.

It's very easy to get super enthusiastic about changing your lifestyle for a week, or even a weekend. But to attempt ALL THE THINGS at once, to try change it all overnight, is definitely not the answer. Burnout sets in rapidly, expectations of improvements in finances etc take too long to appear (at least a month on our pay cycle, generally more), disappointment grows and the towel is thrown in.

So DH and I need to work out a sustainable timetable of incremental change and set some realistic expectations (god I sound like a project manager). One thing at a time. This weekend I tackled menu planning for the week. Today as well as a bit of cleaning and cooking I MIGHT update our finances and compare expenditure against the budget. Maybe I'll leave looking at cars and electricity savings until next week.

There's no need for me to feel guilty about not doing ALL THE THINGS, as long as I do some of them.

In which I crash out of the race

2010-07-18T09:10:00.004+10:00

My Tour de Fleece plans came undone this week thanks to a lower back injury. I am not sure what caused the injury - I just woke up one morning in a lot of pain - but I suspect that poor posture while hand sewing and spinning contributed to it. So no more spinning until it settles down which is sad. The hand sewing I won't miss!

The injury is kind of frustrating because I have two singles ready to ply together (and was thinking of spinning a third to see how tangled up I could get plying 3ply).

I also got bored of the natural fleece and had a shot at some pretty pink/purple merino I picked up last year. It was very cheap and I know why now - it's actually pretty horrible to spin, it was quite matted and I had to pre-draft the life out of it. I suspect it did not help the lower back. Anyway here is what I managed pre-injury.

In which I learn to spin

2010-07-11T17:47:00.002+10:00

It's been almost exactly a year since I last posted, which is a bit embarrassing. I tend to go through cycles of reading or writing, and clearly I've been in a reading cycle for a while.

I'm breaking the silence to report that I am learning to spin. Yes, as if knitting, bellydancing etc isn't enough I have further cluttered my living room with an Ashford Traditional spinning wheel. Spinning is quite enjoyable, although I still have to concentrate a fair bit on what I'm doing.

Here's my first, lumpy, overspun/underspun skein.

Here's my second, which is a definite improvement.

And here's what will be the third - I'm still in the process of spinning it. I am finally achieving some consistency in the thickness and twist of the yarn.

I am unofficially taking part in the Tour de Fleece, where you are supposed to spin everyday during the Tour de France. The idea is to set goals and challenges for yourself. My goal is to spin all of the crossbred top I have been learning on, so I can finally move onto something other than natural colours. I haven't managed to spin every day but I have been spinning most days. Which apparently is the best way to improve at spinning. Here's hoping!

In which I update my sadly neglected blog (Warning - picture heavy!)

2009-07-06T20:18:00.007+10:00

Almost three months since I last updated my blog. Disgraceful. And vaguely terrifying. Where did the time go?

Well here's where it went in knitting projects anyway.

I knitted this shawl to go with the dress for my cousin's wedding in Melbourne. My deathly pallor in the photo is thanks to the dreadful flu/virus I had for the ENTIRE weekend, which was spent in the hotel room with a raging fever. I made it to the wedding ceremony but missed the reception.

A few weeks after that was the Quilting and Craft fair at Darling Harbour. There was some gorgeous gorgeous stuff for sale. And walls of wool!

It's possible I went a leetle bit nuts - but not too dreadfully over budget. Here's my haul.

And here's my OTHER haul.

Yes folks, I took out the guessing competition at the World Wide Knit in Public day event for Sydney. Thanks again to Sally (Pompom on Ravelry) for organising it and to Mosman Needlecraft for the delicious basket of yarny goodness!

What else...I finished the boss's scarf (only took a year), knitted some baby booties for a friend's baby shower, started a cardigan for the baby once it's born, and squeezed in most of a pair of fingerless gloves for myself. Sadly I did not do a good job of matching yarn to pattern; the yarn is beautiful but the semi-solid variegation hides the "dragon scales" of the pattern. Oh well, they're still yummy and warm.

And that's about it folks. Next on the needles are some legwarmers (started but I discovered knitting with plastic needles = very sore thumb so waiting for a new set), a hat for a friend and the return of the woodland shawl.

In which I wonder what to knit

2009-04-17T19:33:00.003+10:00

I'm at a bit of an impasse, trying to decide which way to go. This was all triggered because I finally finished the baby blanket for my friend, hurrah! The blanket was my "big easy" knit - large needles, simple pattern. I'm still working on my Woodland Shawl which is more of a "small needles, think a bit" project.

So do I pull out the jumper I started last winter? Lots of mindless knitting there. Do I knit a chunky scarf to satisfy the big needle longing? I did start one but have abandoned it because I'm not happy with the colour combination of the wool. Plus I really should finish the scarf I started for my boss, that's plenty chunky but I have to pay attention to the pattern. Or do I get stuck into the pair of gloves or socks that I want to make?

Tonight I shall be virtuous and get stuck into the boss' scarf. And dig out the jumper. New socks and gloves can wait....unless someone can convince me otherwise...?!

In which I am linguistically challenged

2009-03-18T21:45:00.007+11:00

Feeling a little verbally challenged tonight, so I'll just post up a pic of my latest project.

And some lovely lovely stitch markers that my friend messicat made....she's only a beginning knitter but she beads with the best of them.

I have been putting a lot of thought into the package for a swap I'm participating in with the Fairytale and Folklore group. I'm hoping messicat will be able to help me create some stitch markers to go with it. :D

In which I knit my first sock!

2009-03-03T21:45:00.001+11:00

Baby sock
Originally uploaded by jedi_enna

Check it out - my first sock! The kitchener stitch for the toe is a touch loose and I have a slight hole at the ankle where I picked up the stitches at the heel. But otherwise I am quite please. Now I have to make the other one. Sigh.

Ostara and Amina Khaleegy Sydney Multicultural Festival

2009-03-03T21:34:00.002+11:00

Ostara and Amina Khaleegy
Sydney Multicultural Festival
Originally uploaded by Nico Nelson

Here are two of the girls from "Desert Roses", Josefina Daley's bellydance troupe that I'm part of. This dance is in the khaleegy style, from the United Arab Emirates. The dancers pick up the front of that voluminous robe and use it as a prop. The other very important prop is hair - it gets swung around a lot in this style of dancing.

The photographer, Nico, is the husband of Chani and takes lovely photos. We're very lucky he comes to all of our performances!

In which I have a birthday...oh, and finish some gloves

2009-02-28T08:48:00.005+11:00

I've been quite remiss in updating my blog of late. Things have been very busy both at work and socially and I must confess when I get home I just didn't feel like writing! So there is lots to catch up on.

Firstly - I finished my Strawberries n Cream Gloves!

I am really really pleased with them, they are both the most complicated and most elegant project I have completed yet. Cabling wasn't too hard once I got the hang of it, and the wool (Knitting by Zen 100% alpaca) was just gorgeous to work with. Seaming them up was a nightmare - matching moss stitch to stockinette is not easy. The recipient seemed quite pleased,
I hope she does enjoy wearing them.

Secondly - I got older!

Not that I'm a particular fan of getting older, but at least there are some compensations - such as:

The needles were a combined present from my mother and brother (Harmony tips, yayayayay!). The needle roll was made by my talented mother-in-law, I LOVE the knitting chickens on it. I also got a snuggly dressing gown and the DVD set "Long Way Round" in which Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman motorbike around the world. Great stuff.

I also picked up a couple of beautiful hairclips with the last of my money - here's one:

That little clip holds all my hair - IF I manage to put it in right, which is a bit of an art. But I'm getting there.

So there you go, the last couple of weeks all in one rush!

In which I holiday by the seaside

2009-02-11T09:17:00.010+11:00

Over the weekend hubby and I went on a holiday with another couple, good friends of ours. Destination: Beach Cove, Dangar Island.

The first step was loading up with four days worth of gourmet food. As we squeezed 6 bottles of wine, juice, milk, 4 different types of cheese, biscuits, fruit, snacks, BBQ supplies and a BBQ chook into the car we wondered whether we were overdoing it. Turns out we weren't - we left with about 10 bags of shopping and came back with just 3. The weekend was one long feast - and we loved it! We did not, however, love carting all that shopping AND our luggage (including bellydancing and fire twirling supplies) over the sand from the wharf where the taxi dropped us. Always remember to travel at high tide folks, you end up much closer to your destination!

Aside from preparing and consuming copious quantities of food, we knitted (me), spun (Camee), drew (Craig) and juggled (Sean). We walked through the front yard onto the beach and swam at high tide. Sean and Camee kayaked around the whole island one morning. I started to learn some tricks with Camee's poi, although I seemed to spend more time hitting myself than spinning the darn things. We read, we watched dvds, we napped. We told the kookaburra who tried to steal our dinner where to go (at the top of my lungs). Altogether it was the most wonderful, relaxing holiday. The current debate is whether to return next year or head for the snow...decisions decisions!

More photos up on flickr.

In which I am injured but heroically knit on

2009-02-01T09:54:00.003+11:00

Last night I went to Opera in the Domain (open air opera) with some fellow Ravelers. We had a fantastic time knitting and picnicing before the opera started at 8. But there was one slight hitch. Who would have thought you could slice yourself up with a garden-variety picnic knife while cutting an avocado? These aren't steak knives, they're for eating picnic stuff like cold chicken. But I tell you what, they were bloody sharp. Literally.

So there I am with this deep slice in the tip of my left index finger, and it's a real bleeder. Bandaids one and two don't do the trick, so it's off to find some of the first aid folk wandering around. There is much drama, taking of details, swabbing of gauze, wrapping and taping and by the time they are done I have a pretty impressive bandage on my finger It takes three of them to do this, which makes it all look very dramatic (although I think they HAVE to go around in groups of three). Apparently it's the most exciting thing they've done all night (well it is Opera in the Domain, not the Big Day Out rock festival).

So we all settle back down, finish off the picnic (complete with avocado), and then as we're packing up Camee does EXACTLY the same thing with one of the knives. Yeesh. Luckily hers didn't bleed quite as badly so we didn't have to call the first aid folk back!

So my dramatically bandaged finger has put a bit of a crimp in my knitting speed, which is very frustrating, especially as I want to finish the Strawberries and Cream gloves by tomorrow so I can give them to the birthday girl. Typical. Oh well, at least I'll have a good tale to tell when I provide the excuse!

Yarn Raffle for a great cause

2009-01-25T08:46:00.000+11:00

Just found an amazing yarn raffle for a very good cause. Ravelry member PeaceSoup recently lost her sister, who left behind a young boy to be raised by his father and grandparents. PeaceSoup wants to give him an amazing birthday present so she is raffling off a chunk of her stash and some beautiful donated yarn for $5 a ticket. And this woman has some serious stash!

The details are here. I’m hankering for the Elizabeth Bennett Apple Blossom - and even if I don’t win, it’s a fantastic cause.

In which I am suspicious

2009-01-18T11:44:00.002+11:00

I have a horrible feeling that I am coming down with a cold.

I really cannot afford a cold as I have a 3-day conference this week, which I am also presenting at. It's going to be hardcore as I will be spending a lot of time at the CCH booth talking with conference goers, as well as actually attending conference sessions.

I have rugged up as much as one can for summer, and will be going out to the chemist later to pick up anti-cold meds like zinc and vitamin C.

In the meantime I am going to sit and sulk and knit.

This had better not be a cold. Please, please just be allergies!!!!

Oh. My. God.

2009-01-15T20:02:00.001+11:00

I just spent AU$270 on a suit.

Never mind we are broke, it's the first payday after Christmas and we have credit cards and a holiday to pay off. No, I am presenting at a conference next week which warranted the purchase of a suit that is a) good quality and b) actually fits.

But still....two hundred and seventy dollars!!!!!!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Ah...the weekend!

2009-01-10T09:32:00.002+11:00

First week back at work was huge, lots of really interesting stuff going on. I was so braindead by Friday night, I just got home and switched off!

But I am really looking forward to a quiet weekend pottering around, cleaning and trying new recipes. Plus big plans to watch Fellowship of the Rings on our big new TV and knit knit knit! And seam up that first glove....I hate seaming.

Holidays are over. :(

2009-01-04T18:50:00.002+11:00

Last day of the holidays. I shouldn't be sad, there are lots of great things happening at work. But still, it's quite nice wake up whenever you want and do whatever you want. Lots of reading and knitting and shopping and mooching and I even managed to get a bunch of chores out of the way so I feel pretty satisfied.

The first cable glove is done bar the seaming, I am very pleased with how it came out and doing the thumb wasn't as scary as I anticipated. The blanket is also proceeding apace, I have worked out how the pattern grows which means I can work out where the yo's etc go without counting every single stitch.

Someone lent me the first two Twilight books which are definitely interfering with my knitting time. I've read them once before but from memory I was unimpressed with the second book and never bothered reading the rest of the series. Now it's such a big fuss with the movie and all that I thought I would give them another shot. The first was as good as I remembered, much better than the movie which doesn't quite convey Bella's acerbic and amusing narrative style. Just starting New Moon. The annoying thing will then be whether I can wait on the reserve list for Eclipse at the library...or cave and spend $20 on the book instead of the yummy Malabrigo yarn I have been virtuously resisting. This budgeting/saving business is hard.

Save me from the Boxing Day sales

2009-01-01T11:00:00.002+11:00

No, not masses of shoes from Myer or even stacks of half-price towels and sheets (although I did get one set).

Yarn.

All of the Aussie online shops are announcing their sales, and it was just too hard to resist. Wired for Fibre won me over (poor Yarn and Kisses experienced a server move at the worst possible time). So I picked up some 4ply alpaca to make mum the socks she requested. And you may as well fill up the satchel, right? So I bought some merino 4ply as well. I talked myself out of some merino/silk laceweight, so there is some hope for me yet.

Better get back to knitting to justify my latest purchases!

Fingers and Thumbs and Needles

2008-12-31T16:28:00.003+11:00

So in the last few weeks I've tackled projects requiring two new skills - cables and double pointed needles. Not the same project, I'm not that crazy!

The cable project is fingerless gloves (flat with seams) for my assistant. They are knitting up very well and I'm loving them. Holding the cable to the back is a bit tricky, I'm not always sure whether the yarn goes behind or in front. It was cool enough before Christmas to get started on them (they're alpaca which is very warm) but since then it's just gotten too hot to think about.

So I decided to get started on a cotton blend baby blanket instead. Not for me (everybody asks) but for a friend up in Tamworth. It's a circular blanket knitted on dpns. The biggest challenge was casting on 8 stitches and trying to join them up and knit in the round. Took about 3 goes but I'm well established now and sailing along. Here's my progress so far.

On the sixth day of Christmas Eclectic Rose knit six dishcloths

2008-12-26T10:47:00.003+11:00

Now all the presents have finally been handed out I can show off the dishcloths I knit. I quite enjoyed knitting with the Sugar n Cream worsted weight cotton - it's very easy to see where you have gone wrong and work back to it. A good place to start learning about lace knitting. Hopefully their recipients will find them helpful with the washing up. Now it's time to knit one for myself!

Christmas Haul

2008-12-25T18:37:00.000+11:00

I think it may be a sign of excessive interwebbing that I want to post pics of my Christmas presents online. Hmmm. Oh well who cares!

My hubby got me some lovely jewelry, he really does have lovely taste and seems to read my mind sometimes. I was thinking about a dressy new watch and look what I got!

My mum-in-law is a very clever, crafty lady. I don't know where she found the time but she made all of us little Christmas bags (visible on the left) and a placemat to take home. She also made this fabulous quilted knitting/all purpose bag for me - I love it!

My grandparents and great-uncle also gave me presents (jewelry etc) that are just perfect and I know I will wear and/or use.

The cutest stories is definitely two small friends of mine, aged 8 and 6. They both bought me something out of their pocket money! AS got me a paper clip holder (which I asked for) but ES gets an A+ for initiative - she picked up on my knitting love and bought me a ball of yarn. Gorgeous acrylic 8ply, very bright pink/purple/teal. Not something I would wear but of wonderful sentimental value - I will make a small carry-bag or i-pod cosy with it.

Anara, Drum Solo, Avalon Street Markets 2008

2008-11-15T21:22:00.001+11:00

Edit: Sadly all of the photos have been removed by Sammis Co, I hope he will put fresh ones up at some point in the future. Meantime I have some photos of my own here.

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This is what I get up to when I'm not knitting. I belong to the Desert Roses troupe which performs at local spring and Christmas markets every year. At Avalon (on the Northern Beaches) we literally dance in the middle of the street which is actually a lot of fun - except when it's threatening to rain!

Veils are fantastic props, they make for great photography. This photo is taken by the husband of one of the girls in my troupe. I love his photos, they are all up on Flickr - his user name is Sammis Co. Check them out!

Branching Out

2008-11-10T19:04:00.001+11:00

Branching Out
Originally uploaded by jedi_enna

Progress is slow but steady. I'm about 1/3 the way through now. The danger is I just received a batch of lovely lovely cotton yarn for some other Christmas present projects - this may hibernate for a month or so!

Christmas Knits

2008-11-05T21:13:00.001+11:00

I have worked up my Christmas list, which includes lots of little knitted gifts. I can't say what, someone reading this might get their Christmas present spoiled! But I have just ordered the yarn and am very excited. More presents landing on my desk at work. Fun!

Knitting Marathon at my place

2008-10-05T09:59:00.000+11:00

Some friends and I have started up a monthly knitting group at my place - fun! I anticipated it would run for a few hours over lunch but yesterday it stretched into a 11-hour knitathon (6 of which we spent watching Pride and Prejudice). There are 3 experienced knitters in the group and 2 complete (left-handed!) newbies. Messicat has a way to go but Saxra took to knitting like a fish to water, most impressive.

My husband and Camee's boyf were very understanding and made us all pizza for dinner as we knit. Lovely reversal of gender roles there, and lots of jokes about needing to restore testosterone in the house. So after dinner we let them pick the movie - Hot Fuzz which is always a great action/laugh.

Knitting for so long with company was great, I got through a large chunk of my triangular shawl which I want to finish so that I can wear it in this spring weather. It's pretty boring to knit at this point (incredibly long rows) so it's just a matter of pressing on.

Bellydancing Princess Leia

2008-09-27T17:50:00.000+10:00

So here's something clever and different....a bellydancing Princess Leia from Return of the Jedi. The dancer, Amira Sa'id, dances at a lot of conventions. You can read more about her on the Wired Blog.

As a bellydancing star wars fan and sometimes costumer, I was tempted to do something here in Australia, maybe work up a costume and do something for the cosplay at Supernova. But the negativity of the comments on the Wired blog made me wonder....perhaps the worlds of bellydance and Star Wars don't mix too well. When it comes to bellydancing, it is really a celebration of womanhood by women, primarily enjoyed by women as well. The Star Wars world, much as I hate to say it, is quite male dominated....and perhaps not quite ready for the art of middle eastern dance. Plus the connotations of Leia, dancing as a powerless slave...again, not celebrating the true strength of the dance.

That said, I think Amira/Leia is an awesome dancer, her technique is a delight to watch and more power to her!

Eurofest

2008-09-22T20:05:00.001+10:00

Anara
Originally uploaded by jedi_enna

This is the reason I haven't been knitting lately. I had a conference in Perth all last week and then performed twice at Eurofest this weekend. I had to take up the hem of this skirt by hand which cuts into valuable knitting time (and isn't nearly as fun). Sadly it's still a little long so I will have to redo it before my next performance in October.

More photos at my flickr photostream or check out my Facebook page (for friends).

Tangled Branches

2008-09-06T08:30:00.000+10:00

I am feeling a little discouraged at the moment. I think I am on my fifth attempt to get through the 6-row pattern for Branching Out correctly. I plunged in rather ambitiously, starting with the lovely mohair straight away. Bad idea - very difficult to rip out mistakes in mohair. I was also cursing my cheapie 4mm needles which are impossibly blunt. It was a rude shock to go from my lovely pointy knitpicks to these, especially when the pattern calls for you to knit 3 together!

So after the third or fourth attempt, I switched to some 8ply practice yarn and my 4.5mm knitpicks. Much easier. But I still somehow ended up with the wrong number of stitches by the fifth pattern row. Sigh! I shall persevere, but what I really should do today is take up the hem of my bellydancing costume in preparation for our peformances in a few weeks.

Fairytale Knitalong

2008-08-31T13:26:00.000+10:00

I've taken the next step in knitting obsession and joined a Knitalong with the Fairy and Folk Tale Group on Ravelry. Each season they pick a fairytale and them their KAL to match. The Autumn KAL revolves around the Scottish Ballad "Tam Lim". I'd never heard of it before but there are many variations (here's just one). I recommend you read it but here's my poor summary anyway.

Tam Lin extracts a tithe from all those who pass his well - be it a kirtle or a maidenhaid. One maid discovers his story - Tam Lin was a knight taken by the Faery Queen and destined to be their next sacrifice. She determines to rescue him and must hold onto him while the fairies change him into various animals before returning him to human form. She hides him under her green mantle, thereby breaking the hold the fairies have on him.

It's exciting to experience a new fairy tale, and I've always had a vague interest in the Celtic stories. The group have recommended some fiction variants so I'll be borrowing them from the library. The green kirtle and mantle are strong symbols in the story but I think I'll try a slightly less ambitious project - a green "Branching Out" scarf like GreenKri's one here.

Progress Bar

2008-08-18T22:26:00.000+10:00

Feeling very proud of myself as I have managed to add a Ravelry Work in Progress bar. The instructions on the wiki were very straight forward. Bless xml Blogger layouts!

Circling the point

2008-08-16T15:27:00.000+10:00

I planned my first foray into circular knitting to be legwarmers in a lovely wine boucle. Lots of preparation went into this - finding a pattern on Ravelry, purchasing some gorgeous Touche boucle at the Darling Harbour Craft Show, waiting ages for my knitpicks order to come in. Finally all the material was assembled. I watched the knittinghelp.com tutorial on knitting with two cable circulars a couple of times, assembled my beautiful new Knitpick harmony tips, and got started.

And got very tangled very quickly.

When I gave it some thought, I realised that learning a new knitting skill while using expensive mohair/marino boucle is a bad idea. The dark colour and loops made it very hard to see what I was doing, and I didn't really want to ruin my lovely wool by ripping it out several times. After all that planning, it was back to the drawing board.

So today I cast some good ol' Lincraft acrylic 8ply onto my harmony tips. The result won't be as classy as the boucle, but I won't shed too many tears if it goes wrong. It's much easier to see what I'm doing and where I'm up to in the rib stitch the new pattern starts with. Plus it was a humbling reminder that it's always good to learn a new skill with some basic, cheap yarn!

Nearly done with all the gifts

2008-08-10T12:02:00.001+10:00

DSCF2324
Originally uploaded by jedi_enna

I'm looking forward to finishing all my gifts for others and starting a jumper, legwarmers or scarf for myself. Here's a photo of a friend's birthday present on my legs - I was tempted to keep them for myself! I also have some sewing to do - I have to adjust my new bellydancing costume in time for a performance in a few weeks. I'd much rather knit - I hate handsewing. :( By the time I get to my jumper it will probably be summer. Sigh.

Rosewood

2008-06-21T14:24:00.000+10:00

I am in love with rosewood knitting needles. I just visited Sydney's Tapestrycraft sale and the rosewood needles were 75% off. So instead of coming home with some cheapie bamboos from Lincraft, I now have 3 beautiful pairs of rosewood needles. Dark, beautifully polished and smooooth....so smooth to touch.

I don't know that I would ever buy them full price (over $30 AUS each, ouch!) but by golly if they are on sale again I would buy more. The salesgirl told me that she inherited her knitting needles from her grandmother, and these rosewood needles are the sort that could indeed be heirlooms. What a lovely thought, to pass down knitting needles.

I can't ever imagine buying plastic or aluminium needles again. It's going to be bamboo or wood for me.

Knitting vs Sewing

2008-06-11T19:00:00.001+10:00

Before I started knitting, I thought that sewing must be ten times easier. Surely it mast be faster to cut a pattern and sew a few seams than to create whole fabric from scratch right?

And maybe it is when you're equipped with a sewing room with your machine already out and a big table for cutting. But trust me, when sewing involves clearing the floor to cut because your tiny round table won't fit the material and plus you have to drag the machine out of the bottom of the closet, it starts to look much more arduous. And I HATE pinning pieces together. I hate it a lot.

So knitting starts to look much more attractive. You can pick it up and put it down, it fits into a carry bag, it doesn't involve spreading things all over the house (although my husband would beg to differ). You can knit for 5 minutes or half an hour rather than having to set aside a whole day for a project.

So ultimately it's no surprise that I tend to get my knitting projects done much quicker than my sewing projects. And to think I dreamed of taking up quilting....

Knitting for others

2008-06-07T09:28:00.000+10:00

I seem to be much better at knitting small gifts for others than I am at knitting anything for myself.

The main reason behind this is that I enjoy giving, especially if it's something in which I've invested time and thought. Plus knitted gifts are (mostly) decorative AND practical, especially this time of year. Scarves, gloves, wraps - they don't just sit on a shelf waiting for dusting (hopefully!). They can be worn, taken out about, used and abused endlessly.

I have to say though that I am always nervous about making something that the receiver will like. So I have a habit of asking what they want, offering them a few patterns and choices of wool. It's good because I'm often surprised by the final choice. I may start off by planning a brown wrap and end up knitting green fingerless gloves. I don't mind because then there's more chance of the gift being used. In this consumerist age I REALLY don't like the pointless gift.

Another reason I enjoy knitting for others is my preference for working to deadlines. Projects without at definite timeframe languish under the bed or in my craft basket. Knowing whose birthday is coming up helps me to prioritise my queue and follow through when it gets to the boring end of the job (sewing things up etc).

I really do need a purpose to complete a project. That's why the sewing machine I was given wasn't used until I started bellydancing - suddenly I had a reason to sew (purchased costumes are expensive) and a deadline for finishing projects. I think my mum was very relieved when that sewing machine started getting some use (again - practical gift giving!)

So there you are. My reasons for knitting reflect my inner tendencies - to work to specific goals within a specific timeframe. I should give this post to my boss as a reflection on my working habits!

Random thoughts from the garden....

2008-06-03T21:17:00.000+10:00

Talking about knitting seems to be almost as fun as actually knitting. Doing both seems better yet, but it's hard to type and knit at the same time. In any case, here's a place apart from the fantastic Ravelry to document my progress with various projects. It's also a space for random thoughts about knitting and craft.

By the way, if you're looking for me on Ravelry my ID is JediEnna (a hangover from my Star Wars internet days). Although I am tempted to change it to Eclectic Rose. But the thought of redoing all my data is a bit beyond me.