warning, system going down in

10 seconds. warning system is down.

This is what we used to hear at work when our old Harris computer system was on the nod. Often the warning would bellow out of the walls after we'd started standing up and yelling at our blank screens. In those days you had to manually save, no automatic save functions on these little babies. No save by you and all was gone.

Now this warning is going off all around me, well not really but it should be.

For starters I can take photographs but for some reason I can't transport them into the computer. It just won't do it. Yes the photos are in the camera and I'd love you to see the latest Liesl, the wool from Melbourne that followed me home. The fellow is looking into replacing batteries and checking leads.

The next computer issues is more of a down and now up. We've gone wireless finally, although it did take him a week to get it installed properly.

The next thing going down is my work hours. My doctor has reduced my working hours to five hours a day, still Monday to Friday, in an attempt to find a nice happy medium that allows me to work and not be swallowing pain killers like lollies. A visit to a pain management specialist is scheduled. Which means work may react nicely and be supportive (that would be my immediate boss) or lash out like the spoilt toddler it normally behaves like (that would be the ed) and try to push me out the door.

I'm really looking forward to the reduced hours. Unfortunately it means hanging around town for an hour or so after work to wait for the children to finish school, but there is a wonderful library down the road from the school, in walking distance for the kids so they can come and meet me there. Imagine having time to read for pleasure!


And now for Bells seven random things about me:

I once lived in a place where the back yard was full of coffins and inter-continental body transporters (those are the big sardine tins). It was a goth household above a funeral parlour on Parramatta Road.


I get strange food cravings. At the moment it is all about mint and chocolate. It's not just a pregnancy thing for me, these cravings last for months or, in the case of mint, years and then suddenly it's somthing else. Tins of ready made caramel during my second pregnancy was probably the worst.


I love films. I love everything from the old B Grade monster, zombie and alien movies and have everything made by Ed Wood not to mention movies with titles that include Attack, Zombies, Vampires, I think you get the picture. Then I love films by Hayao Miyazaki which I first discovered after watching Porco Rosso (yep the pig one) late one night while breast feeding the eldest. The kids have grown up with these tales, yes both the zombies and the anime.


Both my thumbs are double jointed, I share this trait with my brother, but not my children.


I've sung all my children to sleep when they were little. Songs ranged from Drunken Sailor to the theme of Red Dwarf.


I am the Stig.


I stopped using shampoo and discovered I have really curly hair. Ringlets in fact under the canopy around my neck, I doubt I'll ever get the rest to ringlet because of all the dye I throw in there to cover the silver.

a black hole

That's what it feels like my life has become, a black hole where time is just funnelling through.
There has been no time to just stop and smell the roses, but piles and piles of manure to wade through.
The kids have been sick; gastro and chest infections. I've been sick, work sucks the big one and people are getting shafted left right and centre and I can only see it getting worse as the rampant egos take over the place. I managed to take a chunk of flesh out of my arm when playing with Mecanno and didn't realise until the kids pointed out I was bleeding every where. That's because of the nerve damage to my arm which according to the specialist is mine for life. So long term adjustments have to be made, but as I've already found a spinning wheel I can use fairly easily, the major panic is over, now it is just a case of the big things like modifying the house and the car and looking at long term pain management strategies. Oh and I've been advised to where protective clothing when playing Mecanno.

But really that's not to bad considering what manure has been thrown at the people around me.
There's been a baby, and therefore a life of dreams, lost and another woman, my age, has been diagnosed with second stage breast cancer which had spread to her lymph glands but thank the flying spaghetti monster no further.
In both these circumstances it is hard to know what to say to the person. Really nothing you can say can convey you're sorry and having miscarried several times while some of the words of sympathy can be like a warm hug, not all are even if they are intended as such.
So to cope with this shit I've cried for the first and for the second I knitted a boob. A completely selfish act, an act that let me think that maybe I have done something to help. But I know there was a giggle mixed with the tears when my offer of giving her a perky set was passed on to her.

In other knitting there has been a Liesl done in Lion Brand Cotton (no, not cotton ease I used the dish cloth stuff) from spotties. It used less than 2 and a half balls of the stuff and I love it and can see several others in my future, particularly as it was a nine day knit and all knitting done after work and after the kids were in bed.
The mods were I ditched the original purl or garter ridges in the pattern after the first repeat for the neckline and knitted smooth all the way down to the end of the body where I did 1.5 of the normal repeats. The sleeves were to above the elbow and I did one repeat of the normal pattern on the ends.
Under the arms where you cast on stitches for the body and then pick these stitches up for the sleeve I cast on the same number of stitches on waste yarn and knitted off these for the body and then pulled the waste yarn out and picked up live stitches for the sleeves.

Next post there will be more knitting and I'll do the seven random things meme that I was tagged to do.
And maybe some pics of Melbourne because I'm heading down south and there has been a promise about visiting yarn shops, and pubs, and mills!

snailalia post

The post office has been the major focus of the week. Lots of little red and white cards in the post office box.

There was a swag of five ply discontinued wool from Tapestry and Craft. Kris from T&C rang me and it was a strange conversation. Firstly I was in the iron lift of doom at work and the voice on the line was dropping in and out but I distinctly heard the word Zephyrama. Now the number she had rung thru on was the craft mafia mobile so at first I thought it was a store or order call from a customer, but no, the lift doors opened, I managed to get into some air and it all became clear. It was Kris spookin' Ravelry people by using their avatar names and she was calling to make a change in the colours. So I ended up with a pretty purple.

Another postie parcel was a new lot of clothing labels, I can't believe how many we have gone through, and then there was six skeins of beauty, a couple of books, Porco Rosso and Japanese Godzilla movies.

Then there was a special parcel post marked December 20 from SA with a few fantastic children's sewing patterns from the 1960s. I knew these had been sent and despite the time lapse wasn't too worried until I realised it had been more than a month since the lovely and blogless Gigi popped them in the post box.

There have been a few late postal problems this week, so I'm hoping that my Dec 20 arrival will help send Miss Ks latest round of uni text books her way (also posted in late December and needed as she is doing it online and forgoing the traditional summer uni break) and that the Tea Cosy Swap for KatieV also manages to get to her.

The special tea cosy, made to match her green and yellow accented kitchen was posted three weeks ago from Tassie, but considering the five weeks for my parcel to make it, there is still hope.

Or maybe I'm just a little bit more laid back than others? Anyway I have gone into overdrive to finish the angel tea cosy package and I'm not giving away any spoilers.

In other news, well there isn't much, other than the fella's car getting stuck in reverse, well it was until Uncle T gave it a clout, and now it's stuck in forward. Thankfully he is in Brisvegas most of this week, then Perth the following so we won't feel the pinch of being down a car while it is getting fixed.

We will be borrowing a car for the time he is in town but would my father hand over an exotic look-at-me car, no, so I'll end up with one of the cars I learnt to drive on all those years ago, a long wheel base Landrover 110, the first one sold in Australia to be precise. And cause the fella has Landy issues, I get to drive it.

The first time the fella jumped into the Landy he stalled it and you just don't want to ask about the time he tried to reverse a trailer at the dump. Well okay, imagine a bloke stuffing up reversing a trailer at the dump with all the dump guys watching. Then having to get his heavily pregnant missus to climb out, waddle around and climb up into the drivers seat and shift that Landy quick smart. No, we don't talk about the Fella and the Landy.

Oh and for those in the big smoke, I need some ideas of decent places to eat around here. I'll be down for a two day and night gabfest because boss hunting season is about to start. The agenda looks insane with no chance of escaping around the corner to York street and the yarn delights of T&C, but I'm hoping that if I get up early enough I may be able to indulge in a decent breakfast. So what's good around there for pre-9am feasts?

swap

As one swap draws to a close over on Ravelry with the Australian Knitters Group, another is preparing to open.

But because of issues about the overt chattiness of some members on the board (and I'm waving my hand up in the air, I don't mind a bit of chat, I really like the idea of community) there have been a few last minute issues.

The whole chattiness thing was starting to get an us versus them style aggression happening. In the red corner was those that meet together in person against the blue corner, those who don't have the ability to join a regular in-person knitting group, who don't get that opportunity to chat or chit or drink with other knitters.

Many blows completely missed their intended point, leaving many observers bewildered particularly when one or two members were asserting that forums or boards should not be used as a social platform. Really there are points good and bad on both sides, it just seems that compassion or an ability to interpret or communicate effectively are lacking.

In my workplace there is always a bit of a stoush going on, not strange considering the number of alpha style personalities my industry attracts. You know the type of incident, they want, expect or believe something should be done a certain way because that is the way they want it, regardless of the ideas, ability or needs of others. In a lot of cases the initial argument or direction is the best one, it's just the approach or attack style they employ to get their message across that puts the majority offside.


Water off a ducks back usually for me, but when faced with more than 40 personal mails this morning regarding swaps it really cut into my knitting time.

Some wanted to withdraw their nomination for the teaspoon awards as they didn't want to be seen supporting anyone of a certain location-based group. Interestingly these requests have come from people who are the occasional poster, those with a quiet presence on the board, the one's one lot of posters were saying that the other vocal group would scare away.

And then for the next swap there have been a slew of requests not to be partnered at all with certain posters. However, from a quick glance the names put forwards as no-goers for partners (ones to be avoided) didn't seem to stick their hands up at all.

End result, for the first swap, I'm not pulling back on any nominations, they will stand as is. Acknowledgment is due to some people because of the effort that they put in. For the next swap it's not an issue due to the type of people who have signed up.


In other words it's all good, but I wonder how many times the same boxing match will be held. I have a feeling that there are some seasoned boxers in the ring.

A reading age of 12

12. That is the reading age that a tabloid reporter is expected to write for.
That is so people with a reading age of 12 can understand every word, can follow the story and can go from the intro to the end without scratching their heads. How's that for the literacy levels of Australia!

Imagine you are a poor man sending a telegram to an idiot was how one aged journalist once told me.

You will notice that I said that this guideline applies to tabloids. For broadsheets, at least when I worked on one, I was told it was 14, but for specialised publications or for feature pieces you can write to reflect a higher literacy level.

But today I made the mistake of not sticking to the 12 rule and was called rude for what I wrote.

I wrote a straight forward sentence, in fact two sentences. Both of which I considered agreed with the original poster.

I don't want to dumb down my language, as this particular community as a whole is full of articulate people, oh except for when they start drinking and then it's just a hoot and full of spellos, and mine are some of the worst examples.

I've seen exchanges on various boards where the words get nasty and it is a shame that a minority will try to attempt to shame and unsettle or employ passive aggressive language when they just don't have the comprehension to understand a simple exchange of words.

My little tangle today was easily cleared up, but this episode and a few others I have witnessed lately has certainly made me think about the use of the 12 rule in my life.

I have always thought that the 12 rule was over the top, but understood that a lot of children did read the paper and using language appropriate to their reading level was important, not just for informing them, but also encouraging them to continue reading.
But now I'm thinking of the usage of the 12 rule for situations other than that of metro dailies; the need for it in a wider sphere.

Some people seem to have a lot of trouble being able to gauge the intent behind what is written. When there is not audible tone it can be hard for those who don't frequent boards or write or read a lot to discern exactly what has been written.

Now I need to pour a drink and start spelling badly

he's taking the camera away

That's right, the camera will be gone for more than a week, cause he thinks it's important to document his and Zegal's holiday.
Hmmp. What about my knitting I say.
Anyway, I'll be too busy really with the boys. There's a series of performances, a sleepover for a heap of 10 and 11 year olds (oh why did I say yes to this one), a trip to Sydney for award negotiations tentatively scheduled next week and so much work.

So I'll probably not get a chance to post to Southern Summer of Socks, but I'll try, although I expect all my spare time will be spent knitting the under top with that lush Rowan Cotton Glace I managed to get my hands on.

And big snaps to P' for sending so many people here. She obviously liked what she saw, maybe I should join her in the Etsy group on Ravelry too!

'Cause it's obvious that the bricks and mortar market I mentioned when talking about the fuglies (designs that I think just don't work or are plain ugly) selling first on a thread at Ravelry, was thousands of miles and several time zones away so it was nice for her to go off-site and find out I was on Etsy and then post the info for everyone to see.
Personally I try and keep the fabric away from Ravelry, there's enough to deal with over there with just the yarn, but thanks for the push!

too busy to knit

Why, because I have new books.
Firstly Madame Avery's Knitting Classics, then Fitted Knits by Mrs Japel and Linda Kopp's Plush-O-Rama.
I've been lusting after Knitting Classics for a while and was dicked around by two different book sellers until I hit on Fishpond and now the book is mine.
I really like it.
Usually a book of patterns has a few I'd like to do, and less that could be done without any maths thanks to my over abundant boobs underpinned by a fairly normal (although soft thanks to children) middle.
But every adult pattern bar one would fit and most I would consider doing with a few I want to start right now.
But I have mountains of socks to finish first.
Seriously Knitting Classics is a must have, for my style at any rate.
Fitted Knits is okay. Heavy weight, quick knits, most not really my taste but a few are, although there will be maths involved for every knit. But as most are top down and in the round, that's an easy thing to do.
The third book is one I've had for ages, but a few months ago I was given Softies (hiding in the studio at the moment) to review for the paper.
Loved Softies, love looking at the patterns and then letting the imagination tweak here, lengthen there, fiddle other there, so I dragged out Plush to take to the studio.
And speaking of the studio I've been out there a lot lately photographing stock as I've finally decided to steam ahead with etsy.
Although I registered last year I didn't do anything so armed with the camera I started taking shots.
But my photo skills are bad, photoshop is worse, so I'm going to have to tweak a lot to get decent pics.
From doing twice monthly markets for the past three years I know that the look and placement of clothing, monsters and bags is the thing that gets people in and gets stock sold, so I'm pulling my hair out trying to get pics that really represent the clothing in particular.
Other than stealing a few kids and getting them to model I'm sort of stuck on how to do it all.

And the spoons, they are for a tea party!

still s(h)ocking and the maternity mezzanine

Pink Lorna's for myself, but only one foot done so far and look at the leftover from the skein. Then there is retro rib, also one foot so far, along with a sock for Jar from that scratchy Opal. I always seem to do one foot then start a completely different pair, then back to finish off. Stops me getting bored I suppose.
Except for the kids socks, I always manage to do a pair one after the other.
I've already done one pair for the Jar from this ball, but they were 48 stitches on 2.25mm and while he can wear them comfortably now, there won't be much time left before his foot gets too big.
So this pair, on 2.25mm, is being done on 54 stitches, the heel over 26 with the top of the foot wider than the bottom.
The pile of red is a DK jumper for the Zegal which I fooled around with pattern to knit circular. It will have a nice shawl collar and I've lengthened it a bit as well. Can't find the pattern at the moment, so thankfully I rewrote it in my notebook.

And now the shocking. A woman who works in the building, or should I say, did work in the building, was frog marched out of the place on Wednesday. Seems her crime is to stick up for herself when her boss started being nasty when she announced she was pregnant and when she returned from maternity leave.

She kept a journal, she made a complaint and thankfully she was in a union so for the past several months the HR department has been dealing with her union lawyer. But it didn't stop the general manager and our in-house HR person kicking her out on Wednesday. She was asked last week by the GM to stop diarsing any problems and she refused.
Not only has she been smart enough to keep a diary, she is also a bloody good worker.

Edited to add: This woman had five job offers by the end of the week. We'll miss her, she was damn good at her job.

killer cosies

It's been brought up on the Australian knitters' group on ravelry that there may be a swap for knitters going on.
Kris threw out the idea for comments and I couldn't resist throwing back a koala her way.
So it looks like a tea-coffee-mug-kitchen cosy swap may be on the boards.
Some like the idea of trashy, some would like stylish but I think a small project which can be a simple or as difficult as the knitter wants is a great idea. And think of the small associated goodies (beautiful tea bags and biscuits) that can be sent along. With no customs problems.
So straight away I started hunting.
While I have Killer Tea Cosies somewhere I also have a stash of old patterns and here are just some of them.