Done minus pockets!

Funky Punky Armwarmers done in Woolbale - solid purple no stripes on this pair!

I have knitted up and blocked (read put under a towel and ironed) my first pocket and begun sewing it on, however aside from aesthetic of being all matchy-matchy I am debating if I want a pocket on both arm warmers or just the one???

While I debate about it, after the first pocket is done. I'm throwing Ysolda's Opera Gloves onto the needles and getting them underway in some Angora Supreme which should be lovely against the skin.

Make Mine Mitered!

I popped over to MagKnits to check out some patterns and was thrilled to see a new issue up, and I am so loving these arm warmers with the mitering.

On a particularly high note I have passed my first two tests, you know what this means? I actually know stuff! I have learnt/retained important useful information.

Following up on the 2paw's comment, I love Abby! How can anyone resist! Mind you it is an improvement of the pink hair and snotty attitude in CSI. Get a load of this! Goth Sterotypes! If I had to label myself I'd start with a dash of Perky-Corp hybrid and add in a good measure of rock n' roll.

Now has so become Agatha Christie time, it's just the right weather for a sampling from her huge collection of novels. The little grey cells mon ami! If I remember Poirot always objected to the cold and was usally done up with coats, blankets and mufflers when traveling!

What are pockets for????

Well aside for keeping stuff in on my arm warmers they are a attempt at being trend setter. I tried this in high school with hair sticks it never took off though I don't understand why not??? Hair sticks are immensely cool!

And with winter creeping closer, I figure having a pocket I can stash a bus ticket in means I do not have to juggle purse and umbrella on days when it is wet to get ticket out and hold umbrella or once on the bus fiddle around to put it away all the while either brandishing a wet umbrella or trying to prop it up so it dosen't slide away.

Besides without pockets all you really have is some long stocking stitch tubes, they need help to look more impressive!

I finished the first one while watching Gladiators last night, did anyone else watch??? Ah how cheesy was it? I'm hooked, an hour of valuable knitting time with bad acting to boot.

I've been doing homework and I just couldn't be bothered doing anymore so I thought I know I will go write a blog post and then I can come back and finish it. This will not turn into Bernard on Black Books with his tax....

Which means my plan to sit and knit after it was done has been pushed further back and looms dangerously at not at all tonight Josephine.
Bah! And double bah - why is there always more pink than white marshmallows in a packet I ask you? What is with that????

I decided I should attempt to whip up some fabric arm warmers for my self, Miss Stash thought this was very brave of me since the sewing machine would blow up.
Not, you understand because she doesn't have faith in my sewing skill more she thinks its been so long since the sewing machine has been used.
Oh well I might have to settle for knitting a pair of delicious over the elbow alpaca ones. And there was this Dragon Scale one I saw and quite fancied in something metallic or shiny looking yarn.

Anyway back to the homework. Bah!

Heaven is a pair of purple arm warmers!

Currently underway on the needles is a the first in a pair of arm warmers, they are purple and are knitting up wonderfully. Once there all done they'll just need some pockets added, their in the round so no sewing up yeah! But I will need to sew the pockets on after, boo!

I've ordered some new yarn to re-attack the gauntlets I wasn't entirely satisfied with, I've got a bit extra so I can tweak the pattern some more.

Now I am planning a slightly less than conventional camouflage print for the next pair after that, I was going to go with blue. back and purple. Then changed my mind and decided I'd like to do different shades of purple so they appear to meld more.

It's all purple at the moment, purple, purple and more purple! Makes a nice change from my usual urban camouflage (black, black and more black!)
Now would be the time to go all out, as a student you can get away with a lot more, purple hair? Yeah baby!

Son of Stitch n' Bitch arrived much to my delight! It's full of things I want to knit for myself to wear, the Pin-Up Illusion Scarf will have to be one of the first! But I am loving some of the hats a lot as well....oh decisions decisions!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Batman???

Here is my new pride and joy! Is it a scream or what? I adore it very much and am looking forward to an outing befitting it.

No surprises which of the Dishcloths got finished first, Skully is going onto the needles after I finish this blog post. You can find Batty here.

Speaking of bats I was very excited to find out about this organisation, Bat Rescue. I'm going to sponser a bat later in the year but will be making a donation before then.

Two of my favourite things are the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Emily the Strange so when given the chance to combine the two I couldn't say no!

And a favourite thing I am regretting saying no to, I love belly dancing. For years I have always been keen to learn and many many years ago I tried to teach myself from a instructional video (for you youngings out there a video was the big thing before DVD's where even thought of. Kind of like a film version of cassette tape. Don't know what a cassette tape is????)

Not only where they running a belly dance class this year through Adult Ed but also a Tribal Style! I like it a lot, no more or less than other styles. I am loathe to use the word traditional here as I have seen to differ this newer style from others because I personally think unless you have your own personal time machie or are good friends with Dr Who and are able to pop back to the time and place where it all began and learn there, anything going today my be in the traditional style but exactly the same as it started after it's traversed the world, blended with other cultures along the way???

Which made me think of knitting, what is traditonal knitting?? Who is a traditonal knitter??? Can we ourselves within our own yarn community's prove that what we do today has never changed one iota since it first was born??? Knitting without knit and purl isn't knitting but it's how people have used these stitches and what they've added that makes what we have today as knitting.
Do we all think that at the birth of knitting someone thought hey I can take some purple yarn and knit a dishcloth? Or better yet take some purple yarn and knit a dishcloth with a bat on it??? Well......

At the first knitting guilds ever organised, a boys only affair do you think they sat around discussing colour choice? Pattern choices? Had they seen the latest Vogue/Jo Sharp/Creative Knitting?? Fondling yarn????
I don't know but I wouldn't have put the yarn fondling past them a bunch men alone with yarn???

Just a quickie!

Mostly because I have nothing exciting to tell anyone, my life has become very dull since becoming a starving student again.

Monday afternoon I had a maths test, I have no idea yet how I went, but I came up with an answer for every question, and that's half as important as actually them being the right answers???
One of my fellow students handed in their test shortly after starting, no not finished in record time because they were a math whiz, but because they decided they couldn't do it so there was no point in trying.

The fact I got enough right on my maths assignment I handed in the other week to actually pass means surely I must know something maths related, fingers crossed it was enough to get me over the finish line on the test.

There was indeed an assignment due yesterday, but I am bolstered that most people hadn't got it finished either and so we can have until Thursday to hand it in. Mines all finished the end sums don't quite add up equally, Miss Stash is getting the job of reviewing it and explaining just where exactly I am going wrong this afternoon.

I was optimistic about getting to town early this morning and fitting in some important errands before going to class alas I just missed the early bus I wanted so popped into my corner store for an iced coffee and a fruit bun. Not quite the treat I had promised myself for making the effort to get to town extra early, no designer coffee today!

Has any one seen the latest Better (than yours!) Homes and Gardens magazine? I always get the Christmas one, and occasionally their Easter one usually if it has some really good chocolate recipes in it.

I started work on some new arm warmers last Monday and they need a bit of tweaking before I will be totally be happy with them.

I have started a dishcloth! It was no good trying to fight it any longer, I have made a start on the Mason Dixon Ballband one, I'm aiming to finish it before I start ones with bats and skulls!

Somewhere in amongst all my notes is a schedule for my classes that list what each lesson is and when assignments are due. I must check and make sure there isn't an assignment due for tomorrow afternoon's class I got a little bogged with the last one because I didn't realise how long it was, this next one is longer!

I bought myself a new bag and was optimistic that it would arrive in time for my outing to the Crustys, alas I went on the Saturday and the bag arrived on the Monday. Look for a photo soon it is an absolute scream! I couldn't resist it.

I went, I saw and they conquered!

I am so excited! I am home after a night out at the Crusty Demons!

The pre-show according to my ticket was due to start at 7pm, if what we got at 7pm was meant to be their idea of a pre-show - it sucked!

While I was sitting in my seat waiting for it to start I noticed a man standing under one of the ramps, I dubbed him "Ramp Man" and then speculated why he was there. It amused me greatly and helped pass the time, is this where naughty Crusty's get sent for punishment? Had he dug a tunnel from the little tents out to under it? Was he attempting to secure himself a good spot to view from? He was wearing normal clothes unlike the crew roaming around who were all in Crusty t-shirts - like most of the crowd were wearing. Which later in the show confused me because it looked like about a dozen members of the audience had wandered into the performing area.

However the pre-show consisted of making up a gross cocktail and getting suckers willing participants from the audience to drink it - the winner got a t-shirt, it was hilarious. However I seemed to have landed a seat in the conservative section of the grand stand because after it was over their was a collective (female) announcement of "How disgusting!".

But moving on, they started on time always a good sign - we got an introduction to who everyone was. One poor guy's bike came out and his bike wouldn't go so he had to get off and wheel it behind one of the screens marking their "pit" area.

Watching them do their tricks individually was pretty cool, but where seeing them live really comes into it's own is during the free for all session where their all out all going at once. There's three ramps so theres usually at least three of them flying at once, sometimes four if two come off the same ramp. Theres so much happening that it is hard to take it all in but it is incredible to watch.

We had to endure two irritating hosts, I think the show would have been better is someone had unplugged their mikes for about 90% of it. Could have done with cranking the music up a notch or two as well.
Crusty Babes, well, what can I say? I've seen the Crusty Babes we're talking muscle tone, and they dance. The ones at our show here mostly seemed to wave their arms around a lot. But after intermission when people had a chance to drink some more beer and they came back in smaller outfits this apparently made it all better.
I wasn't convinced.

Scott Murray who attempted the Double Back Flip for the first time outside the US as all the ads proclaim, and who you may have seen in the news attempted it in Canberra and came off the ramp.
He pulled it off tonight, they interviewed him after and he took his helmet off. I was like OMG it's Ramp Man! Ramp Man! One of the irritating hosts was going on about Scott Murray had been psyching himself up for this. Yes I saw him! I actually saw him!
Of course I didn't actually shout it out loud, although by this stage people in my vicinity thought the Crusty Babes dancing was exciting so I probably could have shouted anything I liked.

The Space Cowboy was their guest in their "Freak" spot, he was on Sideshow at least twice I think I saw him? And then there was the talking skull that announced the upcoming riders and segments! A talking skull!!!!!
How cool is that????????????????

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A prime example of emotional extremes: Passion and fury incarnate.

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

For your perusal....

A very Merry Nigella Christmas from her Living Kitchen range. Here is a sample of the Christmas gifts Sandra D and I recieved... The tea tin and the tea mug (came as a set of 4) were Sandra D's presents, I'm sure there must have been a mistake, so I am kindly letting her have them on extended loan!
The cake stand is mine, can you believe all my life I have had not one cake stand and in the space of 3 months I was gifted 2! Piled artlessly up on it is the Marshamallow Crispy Squares and Rocky Road Cruunch Bars from Nigella Express which can be seen in the background along with a glass of chardonnay...
Miss Stash received the Salt Pig in Cream, which alas was not here for the photo shoot. It resides with pride of place beside her stove.

Here is what I have been doing for the last 3 weekends, making apricot jam! This picture so does not do it justice, it is a beautiful jewel-like shade of orange and tastes superb. When making a batch last week and letting Miss Stash know was I inundated with offers of help? Told how good it was of me to slave over a hot stove in this hot weather? No all I got from her was - "Will you bring me a jar when it's done?"

We had Linguine with lemon, garlic and thyme mushrooms and it is divine also perfect for this weather the only compnent needing to be cooked was the pasta and lets face it pasta doesn't need to be stood over and stirred, the rest is just marinated for lack of a better word.

Some of the other things I can reccommend as worth trying are her Pea and pesto soup and Curry in a hurry.
Tomorrow is Rapid Ragu - kind of like bolagnaise really but sounds quite delish. I am a huge fan of making my own bolagnaise sauce and usually use the tried (maybe tired?) Leggos one from about 30 years ago.

We had our first knitting coven meet-up for the year last Tuesday it was good to be back and catch up with everyone and where they were at, alas my lunch came in a "trendy" serving size. Noooo!!!! After I've eaten my lunch I want to realise I've eaten it!

It's far to hot, too hot! This is Tasmania! Clearly the weather gods are on holiday and have left a minor god to fill in who has no clue what buttons to push.

My Christmas wasn't bad, it was fairly good. I ate prawns and oysters! Yummo! Presents were good, people understand now about buying off the list.

Surprise, surprise I got Nigella Express! Saves me having to print off all the stuff I want to make off the net now. Goodbye loose pages!
The really good present was Ronnie Woods book! Really good read so far, the other thing I am loving is Velvet Revolver's last album Libertad. It was my Xmas present from the Daft White Cat.
He may be daft and white but he sure knows what his mummy likes!

As for Nigella, New Year's Eve saw me melt, mix and fridge two slices from the latest book, much easier and cooler than baking anything. Marshmallow Crispy Squares and Rocky Road Crunch Bars - the Marshmallow I could eat the whole tin alone if I succumbed, the Rocky Road is incredibly sinful! Even for me, one piece is enough at a time.

Belatedly I got a mezzaluna, it got hidden and forgotten about. It's not as big as Nigella's but it is one of those double bladed ones and it comes with the special board with the dip to make chopping easier. As soon as he saw it my dad wanted to have a go - what is it with parents buying their children toys and then commandeering them for themselves???

Just before Christmas was Terry Pratchett's Hogfather made into a movie, and much to my joy it is available on dvd! It was good, Death was perfect, the wizards weren't as they should have been. A bit too Gandolfy and LOTR. Very disappointing.
But very satisfying spotting all the familiar faces!

While I managed to get no knitting done today, far too warm! It was the perfect day for a long cool glass of lemon cordial and a flick through all the Christmas editions of the food magazines.

Armed with Table, Good Taste and Delicious magazines accompanied by the Coles and Woolworths own mini-magazines, I have been a woman on a mission. Only thing left is to acquire Super Food Ideas, Family Circle and the Australian Womens Weekly and my once yearly buy of Donna Hay.

This might imply some weird obsessive passion for the impending silly season. But that's not it at all, I loath Christmas! The Grinch thought he hated it, but he has to fight for second place with old Ebenezer himself.

Don't get me wrong there are some things I really like, I love food and the potential for all the cooking that you can do it really is one of the few true feast days in our calender, I love Christmas carols - I have to have a new CD every year of anybody who's anyone singing the tried and true. Christmas movies! My favourite being with the Muppets, how can you not like the Muppets? At this time of year complete mayhem is such a sanity saver.

But in preparation for the big day on Sunday we made our Christmas pudding, it is a family tradition and something I have helped with for as long as I can remember. We always use my Great-Grandmother's recipe, which much to my amusement directs you to measure out a gill of brandy!

I also made a pavlova Sunday, I do love pavlova. That and cheesecake. I'm not sure how I feel about a pumpkin cheesecake though???

Next on the list however is a fruit cake, I think I might give Nigella's One Pan Christmas Cake as featured in the latest Delicious a go it sounds easy enough. And White Christmas! It will be the Apricot and Almond version again as I much prefer it to the mixed fruit varieties. I am keen to try a Rocky Road version as well.

So much news so little time!

Today was knitting coven day, not only did I take the back-to-front heel back, I restarted it and it is coming along nicely. I have high hopes for this sock.
Now the Curse seems to have been lifted off it I may (shock, gasp, horror!) make the second one upon the impending completion of the first one.

I had a flick through the latest Nigella book, Nigella's Express. I am very excited, so many good things. Which prompted me to revisit my what-I-have-made list from the previous books. While the list is short, it's all things I have made over and over again!

Only thing I haven't ever done is update with what I have made from Feast, I'll do that tomorrow.

But for starters:-
How To Eat
How To Be A Domestic Goddess
Nigella Bites
Forever Summer
Feast
Nigella Express

Granted the Express I have only started on because of the Times Online special to coincide with the start of the TV show in Britain. It's also started in America (and possibly Canada???) so there has been ample opportunity to see what everyone else has thought of the new series and book! And more importantly what they are all cooking!

But on the downside my beloved Matt Hardy has been living in interesting times recently. First he had the most amazing bruise (and less interesting a huge sticky plaster) where he cracked his head open. And I thought I wonder if there'll be a scar? I like scars....

Now he's been and had his appendix removed, after it ruptured and poisoned him - the human body is an amazing thing isn't it? In times of crisis you need something to keep you going, some sort of hope.
Something other than one of Nigella's chocolate recipes, and I'm going with he had to have surgery to remove it, so they had to cut him open, so surely it stands to reason there will be a scar???

It's a good thing knitting is so therapeutic, I won't have to dwell on it all too much. Now about that chocolate my cat? What have you done with it?

Crusty Demons will be here in March 2008!!!!!

What a day!

How awesome is this? Nigella's Feasts started tonight on the ABC! It's good to see her back on the ABC!!!

Today was like Bargain Day, I picked up the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 for $20 this morning! I have been waiting ages to get it, as much as I liked it I wouldn't pay $30 for it.

I also popped round to one of the local music stores I knew had Pink's first cd for $12 and I have been meaning to go back ever since I saw it. Well today I had the time, and I'm glad I did because I also got her 3rd cd for $12.

This afternoon I popped Pink into the cd player and sat down to read through the blogs. There is something very bolstering about Pink, really if were talking girl power, I think at least, Spice Girls eat your hearts out!

I haven't been able yet to find anyone else who saw the Sideshow on Saturday night yet! The girls from La La Parlour were all on and one of them did a solo performance and it was so good!
Anyway I've tracked it down thanks to YouTube, where would we be without it?
Here is La La Parlour's performance from Saturday for anyone who's interested.

Alas the week after next will be the final ever Sideshow, none this week because the Tally Room will be on - ye gods! Somebody save me!

As for my back-to-front heel on my beautiful and nearer to completion sock, I haven't been brave to take it back yet. Why? Why? This sock is cursed! What have I done to anger the knitting gods??? Clearly I have not sacrificed enough yarn to them!!!

While perusing today's paper I made the exciting catalog discovery! I love catalogs and some of the best only come in the paper.

Todays find was the Angus and Robertson one and has brought my attention to two books that have made it to the top of my Christmas List!

Dear Santa....

Ronnie by Ronnie Wood
Slash by Slash (& Anthony Bozza)

Please excuse the Amazon references but Angus and Robertson's site had no description of the books! Which I think is very poor.

Also caught my eye is Nigella Express has been released here at last! Mind you at the current price I will be watching all the catalogs like a hawk. I can remember when Feast came out and I managed to snag it for only $40 thanks to some serious catalog browsing.

and it always seems to happen to me, I have lost the ability to multi-task. While talkng and knitting, I have managed to start and merrily go on my way with the heel the wrong way out on my feather fan sock!

and for anyone who didn't see the Sideshow saturday Night, the Wau Wau Sisters did an amazing trapeze act backed by the Guns n' Roses Welcome to the Jungle! Very cool!

Happy Halloween!

It's here at last! I've had some full on weeks recently and I'm afraid I can't make time to squeeze in my themed food and pointy hat till probably next week.

There are a number of things that have managed to slip under the radar (out of sight, out of mind).
My mobile phone has been riding around in my handbag for at least a week and a half completly flat and needing to be charged. Finally remembered last night, got it out and put it on to charge.

Then preceded to forget to take it with me this morning, dropped a a full cup of water while out and had to locate someone so I could get it cleaned up. Spills can be a OHS hazard.

Then while recovering from this, I was looking at today's paper. New mayor, turned over a few pages. I had a sudden thought, flicked back to the front of the paper.
My minds eye instantly zooms to the "safe" place I put my ballot paper so I could sit down and read all the hype about everyone before voting.

Oh s***! Oh well I am a fan of the don't vote it only encourages the b*******! motto, but even still...maybe I should return the paper and the envelope anyway unfilled simply so somewhere somebody can account for me.

But upon returning home today, I had the pleasure of discovering I'm not the only absent minded person on the loose. While flicking through the phone checking missed calls and seeing what texts there were - hmmm, one of my knitting coven comtemporarys had texted me on Monday asking if there were costumes for our meeting on Tuesday since it was going to be Halloween.

Well. Since I wasn't there, I won't make any comment on what anyone actually turned up in.

But I hope you'll all remember to don your costumes for tonight boys and girls - or for some of us, just go out as normal!

One last question - Trick or Treat????

Through Hail, Sleet and Shine!

This afternoon, I am off to introduce myself to the regional manager of a local business chain, they will be in there central store some time this afternoon. That was as precise as the information got.

I figured I squeeze in lunch before going, because after all who knew how long I would be waiting? Which I'm glad I did, as it started to rain.
Having safely tucked away some of Nigella's Pea and Pesto Soup (absolutly divine!), we (Sandra D and I) are now awaiting Miss Stash to ring us and let us know what she's up to.
We debated about nipping into the store quickly and nipping back, but decided we would wait for Miss Stash's signal, thus making it only one trip out.

And now that it has started lashing down again, I'm wondering just what will I look like by the time I leave the safety of a car and before I reach the safety of the building? All this wind and rain, I like it. But not when I'm out trying to make an exemplery impression!

As for the soup mentiond earlier, I have just had a non-event recently for which I still got presents. One of which was a nice new blender. Very exciting prospect - and just in time for summer cocktails!
For which I might mention there are a number in the accompyning booklet. Along with soups, dips and thickshakes!

Nigella reccommends blending your soups as opposed to putting them through the processer as they come out smoother - and who am I to doubt her? So to road test this theroy I made her Pea and Pesto Soup and put it through the blender.
And it did come out smooth, but is this because it was blended or because apart from peas it's all mostly liquid???

To furthur study this I'm going to test run Nigella's Slime (Pea and Mozzerella) Soup and a really nice sounding Roast Pumpkin Soup from the booklet.

Do you know what I have to help me on with my cooking/knitting now???? Miss Stash gave me an iPod, yep the real deal. Not just any old MP3 player I'll have you know.
Now I'll have to knit a cosy for it!!!! Miss Stash said to me "Are you going to knit a naff cosy for it?"
Like she had to ask! Mine is going to have the naffest cosy out!

I'm already planning to knit a pair of iPod mittens for next winter and I must look out my Vogue Knit 1's as the first issue had a knitted armband thing for carrying it around in.

While I have a heap of cooking/wine/cocktail making podcasts to load on, I haven't got around to downloading any knitting ones yet because all the foodie ones took forever! I even have some Cook and The Chef - not whole episodes but little hints and tips bits. Like the Nigella Express ones were.

The Daft White Cat has very helpfully found a half finished sock he thinks it's about time I finished - Broadripple from Knitty. It's about half done and a very easy pattern to do. Maybe I should take the hint, lest he thinks it's been purposly abandoned as a play toy for him.

Something I must confess I have been lax in doing is checking the new knit mags online, which is probably why I am so late in seeing the new MagKnits - has anyone else had a look yet????

Bah!

We have not Adopted a Pirate! At times I'm not surprised the mainlanders think were all a bit backwards down here.
I'm begining to think it too.

I am very excited because it is October and months has become weeks, which will soon be days and then Halloween will be here! At last!
I am slightly envious for the Northern part of the world as it does exactly fall in the right place for a harvest festival, closing of the year, days getting shorter, boogelly things running loose!

Oh all right so boogelly things run loose here as well, but it's not quite got the same appeal to it.

Which is why I was excited and sad at the new Knitty pattern Jackyll and Hide. While I do agree it would be nifty for Halloween, it could be a tad warm here for it.

I hate daylight saving, so far it has done nothing for me except disrupt my sleeping habits. I go to bed, and the next morning not am I only still awake I am incredibly irritable! Curse who thought of daylight saving!

However I suspect these things can be smoothed over with a large Lemon, Lime and Bitters and some Nigella...Blood and Guts Potatoes anyone???

Avast ye land lubbers!

I've unearthed some buried treasure for your gain!

Paul McDermott doing a cover of Britney's Oops I Did It Again!