Mini bags, Italian scarfs and a good cup of tea.

With a little help from some of my fellow knitters I have the front and back of my mini bag done. All that remains is to start sewing it together and knit the strap and then figure out how to put the lining in. It should be finished very soon! I’ll post a picture when it’s done.

My Italian scarf is approaching the halfway mark, a few more rows and I should be onto the hood and then it’s onto the second half of the scarf. Nearly done!

There is nothing I enjoy more than a good cup of tea. Well actually there is, a good cocktail. And one of my absolute faves has to be a Black Russian. Yum!

I know once again I failed to do my favourites on Friday. I’ve been consumed with finishing a project and have been otherwise distracted. Hopefully this will improve.

One day less....

I confess I haven't knitted anything today so far, there's still the rest of tonight to go however. I haven't located my 3.25mm needles yet so the Italian Scarf may be un-abandoned.

Today I'm going to include the recipe for an absolutely delicious dip, I had it at my Stitch N' Bitch meet-up earlier this month, brought along by Cathy (who also makes a very yummy banana cake). I made up a batch of this dip last night – yummy!

But first I am going to offer a few words of advice, cream cheese if you haven't had the forethought to remove it earlier tends to be firm straight from the fridge so I find usually about 10 seconds on High in the microwave makes it easier to mix. Also when buying pre-grated cheese, try to get one marked “grated” and not “shredded”.

Cathy's Easiest Ever Dip

1 tub (250g) Mainland Lite Cream Cheese Masterfood's Corn Relish Grated Cheese

Mix as much corn relish and cheese as you want into the cream cheese and place in serving dish.

Yep, it's as easy as that. That's why I like it this is the extent of my culinary achievements. There are some alternative flavour suggestions for this dip:

1 pkt French Onion Soup mixed with a small quantity of water or lemon juice to make a paste then stir into the cream cheese.

Or 1 tin salmon (red or pink) and grated cheese mixed into the cream cheese.

Or fruit chutney or gherkin relish and grated cheese mixed into the cream cheese.

I can't recommend this recipe enough. I think this is going to become the new Spicy Mexican Bean Dip (no I will not tell you about this dip because it has reached the point where I hate it. Yes, I made it that much).

Philly Chilly

1 tub cream cheese X amount of sweet chilli sauce

Tip cream cheese out onto serving dish and pour over sweet chilli sauce to taste. After all some like it hot, not that I've ever found sweet chilli sauce to be that hot. However this is delicious!

We're now less than a month away from my birthday, I'll be the grand old age of 26. 30 is getting very close and there's still so much to do! I suppose I'll just have to move the deadline to 40.

In the lead up to my birthday you'll get all my thoughts and ideas, today's thought is cupcakes. I love cupcakes, don't you?

Birthdays, Holidays and Stitches.

Do you know what today is? It's none other than Matt Hardy's birthday. And in honour of this grand occasion I have declered this day a holiday - well for me at least. All the better to celebrate this day with.

The mini-bag is progressing well, if I can find my 3.25mm I'd finish the front. It turns out to do the back I have to pick up stitches along the cast on edge and knit up. I suppose I have to learn to do it sometime. Blah.

Once again I am awaiting the postman, hopefully R2 will arrive today. Come on Mr Postman where are you?????

I thought it might be helpful if I included a link to my mini bag here so you could see what I've got and what I'm hoping to get (the Denim one!).

Whoops! So busy writing my dear readers I didn't see the post van arrive, the doorbell ringing was the first I relised the post man was here. Yeah!

Okay, let's open the parcel and see if it is what it shouod be - R2!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah it's R2! And Jo Sharps Book Four - Home. New project planning awaits me. How cool is this someone else's birthday and I get presents for me?
I can see where the appeal for the project Shaggy (comes from R2) it's a hooded jacket made up from knitted squares. Some of the other designs are a bit different.

And do you know what else today is? It's exactly a month till my birthday! What will I do this year anyhting maybe nothing? I've been dying to make a Gothic Bride Cake ever since I laid eyes on it. It's all too exciting! 

New Project Alert!!!

I have ventured into my first project using Rowan yarn, cotton and beads in knitting. And yes, it's all in the one project. It's a mini-bag. And is very cute and I love it. I'm impressed to no end that I've knitted something with beads.

Work on the Italian Scarf has come to a halt so I could work on my mini-bag when it arrived late this afternoon. I'm still waiting on my copy of R2.

But my bag is so cool! Yes, I adore it. I will be in raptures about it for weeks to come or at least until I get another new project. Such is life,

I'm afraid it'll be another short one today, it's late and I'm literally going to crawl to my bed, if I'm lucky I might crawl into it.

Something New, Something Old and Something Red.

You will have probably noticed some changes and new additions to my blog. They'll probably change and be unadded as I see how I like them and if they work.

On the knitting front I have actually got a quite alot of work done on my Italian scarf.

I'm awaiting the arrival of a new knitting pattern book R2 (you can find out more at R2.com), it's produced by Rowan (English yarn company). I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself as I have heard very good things about it. Shaggy seems to be the popular project.

I'm also hoping to get some yarn from Bendigo Woolen Mills, what I'll make with it I have no idea since there's only one ball of the stuff and I have no idea what colour it is yet.

Final note for today is Sinnerman by Nina Simone. It is one of my favourite songs of all time and well worth a listen.

Growing Up (very long!)

Yes, today’s will be a long one. I recommend a comfortable seat and a cup of tea.

I was thinking about this earlier while watching the Banger Sisters – Suzette makes me think of me. Growing old disgracefully. I’m sorry Dad, but no I can’t be a normal person. Well, not for long periods of time anyway. That naughty me wants to run the show all the time by locking the good me in the attic.

It must have been when I was about 6 that Madonna’s movie Desperately Seeking Susan came out. I couldn’t wait to see it, and neither could my closest friend at the time (who I ended up meeting up at college with), being huge Madonna fans even way back then. To this day I still have very fond memories of that movie.
I loved dress-ups as a child I still do, but about this age I had my aforementioned friend over to play one day, her father worked shift work so often she would sit up at night with her mother and watch those American soaps – the ones with the femme fatales and TV’s best bitches.
I came flouncing into the living room in one of my “outfits” where my mother and friend where, upon my arrival my friend announced to my mother “She’s trying to get a man into her bed.”
Very wise girl, don’t we all still do that today.

When I was 8 (or 9?) one of the girls in my grade brought one of her mother’s magazines to school. And we are not talking Family Circle here, far form it. The boys wanted to see it but we wouldn’t show them, then they stole it off us and ran away with it. When we caught up with them they told us they’d chucked it in a bin. Off we went looking for it. Then who comes across the playground towards us magazine in hand? One of the teachers complete with boys in tow. They’d only dobbed us in. Boys!

Then when I was in high school, I can’t remember which year exactly, at my birthday party we (bunch of girls again) decided to go down to the local school oval near where I lived and see if the ones we’d dared would actually run around it. This was like one in the morning. My mother unfortunately caught most of us sneaking out the front door, a couple of them actually got down the street and to the oval without my mother seeing them. I had to go and let them in while my mother was lecturing on us wandering about the street that time of morning.

I can’t remember if that was the same year we played Nightmare, you know the “interactive video board game”. I was highly impressed with it then, but if that wasn’t the oval year it was still the year Jessica stood on the dining room table and sang the US national anthem.

Then we come to November 1995, I cut all my hair off, left college and discovered what professional wrestling was and have never looked back in some respects.

After college, I went through more varying hair lengths. Got my nose pierced. For my 21st I had my ears pierced. Which lasted marginally longer than my nose piercing. I got bored with my original earrings very quickly, and just couldn’t find enough variety to bother with them after that.

Since then I’ve left home, acquired two cats (everybody has their cross to bear and mine is a naughty white cat), went to have my navel pierced which is another story entirely which has certain factors in it which I am not willing to share with the world only to say water retention played a major part in my downfall.

Now I live alone with my two cats (had a flatmate didn’t work out, another long story), love every minute of it. I still do very bad things like eat chocolate cake or leftover pizza for breakfast. Actually I find chocolate cake is acceptable for any meal.
Away from home for four years and I get to do all those things I couldn’t do at home, which doesn’t leave much.

I guess you all know by now my love of knitting and professional wrestling, it’s well documented in my blog. But what else makes a knitter on the darkside tick?
For most of my life I have had an obsession with the unusual, the paranormal, religion and Agatha Christie novels. My interest in the unusual and paranormal has perhaps rendered me a bit of a social reject. Because stuff like that makes people think your weird/crazy/not normal and they won’t like you and you’ll never get a husband.
Well that may be so, I may be on the fast track to becoming that loony old lady who lives in the big house with a gazillion cats and piles of newspapers (piles of newspapers I ask you?) but I’ll watch professional wrestling and I won’t care if it’s real or fake I’ll just enjoy looking at all the young guys. Matt Hardy will probably be a grandfather by that stage and long since retired, we’ll have to have one of his grandsons, Matt Hardy Version 3. Hmmmm, I’ve always liked the idea of a toy boy.

If that’s what becomes of people who are weird and nobody likes, being very happy and free, then what’s wrong with all you normal people then? I’m waiting!

I'd forget my head if it wasn't taped on......

Yes, I know yesterday was Friday, and I was other wise distracted. Matt Hardy to be precise, but if you don't follow wrestling you'll probably be none the wiser.

I was drooling over pictures of this wonderful side of beef (and before anybody snickers and makes a salacious comment) he was wearing clothes in all of them! Thankyou very much.

As I sit here today writing this I have Jethro Tull playing on the stereo. Jethro Tull was a band from the sixties/seventies. If you haven't heard anything from them I strongly suggest you listen to their music.
Back to Friday, yesterday we should have had my favourites. So we'll do them today.

Favourite Colour: I like the Bruise palette (covers black, blue, purple, green and yellow. Though I've never been a fan of yellow.).

Favourite Knit Project: Currently this would be my Italian Scarf. And yes, I worked on it today! Wonders will never cease.

Favourite Free Knit Pattern: Today or to be more accurate yesterday's would have been the Monk's Travel Satchel (which can be downloaded at Interweave.com from their Projects and articles section and was an excerpt from the book Folk Bags).

How old is your oldest UFO? I think mine is a year. All the others are younger. Not too bad I don't think.

The Italian Scarf

Yes, this is the week where I will get back to work on my Italian scarf. I'm afraid it has languished of late in the depths of the WIP's pile. What is the Italian scarf you ask? Well it's a Hooded Scarf Pattern from a Patons book, it's made in a 14 ply. What I have is a 14 ply equivalent from Italy which feels divine, and is a lovely blue-grey variegated style yarn. Very nice. I'll have to post a picture so you can see what it's like.

The lady in the yarn store and I seem to have the same conservation every time I go to pick my yarn up.

"I'm here to pick up some more of my yarn."
"Oh yes, what colour is it?" "It's kind of bluey-grey."
"Oh yes, here it is. Isn't it wonderful to knit with?"
"Yes, it's knitting up really well. I love it."

I must go and find it from amongest my pile of knitting. It's all packed into a washing basket and is starting to overflow. I probably need to finish some of them.

Random musings.

I haven't really knitted anything of late, hmmmm, I have knitted something. How bad is this I can't remember what? The feathers scarf! 

I'd better be off and do something more productive. Yes I should be knitting something. Tonight's CSI night, must find something simple to knit while I watch.

Why knit anything at all you may ask? Even if you don't I'm going to tell you anyway. I find I tend to fidget, it doesn't matter how interesting whatever it is I'm watching I have to be doing something or I roam about reorganizing or searching for something I know I have but where is it?

Yes, my attention span is that short, hence the many WIP. Sad I know.

Todays quote I find highly applicable to me.
"I'm sure people see me as a screaming redhead with a big pair of boobs, but I like to think I've got things to say."
Geri Halliwell, former member of the Spice Girls.

Red Heads - Famous, Freaky, Feral and Fun

Yes, today my post will be about red heads and how you should all appreciate us far more. There aren't that many of us about. Which got me thinking, how many famous red heads are there? How many do I know of?

On to my favourite red heads. Well my absolute all time fave has to be Jessica Rabbit ("I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."), yes I've been a fan ever since I saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Gillian Anderson probably most memorable in my mind for Scully from X-Files. Redhead with cool job and got to get up close and personal with David Duchovny. Redhead with very very cool job!

Bette Midler probably one of the most well known in the world. I remember her mostly for her movies then for her music. Very funny lady.

To pro wrestling and while perhaps not an au natural redhead such as myself, Lita. One very cool red head and one of my fave female wrestlers. And for those of you not familiar with wrestling you can see all about Lita here.

And how could I talk about my fave red heads and not mention Geri Halliwell. I can't say I was a huge fan of the Spice Girls. Then I saw an interview they did on a very well know day time talk show, they we're all asked about their first paycheck and what they did with it. They went along the line and they we're all saying how they'd bought this and that and it always seemed to be for some family member. Then they got to Geri on the end. "I didn't know how long it would all last so I bought myself a red sports car." A girl after my own heart.

Having said all that, there probably is quite a few of us and we always are quite exceptional. It may be personal biases, but I think we have some unusual gene the other hair colours lack. Another (not natural, but still) red headed female wrestler April Hunter said "You can sleep with a blonde, you can sleep with a brunette, but you'll never get any sleep with a red head!".

Not that this is anyway the limit on amazing and famous redheads, I did a search to see what else I could talk about and found this site Redheads.net and they have a famous red heads page among other things. There we're a few others I knew of but didn't think of immediately and a few others I didn't know.

F is for Friday, Favourites and Failure!

Okay so I didn't get round to writing my Friday Favourites yesterday. But I'll do it today, today's Friday Favourite Free Pattern is Knitty's new Fall Issue. It's just gone up yesterday and has some very cool stuff in it. My personal favourite is the Hallowig. Yes, I love Halloween, wigs and knitting and this is one very cool way to incorporate it all in one. I am very pleased! Another something I want to talk about today is The Red Hat Society, they sound like a lot of fun. If only I were older (you have to be fifty to wear the red hat and purple outfit, under this you have to wear a pink hat and lavender outfit. How boring!). Apparently there isn't a chapter in my local area. What a shame. I'd like to meet some of these Red Hat members. You can view their website here.

Onto a new project I started last night, it's the 8. Feathers Quick Knit Scarf with Tassels from Patons Book 1208 FEATHERS & PATONS 8 PLY - "Feathers Fashion".
After 4 hours work last night I had knitted the entire first ball and started into the second.

I know I can't manage to finish anything I already have started but I can finish a Snow Bunny Hat in 2 days and what looks like a 2-day stint to make a scarf. It may prove the inspiration I need to work on something else and get it finished. Like the Italian scarf. It's another Patons pattern for a hooded scarf in 14 ply, but I'm using some 14 ply equivalent from Italy which feels oh soooo nice.

Celebrity's, Cozys and Chilli Cravings.

Today boys and girls I will start off with my Chilli cravings, or should I say addictions. It all started the other day when I was scouring my corner store for cheese corn chips. Had to have cheese corn chips, must have cheese corn chips. Did they have any? NO!!!
However they did have the Doritos Name This Flavour packs still available. I believe the competition has ended but I haven't checked to see what the names are yet. But these ones according to the packet contain cheese and chilli. It was a corn chip and it had cheese so I bought them. And then began a great love affair. These are too nice. It's very hard to leave them alone - there like tacos only so much nicer!

Next we have the Heinz Spaghetti and Spicy Meatballs, if those were spicy I'd hate to think what plain must be like. It's hard to imagine anything blander.
That was dinner last night, lunch today was a Small potato from Praties. I was optimistic and got the Mexicana. It was almost like eating bolognaise. Second disappointment.
Third try lucky, dinner tonight Chilli Quarter Pounder from McDonald's. I'm sure most of you will have seen the ads for it or the giant signs in-store - Ignite with the first bite! I suspect I wasn't the only one being optimistic.

I ate 3/4 of the burger before it even began to think about igniting and unlike the ads there were no tears or sudden urges to drink lots. However, having said that it was incredible! My only regret is I only bought one! If you have not tried this burger yet, are you mad? No perhaps it's better you don't, then there's more for me.

While talking about addictions and things I'm passionate about I feel I must share the story of the green tea cosy. As a child I would put my mother's green tea cosy on my head and run around in it. Perhaps that's where my obsession for cozys stems from. I really like the idea of making them and I never ceased to be amazed at what people think up cozys for. Take the Beer Cosy for example, maybe a bit late for Father's Day now. But there's still birthday's and Silly Season to come. The pattern for this cosy is an excerpt from the book Knitting Pretty and can be found here along with some other patterns taken from the book.

And before I forget there is the Celebrity Knitting I picked up today while of shopping. It was printed in the 80's in England. Could explain why I don't recognize the celebrity's. There are some absolute clunkers in it but also some patterns with real potential. My personal favourite is the Daring Bare Midriff Dress. Look for that in my album some time soon. Or perhaps the Little Black Dress?
While talking of celebrity's and op shops, I was lucky to escape with my life and all limbs still attached today when I reached the check out with my picture of David Boreanaz/Angel from the TV series Buffy & Angel. The girl serving behind the counter couldn't believe they'd had it in the store and she didn't know. The lady behind me thought he was gorgeous. I didn't think the girl working behind the counter was going to sell him to me, it was very close. I thought I would have to throw my money down and make a break for it.


These were some sig's I've seen recently and reading them made me laugh so I thought I would share.

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Well behaved women rarely make history

"If a woman who sleeps with other women is smashing patriarchy, then a woman who sleeps with whomever she wants is just plain anarchy."
-Unknown

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Knitting with Spaghetti?

Today will be update day. What have I knitted lately? Not much I have been very remiss with my knitting. I've been too tired/cranky/depressed to get much of anything done. I briefly attempted to start another repeat on my Stress Relief Scarf, I got six rows out of eighteen done. I think that says it all.

My mother has been away at a Country Womens Association conference the last two days, and brought me back a keyring from a stall they we're having to sell some left over goods from our just been ACWW World Conference. Held here in little ole' Tassie!
The keyring comes from the Solomon Islands - it's a wooden cross with mother-of-pearl shell inlay on the front. Very beautiful! And she also picked me up a shopping bag (who doesn't sell these now?) from Mures. It's a seafood restaurant in Hobart. But it is a very cool blue and will be an excellent knitting bag.

I'm off to a culinary delight of tinned spaghetti and spicy meatballs on toast, I'm not usually a fan of tinned spaghetti but we'll see how this goes.

Continuing on with the Beach theme.

Buttprints in the Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of the Goddess they were,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared,
and I asked Her, "What have we here?
These prints are large and round and neat,
But much too big to be from feet."
"My child," She said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."
"You would not learn, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt.
"Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."
Author unknown

Beach Babe Time!

As the weather warms up it'll be time for all us Snow Bunny's to put our winter things away and start gearing up for Beach Babe season.

Onto the Beach Babe, is anybody else perplexed at the lack of knitted bikini's? There are oodles of crochet patterns available. I guess I'll have to learn to crochet. Which raises the question bikini, thong or boy leg? Hmmmm, this requires some more thought and investigation. What will everybody else be wearing this season?

What else will a Beach Babe require this summer? A suitable felted bag to carry everything in, a cosy for the water bottle, a cosy for the sunnies, a cosy for the Discman, perhaps a felted CD holder?
And of course the mandatory wardrobe, over the bikini a sarong and of course one of those oh so cute little cotton tops you can knit up in no time.

Well, I shall search far and wide for all of my fellow Beach Babes and tell you the results of my search. Stay tuned!

The Snow Bunny is in the House!

I finished the Snow Bunny Hat last night, and for anyone else planning to make the pattern a quick note - it says 5 balls of Show-Off. I used 3 to make the hat, I presume the other two are for the pictured pom-poms.
No pom-poms for this Bunny, I intend to have tassels!


Today I intend to go home and knit all the required pieces to make a toy kitten. I will be getting instructions Tuesday how to sew it altogether. After then you'll all be able to see how it went. And after that's done? I don't know perhaps get back to work on one of my UFO's, or if I fail to do that you'll be hearing about a new project very soon!

It is coming up to summer, perhaps I should think about a knitted bikini?

The Art of Illusion

The great art of illusion knitting has me intrigued, knitting something with a "hidden" pattern. Depending on which way you look at the item you can see the design.

For an example of what I mean there is a pattern at Ozyarn called Hearts Illusion Scarf (I'll provide the link here, you may need to click on Free Patterns once you get there but it's at the top of the page).

For another example you can go here and read about a Skull scarf (much more to my liking) and the chart is here.

Failing that, a search with your favourite search engine might bring up other examples. I don't know about books aside form the much talked about Stitch N' Bitch which features the Alien Illusion Scarf.

I am very jealous because a year into my knitting life and I'm still making unexciting things and a fellow knitter who has been knitting five minutes is tackling an illusion project.

That aside, a progress report on the Snow Bunny Hat. I have just 16 more rows of stocking stitch to go and 8 rows of rib and it's done. I did 8 rows rib and 40 rows stocking stitch last night. It knits up quickly this Cleckheaton Show-Off and feels divine!

Before I forget today is Friday - time for Friday's Favourite Free Pattern. And today it is the Mini-Sweater from Glampyre and can be found here.

The Cossack, the Snow Bunny and the Sprout.

New project alert! I picked up my Cleckheaton Show-Off today off lay-by at Spotlight (I do love their 20% off sales).

I'm planning to make a Snow Bunny Hat as seen in the book Funky Knitting by Happy House.

What is a Snow Bunny Hat you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked. It is a hat from the collective group of "Cossack" hats. Knit a rectangle, fold it in half and sew down the two sides and voila! You have a "Cossack" hat.

Looking for some more precise pattern or picture? I can also recommend the book Hip To Knit by Judith L. Swartz - the pattern "Fat Hats". Looking for one on a smaller scale? Try "Sprout" at Magknits, the sizes on this pattern are newborn to 8 y.o. and can be found here.

That's all I have time for today and I will leave you with the thought that I will be contemplating as I start my Snow Bunny Hat.
A knitted wedding dress?!?!?!?!