Reporting In

The end of June comes way too quickly each year. For me it starts months of hard slog at work that ends around about the end of November. I was going to list all my big deadlines over the next five months but thinking about it makes my eyes spin in their sockets and is irritatingly depressing.

Added to that is how I’ve felt since I returned from Spain. For some reason I feel restless, disorganised and bored with anything and everything. I’m not sure it’s possible to feel restless and bored at the same time but I do. I start something and within five minutes I’m bored with it and so move on to something else. Pick up the knitting, knit two rows and put it down. Pick up a book, read two pages then put it down. There’s also a stack of things I want to do but can’t be bothered doing. I haven’t been to gym in about 10 weeks, my sensible eating plan is up the Khyber and my mind seems cluttered with a thousand things on the to-do list.

Aaaaaaand I hate Winter. I need heat and sunshine for my energy, both physical and mental. Boo hoo, it’s real tale of woe is me.

Still, I feel better just having written all that down (it’s only taken four hours on and off). Articulating instead of feeling; pinpointing the problem(s) instead drifting along. I’ve even come up with some sort of a plan. That will wait for the next post though or this will turn into an epic. Now though I’m away to pick up my knitting and I *will* knit for 30 minutes to see if I can get back into the groove.

MIA – EOFY – SRY – BRB

My eyes hurt, my head hurts and I’m not sleeping well due to numbers dancing through my head (where the h*ll are the sheep? Give me sheep!) It’s the Statutory End of Financial Year here in Oz (June 30) and, as I’m a bean counter, my eyes are glazing over. I have much to say (as per usual) so I do apologise to all that are waiting to hear from me and you can expect (lotsa) posts on the weekend.

You’re Doing the Rest of Us No Favours

Bah! Silly Cow. See here. When the rest of the female population are able to take their children to work then you can too. In the meantime just STFU about how it was so rough. You’re paid to do a job so do it as all other women have to do it – without their children!

Ooops

I did sound narky the other night didn’t I? I was tired, smote by hayfever (in Autumn? Yes! Why should Autumn be any different from the rest of the beep beep year?) and just a touch all around crabby. Did it show? LOL. I guess I’m disappointed more than anything. I knit weirdly and therefore slowly. I put a lot of hours into getting my sock away on time to the detriment of getting other things in my life done and I JUST WANTED A PAIR OF SOCKS FOR ME because I’m knitting socks for MIL because she has cold feet and I love her. Don’t worry, I’m laughing at myself here because I sound like a two year old having a tantrum. The only thing is I can’t hold my breath because you won’t see me turn blue and that’s no sort of drama at all is it? Do two year olds really hold their breath in temper? Not having any (human) children myself I don’t know about things like that.

Anyway I’ve recovered my sense of humour due to time and very generous offers from Needle Tart and the lady I like to think of as Mrs Canada. I don’t know why I think of Susan as Mrs Canada, it just seems to fit. The generosity of people you don’t know amazes me and I thank them both.

In knitting news the DB socks are at a standstill. The heel was turned and I was happily knitting my way up the leg when suddenly my little finger felt a bit … light? … airy? That would be because there was no longer any yarn wrapped around it. A break in the wool. So I unwound a bit more from the skein only to find another CUT in it about 30cm along. Unwound more and yet another cut another 30cm along. A bit further and a ply (?) was broken. I joined it there and knitted another 2 rows to yet another break in the wool at exactly the same place, just two rows along. So they are sitting on the desk until the weekend. I will rip back to the original join, check the skein for the next 10 metres or so and then hopefully continue on.

I took the Easter sock to MIL to try on and it was as I feared. The leg is so tight she can’t even get it on over her foot so it’s a moot point as to whether the instep is big enough. I think the sock will be totally discarded due to other concerns I now have.

Still I’ve bought enough sock yarn over the last few months to ensure that I can pick and choose what I want to knit. I’m leaning towards a nice 5ply that I bought from Daphne at The Knittery before she so rudely closed up shop and moved to the States. (That is a joke!) Hopefully I can knit it with larger needles and it won’t take so long! (For Canadians and Americans – 5ply does not actually refer to the number of plies; it’s how we measure the weight/thickness of yarn. I think a 5ply yarn here is about a light sportweight? Stop shaking your head – we’re Downunder and entitled to be a little bit different. Hee hee.)

That Was Fun

For the last couple of years I’ve had an oil sprayer that you pressurise manually. Pump pump pump and it’s good to go. No nasty propellants, no continual purchasing of tins; just a bit of elbow grease. It’s fabulous. Well it was. Until tonight. I usually pump the top until the air bubbles clear in the feeder tube. That was what I was doing when an almighty bang went off in the kitchen because the bottom blew. Yes. Olive oil all over the kitchen – counters, everything on the counters, sinks, me, Husbands jacket on the chair 3 metres away. I’m not sure that there’s anything that was missed really.

All I can do is thank God the cats weren’t in the vicinity. Then we really would have olive oil right throughout the house (or from @rsehole to breakfast as one might say crudely sometimes here in Oz). I’m surprisingly calm about it all in spite of the clothing losses on my part. 1 long sleeved top, 1 camisole, 1 pair of casual trousers all in the bin. There was just no way they could be salvaged given that there were dinner plate sized oil blotches on them.

So the kitchen has just been wiped down for the third time with hot water and detergent. A more thorough cleaning will wait until the weekend. Even after that I’m sure we’ll be finding oil droplets in the oddest places for the next 12 months.

The cause? I think there must have been a blockage somewhere. That won’t stop me from buying another one. I’ll just be a bit more observant next time.

Sad Sock Roulette

The International parcel (which I mentioned earlier) that I had to sign for turned out to be a parcel from Marks & Spencer in the UK with all the bras I’d ordered. I don’t know why, but British bras seem to have more room for the boobage than what the ones I can buy here in Oz do. (WordPress shut up – boobage is so a word!)

However pleased I was to receive the underthings (read: very, very pleased), it wasn’t my sock. I emailed Julie to advise this and she noted as such on her blog. The result? Still no sock and still not a note from anyone saying ‘ooops’. Oh, I know. I, the Queen of Procrastinators, know! The cat’s dying, the husband has run off with the 90 year old next door, Mercury is in retrograde, work is unbelievably stressful, the In-laws have gone to live on a commune – whatever. I really don’t care. Just let me know you’re not going to send a sock.

Actually, don’t bother sending a sock, just pray for rain in my part of the world. I can knit my own socks, I can even buy the damned things but I can’t make it freaking rain and we need that more than I need socks.

Louie the Lemon sends his love.

Voices

Husband and I were watching John Hannah in Rebus tonight and a discussion arose as to memorable voices. Our list so far:

1. James Earl Jones (Star Wars, The Lion King)
2. Big Tam aka Sean Connery (James Bond)
=3. John Hannah (see above)
=3. Russell Crowe
4. Oooo, no four.

An Australian by the name of Jack Thompson appeals to me (see here) but as husband hasn’t heard a lot of him then we couldn’t agree. You can listen to him here and see what you think. Any other suggestions?

Sunday Roundup 08/06/09

You have to love a Public Holiday which is what today has been, although the irony of receiving a holiday in celebration of the Queen’s Birthday when we’d like to become a republic of sorts is not lost on me.

Knitting had stalled during the week as I needed to find the second skein of Grignasco in order to continue on with the Dublin Bay socks. Finally found it this afternoon on the floor at the back of the desk. I suspect I have one or two cats to blame for that but they’re not answering my questions. I joined it where I thought it would match and I may have been a little generous in my allowance because I think the pink gusset repeat in this sock is larger than the other. It doesn’t matter that much to me because it will only be out by a couple of rows and at least there is knitting happening now! So an update on works in progress and a schedule (of sorts):

Dublin Bay Socks – currently turning the heel on the second sock. I would like to have these done by the 15th of the month so that gives me another week.

Easter Socks – one sock completed. I need to get MIL to try it on before I go any further because the leg of this looks awfully skinny. The pattern itself is meant to be quite firm fitting but it’s tight just putting it on over my hand. I went up to 2.75mm needles for the gusset because of MIL’s high instep and continued the leg on them as well but I think the leg will be too small to get over her instep. If I have to rip back it’s not going to worry me as they’re a little too short for my taste as well. So currently on hold.

Anastasias – oh Anasastias how I love thee but you’re killing me. 3.5 cm to go on the first leg, then the ribbing and the first sock will be done 18 months after it was first started. Wooo – go me! LOL. These are weekend only socks now. It’s dark by the time I get home these days and I just cannot knit these in artificial light.

Mind you, a visit to the optometrist is in order again. The multifocals just aren’t cutting it so I’m going to end up with my normal glasses and then reading glasses as well. Sigh. I can see me being an old fart wandering around saying “Have you seen my other glasses?”

Next time – a jumper (sweater) that was knitted in 2006 but has never been worn. Because it needs seaming. Yes, it’s on the list. And a scarf for a friend in the Northern Hemisphere. At least I have a few months on that one.

So … Spain

I ended up taking last Monday off work as well as I was purely and simply tired with a capital T. Because I only arrived home on Saturday no-one was really expecting me in anyway so it was nice to have the extra day.

Spain was all sorts of things and I’m still a bit puzzled within myself as what I really thought about it. That’s going to require a bit more thought so I will write about what I did and didn’t like when I start posting some pictures. Today though, it’s all about the knitting.

I only went to two specialist yarn shops in Madrid as I couldn’t be bothered catching buses to the shops which were located out of the city centre. The first, in the Plaza Mayor, was closed for siesta when I first arrived. Siesta is quite an interesting concept – close up shop about 2 or 2.30, re-open at 4.30 or 5 and then trade through until 8 or 9pm. I suppose if you’re brought up with it then you’re used to it but personally it would drive me nuts. I like to go to work and then come home with the rest of the day being mine. Anyway, I went back to the shop after the siesta period but bought nothing. The yarns were gorgeously coloured and it appeared that they were sold by weight but, as I found a lot during my trip, the staff were as helpful as two wooden planks. I enquired about sock yarn and was met with a supercilious look and a flat “NO”. So I just left.

The next shop was actually on my way back to the hotel and the lady who owned it couldn’t have been nicer if she tried. With my minimal Spanish and her minimal English much hilarity ensued during the 20 minutes I spent in there. I left with the following:

From Left to Right – 1 x 100g ball of Mondial Ciao sock wool from Italy. 75% New Wool, 25% Polyamide. Colour – blues and cream/tans. 2 x 50g balls of Oso Blanco Amore sock wool from Spain. 50% Wool, 50% Acrylic. Colour – purples and grays. 1 x 50g ball of Katia Samba cotton from Spain. 100% cotton in mostly yellow. 6 x 50g balls of Katia austral from Spain. 50% Wool, 50% Acrylic in a gorgeous, deep purple.

Obviously the first two are for socks, the cotton for a dishcloth and I don’t have a clue about the purple as yet. I wasn’t sure about the high acrylic content in two of them but it all feels so soft so here’s hoping. The austral advises a needle size of 3.5mm – 4mm but lovely lady went to great pains to make sure I understood her opinion was that it should be knit on 3mm needles. Of course it will depend on what gauge I get but that led me to my last purchase which was the 3mm straights you can see above.

This is the bit I’m kicking myself over. When I’m not knitting socks I knit on straights because I knit what I call ‘tucked’. Right needle under right arm. What can I say? It’s what I learnt from the English lady who taught me how to knit. When you knit this way, the longer the needles, the better. These babies are 40cm long. I can get 35mm straight needles no problem here in Oz but I’ve never seen the 40cm ones before. The kicking myself bit? I only bought this pair. At nearly $8.00 I didn’t think they were cheap and then I couldn’t decide what sizes I should get if I was to limit myself to, say, 3 pair and in the end it all got too difficult.

So what to make with the purple? To me it looks like it’s ‘chained’ rather than plied so I don’t know if this makes any difference. There’s 840m total in the 6 balls and I really can’t tell what weight it is. Looks like the thickness of sock yarn if you ask me. LOL. Any suggestions welcome.

I’m Baaack

I’m finally home and so glad to be here. I very much like flying and being on the shortish side height-wise I don’t have problems being cramped or uncomfortable on long distance flights BUT … From my hotel in Madrid to walking in my front door – 36 hours. Sheesh!

At this time it’s 6.00am Sunday and I’m wide awake writing up my shopping list. Ole Mother Hubbard has nothing on me as the pantry, fridge AND freezer are totally bare.

So after I finish this I’m away to have a shower and do the grocery shopping in the peace and quiet of a very early Sunday morning. Later this afternoon I hope to start posting about my trip and will upload some photos of my drinking Spanish holiday for an Enquiring Mind. Cheeky!

Knitting – 2 rows last night on the second Dublin Bay sock. Hmmmmmmm.