bekswhoknits

The blanket of doom!

Posted on August 10, 2012August 11, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Ok. These Friday posts are turning into a Dr Seuss story (here’s me knitting on a train, here’s me knitting on a plane, would you like green eggs and ham).

So here are some knitting goodies that I found the other weekend.
My local second hand shop has just closed. It’s on the way home between the train station and home, and I always look at the pretty things in the window.

I’ve bought some pretty tea cups, and my tea pot from there.
It’s been there as long as I can remember. But it’s closing so I had one last look through.

And I found some hidden treasures.

Aren’t they wonderful?

It reminds me of that great scene from coupling when the ladies are describing a man’s hottest on a scale. Knitting pattern guy is quite high on the scale.

And of course here are the obligatory updates on the baby blanket.

~~~
lets talk!
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Pumpkin Soup in 4 ingredients (or slightly more)

Posted on August 9, 2012August 11, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Pumpkin.
Apple.
Vegetable stock.
Cream.

Well that’s how I made this batch of pumpkin soup.

Those four ingredients went into a saucepan until they boiled up and were ready to blitz using a food processor (or equivalent). Adding salt and pepper naturally. And some fresh parsley at the end (or whatever you have growing).

Like so many soups these are the important ingredients.

Although if you wanted to use more than 4 ingredients you could start with some spring onions.
Maybe add some nutmeg or ginger.
Bulk it up with some potatoes.

And go easy on the cream. Don’t just add the whole 500m carton just because you didn’t want to waste it.
Not a good idea.

I know I’ve got this far without addressing what you’re probably thinking. Pumpkin and Apple in a soup?
But trust me. It works well.
I used royal gala apples and it just adds a bit of sweetness and makes it a little special.

~~~
lets talk!
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Stuck in my head – Regular John

Posted on August 8, 2012August 11, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Their first album is one of my favorite front to back albums.

So I’m anxiously awaiting their second which is due later this year.

There are some killer albums still to come this year. So much music so little time.

~~~
lets talk!
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It was a privilege. The wonderful Sir David Attenborough

Posted on August 6, 2012August 11, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Well I’m not going to talk about football.

Instead I shall recount the wonderful evening that was a night with David Attenborough

I only found out about the event as a Perth twitter friend was talking about the countdown to tickets being sold. I immediately jumped on board and bought two. And lucky I did because it sold out in a flash. Thank you Madradish!!

Jealously was high amongst our friends who had missed out.

I didn’t quite know what to expect but I knew that listening to Sir David for 2 hours was always going to be an enjoyable experience.
Like a lot of people I grew up watching David Attenborough. And although I was never particularly sciencey I liked how his films looked.

But it’s my partner who has the real love for Sir David.
He has the box sets and rewatches them regularly. So this was really a treat for him.

Sir David came onto the stage to a standing ovation.

The stage was simply set with two leather chairs, with coffee tables and a cozy rug.

And then Ray Martin came out as the interviewer.
Ray did a great job of hosting the evening. An iconic voice himself, he had certainly done his research and knew what stories to draw out.

The most special moments came when the screen behind them illustrated some of Attenborough’s finest moments.

If you ever get a chance to see David Attenborough live – Do It!!

The quality of the photos is definitely not indicative of the quality of the night.

~~~
lets talk!
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Typewriter blanket – WIP

Posted on August 3, 2012August 11, 2012 by bekswhoknits

This 10 stitch blanket is getting bigger slowly but surely.

I have now used up two balls of yarn, and am trying to figure out how big to make this.

I’m also under a bit of pressure because although the bub isn’t due for another month, her first was a month premature.

So this is taking up all of my knitting time and it’s making me feel like a typewriter.
It’s the ten stitches.
Everytime I get to the end of the row and have to turn around I go *ping!* like a little bell is going off in my head.

It’s incredible just how quickly it’s knitting up. I’m going to be incredibly proud once it’s finished, and just hope that it is loved like the love that went in to it.

~~~
lets talk!
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Some of the photos from Melbourne

Posted on August 2, 2012July 29, 2012 by bekswhoknits

We had so much fun.

Here are some of my favorite photos that I haven’t been able to fit into one of the other posts.

~~~
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The Shins

Posted on August 1, 2012July 29, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Well Monday was the Shinsday.
This is why we went to Melbourne, and what we were there for.
And it would have taken a lot to disappoint.

This review from faster louder says everything I want to say about the music.
It was everything that you expected, and I was happy with that.

Understandably they played a lot from their latest album. The Rifles Spiral is one of my favorite songs this year and it was great to see it live.
It was the venue that was most surprising. How does Melbourne put up with it? We had move forward to try and get a good view of the stage, but after 4 songs of jostling for position, getting beer spilt on us by passers by, and the chick in front of me rubbing her arse against me, we found the better position was right at the back.
It had a clear view, probably better than craning your neck to see, plus there was room to move.
We also saw 8 people that required medical attention. Guys and girls who had passed out, or we’re very near to. You’d expect heat stroke at a punk concert, but The Shins?

Soon enough, we had sung along, wooed our lungs out, and enjoyed James Mercer’s dulcet tones and it was over. We cheered for an encore, but it would have been better of without it. Instead of leaving on a high, we left confused.
But we finished Monday night where we started Friday night, at Youngs and Jackson.
The bar tender took a photo of us in our shins merch and we reminisced on the weekend.

It really was a wonderful time, and I can’t wait to go back.

Bring on AFL finals!

~~~
lets talk!
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Some of the places we shopped – Melbourne (3)

Posted on July 31, 2012July 29, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Well if Saturday was about football, Sunday and Monday were about shopping.

We headed out to Brunswick to meet up with some friends. On our way we had some crepes, before leaving the boys at the pub and going for a wander.

I was a bit uninspired by the shops, but we did stumble across a gorgeous nick-nack shop.
But after walking around for a while we ended up at the pub too.

We headed on to the St Kilda markets where we wandered around but apparently we got there too late as we had missed the yarn stall. Had a couple of jugs at The Espy until the sun went down and we went in search of some food.

We ended up at trunk as it was close to our hotel and we had been there for a drink on Friday. It was such a pretty location, and I was happy with my seafood risotto. I was the lucky one. The Mr’s pasta came out in a paper bag, and was bland and cold. His sister’s boyfriends pizza came out and was impossible to eat without a knife and fork and although the base was hot, the topping was all cold.
When we asked about it we were told, that was just the way it was. Needless to say we weren’t impressed and complained to the manager.
So that meal ended on a sour note.

We ended up at our hotel bar for a couple of quiet drinks where my Mr got his converse shined by the complimentary shoe shining machine.

It was a pretty disappointing ending to the day, which could have been avoided by some decent customer service. Maybe we’re uncultured Perth people but we expect a pizza to be hot unless stated otherwise.

But Monday was Shinsday!!!

Oh and we saw a police car that was stuck on the tramline. It two 8 burly gentleman to lift it off.
We were in a taxi taking photos.

~~~
lets talk!
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giveaway

Posted on July 30, 2012 by bekswhoknits

hi guys!

Don’t forget I’m having a sort-of giveaway at the moment.

It’s such an awesome idea and I really want to do this so I would love some comments!

~~~
lets talk!
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Some of the places we went – Melbourne (2)

Posted on July 30, 2012July 29, 2012 by bekswhoknits

This is the second post where I try and make you all jealous about my Melbourne holiday.
We flew in on the red eye getting into Melbourne at 6am on Friday morning.
After leaving out luggage at the hotel (we stayed at the Marriott Hotel where we had an excellent stay), we went out in search of breakfast, whilst awaiting a txt to say our room was ready.

In the end we upgraded to a king size room and we caught up on some sleep having not got any on the plane.

After we were rested we went wandering.

We caught up with some friends over some awesome dumplings, but bland honey chicken fromEmpress of China.

We had a drink at Coopers Inn, trunk,and watched the football at Young and Jackson .

Saturday was all about football.
We went to the MCG to watch Hawthorn play Collingwood. We wanted Hawthorn to win, and they put on a very impressive display. Our hangovers made walking up 36 stairs to get to our seats a little harrowing, I had visions of falling and plummeting to my death but I’m still here. After the football we walked around the MCG, taking photos with The great Shane Warne and Dennis Lillee and promising to be back for the finals.

While we were watching a game live, the Gentleman friend’s team was also putting on a commanding display, so the group had 2 wins under their belt. Unfortunately Port vs Melbourne was going to mean someone in the group was disappointed (but it wasn’t me!) By the end of the day me, my boy, and my bestie’s teams had all won!

We also won $360 at Crown Casino. After going there to watch the Port v Melbourne game, finding out that the sports bar was closed and watching the game in a cafe, we ended up at a jazz bar.
After the music stopped, we migrated to a tv so the Mr could watch the golf. As we were on our way out he put one bet on Roulette. Well 17 (Stewart Dew or Bernie Vince depending on who you talk to) came up and we walked away amazed at our good luck.

Once our taxi driver got us home safely (after nearly colliding with an ambulance, getting lost, having a hysterical phone conversation, and singing Beyonce’s All The Single Ladies), we ordered cheesecake, pizza, and beer.