adventures in travel

Adventures with Doug.

Posted on December 29, 2015 by bekswhoknits

Agggges ago (this post has been sitting in the draft pile for a while now) I took myself to visit the country. A specific part of the country where two friends currently call home.

It was Midnite Moose’s birthday and so I had to personally deliver a pair of socks that I had made for her.

They’re made with Knit Picks Felici which I admit that I LURVE knitting with. Compared with Moda Vera’s sock yarn which was my previous go-to (non-indie dyed) sock yarn it is an absolute delight. The self striping colour ways are lovely and the merino/nylon blend is so soft and squishy.

The pattern is ampersand and I used a fish lips kiss heel as I didn’t have specific feet measurements.
I only used 50gms of Felici and played a bit of yarn chicken towards the end. I really wasn’t sure that I’d make it but I did.
They were delivered along with a punny card written on the back of a Cider carton box. I was totally unprepared and had to borrow some wrapping paper from my lovely hostess Amanda.

My lovely hostess also has a fantastic book collection which I put to good use. Yes I went for a 4 day trip to the country and I read a lot of books. I finished Morris Gleitzman’s series Once, Then, After, Now which was thoroughly interesting and a story I’d never heard before. I preferred the stories set in WW2 to the one in present day but they were all a good read and I may have cried a tear or 4. Fortunately this fluff ball was around to cuddle. Here is actually a do in amongst all that fluff.

This entire trip wouldn’t have been possible without the loan of my Dear Ol’ Dad’s car Doug.
I feel obliged to point out that I nicknamed my Dad’s car. He is not the type to name a car.
Doug has cruise control, an ipod cable, and felt a lot more stable and safe than my ’97 Mazda. Doug is a baby car compared to my old car.
I was slightly nervous while parking it as the last time I injured a car was the day after I got a new one and I underestimated just how long it was. There was some over cautious parking and there was absolutely NO chance of me driving Doug over the speed limit for fear of a speeding ticket turning up at my Parents house.
It was a constant fear running through my head of getting pulled over and having to explain I was a 30 year old borrowing their parents car. I don’t why that would be a bad thing? But nevertheless it was something I wanted to avoid. Fortunately I did. Doug was returned in one piece with more fuel than when I borrowed him and just slightly dirtier.
We had a grand old time together and now I *almost* want a new car, just so I can open the car boot with a button.

Overall it was just nice to escape the city for a while and get away from work demands. I didn’t check my work emails for an entire week! Mostly because there was no phone reception but a little bit of that is willpower and not having my work phone charged :S

Thanks for having me.

Camping time!!! Good for the mind, not so good for the body

Posted on October 1, 2015October 1, 2015 by bekswhoknits

It was a long weekend last weekend so we took off to the south all set for a camping weekend.

It was glorious. Sure there were idiots with their generator on til 2am, dogs not on leashes running amuck, loud music and general disruptive behaviour but we were away from the city in the great outdoors and it wasn’t going to spoil those 3 night we planned at Logue Brook Dam (about 2 hours drive from home).
We didn’t stay in the Tourist Park area (too touristy!), but instead drove to the other side of the lake and camped in the National Park. It was more our style of camping.

It’s not quite ‘glamping’ but we do make camping less stressful by having good equipment . We have a pop-up tent and a gazebo for shade, stretcher beds and self inflating mattresses for sleeping, and a solid set of camping chairs and table. The new addition this holiday was a hammock which was lovely and relaxing until the wind started to howl.

I spent my time wisely and finished 3 books and started a 4th.

I finished The Book Thief and tried not to cry. It was gorgeously written, very poignant but ultimately tears were shed.

Wedding Night was on my iPad so it got read while I was working on my knitting. I’d read it before and it was a good bit of fluff to follow a WW2 novel.

I also finished Rilla of Ingleside for the upteenth time. I found new covers for the series on Book Depository which I had to buy.

And I started Shadow Scale (sequel to Seraphina which I raced through and loved!) but I only got about a third of the way through

(This brings my total read books for this year up to 24 meaning I’m likely to meet my challenge of 30 new books. The 24 doesn’t include any books I re-read.)

The Nightvale-esque eye bag is my new knitting project bag. It was purchased in a Cotton On sale where everything I bought (new work shoes, a floppy hat, some more shoes, cat socks, more shoes) was $5.

I googled ‘camping knitting’ before I left. I didn’t really have anything on the needles that I could knit without thinking. I needed the type of knitting that takes your mind off carsickness, can still be done around a campfire, in between scrabble moves, and which isn’t going to result in frogging the next morning.

Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Pi shawl has all the stockinette a camper could ask for. The chapter of the Knitters Almanac with the Pi Shawl recipe has an entire section on camping knitting which put me right in the mood. I have since bought a hard copy of the book, but I found the pattern in an online preview which I print screened and took along with me.

I also finished off a pair of slippers that I needed the foot model to try on. They went to a very happy grandma.

Unfortunately no fish were caught (although not for lack of trying.)
But the early morning trips to the dam weren’t entirely wasted with my brother-in-law doing a spectacular slip into the water. I didn’t see it but apparently it rivalled my less than graceful entry into the hammock the day before.

Ultimately it was a fantastic 4 days, after which I felt relaxed, inspired, and like I’d had a week’s peace and quiet. It has been followed up by a week of Physio appointments and a bucket load of pain killers for my back, but sometimes getting away from it all it totally worth it.

Ahh the serenity….

Now where did I leave off?

Posted on January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 by bekswhoknits

I’ve been on holidays for a bit. Both from this blog’o’mine and in real life.

We rang in the new year in Melbourne making new friends, and celebrating after our first live Boxing Day test (which was a draw – boo – but still a pretty awesome experience).

Overall the trip was a bit of a mixed bag.
On the way over I read Amy Poehler’s book ‘Yes Please!’ which I thoroughly enjoyed, but the oxygen tank needed to be called for the nervous flyer who looked like he was going to faint.
His new phone took brilliant photos of us and the view of the MCG from our hotel room, but only survived 5 days into the trip before the screen cracked and it became unusable.
The cricket was awesome, but there was a rain delay and it ended up in a draw (and Shaun Marsh dramatically run out on 99! We’re big Marsh supporters and want both the second-cousins to do well).
There was also a Max Walker sighting (the Max after which our Marron-Max was named) which excited the boyfriend no end!!!

The yarn store I had planned to visit was closed for the new years break.
BUT I stumbled on another one! which was was above one of the biggest book stores I’ve seen! Unfortunately we didn’t have time for me to explore both 😦
So I’m now a

So there was yarn, fireworks, cricket, cider, new friends, trams, shopping, and generally good times.

But it’s now back to work and ‘real life’.

Now bear with me while I bombard you with pictures of the wonderful time we had!!!!

Dull and uninspired. But not really

Posted on February 11, 2014February 11, 2014 by bekswhoknits

I feel like I haven’t done anything recently.
I’m feeling dull and uninspired about everything.

And then I looked at my camera roll and realised that even though I’ve been in shoulder related hibernation, I’ve been really busy.
In the past 7 days there was the annual superbowl party, the Perth Scorchers won the grand final, and laneway festival.

The time difference for the Super Bowl means that we’re watching the game while everyone else is on their way to work. Always a unique experience.

Then Perth won the Big Bash Final!

There was much wooing.

And then some more wooing at Laneway Festival.
HAIM rocked my socks off, plus frightened rabbits, unknown mortals orchestra, and chvrches made for an awesomesauce day.

And my crazy cat earrings went out of an excursion and of course there was some knitting. Every though my shoulder was a little worse for wear afterwoods.
Totally worth it.

Seriously how cool is this sandcastle!!!

You Am I

Posted on July 17, 2013July 17, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I don’t know if You Am I were ever big outside of Australia, but for me they were one of those bands that you couldn’t avoid.
Even though I was never a massive fan they crept into movies I loved, hottest 100 CDs, and high school parties.

They played at the Astor on Sunday night and it was fantastic.

Stuck in my head – The Shins

Posted on July 3, 2013 by bekswhoknits

Well if you have a look at my most played artists for this week you won’t find the shins.

We had a stereo on board, which we could both plug our phones into and there was no one around.
So when HeWhoFishes was out on the dingy I did leap at the opportunity to sing and dance around like the crazy lady I am.
And I wasn’t dancing to the shins.

But when we weren’t being nostalgic and listening to Jebediah, and I was enjoying the solitude of being away from society and on a boat, I was listening to this song.

(And just to rub it in, here’s my photo collage which I use as my work computer background. One of the reasons I use hipstamatic, Instagram, and the a beautiful mess apps is not so all my photos look twee [which I do like] but it makes it easier to put into collages because they all use the same dimensions. My work computer has no fancy unworkrelated software so I resize the photos to 7cm using microsoft word and then copy and paste them into paint. Then I can chop and change photos as I like )

Tales on a houseboat

Posted on July 2, 2013 by bekswhoknits

Once upon a time, there was a girl called BeksWhoKnits and a boy called HeWhoFishes.

The two of them set off early on Friday morning and drove as the sun came up. And at some point around 9:00 arrived into Walpole.

The stocked up on supplies, and made sure that they had every thing they needed. They weren’t to be coming back to the shore for a while.

Off they set on a houseboat into the inlet. Quite soon the houseboat was transformed into a home where the next 3 nights would be spent.

They reached their first destination. HeWhoFishes set to fishing, BeksWhoKnits to knitting.

The fish weren’t biting from the back of the boat, so HeWhoFishes went off in the dingy to explore further.

Bekswhoknits explored the life of Stephen Fry and made some steady progress on her crocheted blanket.

The talent of reading and knitting was well practiced and she was quite accomplished by the end of the trip at first reading from the iPad and then later balancing actual books.

The days flew by and fish continued to be caught, books continued to be read, and WIPs turned into FOs.

Each day had a new location, and each morning a new sunrise to wake up to.

Even washing the dishes somehow felt easier.

There was talk of rejoining civilisation for a Saturday afternoon, but the wonders of technology meant that football could be watched aboard the boat.

More fish were caught, HeWhoFishes made friends with a pelican named Harold. Beks eyed Harold warily and preferred to remain indoors.

All too soon it was time to return the houseboat. There was talk of sailing into the sunset, but it proved impossible so we returned to the shore and reluctantly made our way back to the city.

The houseboat is a perfect choice when two people wish to do nothing but fish and knit (and read, and embroider, and watch football).

Fish tally
Too many herring to keep count of
20+ Black Brim
10+ Skippy
10 School Whiting
6 Snook / Garfish
1 australian salmon
1 Mullet

Finished Object list
The Fry Chronicles
Revenge Wears Prada
The Colour of Magic
Death Comes to Pemberly
“manners cost nothing” embroidery
teal, black, and grey broken rib cowl
crochet flower
Significant progress on
– vanilla latte pair of socks
– crochet blanket

*gifs and panorama can be clicked to embiggen

On the road

Posted on July 1, 2013 by bekswhoknits

We’re sadly on the road and heading back to the city now.

But here is what I woke up to this morning.

And yesterday morning.

4 day weekend!!!

Posted on June 28, 2013June 25, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I have a 4 day weekend.
The fish sitter / Foxtel sitter / house sitter is lined up and we’re hitting the road.

I’m anticipating having Internet access, but in case I don’t I shall see you on my return.

Knitting, reading, stitching here I come!!

In the meantime….

Tim Rogers and The Bamboos

Posted on February 25, 2013March 12, 2013 by bekswhoknits

The last few weeks my city has become alive. Perth Festival and Fringe World transform my city from dullsville (which is a popular name), into a hive of activity with three new bars in the city, outside entertainment, and mermaids!

Every year I say that I should get out and explore Perth Festival more, and this year I actually did.

Of course I forgot my camera for the first 4 shows I went to.
In all fairness, one of them was Laneway and I wasn’t really keen on taking my camera, and I haven’t got the photos off my Blokes camera yet.

So I only have crappy iPhone photos of Laneway Festival, Stars, Father John Misty, and Sleepy Suns.
But I do have some awesome pics from Tim Rogers to show you.

Tim Rogers is an Australian rock and roll icon. His band You Am I shaped the lives of countless Aussie teenagers with break-up songs, party songs, drinking songs, and everything in between. Being one of these Aussie teens it’s surprising that it was my first time seeing Tim Rogers. So I was pretty chuffed when he put on a good show.
He’s the quintessential showman although, some nights it’s ‘I’ve just drunk a bottle of red wine- lets do this!’, others it’s ‘I’ve just drunk a bottle of red wine- do I really have to go on stage??’.
We got him on a good night, and boy did he put on a show.

As my best friend said “cool is an overused word, but in every sense of the word Tim Rogers is cool”.
Maybe that quote is better when you actually hear it.
Tim Rogers does exude coolness, except when he took off his shirt. That was hot!