domestic bliss

Which one of you bitches wants to dance?

Posted on March 19, 2013March 19, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I’m ticking off 2 items in my 13 in 2013 checklist. I spent the weekend making cushions.

My previous cushions I made are looking a little worse for wear. One got lost in the great cheese fight of Superbowl 2013, the other has been used as a pillow one too many times and as the closure wasn’t exactly stable it now looks like the cushion is escaping from the cover.
I’m hoping an invisible seam will fix the design flaw in my first two. (I used the tutorial on fern and freckle which was invaluable)
Once again I used quilting flats fabric. Not only are they already roughly the right size for a cushion, but they come in so many pretty designs and you don’t need to finding someone to assist you with cutting from a roll. They are really moreish aswell.

I have a notebook that’s getting quite full of sayings/quotes/lyrics that I want to embroider , but choosing which one is still the most difficult part.
This time I chose a quote from Black Books, and a lyric from Neutral Milk Hotel.

So where do I start?

Posted on January 14, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I rocked in the new year with my bloke, my best friend, and Sugar Army at the Rosemount.
We managed to get a taxi without incident, so it went down as one of the better New Years. I think the trick is to go in with low expectations and let it confirm or exceed them.

The cold I caught over Christmas was starting to go away which was promising.

It was then a day of watching Series 3 of Downton Abbey, including the Christmas episode! I desperately want somewhere to talk about this without fear of being all spoilery. I then rewatched all of series 1 and 2. I had forgotten just how soap opera-y series 2 got. I’ve become hooked on Billy Doux episode recaps. They come with a historical context and fun facts around each episode.

Then 2 days in Margaret River touring wineries, playing scruples, and enjoying a mini-break.

Isn’t that cat adorable? I wanted to take him home, but ended up coming home with this guy, who is totally adorable. (It’s a cow from the Cowaramup brewery)

Then Southbound!
Two days of camping, music, friends, and frivolity. And dust, and dirt, queues, greasy food, low phone batteries, and accidentally stepping on beer cans. Ouch.

But I couldn’t start the year any other way. Django Django, Two Door Cinema Club, Bombay Bicycle Club, and Maximo Park were my highlights.
That and bringing our own shade was the best decision ever.

I can’t wait to see who’s on next year’s lineup – although my ticket folder is looking rather full with a Laneway and Perth Festival having awesome lineups.

It wasn’t all fun and lollipops though.
Max, our pet pinchie, fell to a broken filter. Our 4 fishies (Richie, Tony, Bill, and Ken) managed to survive.
Tony Greig (the namesake of one of our fishies) passed away over the time as well. There were some very tearful tributes during the Sydney test match.

My little brother, fell off his motorbike on the way back from Southbound and luckily had only minor scratches.
I never expected to start the year off with my first ride in an ambulance.

It certainly could have been a different first blog post for 2013, so I’m incredibly grateful that it’s not.

On the knitting front I’ve already notched a few finished objects, which I shall share on Friday.
I think I’m having enough trouble choosing photos for this post already.

It’s good to be back!

~~~
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Merry Happy Everyone!

Posted on December 25, 2012December 25, 2012 by bekswhoknits

I hope everyone has a fantastic day, whatever you’re doing, whether that’s working, volunteering, spending time with friends, family, or the Internet.

I’ll be taking a break until after the new year.
But I’ll leave you with a last minute gift idea which the ladies in my family are getting this year.

Home made sugar scrubs.

Not to be TMI, but I’ve had to experiment with some organic skin products this year. And I love this.

Basically (and there are variations on this all over the Internet! But my main inspiration was this post here), the formula is 2 parts sugar to 1 part oil plus some scent.

Mix it together, spoon it into containers, and then add a pretty ribbon.

I experimented with 4 different scents.
Lemon, strawberry, coconut and vanilla & brown sugar.
I used essences as they’re easier to buy from the supermarket, but they do need longer to infuse.

Add a pretty ribbon and there you go!

Merry Happy to all!!

~~~
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Pea soup

Posted on December 18, 2012December 18, 2012 by bekswhoknits

For when you can’t stand anymore takeaway, but are so tired you put the frozen stock (in the foil packet) in the microwave to defrost.

Top tip! Foil packets can burst into flames when you put them in the microwave. Fortunately they do make crackling noises before they burst into flames. Otherwise this may be a very different type of blog post.

Fortunately I’m not being nominated for a Darwin Award, but sharing a soup recipe.

Add stock, frozen peas, whatever herbs sound good at the time to a pan.
Cook.
Blend.

Check to see if there’s any ham or bacon in the freezer. Nope.
Check for cream or Greek yogurt. Nope.

Eat it anyway.
It’s not that bad.

~~~
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Garden creatures.

Posted on November 12, 2012November 12, 2012 by bekswhoknits

What a delightful weekend.
Test match cricket is back! This makes me a very happy Bek!
Also the weather was fantastic. We spent a bit of time in the garden. I did some knitting. And there was some cricket watching.
That’s my kind of weekend.

~~~
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It’s an outfit post!

Posted on November 3, 2012November 7, 2012 by bekswhoknits

Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these.
But I reckon this is a good enough reason.

This is my cardigan! I am still super chuffed that I finished a big knitted project.

And this is my bookcase. The biggest reason that I haven’t done many outfit posts is that our apartment is so tiny, it gets no natural light, and there is no neutral place to use as a back drop.

So in lieu of a neutral place, I thought I’d show a part of my apartment that I’m proud of.
The first place that springs to mind is my cd collection. But that’s right next to the only window in the place and is really awkward to stand in front of.

So the next place is my bookshelf. I love to read. And I love to watch tv. To the left you can see my tea cup collection. And on the top shelf you can see my Dalek (and other assorted Doctor Who merchandise).
It’s forever changing, and being shuffled around, but I’m thinking of doing more outfit posts here. I’d love to know what people think of the location. Too cluttered? Too distracting? Or is it me? Will you all judge me on what you see in my bookcase?
Actually, if you haven’t already figured out who I am, my bookcase will certainly confuse or enlighten you.

So enough chat, here is me, pretending to model, wearing my own knitted creation.
(My jeans are cotton on, my shoes are from rubi, and my tank is from temt)

~~~
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sockies, fishies, and another -ies

Posted on October 29, 2012 by bekswhoknits

The weekends are just flying by.

I’m now turning the heel of my socks which I started on Thursday (wow I know!), I did think I would try something new with the heel.
But I didn’t start researching the ‘after thought heel’ until I had finished the gusset increases.
Apparently the two aren’t compatible.

Oh well, maybe next socks.
I had a lot of time for sock knitting as we went for a drive to pick up some company for Max. For those of you who don’t remember, Max is our blue yabby.
We bought 4 Pygmy Perch to add a bit more interest to the tank. We also picked up some more plants.
We’ve quickly got into the routine where we wake up Max every morning (the light on the tank changes from night time blue to day time white), and we greet him every afternoon when we get home from work.
Max is a pretty good listener.
We’re both pretty bad at coming up with names, so we’re going to think about it for a week before naming the 4 newcomers.

I also finished up the design for my etsy shop! All it needs now is some product.
I have three cowls completed. Although one of them isn’t as long as the others and can only wrap around my neck once.
I now don’t know whether or not to put it up any way (after all, just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean that’s not someone elses preference).

But they still need photographs. Is needing a good space to take outfit and product photos a good enough reason to buy a new house?
(I think our angry neighbours and need for more space are probably better reasons.)

So overall a pretty good weekend.

What did everyone else get up to?

~~~
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Grr argh

Posted on October 26, 2012March 13, 2013 by bekswhoknits

I’ve been a cranky person all week. Really massively cranky.

Cranky panda, temper tantrum, hissy fits, grrrrr!!!!!

So I cast on socks. (Once my headaches subsided).

It’s horrible, squeaky acrylic which I bought because I liked the colour. Fortunately I do still like the colour because the acrylic is annoying me.

It’s sport weight and surprisingly not stretchy at all. So I’ve had to increase it a bit after trying them on.

But the colours are pretty. Like icecream. Not that I’ve ever seen grey icecream. I think it’s just the pink.

I’m planning on doing the heel and cuff ribbing in the same grey as the toe. The toe which I did too much of.

Cranky I tell you.

But the weekend is just around the corner, and I have rounds of stockinette to keep me sane.

(Frogging is also good for the crankies)

~~~
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Not my usual knitting post

Posted on October 5, 2012October 5, 2012 by bekswhoknits

It’s a different kind of finished object.
An edible finished object.

A strawberry to be precise. Grown by my green thumbed bloke, eaten by me.

My bloke doesn’t even like strawberries, but he grows them for me.

It was a bit of sweetness to start a Friday in what has been a very long week.

(I did have a massive long post which I wrote one sleepless night this week, but lets just leave it at, it’s been a long week and I’m grateful it’s the weekend coming up)

~~~
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We’re pet owners now!

Posted on September 17, 2012September 17, 2012 by bekswhoknits

We live in a small apartment. We do the best we can and manage to pack a lot in. We also manage a pretty nice garden which I’m looking forward to eating the spoils of quite soon (we bought strawberries on the weekend!). But it’s definitely too small for any dog or cat. People often suggest birds, but I have a bit of a bird phobia. Certainly the Weiro the Mr wants is out of the question. I could possibly handle something small and fluffy, but not a bird that talks and has definitely eye poking ability.

We have an aquarium shop just down the road from us, and so on Saturday we went down to have a look.
The idea was just to get an idea of prices and sizes but when I saw these two little guys I just knew we had to have them.

So say hello to our new pets!!! They haven’t got names yet, but for now they’re Mr and Mrs Pinchie (or Mr and Mr, we respect their life choices).

Aren’t they just the cutest!

They’re native to WA, blue yabbies.
We have some Pygmy Perch on order to keep them company too, but they have to come from the south west (again WA native fish).

We put them to bed at night (play god switching the white light to a blue light), and even though they’re not the sort of pet you can snuggle with, they’re still part of the family.
Now they just need actual names.