extra special

FO – socks!

Posted on September 8, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

I got home from work at 11 o’clock and then slept for the 4 hours I should have been at work.

Once I came through I made my way to the couch.
Fortunately my boy can cook and he took good care of me, making a surf and turf with a side salad.

I also managed to finish off a pair of socks that I had started some time ago. They’re going to be a pair of three because you may notice that they’re different lengths and there’s already a hole in the toe of the first one. But there isn’t a hole in the second one so I’m getting better.

I’m home from work again today, but feeling better. Hopefully well enough to start a new pair of socks and finish off a selection criteria for a job I should apply for.
And trying not to fall asleep so I can get a decent nights sleep tonight.

A minion care package

Posted on August 31, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

Cheeky little minion loves hiding in my tea cup collection

Imagines itself within the world of Jane Austen

Does some cheeky things to Daleks.

But will be package up to a new life as a protective minion to my best friend.
Farewell minion!!

my hairpin skirt

Posted on August 30, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

my hairpin skirt

Yes I totally made this.

And without a sewing machine too.

I never would have thought to make a skirt without a sewing machine.

Just one more reason why I love the hairpin.

Minion Making

Posted on August 25, 2011October 24, 2011 by bekswhoknits

Well last night I cast on a minion thanks to whendidibecomeaknitter.

And now I know who the first one is going to- my best friend who was in a car accident on Tuesday night. She’s ok. Her car is a little shaken, and she’s bruised and whiplashed, but otherwise ok.

So this first minion will be a protection minion.

I’m making life difficult by using magic loop on 2.25mm needles on a 40cm circular needle (I wish I had a larger needle).
The Moda Vera Noir is really cute though. It’s on special at Spotlight for $4 at the moment so I bought a few colours.

I finished the head last night, but once I turned it inside out I realised I’d mucked up the decreases, so that got frogged but I couldn’t pick up the stitches.

So I cast on again and this is where I’m at.

Scones and lemon butter

Posted on August 24, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

I still have my home economics recipe book from high school.

I could have thrown in out a long time ago but I haven’t. Mostly because it’s still useful, not the recipes so much as the quantities. They’re perfect when cooking for two.

The last time I was at J’s parents place they sent us back with a bag full of lemons.
Brain storming recipes to use up these lemons I had a massive craving for lemon butter.

J had never had lemon butter, but my nan used to make it all the time when she lived on a farm, so it has wonderful memories for me.

We used to go up to the farm in the holidays. It was a wonderful place to grow up, slide down the sheep shearing ‘slides’, run around, and be kids.

But the food was always wonderful. Mostly because it was cooked in a really old wood stoked oven, and because Mum wasn’t cooking.

Great-Nan’s specialty is still Christmas pudding, but she won’t give anyone the recipe. Mostly because there is none! Her style of cooking was influenced by the depression and war time and making ends meet. All part and parcel of being a farmers wife in the wheat belt. And I aspire to be more of that kind of cook. Making sure that nothing goes to waste.

One of the great things about the farm was always the home-made delicacies that we would come home with. I can remember standing on a stool next to the old stove while Nan made jam. Being told off for standing too close and wanting to dip my finger in the (very hot) mixture.

So she used to make preserves and butters to use up the stocks of fruit that would be produced.
And so when lemons were in season, there would be lemon butter.

It’s a very easy recipe. And J loves it. He had an idea that it would be very tart and lemony, but the sugar and the butter really mellow out the tartness.
I’ve now seen him spread it on crumpets, toast, as well as when I make scones.

It might just be making it into a few Christmas stockings this year.

Dwellingup – through J’s eyes

Posted on August 23, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

Any regular readers would know that J is my boyfriend, who I live with, who’s been the love of my life for the last 3+ years.
He is Mr MusicFoodLife, Mr Sparkleness, the loml (love of my life).
But mostly he’s J.

And these are his photos of our camping trip (slightly better quality than mine – he is definitely a better photographer.)

A trip to Mundaring Weir

Posted on August 14, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

A lovely Sunday morning drive to the Mundaring Weir about 40 minutes outside of Perth.

We stopped at a local bakery to pick up a pie, and drove to a little secluded spot in the Mundaring national park.

The scenery is always beautiful, and the weir is looking better for the recent rain we’ve had. We even found a little creek!

After lunch we went for a drive on a couple of 4WD tracks.
There was a couple of challenging parts and a couple of water crossings but we made it through.

I would have liked to have explored the Mundaring markets that were on, but we were late for my nephews first birthday.
My new modcloth skirt was perfect for a birthday, but not so perfect for exploring the bush.
It was a lovely Sunday, and I just hope we can get away further out of the city next weekend.

how to make ringtones in iTunes

Posted on July 7, 2011October 19, 2011 by bekswhoknits

Because flow charts are awesome.
and non custom ringtones aren’t

seriously people make yourself some ringtones in itunes
click to show/save PDF

Hand knitted creature comforts

Posted on July 6, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

A new scarf.

Made with Moda Vera Bouvardia, an acrylic/wool blend.
But what struck me about it was the colours.
I used colourway 104-05
Which cycles through dark purple plums, with turquoise, green, pinks, and olive.

The base pattern was from knitting daily free lace patterns
I used the lace pattern (p1 yo k2tog) but not the recommended yarn. And i used 5.5m needles as recommended but the yarn.

It took me a while to figure out the pattern.
The language ‘one-row lace’ was/is confusing. I had to research it to make sure that it was just the same row repeated when you work back along the line, and there wasn’t some right side / wrong side inverse knit (k1 yo p2tog) that was necessary.
I still think i’ve done it wrong, and maybe I should have done something different on the wrong side. Mine looks a bit different from the pictures.
I also ignored the colour changes which made it a bit difficult to read the pattern (but easier to knit I would imagine).

But the end result is quite beautiful.

I started Thursday night and finished on Monday night, with another project (and some non-knitting time) in there aswell.
It was simple enough to knit, but the multi coloured yarn really makes it something special.

I love it.

anything we need from the shops? – google docs to the rescue

Posted on June 29, 2011October 5, 2011 by bekswhoknits

Being the technology lover that i am, i’m always looking for ways that technology will help improve and generally make my life easier.

I’m the main shopper for the household. It’s something that i’d like to be able to delegate without ending up with a cupboard full of pop tarts and steak.
But as i generally end up going to the shops straight after work, i always end up sms-ing the boy with something along the lines of “anything we need from the shops?” or “you wrote something on the fridge that we ran out of, what was that again?”.
All of which results in me going to the shops (which i hate), walking around the shops in a rage, and getting home and remembering what i needed to buy.

I knew that somewhere out there, someone else shares this problem.
And given that we both have iphones, there has to be an app for that.

Not that I could find, but I found a solution anyway.

Google Docs.

I created a shared document, which both of us can edit, and put a shortcut on each of our home screens.
Now when I’m shopping I can pull up the shopping list and not forget anything (or at least absolve blame).
And if I need to I can send J shopping and he (theoretically) can return with a balanced shopping trolley.

Items can be added as inspiration strikes, and live updating means that if i need to add something while J’s at the shops he can get it straight away.

It’s the best solution that i’ve found for sharing shopping lists between iphones, or indeed smartphones.