its a list

5 Happy Things

Posted on October 6, 2014October 6, 2014 by bekswhoknits

I’ve been using the tracknshare app for just over 2 months now.
Almost every morning I would go through the same routine of ‘have I taken x medication yet?’, with the associated anxiety of what if I did take it and I take too much or what if I haven’t and what happens then. I also wanted to keep a pain journal so I had some empirical evidence for those days when I was wondering if it is all in my head.

So I test ran a few different apps but tracknshare has really worked for me, mostly because it’s so customisable.

I’m now in the habit of ticking off my medications as I take them, but it also gave me new things to track!

But one of the more challenging items to track is ‘5 Happy Things’. I’m finding it very easy to list all the negative things happening around me so I’m making a deliberate decision to change this. So here are 5 things that have made or are making me happy.

1. We’re picking up a new outdoor setting this afternoon. We’ve been putting off buying one for ages but with summer just around the corner it seemed like a good time. (Side note: Shay [because you read every blog post I might as well just ask you here instead of trying to remember to ask you on twitter] Have you and your lovely wife been over and tried out our beer bottle chute yet? Have I even told you about it? We now have a chute that you pop the empty cans/bottles in and it goes straight in the bin. I live with a clever clever man.)

2. I finished a jigsaw puzzle. It’s a hobby that HWF enjoys and so he started it and had finished the border. Then I had some forced time off work and so worked on it from time to time to stop me from going mad. Now I’ve finished it, he can rip it apart and make it again by his self as he really didn’t appreciate me hijacking his jigsaw. I’m to stick to my own jigsaws from now on. (But look at it I finished a jigsaw puzzle!!)

3. More dyeing! This time I experimented with semi-solids. Pretty soon I’m going to have more yarn than knitting hours left in my lifetime. I really need to find a better supplier than Spotlight though. Unwinding balls of yarn is getting annoying, and 100% DK wool isn’t really my favourite to knit with, but a 50g ball of white is $2 when its on sale.

4. All of the gorgeous knitwear in Outlander. It’s sure a visual feast for the eyes. I can’t believe there’s no more this year though. Although it will give me time to knit one of the many Outlander patterns that have sprung up on Ravelry. Like this cape, or these fingerless mittens.

5. I organised the couch and I counted up my knitting WIPs and only have 8 things on the needles that I don’t intend to frog. Hopefully by tomorrow that will be down to 7. Plus 3 are blankets so they don’t actually count so really that’s just 5 things. And 1 I can’t work on because I need to find the pattern and where I was up to so that takes it down to 4. And one of the scarves is charted and I can’t look down for that long so that’s on indefinite hibernation. Oh whoops I forgot about that one so we’re still at 4. But hey 4 WIPs is really not bad! And now they’re all organised too. Go me!

What are you happy about today?

Things I found in my bag whilst searching for a hair lacky that I didn’t know I carried around with me all the time

Posted on May 9, 2014May 9, 2014 by bekswhoknits

– emergency spare set of headphones
– enamel ring that I wear for five minutes before remembering how awkward it is to wear and put it in my bag
– pencil snapped in half specifically for sudoku book which is NOT in my bag
– thing that connects iphone to speakers
– socks that only have about 4 more rows of ribbing before they’re finished that I had completely forgotten about
– emergency vegemite packet
– cupcake sticker book
– dry shampoo
– tea bags, some split open and unuseable
– earring findings
– two stubby holders (The National & Bon Jovi for anyone that’s playing at home)
– 4 colour pen. Pink, purple, green, & light blue.
– granny square
– gig stick with Game of Thrones Season 4 which I was meant to watch last weekend but obviously forgot about
– glasses wiping cloth that I can never find when I’m actually looking for it

Note – I didn’t find a hair lacky but it’s good to know in an emergency I have a cupcake sticker book.

Note – Yes I’m a adult with a disney backpack. Deal with it.

30 before I turn 30

Posted on May 1, 2014May 1, 2014 by bekswhoknits

Before anyone asks, today is NOT my birthday, but it’s close enough for me to realise that I’m turning 30 next year.

I don’t like to celebrate my birthday as the idea of having more than 3 people’s attention on me solely because I’m getting older makes me want to lock myself in a room and never leave. I much prefer to treat it like any other day and save the attention for actual achievements.

So I thought I’d reflect and write down 30 achievements which I think are are and worth celebrating.
While I’ve never been on tv for more than 2 seconds, seen my writing in a magazine, travelled outside of Australia, or been able to complete a photo-a-day challenge I have done some pretty cool and worthwhile things with my life.

1) Bought a house
2) Crossed the Nullabor
3) Shaved my head for Cancer research
4) Jumped out of a plane
5) Learnt to knit
6) Graduated from University with a degree
7) Bought an apartment (& endured it flooding)
8) Travelled out of the state by myself
9) Sang in front of an audience
10) Ran 12km without stopping
11) Watched 6 consecutive Test Matches live
12) Can cook a lasagne from scratch
13) Been to a football game with 70,000 other people
14) Managed a team of 5 people
15) Assembled an IKEA wardrobe by myself
16) Went to 6 music festivals in a year (and 3 in 8 days)
17) Can/could play all of The Entertainer, not just the first bit that everyone knows.
18) Kept the same blog for 3 years
19) Made a sale on Etsy
20) Successfully negotiated a pay-rise
21) Read all 6 Jane Austen novels (cover to cover)
22) Taught someone how to play the drums
23) Held the banner for Port Adelaide to run through
24) Have seen 222 bands live (at last count & have been backstage at bonjovi & met several others)
25) Been thanked in the notes of someones Thesis

And there are 5 things I hope to achieve before I’m 30
26) Go to a test match at the MCG
27) Complete Post-Grad Studies
28) See Blood Red Shoes live
29) Have 20 etsy sales
30) Travel outside of Australia ($$ permitting)

I want to watch my football team win a premiership at the MCG – before I’m 30 would be nice, but before I’m 35 would also be acceptable.

My weekend in numbers

Posted on March 31, 2014 by bekswhoknits

1 – the number of times I got to pretend it was cold enough to wear my unicorn jumper

2 – Buffy fans made happy with a ‘walk through the fire’ bracelet
10 – geeky bracelets I now have
1 – hour spent searching for lost items
4 – rings found
0 – metal stamping letter Rs found

1 – PlayStation 3 which decided to not read discs any more
9 – hours to transfer all our data off our old PS3 to the new one
1 – heart palpitation when Hewhofishes suggested I could ‘just start over’ in Skyrim
3 – the number of times Hewhofishes pointed a laser pointer from the tv couch to the kitchen couch to annoy me whilst waiting for the data transfer.
1.5 – books in the Grisha series read despite such laser pointer intrusions

55 – points my team beat hewhofishes’ team by
15 – minutes hewhofishes sulked for after his team lost
infinite number of times I thought about rubbing in the fact that my team is better than his team but decided to be the bigger person

12 – episodes of Bobs Burgers watched
4 – quotes I tweeted from the show
2 – confused comments I had back from followers who were unaware I was quoting Bobs Burgers

1 – old but new to me china cabinet was delivered
7 – years my 21st birthday china waited before being unpacked
4 – years my tea cup collection has been waiting for a home that wasn’t constantly under threat of being knocked over.

but by far the biggest and most important number of the weekend
100 – the age of my Great-Nan who celebrated her birthday on Saturday.
6 children, 19 grand-children, 26 great-grand children (me!), and 2 great-great-grandchildren

(Numbers are from my memory and are approximate. It may have been more than 12 episodes of Bobs Burger we watched.)

What’s American for Retic?

Posted on February 18, 2014 by bekswhoknits

The internet is a marvellous thing.

Not only do I now get cupcake pouches and knitted sonic screwdrivers in the mail. (Which absolutely totally made my day!!!! Macstabby – you’re my GURRRL and totes awesomesauce!!!)

But I’ve realised that even though American and Australia are both “english” speaking countries, we don’t always speak the same language. And this is without going all ocker / straya (aka redneck / bogan).

Reticulation.
We have a reticulation issue at the moment which we’re trying to fix. This means we have a problem with our sprinkler system. You know the thing that waters the garden automatically.
Not quite the google definition of “a pattern or arrangement of interlacing lines resembling a net.”

Thongs
Thongs are footwear. Rubber things to put on your feet to protect them from the scorching earth. Not underwear. I don’t know how you would wear flip flops as underwear. Go home America – you’re drunk.

Fizzy-drink
This one confused the hell out of me when I was younger and read Baby-Sitters Club books like they were the only books ever written.
What the hell is soda-pop?
In our house it was fizzy-drink or cool-drink. Presumably because adults could drink it whenever they wanted which was pretty cool.
(I’ve been reliably informed that it’s soda or pop. But Pop is for losers)

boot
Cars have a boot, elephants have trunks.
Moving on.

Lamington Drive
No this isn’t a street name, it’s a fundraising effort where lamingtons are sold through a subscription and then delivered all at once on lamington day.
Sort of like a bake sale, but with just lamingtons.
A lamington is a sponge cake, dipped in chocolate sauce, and then coated in coconut. Delicious!

Jumper
Possibly named after the kangaroo, a jumper is a sweater. This does make searching ravelry for jumper patterns a pain when I realise I haven’t translated properly.
Same goes with wool
I have now successfully trained myself to think of wool as yarn.
To most others ‘wool’ is an all encompassing term for various fibres which are spun into balls. When I say wool I mean it’s come from a sheep.
Here’s a gratuitous photo of me with some sheep. (Sheepey-baas to be exact. I spent many a school holiday at a sheep farm. Looking back I didn’t stand a chance.)

Jetty
The song ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay’ made a lot more sense when I was told that a Dock is a Jetty.
Sitting on the Jetty doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

What have I missed?

Good bye 2013

Posted on January 2, 2014 by bekswhoknits

2013 was awesome in so many ways.

We bought a house, went to our 6th test match together, saw plenty of live music, holidayed on a houseboat, and I helped out with the Port Adelaide Football Club.

I’ve had green hair, pink hair, purple hair, red hair, and several different combinations.

I participated in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week. I even made two youtube videos!

And I worked my way through 13 goals.

1. Open my little etsy shop. – Tick!

I opened a shop and closed it just as quickly. I didn’t enjoy knitting for strangers or the etsy fees.

2. Host a giveaway on my blog – Tick!
This was so much fun! And this is where I figured out the I like giving things away more than selling them.
The lesson to be learned is that postage is a killer. In the future small and light will be the way to go.

3. Finish Start the knitting crafting for my Pay It Forward post. – Tick!
Again this was ridiculously fun! And it was the beginning of embroidering fabric to go on a frame.
4. Knit 12 pairs of socks. – 8/12
I completed 8 and I currently have 3 on my needles. I didn’t quite get to 12 but maybe I was being a tad optimistic.

5. Sew 6 cushions.- 10/6 – Tick!

I caught the cushion making bug hard!
I even learnt how to sew an invisible zipper.

6. Write a knitting pattern and post it on Ravelry.
I have started this one yet. I don’t know if I still want to.
Maybe if inspiration strikes I may be able to check this off my list.

7. Post a tutorial or a how-to guide. – Tick!
Seriously making a video was not what I had planned for this. But it turned out to be a really good experience. And now I have youtube subscribers. That’s a weird feeling for someone who only has two knitting videos.

8. Try a new craft, or 2, or 3.
I tried arm knitting, spinning, jewellery making, yarn dyeing. I’m looking forward to seeing what new crafts I can learn next year.

9. Create an artwork for my apartment – Coming Soon!
I never showed you this one. But it did happen.

10. Embroider a whole song (lyrics) onto something.
This is totally my favourite embroidery ever!

11. Sew a garment from a pattern, and wear it.
This is going on next years list.

12. Read a new book every month. (something I haven’t read before) 15/12
I joined goodreads to keep track of it all, so I realised I well and truly met this goal.

13. Crochet a granny square. – Tick!
2013 was the year that crochet and I finally understood each other. I still struggle with patterns and only have one loop on my needles, but the instant gratification is awesome.

I’m currently deciding whether to do 14 in 2014 or, as I’m 30 next year, 30 before 30.
Either way 2014 is going to be awesome. I just know it.

my weekend in numbers – FO 25

Posted on November 18, 2013 by bekswhoknits

12 – the number of sleeps remaining in our apartment.

2 – the number of invisible zips I sewed
1 – pair of shorts I successfully shortened
1 – curtain I was meant to sew up but that is lost somewhere in the abyss that it the spare room.
4 – the amount of times I couldn’t find where I left the scissors
5 – how many pairs of scissors I put away after I had finished.

48 – the number of stitches to cast on with DK weight yarn on
3.25 – mm needles for a pair of socks
3 – days it took these socks from start to finish
8 – the number of times I oohed and ahhed at the way the hand dyed yarn was knitting up
20billion – the actual number of times I marveled at my hand dyed yarn.

5 – the number of fat quarters I bought at Spotlight
0 – how many balls of yarn I didn’t buy because none of it took my fancy

2 – the number of friends who have birthdays in the next 2 weeks
2 – the number of presents I have finished for said birthdays

16* – the number of Bobs Burger episodes I watched on the weekend
7* – the number of Leverage episodes I watched
6* – the number of Parks & Recreation episodes watched.

3 – the number of bands I saw on Friday night
1 – the number of songs that I knew well enough to sing along to.

4 – the number of tacos I ate last night
0 – the number of tacos I made for myself

3 – the number of mosquito bites that I can’t stop scratching.

*I don’t know exactly how many episodes I watched. These numbers are estimated guesses.

13 in 2013 update

Posted on September 9, 2013 by bekswhoknits

At the beginning of the year I set myself a list of 13 things that I wanted to do this year. Now that August is finished and there’s only 4 months left in the year I thought that I would do a quick recap and reassess where I’m at.

1. Open my little etsy shop. – Tick!
Sometimes you think you know what you want but then actually when you do it you realise it’s not what you want at all.
I thought I wanted an etsy shop, but almost as soon as I opened it I realised that I didn’t.
I prefer to make things with a specific recipient in mind, rather than for a mass market. So I’ve closed my shop and chalked it up to experience.
Instead I will continue to make things and send them to friends. Even if they’re friends I have never met.

3. Finish Start the knitting crafting for my Pay It Forward post. – Tick!
Again this was rediculously fun! And it was the beginning of embroidering fabric to go on a frame.

4. Knit 12 pairs of socks. – 6/12
I’m halfway through this one. I have two pairs of socks on the needles at the moment. One which I like and one which I don’t.
After seeing Jesse’s finished socks from this week I have the sock knitting bug again.

5. Sew 6 cushions.- 6/6 – Tick!
Woo all 6 cushions are completed! And I have one side of another one. This cushion making lark is fun. (Jazzical if you’re reading this I haven’t forgotten you, this whole buying a house lark is time consuming.)

6. Write a knitting pattern and post it on Ravelry.
I have started this one yet. I don’t know if I still want to.
Maybe if inspiration strikes I may be able to check this off my list.

8. Try a new craft, or 2, or 3.
So I tried arm knitting which was interesting.
The jewellery making was something that I had wanted to do for ages. I can definitely see more of that in my future.
Spinning definitely counts as my third new craft. I’m still not too good at it, but I can only improve right?
I recently bought a weaving kit so that’s going to be my fourth new craft so I’ll be interested to see how that goes.

9. Create an artwork for my apartment – Coming Soon!
This has been done but I haven’t blogged about it yet. I’m now waiting until we get in our new house. Or maybe I’ll show you it and then show you it again in our new house. I haven’t decided yet.

10. Embroider a whole song (lyrics) onto something.
I’m changing the parameters on this one. The intent was to stretch my embroidery skills and do a long project. Well instead of a song I chose a story from Black Books. Embroidery skill level ‘ 3 stitches learnt’ achieved!

11. Sew a garment from a pattern, and wear it.
I’m going to wait until we’re in a house before I attempt this. If I’ve learnt anything from making 6 cushions this year it’s that I don’t have enough room to cut out cushions let alone a pattern. Since the fish came along this year I have lost my kitchen table.

12. Read a new book every month. (something I haven’t read before) 11/12
This has been fun. I’ve learnt to knit and read at the same time which has helped.
I’m currently half way through a new book so I should well and truly achieve this.

13. Crochet a granny square. – Tick!
I thought that a granny square would be a great way to ease into crochet and it was. I’ve now completed two rugs, many granny squares and a cushion. I’m about to attempt a chevron rug. Wish me luck!

Home

Posted on August 29, 2013August 29, 2013 by bekswhoknits

We are now one step closer to a new home, which means leaving the apartment I’ve lived in for 4 years (1.5 of them all by myself) to an actual house.
I have been dreaming about living in my own house for so long I almost can’t believe it.

Of course the first thing I’ve done is make lots of lists. The majority are pretty boring like ‘people we need tell our new address to’ or ‘new house budget’ or ‘services we need to reconnect’.
But there’s also…

Things I won’t miss about living in an apartment.
– Hearing other people’s toilets during the night
– Hearing other people’s TVs / arguments / pigs making noise
– Being so close to other people
– Climbing over hewhofishes to get out of bed every morning
– The spare room being a combination laundry/shed/sewing room/office
– Tripping over the tools in the hall way
– People looking into our living room
– The cold, cold tiles
– Stepping over things to get in the front door
– Moving the bins when we have to answer the back door
– Every single photo having shadows in them and the terrible lighting

Things I will miss about living in an apartment.
– Being able to (accurately) throw rubbish into the bins in the kitchen from the living room
– The rail over the bath that I use as a spare laundry
– Being 400 meters away from a train station
– Being so close to MidniteMoose. We’ll have to have a MooseRoom again. Or maybe a tram service between our two places.
– My silver CD wall
– Knowing that if we lose something it has to be in one of three rooms.
– Scribbling on the walls whenever I feel like it

Things I will be able to do now that we’re buying a house.
– Have enough space to trace and cut a pattern
– Recycle
– Play ‘Test Match Cricket – The Board Game’
– Send hewhofishes outside to potter in the garden
– Decorate!
– Walk to a decent local pub (not the best local pub, but still better than our current local pub which has naked ladies on the walls and its food menu is toasted sandwiches)
– Have a chaise lounge
– Have more than 3 people over at any one time.
– Sit on the balcony in a deck chair
– See the Australia day fireworks without leaving the house
– Have kitchen appliances specifically a mix master
– Take nice photos of my knitting

Things that probably won’t change
– Me being able to find scissors
– The frequency that I wash the floors
– Being sober enough to see the Australia day fireworks
– Not having enough space for all my doctor who merch
– All the clutter

There’s still plenty of time for the deal to fall apart, but a girl can dream.

make your own report card

Posted on August 24, 2013August 24, 2013 by bekswhoknits

Watching Television – A+
Falling asleep watching television and not knowing where I got up to the next day – A
Getting my Bloglovin unread items to zero every day – C
Dyeing my regrowth in a timely manner – D
Brushing my teeth every day – C
Taking my contacts out at night (when I wear them) – F
Thinking before I speak – C+
Being able to find a pen when I need one – F
Being able to find scissors when I need them – C
Checking my phone the second it does something – A
Unsubscribing from email lists I don’t care about – C-
Waking up on time on a work day – C
Waking up ridiculously early on the weekend – B+
Leaving half drunk cups of tea all over the house – A++
Complaining about half drunk cups of tea all over the house – A
Counting to 5 – A
Counting 5 repeats of a pattern – C
Counting in 5s when casting on 100 stitched – C-
Counting to 5 laps of a swimming pool – D-
Painting my nails and not touching them til they’re dry – B-
Complaining my feet are cold – A
Putting socks on to walk around on tiles – D
Snuggling up in a blanket – A++