As soon as the weather starts getting wintery this song starts playing.
Riff socks
Well this is my second attempt at Riff socks.
The first one (if you’re playing along at home) was a disaster.
The second pair were a little better.
Firstly, I do love the bare pattern. So much that I’ve cast on another pair with the same needles (2.5mm addis), same yarn (Moda Vera noro purple blend), same amount of stiches (60 all up – 30 a side) just without the riff part.
The riff part simply took too long. And it isn’t really seem worth it in the end.
It doesn’t stand out like I thought it would. It needs a plain coloured yarn choice.
I’m not the biggest fan of long socks, so I cut these short after three repeats of the normal pattern. I did start the transition pattern, but they were getting too long for me.
They would have looked fantastic, but I wouldnt have worn them. And I am a selfish knitter.
I’m only going to knit things for people who want them.
Maybe if someone looks at my socks, and says that they’d want a pair but longer I’d knit them properly.
But for now I think in retiring this pattern. Well the riff part anyway.
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I like a man in a tool belt
It’s just all there in a row. Sex and mending things.
I like a man who can say ‘I can fix your cistern, and I can fix your cistern‘
Of course it’s a little hard to write the intonation there, but that’s a fantastic quote from Coupling.
Which is one of my most favourite shows ever.
And I do like a man in a tool belt.
Another thing I like? Books.
So a man that builds me a bookshelf, in my bathroom (and wears a toolbelt whilst doing it), is a man to keep hold of.
And guess which lucky lady now has a book shelf in her bathroom.
Below is the photo I took when it first went up.
And a few more photos down you’ll see it now.
A slightly different calibre of books, but that’s us.
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Stuck in my head – Of Monsters and Men
I haven’t fallen for a band this hard for a long time.
The whole album has been on repeat for the last two weeks, which made it really difficult to pick a favourite.
I have a giant musical crush on this song.
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Sport, movies, rain
It was definitely a weekend to stay inside and keep cozy.
Apart from going to my local to watch my boys lose and wait for a non-existent roast, which only in hindsight wasn’t worth leaving the house for.
So inside I stayed and knitted. I finished off my Riff socks (but more on those on Friday) and immediately cast on anothe pair with the same needles and yarn and basic pattern (without the riff part).
I then wore said socks for the rest of the weekend.
I finished watching firefly. Cried at the appropriate points during Serenity. And wished that there was more.
Then needing more Joss Whedon (I finally got around to seeing The Avengers last Tuesday so I’m in a Joss mood) I started watching Angel.
It might take me a while to get into it.
So my weekend wasn’t spent with my nose in a book as I originally intended, but I did keep my (warm and cozy) feet up.
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While you’re up, can you make me pancakes??
Sometimes you just want to spend all weekend on the couch with a heat pack. Only taking the occasional break to eat pancakes standing up in the kitchen.
And then play around with phonto whilst trying to ignore the fact that you’re a woman and your ovaries hate you.
I’m being very over dramatic, but I have my period and it hurts. Pancakes help.
And I made some mix for later. It’s not as good as using fresh ingredients, but it’s worth the convenience of being able to not worry about having milk and eggs in the cupboard.
Here’s to a lazy Saturday.
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Tea cozy
I was struck the other day when I was at the post office.
They always get you when you’re waiting in line to pick up a parcel, and all you can do is look at the books, DVDs, nick-nacks that are on the shelves.
I spotted these two books and after reading a bit of them in line I had to have them.
I started reading the knitting section, realised that the author really knew what she was talking about, and that there were sections on things I didnt even know about.
Then I saw the sewing one and thought if its the same quality as the knitting section this will be a great investment.
And I have learnt so much.
They were both $25 each, from Australia Post but I’ve liked them both so far.
And my first creation inspired by one of these books is my tea cup cozy.
The reason I was at the post office was that my new favourite jeans had a hole in them, and so I’d ordered another pair. But they were $40 and if you spent $50 you got free postage. So I spent just a little bit more than that. But one of the things I bought was this mix it cup with a pink mix it lid .
For $4 I now have a new tea cup which I can take on the train in the mornings.
But it gets a bit hot, so using on of the basic cables in the book I made a cozy for it.
I have to say I’m not all that happy with it.
I forgot how much Moda Vera Ella stretches. And so most of the time it ends up falling off the cup.
But it was so quick to make i’ll probably make another one really soon.
I’m thinking maybe a bow – that would be really cute.
Has anyone ever made a tea cozy?? Any tips I should know about??
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Stuck in my head – Mystery Jets
Well this is my first passion pop Wednesday song of the week courtesy of Spotify.
It’s been just over 2 weeks since its been in Australia and I’m definitely in a honeymoon phase.
I love being able to check out a review in Xpress mag, get out my mobile and listen to it.
This track has been stuck in my head most of the week.
Thank you spotify.
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Stuck in my head – Crush
I actually have had a different song stuck in my head all morning. However when I went to research it (Tokyo Ghetto Pussy – Kiss Your Lips) it reminded me of an even awesomer song from the exact time frame.
Allow me to reveal my age. I recorded this off the radio, from Bad Boy Ben and the Vixen’s top 40 show.
I listened to that tape for ages. Alanis Morisette’s Ironic was number 1 and I loved that song.
I had another Alanis single (on cassette!) but not that, so I taped it from the radio.
I still remember some of the commentary. Bad Boy Ben and The Vixen had a tendency to sing along at the end of songs. They also had a little jingle for song 23 which I sang constantly at the age of 23.
But this was an age before iTunes (in case the cassette tapes didn’t give that away) and so the countdowns seemed important to me. I was that girl with the TV Hits magazines posters of my favourite girl singers Alanis, Jewel, as well as JTT and Devon Sawyer (all the teen heartthrobs). It was a far cry from the impeccable music taste I have now. But there are some songs which I do remember fondly.
So here is Crush – Jellyhead.
Somehow I still remember every word, probably from dancing in front of the mirror with a hairbrush. Yeh I was that girl.
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A slice of organic life
I was given this book a few years ago now, and it’s since become a constant companion.
It’s quite light on, but it does give a nice overview about living organically.
It makes me day dream about keeping pigs, and making jam, and living more sustainable.
I’m quite glad that my Mister shares these dreams and aspirations (even if he day dreams of chickens, ducks, geese, and weiros, which would be slightly more useful, but not quite as relaxing for this bird-fearing girl).
Last Christmas I started a trend of all handmade gifts. This year I intend on continuing that, but I do want to diversify. I also want to have those ‘last minute gifts’ handy in the cupboard.
So I spent most of this weekend knitting up dishcloths.
I felt very proud of myself as they were wish homespun yarn from our recent Bridgetown Adventure.
At the time I felt a little disappointed with this yarn, because I just didn’t know what to do with it. It is quite coarse and doesn’t feel nice on your skin; it wouldn’t be good for clothing.
But it is knitting up into dishcloths quite nicely, and I can see them being quite good for exfoliating cloths.
This is why I started looking through that book. I think these would be lovely presents with a home made lavender soap.
I have a lovely lavendar plant in my garden, which is very underused.
Unfortunately this book didn’t have a recipe for soap, but I will make a carrot soup tonight.
polka-dots & sparkles 