Splurgy Goodness

Araucania Nature Wool in Plum, Silver, and Green.

And sock yarn! Fleece Artist in Rainforest, CTH Potluck, and Trekking. Not normally a pink fan, but when it's combined with green I seem to lose my head.

And more Nature Wool, in Cinnamon, and More Green But Different From the Last One.

All this is courtesy of Little Knits - I highly recommend them! They're having a big sale at the moment (the Nature Wool was %40 off, hence my splurge), lots of stuff on special and the shipping was really fast.

And now I must dash - it's Friday morning and I must go to work. And field more calls from apparently crazy people who rant at me for five solid minutes and then realise that I'm not actually the person they thought they were talking to... Sigh.

You'll be glad to know I maintained consummate professionalism throughout the abovementioned phone call, and waited until after I'd hung up to tap the desk lightly with my forehead.

Have a good Friday, y'all!

In Which The Universe Pats Me on The Head and Says Well Done Peeve!

This is the second (not sure, as I never received the first) installment of Hipknits sock yarn from their sock club. Pretty. Particularly as this is a colourway I wouldn't normally try!

And my prize!! I entered a contest over at For My Next Project, and I won! I really really like this colourway - and the maple candy was pretty good, too... *burp*

There was also a note in the prize package stating that the Australian Customs people had removed an 85g bag of cat treats from the package and if I cared to pay them $42 they'd send it back overseas - or else they'd DESTROY IT (giving me a mental picture of biohazard suited quarantine officials taking it to a remote area of the Outback and detonating it so as to destroy all possibility of it SPREADING ITS EVIL). So, I'm going to let them. The above picture contains Lulu butt as a protest against such wanton destruction of Stuff She Could Have Eaten.

I also got a delivery of yarn I ordered in my holiday splurge-a-thon - I wasn't expecting this package for a couple of weeks, as I opted for the cheapest possible postage, but it turned up just a week after I ordered it! Pictures tomorrow.

I am halfway through chart 2 of the Sky Seraphim. Pictures later. Probably. Depends on whether I can coordinate me, the knitting and the camera all being in the same room with a fully charged camera battery. It could happen.

Day three of Not Hating Myself. It's going reasonably well overall - I had an okay day, felt like I was back up to speed in a team meeting yesterday, and instead of going straight home tonight we stopped at a park and lay in the sun and talked for a while. It was nice. I keep thinking something must be drastically wrong because while I'm not totally stress free ( I am not, after all, a game show host), I do feel a lot calmer and occasionally even relaxed. It takes constant vigilance though, to try not to fall back into the old thought patterns!

For example, it's my job to make sure the house is reasonably tidy so the cleaner can actually get to the carpet tomorrow. Normally, I would be stressing about this, which would inevitably lead to me despising myself for not doing more housework and being a pathetic failure (hey, my logic chains are a little... casual.... sometimes, okay?). Instead, I'm blogging, and knitting, and looking forward to finishing my book, and all I had to do was look around and say "You know, there's not actually much to be done to clear the decks. It'll take five minutes, I'll feel better afterwards, and good lord, I'm hardly the first woman in the world to hate housework!!"

*yawn*

Eh, maybe I'll just do my tidying and go to bed....

In Which Blogger Finally Lets Me Flash My Booby (Prize)

Wow, wow, wow! If this is a booby prize, then call me a booby! Looklook what La sent me! These stitch markers are absolutely gorgeous - did you make them yourself, La?

Pretty sparkly bath things - butterfly soaps, foot soak and a notepad - all perfect for Spring! And the notepad has a magnet for sticking on the fridge - we may yet go shopping with an actual shopping list!

Sheepy cuteness, bright plastic swizzle sticks, and a way cool centipede pen. The pen is SO coming with me to work tomorrow.

CHIBI!!!

And a magnificent set of fridge magnets, which I truly adore - La, are you sure you didn't somehow get a peek at my fridge and its current decorations?? These are exactly my style! I particularly love the one in the middle which says My God, I'm fabulous!

I love my booby prize, thankyou so much!

In other news, thankyou all so much for your comments yesterday. It means a lot to me that I know so many cool people. I am now at the end of day two of trying to like myself better, and I do indeed feel a bit better. It's very very scary, and I'm sure there will be setbacks along the way, but I know I'm doing the right thing. I do see a shrink, and I do take medication, although I have to question why antidepressants are apparently happily allowing me to get depressed all the time...

Perhaps yarn is the only true cure.

Instead of sending myself a bunch of flowers, I decided that sending myself a bunch of sock yarn would be much more effective. I found a lovely online retailer who was happy to let me order a whooooole lot of Socks That Rock and ship them out to Australia for me. Luckily, I happen to know I'm a hussy who will do anything for Socks That Rock. ;)

I'm very tired now, so I'm off to bed - I've just had a blissful dinner with the Astonishingly Gorgeous Miss K, at which we failed to notice the time until we suddenly realised we were the only people left in the restaurant.....

Oh, and the Astonishingly Gorgeous Miss K's mother (aka the Spinning Wheel Fairy); Miss K passed on your message and thankyou so much - I really appreciate it and you! And you should never feel shy about posting a comment to my blog!

:)

Feeling loved tonight!

Monday Morning Soul Searching - You Have Been Warned!

I don't like myself. I don't respect myself. When it comes down to it, I really believe that I am not worth my own time or effort. So many of my problems stem from this basic fact!

I've been in a really bad place for most of my holidays - hence the lack of proper blog posts. When I get like this, I withdraw in the belief that nobody's going to notice I'm not there. Which is crap. Obviously.

And I'm so very very tired of feeling like this.

This is what I'm going to tackle once and for all - 33 years is more than enough!

Please don't think I'm fishing for complimentary comments - this is more in the nature of a public pledge!

Perhaps I should take myself out on a date.... Make eyes at myself across a crowded room (difficult, but I'm sure it could be done).... Send myself flowers.....

Alternatively, I could just GET OVER IT and start living my life instead of constantly feeling like I'm enduring it.

I do have some cool stuff to post - yarny goodness! But I have to wait till tonight to take pictures.

Hang in there chaps - my normal mouthy (witty), ranty (well expressed opinions), soppy (I wuv my widdle puddle tats!) self will be back!

Actual. Knitting. Content!!

This is the start of another Seraphim shawl in Marta's 2ply held double. This is knitting up beautifully - the blues are fading in and out of sky blue randomly. This is going to be a very beautiful shawl - this is going to a friend's mother. Hope she likes a lot of blue!

Another gift for my friend's mum - It's from the Knitters best shawls and scarves book - I think it's called Midwest and Moonlight or something? I'm knitting this one in the Debbie Bliss DK Cashmerino. So. Soft.

And this. This is nothing short of glorious. We went to Marta's this afternoon (duh) and I found this on the shelves - Marta apparently found it when going through some old stock she had. It's labelled kid mohair, but to me that looks much more like silk. It's dyed all the shades of purple that make life worth living, and I have 400g of this loveliness.

Whatever I make with this Purple Perfection, it will be MINE. I'm not giving this one away!! But, I need suggestions as to a pattern.

So, come on, suggest!

Good thing for the day: Dave went and got his tooth capped today. It's gold. I've started calling him my Bling Bunny.

Bad thing for the day: Headache. Grrr.

Vengeful Thoughts

Thank you all for your commiserations! Yes, I had paid for the item - USD$130 in fact. I have lodged a claim with PayPal, but if the seller doesn't respond, you have to wait thirty days to be able to escalate it to the level where PayPal can actually step in and do something. AAAARGGH!

Sigh. It could be much worse - losing that money hurts, but it's not going to blow us out of the water or anything. Possibly I'm more upset at not being able to buy that beautiful yarn!

And knittingingrid? I bought it to make the exact cardigan that you're making - it was the picture of your cardigan that made me go and buy the pattern book!

Maybe we'll win the lottery one day.....

Mrspao has kindly offered to poke the offending seller with knitting needles. I now have a mental image of you sliding around corners of buildings in the dark, dressed all in black, armed with two knitting needles and muttering dark threats..... I like it! :)

La - I think my prize has been delivered to Dave's work, but we're on holidays, so he hasn't been able to pick up any parcels. Selfishly, he refuses to go all the way back into work to see whether any yarn has been delivered. Bastard.

I think I would have taken being scammed better if I hadn't already had a crappy day:
First: appointment with Shrink who insists on using common sense. Sadist.
Second: breakfast at nice cafe. Breakfast was nice until I discovered that there was a big chunk of MUD in my spinach. The dining experience deteriorated quite rapidly after that.
Third: it was HOT. Ten degrees Celsius above the average for this time of year. I. Do. Not. Cope. With. The. Heat. So I was pretty miserable/cranky/sweaty anyway.
Fourth: Setting up my new swift and ballwinder for a test run was fraught with arguments, mistakes, and husbandly interference. The first ball I wound was.....filled with character. Then we discovered that one of the doohickeys was facing in the wrong direction. The second ball is very very neat and pretty.

After discovering the scamming I gave up and went to bed!

Today, however, is bright and sunny and not hot. We are venturing out to Coburg to visit the Yarn Barn, where I understand there is much yarn. There will be lunch at a cafe we don't get to very often. And Dorian has just levered himself onto my lap, shoved his little face into my belly with a sigh of contentment, and is dribbling with ecstacy while having his neck scratched.

Oh all right, the world doesn't completely suck after all! Happy now?

Pride Cometh Before Being Scammed

That purple Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK that I ordered on Ebay? Two bags of it? Just got an email from Ebay saying that the seller has been barred and that if I'd already paid for the item I should take steps to get my money back.

That's what I get for being greedy!

New Love and an Angry Rant

I got a Chibi!

But this - this is my new true love. Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK. I bought two skeins to make a gift with, and the pattern book because it has some awesome cabled patterns. Four rows into the gift knitting, I was Hooked. It's soft, sproingy, knits up beautifully and has gorgeous stitch definition. And so soft. So very very soft.

Anyhoo, I've been absent, and lazy, possibly one has something to do with the other, who knows? We've been sleeping in, going out for breakfasts, and lazing about.

Not much knitting has been done - well, not much productive knitting, anyway! I've started and frogged at least five things - wrong yarn, wrong needle size, right yarn but wrong pattern, etc etc etc. I even frogged my first attempt at the gift knitting in the seductive Cashmerino DK. But I couldn't stay angry with it for long. I'm now onto version two of the gift knitting and loving it. I also may possible have googled Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK and found a seller on ebay who is selling it really cheap and it is rumoured that temporarily stunned by the cheapness of the yarn and outright lust for the dark purple colour I ordered two bags of it.

You might think that - I couldn't possibly comment.

And now for the angry rant. We got back from a lovely day up at Maryborough (more on that later) to find a possum lying next to our front fence. We discovered it was still alive and wrapped it up in a blanket and took off to the 24 hour emergency animal care centre. It had been hit by a car and its back was broken - they had to put it down. The whole thing took twenty minutes from go to woe, and yes I cried when they said they'd had to put him down. What I want to know is what kind of FUCKTARD hits a small animal and then leaves it on the side of the road to die helpless and in pain??? What kind of CRUEL SHITHEAD does that when there is a 24 hour emergency vet literally ten minutes away?? They don't charge for accidents - particularly to native Australian animals! I really REALLY want to hit someone.

Sigh. I'm going to snuggle up to my Cashmerino DK and let it whisper sweet nothings in my ear.

EDIT: Check this out: What flavour crisps does James Bond eat

Holiday!!

And what would the first day of a holiday be without a little gratuitous stash enhancement? Above you see two balls of Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette in a lovely charcoal colour, and a Brittany birch crochet hook. Pure indulgence.

It's sunny, I am upright, and I slept the entire night last night. Evidently the gods have decreed that I shall actually enjoy my holiday.

*Victory Wiggle*

Did I mention that we're on holiday??

*bounce*

Friday!

Yes, it is Friday here in chilly Melbourne. I am reluctantly levering myself in to work today, as it is my last day before I have two weeks leave. My poor colleagues are going to forget what I look like! However, we are going out for breakfast on the way in - hopefully a large coffee (or three) will help. I am also bringing in lots of goodies for morning tea - my colleagues have proved eminently bribeable in the past.

What else has been happening? It's hard to write a zippy blogpost when you've spent the last couple of weeks mooching around the house...... I unexpectedly won an auction on ebay the other day and am now the proud owner of 48(!) balls of Cleckheaton Country 8ply (dk). It was really cheap, but that is a heck of a lot of yarn..fortunately, it is all white, so I'm going to have plenty of yarn for playing around with dye! My mum (Hi Mum!) is also keen to help me with this overabundance of yarny goodness. Oh, and Mum? There is no way in HECK/HELL/WHEREVER that you are going to even TRY to give me money for this yarn. Good, I thought we'd get that argument out of the way now. Heh.

I have started a new project - I am knitting the Kimono Shawl from Folk Shawls in beautiful laceweight from Sweet Georgia, in a subtly variegated burgundy colour. So. Soft. I have paused in writing this post no less than twice just to pet it. Pics tomorrow!

Thank you all for your get well soon wishes - and thankyou mrspao for my e-card - it was huge fun!

Oops - make that three times to stop and pet the knitting.

Letters From the Sickroom Volume 3

Yep, still sick! Getting better, but not quite there yet! I went to work yesterday and lasted a whole three hours before I had to admit defeat and go home again. Sigh. But soon! I will be fully recovered and ready to resume my plot to take over the world.

I'm going to kick off with a meme I found over at reddog knits - 5 unique/weird things about your pets.

Lulu:

1. If you walk into a room where she's asleep, she will immediately chirp, roll over, stretch, and invite you to pat her belly.

2. She is smarter than the other two cats put together (granted, not really that difficult).

3. Before she became an indoor cat, she was a juvenile delinquent - one of our neighbours complained that she dug up their seedlings, knocked over their plant pots and terrified their pet birds by jumping up and swinging back and forth on the bottom of their cage.

4. Her amazing soft fluffiness contrasts well with her Fat Fluffy Paws of Death. She wields these weapons well and is undisputed Queen of the household.

5. She adores the smell of chlorine - I have to rinse my bathing suit immediate and hang it up very high or she'll claw her way into my swim bag to roll around on it.

Dorian:

1. Dorian is the littermate of Gibbering's two oldest cats. All three of them are what you might call 'special' - their mother and father were brother and sister and sometimes you can tell.

2. When we got Dorian we didn't know what to name him - we asked friends for suggestions, and Dorian was very nearly named Devil Cat Lord of Misrule.

3. When he was a kitten he was afraid of grass and wouldn't go near it.

4. Once he got over this fear he was completely fearless - I saw him on more than one occasion bounce up to a huge scarred stray cat and touch noses - the huge stray then proceeded to play with Dorian.

5. He was terrified of guests until he worked out that sometimes they bring BBQ Chicken with them. He will now unashamedly roll around on his back for a tummy rub in order to get attention and possibly some chicken.

Meiko:

1. Meiko drinks water by dipping her paw in the bowl and then licking her paw. We have no idea how she manages to drink enough to stay alive.

2. She's a very talkative cat - she mrrrps and chirps and meows and purrs constantly.

3. When she snuggles up in bed with me for a cuddle, she is irresistably drawn to washing my chin carefully and meticulously.

4. She went through a phase of absolutely adoring playing fetch - she got tired of it before we did, but every now and then she humours us.

5. She loves scaring the hell out of me by throwing herself at the back of my desk chair and climbing up it with a charming sound of rending fabric.

Hee. I want to read more of this meme! Go forth and blog!

OhFerFucksSake

I am now OVER this being sick!! Having a fever for the eighth glorious day in a row! Being as weak as a kitten when attempting to leave the house to determine whether or not there is life out there! Letting down my workmates! Not having the attention span to blog properly!!

Went out for brunch on Saturday. Tottered to cafe from car. Tottered back again afterwards. Was wiped out. Went out for coffee on Sunday. Tottered to cafe from car. Tottered back again afterwards. Was wiped out.

I have no attention span, so I can't read, tv gives me a headache, and I can't sleep because of the amount of mucus which has gotten chummy with my lungs. GAAAAH!!

I got a magnificent present on Saturday to cheer me up - a ballwinder and swift!!! Yay!! But I am too ill to set them up, let alone use them.

This self-pitying rant was brought to you by fever, lack of sleep, and a very bad mood. That is all.

P.S One thing I have been really enjoying? The chance to read (literally) hundreds of blogs. You guys are way cool! I will recommence commenting and tell you so.

See?? See???

Look at the little (by which I mean huge, looming and pointy) monster!!

This is what I saw when I innocently wandered into the bathroom for my shower this morning! The WASP that BIT MY BUTT is BACK!! Of course I have no way of knowing whether it's the same wasp, but why the heck would I let that get in the way of my ranting?? Either it's the same wasp back for second course, or it's another one who has heard of the amazing Butt Buffet currently on offer at the House of Peeve. I was in favour of squooshing it with extreme prejudice, but again Dave's soft heart came to its rescue and he captured it for release into the wild. To spread the word!!

Humph. I was going to post a picture of one of my new skeins of Sunshine Yarn, but I am now distracted and slightly paranoid. Wasps. Muttermuttermutter.

This paranoia was lessened somewhat by the huge girly squeal that I let out when I read that La has put me on her 5 blogs to spotlight for this year! Oooh.

And this made me laugh out loud (well, hack and wheeze. But the thought was there). Panopticon, I salute thee!

Good thing for the day: the sun is shining and I am about to venture out of the house in order to eat brunch and remind myself that there is actually life out there.

Bad thing for the day: The frequency with which I accuse Dave of having turned up the heating suggests that my fever is hanging in for it's fifth glorious day.

Morning All

Foolishly confident because I got more than four hours sleep last night, I thought I'd venture a post..... This is one of my Sunshine Yarn skeins - Chinese Fireball Dragon. I love it. The reds are deep and rich, and the greys and blacks complement it perfectly.

I have had one heck of a week. I cannot remember the last time I was this sick, and it ain't over yet.

Good thing for the day: Upright! And typing!

Bad thing for the day: The couch beckoneth.