Introducing Mariella

Ever since I can remember I have wanted to have my very own cat. And finally, here she is! Her RSPCA name was Charlie but I don't think she has very fond memories of the RSPCA, so I have renamed her Mariella or "Mari" for short. (Mari is the Welsh form of Mary too.)

It must be true what they say about the animal picking you and not the other way around. If you had told me a week ago that I would be the owner of a female black and white cat I would not have believed you. I went to the RSPCA looking for a grey or ginger male cat.

She seems to be settling in very well. Every day she does something different. Last night was her first attempt at jumping on the kitchen bench to see if she could get some prawns! Luckily she's a bit scared of loud noises and sudden movements, so it didn't take much to let her know that this was not on. Her other favourite activities are kneading cushions for about 10 minutes while purring loudly, getting brushed and gazing whistfully out the window. Unfortunately, I'm not letting her out just yet - the RSPCA recommended keeping her inside for four weeks, but I'm going to rig up some netting in the back courtyard so she can go out before that. I'm determined that she won't catch any wildlife, so the courtyard may be the furthest she ever gets. We'll see...

Rooftop garden at work update

The rooftop garden at work is going wonderfully. We've been eating silverbeet and parsley already. Although silverbeet and kale are winter crops, some kind souls did donate these seedlings to us, so we figured, what the hell. They haven't bolted to seed yet, but it probably won't be long. You can see how wonderfully well it is all growing. My only regret is that I never took a "before" shot to show you how totally horrid it was before - all dead shrubs and weeds in each and every pot. All but one of the old trees have been removed.

Kohl rabi, lettuce, poppies, a marigold and snow peas in this pot

The list of what we have planted now is quite long:
chili
dill
spring onions
poppies
parsley
kale
silverbeet
tomatoes (Lord knows how many varieties)
pumpkin
cucumber
zucchini
lettuce
kohl rabi
carrots
lavender
rosemary
snow peas
beans
sunflowers
nasturtiums
marigolds
coriander
strawberries
rocket
probably some more things I've forgotten about!

The west section of the terrace. More pots up the other end too!

The front of The Front!

This is a special post I've written after reading Bell's post today about rude treatment by The Front Cafe in Lyneham of people I know and respect. I started writing a comment on Bells's blog, but I just had too much to say so I'm posting here instead. You may need to read Bells's post before reading this to make full sense of it.

I just can't figure this one out. The Front *seems* like it would be an inclusive, progressive community-minded establishment. But our group has more proof than we need now that The Front, contrary to appearances, is not one of these at heart. My first theory is that the person in question might have had some sort of previous traumatic experience with a knitting needle and needs therapy to get over it! An alternative theory (thanks, O) is that this matter relates to the art-craft schism and that this person has an outdated view of knitting. He sees it as sitting way at the "uncool" end of the craft part of the spectrum. He doesn't want his business's cred to be diminished by having this sort of "embarrassing" activity associated with it. What he fails to see, evidently, is that although most knitting does reside at the craft end of the craft/art spectrum, there is tremendous creativity within it and that this activity speaks to us in much the same way as the "regular" type of visual art speaks to him. He probably also doesn't know about the knitting that is considered modern art. One of my favourite knitting books is "KnitKnit" by Sabrina Gschwandtner. As well as avant guard fashion items, it also features installation art such as Isabel's Berglund's knitted room called "City of Stitches"

and Dave Cole's giant toxic knitted fibreglass teddy bear.


There is also Bridget Marrin's knitted stainless-steel gas regulators and Jim Drain's far-out Forcefield stuff.

And some of us have already dabbled a bit in public knitted art a la Knitta's continuing worldwide public art project (see also the Flickr group 'Urban Knitting').

All this is totally inspirational and much of it requires a high degree of technical skill. And because knitting isn't regarded as a mainstream art in our society, we don't go to art school to learn how to do this stuff - we meet in sociable groups in cafes to share and develop our passion.

I'm going to end with an ambitious idea. If this art/craft divide IS what's behind Mr Front's affront to knitters, I wonder if he'd be interested in seeing what knitters CAN produce with their sticks by way of art. Anyone up for creating an exhibition of knitted modern art with me? I can think of some gorgeous pears and cupcakes which would already fit the bill. We just maybe won't be approaching The Front to show it - they might not let people in the door to see it.

Rooftop gardening at the office

I think it must be the sunshine and the changing of the clocks. I've been feeling all nature-girl this week. I've started what I hope will become a vegetable and herb garden on the rooftop balcony of my building at work. I remember when I first started there two years ago I noticed the large concrete pots out there full of dead trees and weeds. I think it might have been winter and so I wasn't entirely sure if they were dead or just deciduous and didn't really know who to speak to about it at the time. Now two years later I've take things into my own hands and I've started weeding out the dead stuff and the weeds. It looks like perfectly good soil (although I wouldn't really know) but I have found earthworms and millipede insects in there so that's a good sign of fertility, hopefully. A few of my colleagues are up for being involved, so I'm hoping that next week some cuttings and seeds will appear from their generous homes. I'll have to remember to take my camera next week to document the progress of this exciting project. For now you'll just have to make do with this photo of the building.

The balcony is along the left side of the roof in this picture and wraps around two-fifths of the front from the top left corner. It's north-facing, so perfect for things that need lots of sun.
There are 6 or 7 concrete pots of about 1 x 1 metre (3 or 4 ft square) and 50cm (1.5 ft) high spread out along the balcony and probably about 10 more smaller round pots, most of which have geraniums in them. Geraniums apparently are very tolerant of dry conditions because although they've become tall and straggly they're fairly healthy despite never being watered in their pots and surviving on the rain alone, which is pretty good for a potted plant.

I'm also considering setting up a worm farm out there as the balcony is right near the department kitchen and all the organic waste currently goes to landfill, which really isn't right, especially for an environmental science department! I happen to have a plastic worm farm box set sitting in the garage that I got from one of my favourite places in Canberra - Aussie Junk at Mitchell. I think it cost me $5 but I've not put it into action yet, as the compost bin in our yard looks after our kitchen scraps at home. Anyway, here's a pic of the worm farm and a pic of the papers I got from a vermiculture information session I went to once at the Canberra Environment Centre.




I'm still a bit unsure about how it will work and a little hesitant knowing that if it doesn' t work, I will have killed living things, but I think it's worth a go. My mum has had a successful worm farm for quite some time. Hmm...think I will give her a ring now to double check what I need to get started. And then I might read a bit more of my "Food Not Lawns" book that just makes me want to move to the greeny haven of certain parts of Oregon.

Vibrant embroidery through heavy eyelids

The last time I moved house I didn't sleep right for about 2 months. With my impending next move now less that 3 weeks away, the sleeplessness has just begun again. Oh, boy. The upside is I was done at work by 1.45pm and have had a blissful afternoon of veging out in front of TV of varying quality ranging from the crap (Entertainment Tonight and The Bold and the Beautiful - each full of freakishly proportioned semi-humans) and excellent (SBS Food Safari Pakistan edition. Mmm - Yum! and Seachange - I never saw it all those years ago).

The other lovely thing I've been doing this afternoon is exploring the world of Takashi Iwasaki's art and in particular his embroidery. I'm an instant fan!

Nyokinyokinijiirokousen by Takashi Iwasaki
Embroidery floss and canvas (hand embroidered)

Traffic Jam by Takashi Iwasaki

Mixed media on paper

Learning Auslan

For about 6 weeks now I've been attending Auslan classes at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT). Auslan is Australian Sign Language - the language of the Deaf community in Australia. (No, sign language is not universal - there are different sign languages all over the world, although Auslan is related to British Sign Language, in a similar way as Australian English is related to British English.) I am absolutely loving it. Our teachers are amazing and manage to make the 5-6 hours of classes a week fly by. I've been able to slot comfortably into a second-semester class with other students who have been learning the language for the past 6 months. I've been gobsmacked at this because it's been 9 years since I last studied Auslan and that was only one year at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

Words like proper nouns and technical terms are often spelled out quickly in Auslan according to their English spelling. "Reading" another person's fingerspelling is one of the skills that takes the longest to acquire, but it seems like I've picked up where I left off with this, which is wonderful.

Here is the two-handed alphabet in Auslan. It's the same as the British sign language alphabet. Some sign languages, such as the ones used in France, Ireland and America, for example only use one hand.

You can look up other signs at the Auslan Sign Bank, which is essentially an online dictionary.

Most people want to know why I am learning Auslan. For me it's not because I need to communicate with any people I know who already use the language as is the case for some of my classmates. I'm doing it because I think it's a beautiful language that for some reason it makes my soul happy. Maybe one day in the future I will have a professional use for it, but for now I'm happy just learning.

Exciting news

Back at the blog again after my first extended unexplained absence. For a while there it didn't please me to blog, but nothing much was pleasing me for a couple of weeks there. But things have turned around, as they always do and so this post is about a couple of things which have made me happy recently.

1. It's spring. Thank God winter is going away. This week, right on cue, flowers on the plum tree outside my bedroom window bloomed and I wasn't the only one to notice. I watched this Crimson Rosella munch flowers for at least 10 minutes this morning.

2. Here's the best news though: I bought a house! Yes, my months of househunting are finally over. There will be no more agonising over whether items on my wish list were really in the "must have" column or whether they were merely "desirable". There will be no more soul-searching over questions like, How much space in the garden do I really need? Would I really ride to work all that way every day? Is it really stupid to pay nearly 5% of my income in body corporate fees? Will my guests really mind sleeping in a second bedroom that is so small it could be mistaken for a cupboard? After seeing more than 40 homes before this and putting in 4 previous offers on other places and bidding in an auction, I finally nailed a sale! It took me about 3 seconds to know that I liked it and about 10 minutes to make an offer on the spot. Move in at the end of October. Can't wait! Now if I could just conjure up the same situation with a man...

Lovely north-facing garden.

Lovely sunny lounge room.

3. Had a good old scavenge at Second-hand Sunday today for stuff to put in the new house. Best find was a gilt-style picture frame around an oil painting that I don't really care for. So I'll carefully remove the picture and replace it with one of my photos, I think.


Then there are these awesome gum boots. Too small for me, but I have someone in mind who might like them.

Mistakes are part of life

This scarf is the first thing I've ever knitted which will have a price tag on it. For that matter it's the first piece that's going to be part of an exhibition too. So that's all pretty exciting. I'm donating it to the Breast Cancer Neck Decorations exhibition through Craft ACT. So if you like it, you can buy it, although I don't know exactly when or where because the date and locale for the exhibition is still a bit up in the air... Check the blog link above for updates, I guess.


The yarn is hand-spun and hand-dyed Annie Gregg 100% mohair from Tumut, NSW. It was really itchy before I soaked it for blocking and thankfully the itchy bits have relaxed now. I love the colours which I call "rainbow and astroturf"! Anyway, the title of this post came about because this scarf started off as Taphophile's Short Circuit scarf but I misread the pattern and it became something different and I love it! It's fairly short because I didn't have very much yarn. I had some more in a slightly different dye lot and tried to kid myself that it would be ok and added it on. But even though others assured me it was ok, I couldn't live with it. The shade change glared out at me everytime I looked at it so I ripped it back and it is now a short woman's scarf or one for a girl instead. I've priced it at $40. Does that seem about right? It is gorgeous!

Yummy card I made

My grandparents, who live in super North Wales, are having their 70th wedding anniversary this week. How about that, eh? 70 years of marriage! They're both in their early 90s now. Here is a picture of them at my cousin Clare''s recent wedding to Ash, who will both have to live to over 100 to achieve the same feat.

Anyway, while staying up until the ridiculously wee hours last week to watch the first two sets of the "Wombledon" men's finals (wasn't it exciting? - I wish I could've watched it all but it went on for 9 hours with rain breaks), I made them this card. I like to make cards for people when I have time instead of buying them one. Much more personal. I'm actually really happy with this one. It's just silver pen on purple card - pretty easy really.


Certainly not as good as Jejune's gorgeous greeting cards, some of which I just had to buy at the Old Bus Depot Market's last Sunday. Well done to all who organised a gorgeous stand.

Rant: What not to do on a first date

Don't talk that much about your ex-wife
Don't ask me for too many details about my last ex-boyfriend
Don't ring me when I am 3 minutes late meeting you
Don't email me with all the things that your ex-wife says are wrong with you
Don't invite me to a movie for a first date - you can't get to know someone sitting silently beside them
Don't then talk during the movie
Don't awkwardly pat me like a dog when it's time to say goodbye.

Honestly, I don't really know why I went. Actually I do - it was the whole getting back on the horse thing and I'm proud of myself for doing it, even though it was all somewhat excruciating.


On the up-side, Mamma Mia! the movie rocked. I love Meryl Streep in anything and this shows us she can do singing and dancing as well as acting. Mr Darcy...I mean Colin Firth, another favourite, is in it too. There is even a nice wet white shirt reference in there. Pierce Brosnan is the male lead. I have a problem with him - always seems a bit wooden (is it just me?) and his singing doesn't quite cut it. Oh, well. Overall, though, it is great fun. Highly recommended.

Semantics of stash and a literary dinner party

My housemate J comes up with the most original ideas. On Sunday night she held a dinner party, to which invitees had to bring 300 words of creative writing on the theme of 'the moment'. Despite feeling like I was back at school and doing homework on a Sunday afternoon beforehand, it was actually a really cool event. 12 people brought along some really great pieces of writing. Each piece was read aloud by someone other than the author (with authors remaining anonymous) and then we all voted on our top 3. Trying to kill two birds with one stone, my 300 words were a re-purposing of my blog entry from the weekend on my stash. Because I didn't think non-knitters would know what a stash was, I ended up changing the motif from knitting to books, but before I decided on that change of direction I went looking in the Oxford English Dictionary for its definition of the word 'stash'. Here are the definitions:
Stash
[verb] Store (something) safely and secretly in a specified place. Their wealth had been stashed away in Swiss banks.
[noun] 1. A secret store of something. The man grudgingly handed over a stash of notes.
A quantity of an illegal drug, especially one kept for personal use: one prisoner tried to swallow his stash.
2. (Dated.) Hiding place or hideout.

You can see that the word is intimately related to secrecy with a splash of danger and a hint or illegality in there. This leads me to the issue of the excellent no-guilt stash manifesto by Bells and Amy. For those of you who took the pledge, how is that working out for you? Has the guilt eased since you signed up? Was there a euphoric honeymoon period and then a back-to-reality return to guilt? Well, I reckon that what we all need is a new word. Stash is just too loaded a term. So let's put on our thinking caps and come up with a more liberating term.

Post your suggestions as a comment. I've made some quick but crap suggestions here so you get the idea. I'm sure there are some very talented wordsmiths out there who can do much, much better (acronyms welcome) or perhaps you know of some guilt-free synonyms already in use.

piles of furry soft joy
yarn sanctuary
RBY: reserve bank of yarn
sanity insurance collection
mood enhancement storage scheme

Full stash disclosure

I like to pretend I am more or less stashless. It's because I'm the child of a hoarder. In our family being a hoarder or a chucker skips a generation. My grandmother is a chucker and that is why, according to my mother, she (my mother) is a champion hoarder. So according to this logic, I was destined to be a chucker and that's generally true. Although... today I decided it was time to face the fact that over the past little while I've been buying yarn and then buying more before I've used what I've got. And that, very simply, is how hoarding starts! So I'm coming clean. I've photographed my stash, I'm posting it here and on ravelry and I'm going to try really hard to use what I've got before I buy more. And yes, I do know that the Old Bus Depot Markets fibre themed day is on next weekend!



In turfing out my stash I also found several UFOs. I never knew I had second glove syndrome so badly!

This is gorgeous sock yarn I bought from Georgie after he last trip to Germany. I love the colours.

This is lovely Waratah Fibres yarn I bought in Bundanoon.

Househunting and birdwatching

It's been two weeks since my last post. That's because I've been too grumpy and stressed to sit down and write. Most of the stress has been real-estate induced. In the last two weeks I have put in two unsuccessful offers on houses. The first time my not too unreasonable offer on a little granny flat in O'Connor was rejected.


Two months after first appearing on the market the house still remains overpriced and for sale. The agent keeps trying to push me that bit higher and I (and the rest of the Canberra, evidently) keep thinking that the vendors are dreaming. Impasse. I've just about moved on.

The second place was a very tasteful North Lyneham townhouse and I got into a three-way bidding war and got outbid. That's ok. I hope the new buyers enjoy their divine new bathroom.


So for a change this weekend I did not do any househunting. Instead I went orienteering for the first time in ages up Mt. Ainslie. I even didn't get lost...much. Then this morning I rode out to Mulligan's Flat out the back of Gunghalin's construction warzone and went on a bird survey with the Canberra Ornithologists Group. They have some gorgeous photos on their photo gallery of local birds. Today some of the birds I saw were:
spotted pardalote
white treecreeper
scarlet robin
Such cuties!

So a weekend of getting out into the fresh air has blown the grumpiness away almost. Hopefully next week will be better.

Spinners and Weavers Open Day Report

I went to the Canberra Spinners and Weavers open day today in Ainslie. I actually had a great time. I watched microwave chemical dyeing, natural dyeing on a stove, drop spindle spinning, spinning wheel spinning, carding, three types of weaving, and got interviewed by a reporter from the Canberra Times. I had a go at the tapestry weaving and drop spindle spinning.

I got the hang of the spindle this time (my second go ever) and now realise that the first time I tried and failed was because the fibre I used was not very good for beginners, not because I was hopeless at it. This time it was much easier and although the yarn I produced um...had character, shall we say, I did do it without dropping the spindle.

The tapestry weaving was fun too. I've been looking at books about weaving recently but it wasn't until I had a frame on my lap and a bobbin in my hand today that I remembered that I had actually done this before as a young child. I had a bright green plastic weaving kit and with the help of my mum I made little rugs for my dolls house. I had completely forgotten this and it was delightful to be reminded.

So I think I have good news for all fellow 'Bitchers who may have been put off by the rumours that the S&W group is not for them. Yes, the demographic is definitely skewed towards the grey end of the scale, but obviously that's only going to change if other people join. I for one thought it was actually a privilege to connect with some very knowledgable women who are part of Canberra's crafting heritage.

Update on the graffiti knitting
Well, it seems the horn-band for the sheep statue was just too tempting for someone. Apparently it was there at 2pm today, but by 3pm it was gone! I'm not too upset. I knew/even hoped it would happen, but not inside 24 hours! Ah, well. I'll take it as a compliment that someone liked it enough to nick it and I hope the new owner likes their new wristband. You never know, I might see it again some day. The J's funky legwarmers and the P's very stylish tree cosy where still there late this afternoon.

Graffiti knitting - what a blast!

Perhaps it gives you an insight into the sheltered life I lead but I'm still on a high from today's knitting graffiti adventure for Worldwide Knit in Public Day today. There were just three of us in the end but we knitted and tagged the sheep statues and a tree in Civic near the merry-go-round today. Unfortunately I only had time to do a little horn adornment, but P and J improved the scene immensely with a sheep legwarmer and a tree cozy as well. P has better pics at her blog.

I'm slightly embarrassed that this is possibly the ugliest piece of knitting I've ever done but I had about half an hour to do it. I wonder how long these pieces will stay up?

In any case, it was so much fun. You've gotta try it!

Where was I ten years ago, etc

Menai Bridge (or Porthaethwy in Welsh), Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mon), North Wales (Gogledd Cymru), where I lived for several happy years. It's the next village along from Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
1998 was the year after I finished my undergraduate degree. I went backpacking in Europe and then lived in Wales for the rest of the year with my relatives. I thought I would figure out what I wanted to do with my life during that year but I never did. Towards the end of the year I returned to Australia and got a job in Melbourne captioning Neighbours and Sale of the Century for deaf and hard of hearing people. I started learning Auslan (Australian Sign Language), which one day I will go back to - I loved it.

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
Go househunting, go to Canberra World Wide Knit in Public event and tag stuff (I've always wanted to do this! BTW, check out Knitta Please for excellent knitting graffiti/public art), do washing, apply for a lifetime of crushing debt (aka submit my mortgage application), clean the house

3) Snacks I enjoy?
Chocolate and lately persimmons. Mmm! Also creme brulee. It's not a snack exactly but I'm in love with creme brulee right now.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire?
Cycle around the world. In fact, I plan to do this even if I'm not a billionaire but I think I would have much better food and accommodation if I were! I'd work with the ACT government to convert Canberra to a city which leads the world in environmentally sustainable housing. I'd invest in an excellent public transport system in Canberra. I'd help my brother be a full-time artist.

5) Places I have lived?
Willoughby and Five Dock in Sydney; Mirabooka and Cooranbong in Lake Macquarie, NSW; Turner (3 houses), Downer and Belconnen in Canberra; Dwygyfylchi, Menai Bridge (3 houses) and Y Felinheli in North Wales, UK; Lille in France; Carlton in Melbourne; Kitsilano (2 houses) in Vancouver, Canada.

6) Jobs I have had?
During school and uni: Canteen server, Red Cross delivery driver, youth hostel assistant, indoor plant technician
In adult life: TV subtitler, support worker for visually impaired person, health economics research assistant, linguistics research assistant, BBC project developer, office temp in accounting firm, database officer in pediatric hospital, event promoter for a bicycle organisation, ANU project administrator.

7) Peeps I want to know more about? Everyone!

Teabag strings update

I've been blown away by the response from tea drinkers to my tea bag string collection. Here it is so far! I haven't counted yet but definitely have enough to start experimenting with some ideas. Thank you so much, everybody! Now I've just gotta find some really thin needles and get started.

If you have been collecting tea bag strings and want to continue, that is fine because I think I will need more, but if it's all getting a bit much you can probably give it a break cos it's probably going to take me a while to progress through the experimental phase.

You may have noticed from the picture that many people have been leaving the tags on their strings. Initially I didn't think I wanted this but now I think that's great. I never realised there were so many different brands of tea out there so I'm gonna make some use of the tags too- maybe around a frame or just a mosaic type of thing.

Hanging out with bird nerds (and getting paid for it!)

I've got a great job. Mostly I am an office-bound creature but every now and then I get to go out into the field with my ecologist colleagues to do what they're doing in this picture. For the past 9 days I've been on a bird survey throughout the Murray and Murrumbidgee Catchment Areas from Gundagai to past Deniliquin. This map of the Murray Catchment Area shows most of the area we covered.


It's quite hard work. You have to be up and on-site as the birds are waking up and some days that means driving 100kms before dawn. Then it's a matter of finding our way to the marked (although sometimes not very well marked!) survey points in the bush and doing a five-minute stint of listening and looking for birds. All birds detected are noted down according to their species and their proximity to the survey point. This is then repeated at another point 100m away and again 200m away from the first point. These three points constitutes a site and each team does between 6 and 12 sites a day.

The aim of our surveys is to monitor over several years the abundance and variety of bird life in a range of different vegetation types, e.g. remnant woodland vegetation, blocks of planted trees, strips of planted trees, travelling stock routes. Most of our sites are on farmland so the impact of cattle or sheep grazing on the vegetation is also a variable which is taken into account. From this we are able to make recommendations to farmers and other stakeholders (e.g. government) about best practice management for wildlife in agricultural landscapes. Our team also does surveys at other times during the year for small mammals (e.g. antechinus, bush rats, bandicoots), reptiles and arboreal marsupials (e.g. possums and gliders).

My colleague Steve doing a bird survey.

My colleague Steve knows more than I could ever hope to learn about Australian animals and even though we were there to do a bird survey he just had to look under the reptile survey substrates to check for critters.
I'm a big weeny when it comes to snakes so I let Steve do the corrugated iron substrates but I was brave enough to help with the tiles and sleepers at most sites, although the first time I found a skink under a tile I did drop the tile in fright! Luckily the little Boulenger's Skink went unharmed and after that initial shock I chilled out. Still, I was happy that this little fella happened to be under one of the sleepers that Steve turned over and not one of mine. I probably would have yelled "Ahhh. Brown Snake!" and run for the hills. But it's actually a Curl Snake - see the dark brown head? It gets its name because it curls its tail from side to side when feeling threatened.


So I am now hooked on birding. I know about 50 species of bird from the Murray/Murrumbidgee area and when I got home yesterday promptly went and bought a Birds of the ACT book. Next purchase will be binoculars. And to continue the birding theme through to its natural conclusion...knitting, of course! Here is some mohair I bought in Gundagai. It was handspun and hand-dyed in Tumut. I got it from the Gundagai Arts and Crafts Emporium at the bottom of the main street in Gundagai. If you're ever passing that way, it's well worth a look. Not a lot of fibre but a lot of other crafty and antiquey goods.


The mohair looks quite different in a ball than on the hank. The dominant colour of green becomes apparent. I knitted a gorgeous baby beanie from it on the trip for my colleague and friend Rebecca but in a der-brain moment I forgot to take a photo of it before I gave it to her. Anyway, I called it a Little Lorikeet beanie because it looked like the colours of that bird.

One final photo now from the trip of a mosaic ute in Deniliquin. As you may know Deni's biggest event each year is the Deni Ute Muster. They hold the world record for the most utes in one place. Something like 4000+ utes, I think. While I have no desire to attend such an event in my lifetime, I have made an attempt at mosaics before and once tiled a bathroom so I can appreciate just how much work went it this. It's gobsmacking, isn't it?

How you can retire early if you ride a bicycle

I attended a talk last night by Dr Paul Tranter on the concept of "Effective Speed". It was one of those total lightbulb experiences. After a bout of insomnia the night before (1 hour of sleep - thanks a lot, Sleep Gods!) and a whole day at work I was pretty fried when I went into the talk after a day at work, but I came out absolutely buzzing! The talk finally gave me proof of some things which I've always thought were true but never had any evidence for: namely that riding a bicycle around is way smart!

One of the most exciting prospects from the talk was that riding a bicycle instead of owning a car means that you could work less - maybe cut back to 4 days a week or retire a few years earlier. Same goes for catching a bus or a train - in many contexts public transport is also "faster" in real terms than going by car. OK, well it isn't quite that simple, but it's not all that complicated either.

The Oregon coast

Basically, Dr Tranter illustrated that the belief that driving a car saves us time is, in many cases, a fallacy. In fact, cars are one of the least time-effective modes of transport, because although the time it takes you to go from A to B might be shorter than other modes of transport, in order to undertake that journey you have to go to work for x hours in order to pay for the cost of owning and running the car. So "effective speed" takes a holistic approach to calculating the true costs of transport. If you choose a mode of transport which costs less money, although it might take a little longer to get from A to B, you don't have to work as many hours to pay for it (or you can spend the money on other things to improve your quality of life - e.g. Koigu knitting yarn ;-))

To his credit Dr Tranter was not a car-basher. He presented a really balanced argument and included several forms of transport in his analysis - e.g. car, train, bus, bicycle. His website has some references to some academic papers he has written on the subject (one 2008 paper is being posted later today apparently). There is also an older Australian Greenhouse Office paper on the subject online.

Holiday blog paralysis and a shock about socks

Hello all! Got back from our holiday to the UK and France today and would really like to blog about some of it but am a bit overwhelmed about where to start. After three weeks of visiting people and places in Wales and London and three weeks of eating, drinking and cycling in France there's a lot to say and too many photos to deal with whilst suffering jetlag! I'll work my way though them slowly over the coming weeks in themed blog entries. I've already thought of a few good themes for France: 1. entrees; 2. main courses; 3. desserts. I'm serious! Here's a preview to make sure you come back!


Careful! Drool is really hard to get out of a keyboard, you know.

For now, because I can't decide where to start with all the rest, I'll retreat to the safe blogging ground of craft. Here is some my work that now lives in the UK.



I made these Nancy Bush 'New England' socks during my North-American sock frenzy of 2005. The yarn is Koigu, don't you know. It was my first lace knitting project and worked from a chart, which drove me a bit mental at the time (in a good way) and was knitted primarily in a sunny central Illinois backyard and on a wonderful 43-hour-ish train journey from Chicago to Seattle. I have such wonderful memories of these socks and I think they are probably my favourite project ever. Big call, eh? They represent a perfect confluence of high quality yarn, an excellent pattern and, most of all, the wonderful memories of the summer I spent with my friend Sarah and her family in Illinois. In short, these socks mean happiness to me, I guess.


Anyway, 2005 was the only year I achieved a long-held goal of making all my Christmas presents and these socks were given to a relative in North Wales with whom we stayed on our trip. It was an interesting experience to catch up with this beloved project. Not only did I get to take belated photos, but I also got to find out a bit about their lives. I've got mixed feelings about whether that is a good thing or not because the news was somewhat shocking.

Are you ready? Brace yourself.

They have become gardening socks and are worn inside gum boots.

Are you all still there? I think I heard the gasps from here.

I tried hard not to let my horror show when I heard this news but I don't think I was successful. Some time during the recipient's perfectly logical explanation of how these socks are too thick for her regular shoes but the perfect weight for her gum boots, I managed to close my gaping mouth. On the positive side, I take comfort in the fact that the sock-owner is the tidiest person I know. Walking into her house is enough to make me feel like an class-A scruff. So I have no doubt that her gum boots are the most pristine gum boots you'd ever find. I'd be lying if I said I didn't care that these socks aren't being displayed in public from time to time, but I am happy that they are being used and enjoyed. Much better than if they were left forgotten at the back of a drawer. I'm sure I am remembered every time these socks are worn and that is nice. That is enough. It makes me reflect on the importance we place on the visual - it's just one aspect of our craft but is it the most important? Possibly not.

The wedding shawl and wedding sampler

Bit of a theme here, following the previous engagement socks post. This time I'm showing a picture of the Wisp shawl that I hastily made myself for my cousin's wedding in Beddgelert, North Wales, which was held on Saturday. The shawl's already on Ravelry, but I wanted to show a picture of it being actually being worn. The Rowan Kidsilk Night was fantastic and kept me warm all afternoon and evening.

The wedding was wonderful. It was sort of a mini-break wedding, really, as many people stayed at the country house where it was held. The evening entertainment included a casino with free play money to gamble away. I managed to lose my £50 on the blackjack table under 10 minutes!

I'll show more pics of fabulous North Wales when I have time. For now, I'll just add one more photo - the wedding present I gave Clare and Ash. It took me several months to make and the design is based on an embroidery by Georgia Willison, the mother of my friend Sarah. I don't know if it was Georgia's design or whether she got it from a pattern, but I think she would have been chuffed to see her work imitated either way. Thanks, Sarah, for your permission to use it.

The story of the engagement socks

When I lived in Canada two years ago I started knitting Nancy Bush's Conwy socks from some lovely Fleece Artist yarn. I managed to knit one of these socks before I left Canada and this project came with me on my Canada to Mexico bike ride. I thought for sure that I would be able to finish them on the 6-week trip. I imagined I would have lots of spare time by the campfire in the evenings but as it turns out there are a million and one chores to do each night when travelling by bike - daily handwashing of sweaty lycra and flouro, bike repairs, hunting and gathering food for that night and the next day, setting up tent, etc, etc). So the knitting travelled all that way with me with barely a stitch knitted and this is one of the more unusual ways something becomes a UFO, I guess! Another contributing factor as to how these gorgeous socks became relegated to UFO status was that that the first sock had turned out a bit too tight around the widest part of the foot (at the 90 degree bend on the front of your foot). I had wanted these socks to be for me, but this meant that actually they would become a present for a smaller friend and I think that made second-sock syndrome all the more difficult to fight, especially as this was the second pair of socks I'd made out of this yarn, and thus it was actually more like fourth-sock syndrome.

Anyway, I got the second (fourth) sock done and had decided that they would be an engagement present for N, who had small feet and who had commented on the lovely yarn. I finished them quickly and then held both socks up side-by-side and realised with horror that I had made a calamitous mistake - I'd knitted them on different size needles. I was aghast for a day or so, but I didn't frog. Instead, I talked to N, who is a knitter and who is staunchly anti-frog. We worked out a solution, based on the fact that N, like many people, actually has a half-size difference in the size of her left and right feet. So this pair of socks has an L sock and an R sock. The main difference when you looked at the socks was that one was taller up the leg than the other by about a centimetre. So I undid the cast on and picked up stitches on the top and knitted an extra centimetre of rib. It's a bit messy when you look closely and the cast off doesn' t look the same as the cast on on the other sock, but the mottled shade of the yarn is very forgiving and N seems very happy with her engagement socks with a story!

Contents of a cyclist's "handbag"

I've always wanted to meme and now I'm a speck in the the blogosphere I can dig deep within myself (or my "handbag") and spill forth facts about myself no-one ever dreamed could have been true. Ok, I may be overstating the importance of the contents of my handbag but I'm in the first flush of blog and I'm a bit excitement... I...I mean excited.

So this is my meme on the contents of my handbag. Except I don't really have a handbag. I have cycle panniers. I have four but the front wheel two are only used for tours and the back two don't like each other that much and so they don't go out together very often (only for shopping trips usually). So I bring one to work and they tend to swap around a bit. Lefty came with me to work today. Righty stayed home. Righty also contains my puncture repair kit and associated tools. I like to spin the wheel of chance when it comes to being prepared. Luckily punctures are a rarity for me due to reinforcements in my rear tyre (Mr Tuffy strips) so I haven't been caught out yet. Uttering this statement has surely tempted fate though.

Anyhoo or beth bynnag in Welsh (pronounced beth bunnag), these are the contents of my panniers (from this morning):

1. Bottle of water - I have a small set of recycled water bottles which litter my office and house. I never wash them - just keep refilling them. Isn't that a tiny bit gross when you think about it? Glasses and cups get washed but not these bottles.

2. Tupperware container with left over vegetable curry for lunch in it. I would be looking forward to it if I hadn't already eaten it 4 out of the last 5 days.

3. Lebanese bread to go with the curry as I ran out of rice yesterday.

4. Cycle computer and back light - I park my bike outside at work and don't like to leave these detatchable items on it in case of naughty people who like to help themselves to such things.

5. Flouro cycling vest which I don't wear to work because I only live just around the corner and I don't have to go on any busy roads. I do wear it if I go on busy/tricky roads though or going to unknown places where I don't know the road conditions. It's in my bag because my friend J from work borrowed it from me recently and just gave it back to me.

6. Wallet and ugly grey change purse. My pretty cloth change purse recently died after 8 or so good years of service and I'm using this ugly freebie cosmetics bag that is the type that comes free with a magazine or shampoo sometimes. Must make myself a new purse soon.

7. Gloves - It's become glove weather for cyclists in Canberra over the last week. The irony is that I have them in my bag but I didn't put them on this morning and I got cold hands and this means I was there riding with one hand on the handlebars and one hand in my pocket and I was alternating them when it got too bad for the handlebar hand. So dumb that I was too lazy to stop and get the gloves out.

8. Knitting in ziplock bag. This is actually completed socks and all I have to do is sew in one end. These socks are a present for N at work who recently got engaged. There is a whole story behind these socks and the monumental cock-up I have done with them which I will save for another time.

9. Embroidery project for my cousin C's wedding in two weeks' time with enormous yellow plastic bag. Can't show the actual embroidery as it is a surprise present but will after the wedding. Hoping to do some stitching during lunch. Some people might think I am incredibly brave (or stupid) to put an embroidery on which I have been working for months and a curry in the same bag. You are so right. It is a bit stupid but I always make sure curry is in extra reliable container and put it the bottom of the bag and this is the reason for the huge yellow plastic bag for the embroidery. See? It all makes sense! But one day I will be sorry...very sorry, I'm sure.

10. Muesli bar for a snack. As G said in her handbag meme, it gets very ugly if my blood sugar goes whacky.

11. Mobile phone

12. Post-it note left over from when someone picked something up from my office recently.

13. Telstra bill.

Tah-dah!