What Do You Do All Day?

Richard Scarry. One of my all-time favourite children's author/illustrators. 

Our Onegirl fleur. It is so loved. And a lot of love comes from me.

My knitting. Which is going nowhere fast. Mum, I need you to fix it. 

I don't have much of any value to share with you. 

So tell me, what do you do all day? 

The Things I Do For You

It's Valentine's Day. And looky what I just dug up on the interwebz for you.

I'm going to test Facebook and see if they remove it. Do you think Z'berg thinks this is too rude?

I just think it's freaking hilaire. Who knitted these? SO RADSICLES!

Queen's Birthday

To ward off the grey that has been this weekend, check out this little magenta vignette. Pretty flowers from a friend, Tiny's Tupperware and some new yarn I picked up at Calico and Ivy.

Charmed, I'm sure!

Outside In The Afternoon

In the afternoons, of late, Tiny and I have been making hay while the sun shines and getting our art on.

This means we arm ourselves with a wad of paper and a clutch full of textas, head outside to our grotty but ever so-cool table (that I coincidentally found on the side of the road) and draw the sunlight away.

And every so often I click through a row of stitches.

This is Matt's scarf that's been in the works since last year. At this rate I will be churning out a scarf a year? Yep. Seems that way. I am sloooow.

Knitta Please

via

via

Heard of this way cool gal before? Knitta Please is in Australia and - gulp - she's headed to Sydney. Yeeehaw!

Starting in 2005, Magda Sayeg started covering boring, inanimate objects with knitting. With a whirlwind of response from the public she kept going. And going. And she still hasn't stopped. She's been knitting her way around the world tagging this and that. Now she wants to tag something big in Sydney.

I like the idea of bombing with a bit of yarn. Maybe you and I can join up and tag with the best of them.

What's something you'd like to see Knitta Please tag in Sydney? Me... I'd like them to do the usual suspects. The Harbour Bridge or the Opera House. Go forth and knit.

Read more here.

When One Pom Pom Is Not Enough

I love pom poms. They're so cute. Who couldn't love a pom pom? I dare you!

You'll be big stylie pleased to know that I have finally FINALLY finished the Doctor's scarf. This is an achievement for me because I have never finished knitting something. I have many scarves in the process, and they're all still around my house somewhere, but incomplete. Maybe it has helped having a child asking and asking when it's finished...? Yes. I didn't want to let him down.

Special thanks to Sheeps Clothing and Uli Shoes @ Beyond My Control for giving me the confidence to cast off - so I wouldn't keep on knitting and knitting the world's longest scarf.

It's Plain To Me, It's Pretty!

The other day when I scored a whole lotta goodness, I neglected to include these beautiful belt buckles. They're definitely not bakelite, but I'm thinking they could be celluloid. I'm not sure what I am going to do with these beauties, but it better be something special. You don't come across beauties like these all the time. Reminds me of...

In other breaking news, I've been walking. I find I do my best walking when I work it in with 'incidental' activities. Such as walking to the post office. Or today it was walking to the post office via a pile of someone's rubbish (which was fruitless, damn it). Exercise seems less painful when I have a destination in mind, and Tiny and I wound up out in the fresh air for an hour of power.

After such a beautiful weekend full of family catch ups, and the wedding, we're back to the anti-climatic routine. I must start planning things weekly so we have something to look forward to, because anticipating washing the floor just doesn't cut it these days. I might even go so far as to say I have the eight bar blues.

Never fear, I've continued with the Doctor's scarf, and it's almost to the length he wants. Yipeeee! PMM knows how to have a great time. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I Don't Get Out Much Pt 2

It's been months since I last scavenged some rubbish from the side of the road. Some readers may think I've gone into rehab, but I'm just starting to get the cold sweats. Hallucinations (is that a Parker sideboard in the park?!). I'm wearing tracksuits twenty-four-seven. I haven't washed my hair in weeks. Make-up..? What's that?

The cold hard facts are people, that even the rubbish has been hit by the recession.

No one is throwing anything out these days. Not even the rich people. Not even the people who inherit stuff. They're just shoving all the excess up their un-used chimney flues. They're sewing their old teddy bears into clothing. Pretty soon previously fashion-savvy business men are going to start wearing teddy bear couture as opposed to Zegna. And what about the crockery? I used to find mountain loads tossed out. Now what are they doing with it? I hate to think they're... using it. I'm blocking my ears at the very thought.

Times are tough, and you know who's feeling it the most. Me.

People. I need your rubbish. It gives me unexpected excitement. Cast your mind back to the days when I'd wait for rubbish night to go rummaging through the bin. Baying at the moon. Those were the days my friends, I thought they'd never end.

I'm like a wild hyena sniffing around in the bushes with no fresh furniture carcasses to haul back home. What's going down? What's a gal to do for fun?

I've been continuing my decluttering phase and taking some of the bin paraphernalia to the op shop. Maybe this will set things right again in the world and I will stumble across the next big haul.

PS - Image totally unrelated. Since so many of you* have been asking about the Doctor's scarf I started six years ago, here it is. Getting more scarf like by the minute. Oh and a small vintage belt buckle that I found (in a shop - doesn't count) a few weeks ago. You can't see here but a tiny, tiny, dainty diamante is in the middle. Love that inky blue.

* Read... no one. Ok ok, no one has asked about the scarf. I shake my fist!

Marvellous May

The Doctor had swimming lessons this morning. I love the way these two smalls look like little old men waiting to jump into the pool. Mini-Icebergs.

I enjoyed some knitting time while cheering him on. It's getting longer and longer, slowly but surely!

I just need to confirm - I have nothing else to report. Though I do like this song. What muzak is rocking your world right now?

Knit-Picker

Last night I decided to cast on the Doctor's scarf. He wanted blue, and since I have a mean addiction to Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran (all thanks to Alexis at Knot Sew Crafty), so I sourced this pale blue. I like to think of it soft as a snowflake (and in fact, I think I will throw in some Winter white to mix things up a bit).

Lo and behold, I had completely forgotten how to cast on. Well I thought I remembered. Did it, cast on 40 stitches, started knitting - and uh oh - it all went wobbly. So I had to pull it all off the needles and start again. And again. And again. I googled a few casting on videos but man, do they think I am Inspector Gadget with go-go gadget fingers?! I can't cast on that quick - that's why I am watching a video via the interwebs peeps! Slooooow down.

And then I came across this pearler. Super simple, easy to follow, I didn't even need to watch the whole thing because I got it. So easy!

New knitters, come, watch this video and cast on without shame!

My Eyes Are Just Aching

Here's the scoop. I've been a little slack on the blog front lately. Struggling to post on my own. Reading a few favourites each day (via Google Reader) but hardly commenting. Totally unlike me, because I love to give hi-fives, I love to see what's cookin' in your kitchen (figuratively speaking), I'm mad for a big too-long group huggle, but lately, I feel like my batts are flat. My reader was bulging when it got to over 1000 posts and I knew it was time for myself to have an intervention with...myself.

So I'm trying to be good. I keep every comment in the hope that I will come visit you. I do. I was trying to respond on the day of the comment, but it's hard, so please forgive me. In this case, it really isn't you - it's me. If you don't already, perhaps you can do this...? Kootoyoo has hooked us all up with a super tip that makes it easy to respond to commenters (except for you Anonymous, we don't want to be pen-friends with YOU!).

In an effort to be a become a better member of the blogging community I deleted some blogs from my Google Reader (secretly, I think I just added them because I thought I was cool by association - regardless of the fact they have NO IDEA WHO I AM!), now I am down to 743 posts to read.

Anyway, lately, I've been doing stuff. Stuff and things are good, here's some stuff I have been doing:

- walking training with Tiny. Well she walks, I clap. That's training for you.

- going to Spotlight to buy new bamboo embroidery hoops (because the Doctor gave mine away). Lo and behold, they only have MASSIVE ones, so I have to make do with the plastic. I don't think they are quite so fantastic.

- making casseroles. I love a good casserole.

- drawing with the Doctor.

- knitting. Have to master the art of casting off and then I'm going to do a course to learn to read a pattern.

- embroidery. Now I have a new hoop I can resume stitchin' and then some.

- we're going to visit my parents-in-law's dog Charlie tomorrow. He got hit by a car last Friday and is now the bionic dog with a steel plate in his leg. Go Charlie, go!

Oh and le image? On our way to Spotlight, The Doctor pushing Tiny in the car.

Knitting: On A Roll

I have news to report people. In the time that I've been away I've watched the entire second season of 'Love My Way'. Man oh man, do I love that show or what?

And - my MIL taught me how to cast on. Did I tell you that I always required either my mum or my sister to do this for me? Well now folks, I am doing it! It probably doesn't look like much, but I've been knitting up a storm. In the photo is what I've managed so far. Slow far, slow good. The Doctor has selected that pale blue for a scarf for him. I'll aim to get it done before the end of Winter.

I now also have developed a mean yarn fetish, while Debbie Bliss is definitely a firm favourite, who could deny that ridiculously addictive soft touch (?!), when I graduate to something a little tricky, I have my sights set on the impossibly cloud-like softness of Alpaca. Sheesh, is that soft or what?!

In other news I've dumped Ashton and Demi on Twitter. We weren't seeing eye to eye. I just never knew what they were banging on about. You know when you hang out with people and they seem to have a plethora of in-jokes? Well it felt like that. Ashton and Demi, it's not me, it's you.

Knit-Wit

I'm about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. I'm going to learn to knit. While I do know how to knit, I don't know how to cast on (my Mum and sister have always got me started). I am a very talented knitter - I can go from starting with 30 stitches, and wind up with 61. Takes a talent, kind of like making something out of nothing, right?

So this weekend, I'm going to learn to knit. Well start to learn how to knit. Good and proper. So I can make more than a scarf (that gets thicker as the knitting continues).

And how good is this? I won a super good giveaway on Knot Sew Crafty (that Alexis sure knows how to put together a kicking fun-pack - will you marry me?) - and what should arrive as part of the goodies? Two balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Delicious!

And speaking of winners, three winners have been drawn for the Georgie Love Bouncin' Birthday giveaway by the random number generator. I can't do screen grabs, but here are the lucky punters:

- JessicaNeale

- Hoppo Bumpo

- Pepper

Please email me with your addresses and I will post your prizes out ASAP! I will have the Doctor randomly draw the prizes out lucky dip stylie.