And just where have you been?

Does this answer the question? My hard drive was killed by a random Rohan attack nearly three weeks ago and we are still in recovery mood. I could have had it over and done with almost immediately if I had of been prepared to ditch all of my data and just accept a quicky changeover. Alas, I am still hopeful that much of my actual stuff might still be retrievable somehow, somewhere.....

I have crossed a line...

My friend at work, Rae, has taught me to crochet. I am sure she won't approve of my first actual project, but I am positive she will be pleased that I have managed to create at least something.

In order to practice my single and double crochet I made myself a little crocheted stubby holder.

Yeeeaaahhhh....beer and yarn....does life get better?

Twirly Whirly Hat

My Mother-in-law is a mad Melbourne Demons supporter (is there any other kind). I found some red Cleckheaton Merino Supreme on Ebay some time ago and immediately thought of it with the blue I already had as a Melbourne hat for Pam. I thought about regular old stripes and other footy sorts of things but decided that I really wanted something a little bit different.

I decided on the Twirly Whirly Hat!


Sizes: Child/Small (Ladies, Mens) - Pictured size is the ladies size

Materials:

60 (70, 80) metres of Worsted weight in Colour 1 (C1)

50 (60, 70) metres of Worsted weight in Colour 2 (C2)

5.5 mm 40cm circular

5.5 mm DPN’s

Darning Needle

The Pattern:

CO 84 (96, 108) stitches using the circular needle.

Work 8 rounds of k2, p2 rib in C1

Using C1, k2tog, k5.

Join in C2, k6

[k6 in C1, k6 in C2] repeat until work measures approximately 10 (15, 20) cms ensuring that the round you finishes on brings the marker back between the final stitch of a C2 stripe and the first stitch of a C1 stripe. You can choose to strand the colours (as I have done and yarn amounts allow for this) or you could work from bobbins if you wished although it would drive me nuts. Actually scrap all that. Trust me and strand.

Decrease Rounds (at some point you will need to switch to DPNs)

Round 1: [k10 (6 stitches C1, 4 stitches C2), k2 tog with C2] repeat 6 (7,8) times, knit 6 with C1, k5 C2

Round 2: [k4, k2 tog with C1, k5 with C2] repeat for entire round.

Round 3: [k8 (5 stitches C1, 3 stitches C2), k2 tog with C2] repeat for entire round

Round 4: [k3, k2 tog with C1, k4 with C2] repeat for entire round.

Round 5: [k6 (4 stitches C1, 2 stitches C2), k2 tog with C2] repeat for entire round

Round 6: [k2, k2 tog with C1, k3 with C2] repeat for entire round.

Round 7: [k4 (3 stitches C1, 1 stitch C2), k2 tog with C2] repeat for entire round

Round 8: [k1, k2 tog with C1, k2 with C2] repeat for entire round.

Round 9: [k2 stitches C1, k2 tog with C2] repeat for entire round

Round 10: [k2 tog with C1, k1 with C2] repeat for entire round.

Round 11: k2tog all around with C1

Cut both yarns and thread both through all remaining stitches. Secure ends. Weave in loose ends and block.

You can also do this with your Twirly Whirly if you like. Pam decided she wanted a little more length on the hat to be able to pull it down over her ears. This photo shows it with 10cm of ribbing. This will take about 140 yards of red and 70 of blue.


This pattern is provided free for your own personal use. You may knit it for yourself, as a gift, a swap or for charity. This pattern is not intended for commercial use. Any intended commercial use requires permission in writing.

Motor Neurone Disease Week

This is my Uncle Frans and Auntie Shirley. Frans is an MND sufferer. Click on the newspaper article to read a little about his life and the changes that have occured since his diagnosis. Next week is national MND week - a chance to raise awareness of this insidious disease and raise much needed funds for research and the support of people like my aunt and uncle.

Frans is now confined to an electric wheelchair and relies on a LightWRITER to speak and communicate. He now does a mean Stephen Hawkings impression! There are also a myriad of other devices that make his and Shirley's lives better. None of these things are cheap and many are provided by MND Victoria.

I am sure if you had a few cents to spare the good folk at MND Victoria would be sure to put it to very good use. There will also be stalls set up in most major shopping centres throughout the week, it would be lovely if you could buy a little something.

Stupid things you agree to when drunk!

The Puffing Billy Great Train Race

13.2 kms....

The finish is 100m higher than the start...

1 hour and 47 minutes. Not bad for no training!

So very, very slack....

Has it really been so long since I last blogged? Surely not, but alas it is true. I could claim all manner of business but really I am not sure where the time has gone. We have been busy, but then again with two adults and three kids life is always pretty much hectic. Hectic in a nice way, not hectic in a "oh my God my head is going to explode" sort of way. But still a fortnight has come and gone and there has not been a word from me - well at least not on this blog.

So what have I been up to? In actuality there has been a slight lull in life these last two weeks. It is teaching round time at Uni so whilst all the other students are out learning how to teach, I have had two weeks off learning how to teach dance and drama. As much as I have been enjoying classes it has been nice to have a few less hectic Thursdays without 6 hours of classes.

I have been doing quite a bit of knitting. I outdid myself by creating a large knitted penis for my Hash, now there is something to put on the resume! I will spare you a photo. I also finally finished my 22/7 vest. See, here it is.....

Best you excuse the dopey look on the face and frizzy hair - be warned people this is what happens when the curly-haired uses her husband's conditioner! The main premise of this vest is that the stripes represent Pi to the 23rd decimal place (including the waist band). Okay, very geeky but don't you love the stripe pattern? The pattern was designed on the fly. I haven't written it up as yet, but as I wear it I like it more and more so it might just make it to paper. Having said that it is definitely not rocket science!

It is knit in left over Bendigo Woolen Mills 12ply rustic that I had originally bought to make a laptop bag. Have I blogged that? Oh well here it is if I didn't.

I started it using a pattern from Not Your Mama's Knitting and finished it using my own common sense. The pattern was just oddly written so I gave up and went my own way. It is quite nice and it is far more fashionable than the education-department-issue-black-jobby.

I also whipped the boys up an Autobot face washer to make up for the fact that they are definitely not getting a Transformers hat each. There response to the generous gift of my time and labour? "Great, can you make a Decipticon one too?" I think that means they like it or maybe they just like to see me suffer.

And lastly I have finished one circle sock. These are so cool and I am loving the gorgeous bright yarn from Susanne at Susanne's House of Wool. These are my "portable project" that travels in my handbag so they get worked on intermittently. I am near to the heel flap on the second sock. With my little size 6 feet, that adds up to pretty closed to done!

Well my apologies for the tardiness. I am sure all three of my regular readers are bereft without me.