Craftin' & Cookin'

Wow! I've started working on my cardigan again! After at least 3 months of very little craft and no knitting whatsoever. I just felt like doing something with my hands.

I also made this pasta bake tonight which I'm very proud of:

[2 days later]
Even ze leftovers are bewdiful!

Desperate for Content! aka Cooking

In a desperate and pathetic search for content, I've decided that 'cooking' can come under the category of 'knitting.' Here are the potato salad portions I made for lunch in an attempt to get organised to work at the Australian Open:

It looks just like a 50's cookbook illustration. I love it!

P.S. They taste quite good too!

Cocktails I Made Up #2

The Katiezade

60ml vodka
30ml melon liqueur
dash lemon juice
300ml Lucozade

Stir.
Serve over ice.
Makes 2 (they probably all will).

Hello, long-lost friends.

Hello, all.

Last week, I had an urge to do something with my hands, and I did a bit of work on my stitch sampler bedspread:

I really like the 'spiral' pattern in the dark blue on the right. Some of the others are pretty crap, though! But that's what this project is all about - testing out different patterns and finding ones I really like to use on other projects. Imaginary projects, probably!...

I also started another doiley:

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I started it, but I think it's going to turn out okay. The pink blur are some beads I might somehow incorporate near the edge a la Doiley no. 1. Stay tuned for details.

In unrelated news, I've started a new section of my website [link defunct], with photos I've taken with my little digital camera. It's so "Under Construction" at the moment, it's not funny. Look if you dare.

Random Quote of the Day:
I think my friend E. would appreciate this:

"Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre."
-- Gail Godwin

Doiley land

There was a strange development last night. After weeks of not doing anything at all, I got bored last night and made a doiley. Here it is:

I've made doilies before, but not for a while, and never a knitted one before (only crocheted).

I used a pattern which involved 'short rows' that I got from a book on knitting techniques. It was much easier than it looks. I added 2 rows of crochet, incorporating the beads, around the edge, and I got quite a sense of satisfaction from doing it.
I'm completely disillusioned with the coathangers. I can't even be bothered finishing the last one, let alone posting pictures of them. I think I really prefer doilies for a short, easy project. There's no messy sewing and annoying stuffing afterwards, you can do them in knitting or crochet, you can just start with no idea what you're going to do and end up with something pretty cool ... and you can never have enough doilies, right? *wry smirk*

I think I've decided to give the doiley to my friend Pippa, who's birthday it is on Saturday. I've contributed to a huge gift - a silver bracelet from Tiffany's, but I wanted to give her a little something extra, just from me. About halfway through making the doiley I decided to give it to her. (I probably would have made it out of nicer wool if I'd had that intention from the beginning.) The irony of the contrast is not lost on me - a beautiful, expensive bracelet from the world's most renowned jewellers, and a crappy-arse doiley that it cost me nothing to make! *another wry smirk*

Oh well, the good thing about making things as gifts for people is that they have to like them.

Right?

Sick and Not Bloggy

I was starting to wonder if anyone else was out there! Myself, I've been laid low with the "I Got Food Poisoning From A Low-Fat
Subway Wrap" Blues. Available from all good music stores. I don't think I'll be putting that one in the player again for a while!


Even having two days off and not being able to leave the house, I've still done hardly any knitting (gasp!). In the warmer months I tend to be more interested in sewing than knitting, so if anyone's still interested, I think make this my "Whatever I'm Doing Right Now" blog, hopefully with some kind of crafty content (hee). I can't guarantee a boredom-free atmosphere, let alone regular posting, though. You'll just have to wait and see.

*knocks on the glass* is anyone out there? Just checking.

O Coathanger!

Guess what?

I've discovered coathangers. Coathanger covers, more precisely. Yes, I know it's dangerous territory, but I think I can rise to the challenge. For example, not ones like this:

Hopefully tasteful, practical ones that will satisfy my need for novelty while making my wardrobe look quite nice. And I think they'd make good gifts, too. (Ignore that last comment, friends.)

Here's a photo of my progress.

As you can see, I've nearly finished the first one. I have lots more ideas, and lots of spare wool floating around. Although, anyone who's had even a cursory glance at my journal knows how much I hate sewing things up, so they may never be completed. We shall see.

P.S. The instructions for that ugly coathanger pictured above have the words "decorate to taste" involved. *shivers*