knitting in public, and other things

im home sick today, and waiting to find out if flights to perth (scheduled for 10am tomorrow) get cancelled due to ash cloud activity. secretly, i kind of hope so. the idea of 5 days away from home with lots of people to meet and talk to for work while hacking up a lung doesnt really appeal. and yes, im going to the doctor. its nothing serious im sure, just a reinfection from the flu that i had a month ago and never quite got rid of. but its annoying, the way they linger these days. a sign of encroaching old age, i think.

thankfully, i didnt get sick until late saturday night, so i have plenty of pictures from the weekend! the fun started about 230 friday afternoon, when i met up with shelley at our swanky hotel in the city, got changed out of my work clothes and headed off. first stop lindt cafe,

hot chocolate and waffles with lindt icecream

then the morris and sons sale, shoe and bag window shopping, and kinokunya where we met up with jp and randomknits and knitabulous. jp was off to the film festival, so ailsa, donna, shelley and i headed to liverpool st and had some excellent tapas for dinner. apparently a litre of sangria isnt really all that much! shelley, who was tired from her very early morning flight across the ditch (pacific ocean), headed back to the hotel to sleep, and i persuaded donna and ailsa to buy tix to the film festival and see the new jane eyre.

i loved it, its my favourite bronte anyway, and this was an excellent adaptation. great acting, editing, costume and cinematography, a lot like bright star, aesthetically speaking. and mia really was jane, one of the best ive seen. catch it if you can.

saturday morning we headed off in search of coffee,

and some more window shopping before the secret squirrel business, which was yum cha for donna’s recent birthday.

it was so much fun, trying to keep this a secret from her, i think she was pleasantly surprised. i took care of the birthday cake, red velvet cupcakes of course!

then we all headed down to circular quay for the official business of world wide knit in public day. it was all very well organised, with lots of new faces, although i was a bit overwhelmed by how many people and how crowded it was. it was a lovely day outside, so some of us decamped to the verandah

and later to the courtyard for drinks.

it would have been nice to stay there all night really, but shelley and i had other plans, which was a super rugby game out at olympic stadium.

the waratahs smashed the brumbies in a rather pedestrian display and are into the semi finals (im sure you’re all thrilled about that). we knitted in public there too,

and it was freezing cold, and i had a sore throat on the way home. grrr.

sunday morning was lovely and sunny as well and i dosed up on cold medication before taking shelley down to the beach for breakfast at diggies, of course, with more knitting,

then we did some touristy type things, checking out the sights from the lighthouse and the lookout.

a glorious day, finished with cake, pizza and more knitting. monday we drove up to balmain to visit a certain little yarn and fabric store

and have coffee and macarons (salted caramel butter) with donna.

some jitterbug may have fallen into my bag, and i also picked up an order that had arrived a while ago from rosered:

the jitterbug is the oyster and the blue, the 3 large reds are spud and chloe fine and the darker reds are more blueksy alpaca silk, for celes. speaking of which:

as usual, with jarod’s patterns, surprisingly easy to remember. i have also started some new socks for me,

these are nancy bush’s ‘unst’, and i had my arm twisted by knitdra and mrs-sockvictim, we’ve been waiting for certain yarns to arrive. and no, i still havent finished either of the two pairs of socks im knitting for trent, or the greenfield cardigan, and suddenly i have 5 WIPS not 2, and its all because of my evil enabling knitting friends!

so, a great weekend, exhausting and sometimes frustrating, but a great chance to connect with friends old and new. next year, for WWKIP though, im going to go sit in a park. which means it will rain of course. but thats what pubs are for right?

hope it was a good one, wherever you were.

k xx

onward upward

so im over the sad now (thank you for the lovely comments). im not one to wallow, these days. i did a lot of that when i was younger, it got me nowhere. it doesnt get anyone anywhere. there is too much to be grateful for. apart from the job thing, and how promising things are looking there, i am most grateful this week for friends. some people know just what to say. and even when i dont feel like being around people, being around people is just what i need. i have lots of ‘being around people’ happening this weekend coming. as most of us who knit are aware its ‘world wide knit in public week’, with some events being held last saturday, and this saturday is a kind of ravelry meet up in sydney. lots of my favourite people will be there, and i am especially excited about shelley coming over from new zealand (ash cloud permitting). along with our wicked partners in crime, we have scored a very nice secret 5 star hotel deal for friday night, and there will be much giggling late into the night i suspect (no there will not be pillow fights). there will be breakfast, shopping, knitting in public (im hoping for sunshine so i can decamp to the forecourt outside customs house and really annoy people), and then shelley and i are off to the rugby saturday night. then shes coming back to visit in the gong for a couple of nights, and monday we’re planning a little car ride over to balmain. apparently there is some cute yarn store. and macarons.

the problem with all this is not what to wear, but what to KNIT! the current WIPS are a bit meh. i really like these conwy socks and want to get them finished

but cable socks on dpns are a bit tricky out and about. i have restarted work on these lovely regia kafe fasset toe ups,

because they are magic loop and plain knitting, so very practical. but they bore me after a while. i dont want to start new socks (I have yarn and pattern lined up for both unst and a do-over of the ‘evening stockings’ but i owe trent at least one pair of socks this winter, so i must be strong). also, i really want to finish the greenfield cardigan while its cold enough to wear. i finally cast off sleeve one last night

and started sleeve two, but its not at all portable. it might spend a couple of days home alone.

if you are a knitter like me, you will know that the perfect solution to this scenario is to start something new. something soft and fuzzy. something lacy. on the weekend just past i admired greatly missfee’s celes. i have the pattern. i also have 2 skeins here and 2 skeins coming of this lovely bluesky alpaca silk.

i might need a few more to get it as long and wide as i like, but that doesnt mean i cant start right?

so whatever youre doing this weekend, have a great time, knit lots, and remember how lucky we are to be alive and well.

k xx.