Task avoidance syndrome

I can be easily distracted and this week's been a doozy!

I've become a bit obsessive about the SSS - wanting to buy up all the sock yarn that I can possibly find. BUT I've shown remarkable restraint and on Thursday managed to come home with only two new sets of Knit Picks needles and one ball of sock yarn.

But, there's some coming that I won on ebay from The Knittery, and I'm eyeing off some Tofutsies from another ebay seller.

Yesterday morning I'd reached the foot of sock number 1 and was feeling rather pleased with myself.

I'm sooo loving my Knit Picks - they're nice and sharp and sturdy! The Tulip bamboos were bending and I was so worried one was gonna snap and that was totally slowing me down.

So thanks to 'Wire in the Blood' on Friday night and 'Judge John Deed' last night, I've now finished sock number 1.

Of course, what I really should have been doing was homework for the 5day course I'm doing at work - a Train the Trainer course, or studying for Uni.

Uni exams are in the second week of November, so once they're done it'll be all about the knitting, oh and getting ready to move to Melbourne. But more about that later...

And we're off!

In a perfect world I'd have all the time I wanted to knit. Yeah, like that's gonna happen!

Last week was mid-semester break from Uni - an opportunity for me to catch up a bit on my reading - partially successful, but I've got more to do before I'll feel reasonably confident about the exams that are looming large on the not too distant horizon.

So, not very much time for knitting. And the long weekend was a bit of a write-off 'cause my mother-in-law and sister-in-law lobbed at lunchtime on Sunday as we were off to see Josh Groban at the Sydney Opera House - he's such a noice boy and a fantastic talent!

And the in-laws didn't leave until about 3.30pm yesterday afternoon. And of course by that time the missus and I were absolutely knackered and all we wanted to do was have a Bex and a lie-down.

But, I did manage to cast on for Socks number 1:

It's a pretty shonky picture, but I wanted to get one done at the beginning. I've put the WIP aside (the baby cardie) for now to make sure I get going on the KAL! So we're off and running.

Preparing for the KAL

So last weekend I finally finished a jumper for the partner of the recipient of an earlier jumper in Melbourne, and I shipped it off on Monday morning - then immediately cast on a baby cardigan to refresh the palette after doing two man-sized jumpers back-to-back.

It's just a good old fashioned stocking stitch polo, knit in the round ('cause I detest sewing up) with Bendigo Woollen Mills' Mystique (wool/mohair/alpaca).

The recipient rang me before he'd even tried it on to gush about how beautiful it was - god love him.

Now, on Thursday I woke with a woeful headache - probably as close as I get to something resembling a migraine, but without the incapacity. Eight hours at work and 6 ibuprofens later I decide to try some retail therapy - the theory being that there was nothing physiological wrong, just a stress headache.

Off I trot to Lincraft to see if they've got the winter yarn on sale - yes they do, but it's really only the most crapulous stuff so I bypass it to the back of the store where they keep the 'good' stuff during the off season. Espied the Lincraft and Sullivan versions of sock wool at $12.95 a pop, but decided to forge on to Tapestry Craft and try my luck there. And apart from anything else, feeling guilty about even contemplating buying more yarn...

Mmm, nothing much to get excited about at Tapestry Craft. No, that's not quite right - LOTS to get excited about at Tapestry Craft, but my mood for shopping is flagging and I decide to head home instead, with the mistaken belief that I have heaps of sock wool in the stash.

Search through the stash today and discover, shock horror, that there really isn't enough to get me excited, but enough to get started.

So, I've decided that first up for the KAL I'll go for a nice plain pair of socks for me from this ball of Opal.

And just because I could, I took a photo of the first socks I made over a year ago - a plain pair with a skein of yarn I got from Happy Spider via ebay!

They're looking a little sad these days, and I didn't get the gauge quite right so they're a bit baggy, but I love them!

My First KAL

In a bid to be a bit more than just a reader in the world of knitting blogs, I've signed up to the Southern Summer of Socks knit-along.

Of course, as soon as I did that I headed off to the stash to see what I had in the way of sock yarn. And naturally enough I had to do some searching and found that I've probably got enough to keep me going. I haven't quite got to the stage of being overrun with sock yarn. Although if I had my way, I'd have waaay more than I do. But I'm trying to be a good girl and go on a Knit From the Stash programme at the same time as my partner and I are moving to Melbourne and the last thing I need to do is bring more yarn into the house that I'm going to have to pack and truck down the Hume Highway.

Anyway, during the sock yarn search I experienced something that I'm sure all knitters do on a regular basis - the reacquaintance. You know, you pick up some skeins and try hard to remember when you bought it, whether you bought it, and why on earth you bought it.

I went through a stage of buying up on ebay and that's the stuff I really don't remember buying and some of it I think I may never knit up, but I don't want to part with it just yet...

Next up I'll hitting the patterns books searching out sock patterns.

On turning 40...

At the end of July I hit the big 4-0. Not that I feel it - I feel the same as I did in my 20's. Except of course for the obvious, like a spot of grey hair, and not being quite as physically able as I once was!!

How did I celebrate? Well I originally wanted to have a big party with a DJ and playing all my favourite 80s and 90s music. But then I decided I really couldn't be arsed and opted for the much more mature (and sensible) option of having a dinner for a dozen or so friends at our favourite special restaurant.

Gifts? Of course there were gifts, even though I specifically said 'no gifts'. Lucky me scored lots of lovely things like books, scarves, bags, a hand-made necklace dripping with gorgeous purple Swarovski crystals, and the piece de resistance....







An autographed CD by my favourite all time band - Duran Duran. And yes, it's the original line-up from the 2004 tour - yippee!!! A friend was able to procure it for me and was under the impression that I'm 2 years older than I am, and has been sitting on it for 3 years in anticipation of my 40th.

And then of course, the other half outdid everyone by taking me ballooning! What a hoot!





Mmm, it's the other half's 50th next year - I've got something up the sleeve....

What a week!

It would be an absolute truth to say that the past week has been one of the most rewarding and hectic periods in my life (so far).

Singing at the Opera House

It's not everyday you get the opportunity to sing at the Sydney Opera House. It's even less frequent that you get the chance to perform in three shows on two days in two theatres. On Sunday 15th July at 2pm and 6pm in the Opera Theatre, and on Tuesday 17th July in the Concert Hall, I was among 100 very privileged choristers to join the Choir of Hard Knocks on stage for a finale that will stay with me, and I suspect the audience, for a loooong time.

For those who don't know, the Choir of Hard Knocks is a project administered by RecLink in Melbourne, and which was the subject of a 5 part ABC documentary aired earlier this year. The Choir Director, Jonathon Welch, is the most genuine and giving person I think I know, and I'm blessed to be able to call him a dear friend. He's taken a rag-tag bunch of homeless and disadvantaged people with little or no singing experience and turned them into a singing sensation.

I got the opportunity to visit the Choir at rehearsal in January, and the improvement in their skill since that time is phenomenal. Not only are they sounding wonderful (and better than some 'regular' choirs I've heard), they sing with absolute passion, enthusiasm and feeling that shoots you right in the heart. If I wasn't singing with them at the Opera House, I would've been in the audience, weeping throughout the performance as did my partner and friends.

Above is a picture of my choir backstage at the House.

Finished Object

I also finished a jumper I'd been working on for a dear friend of mine - being a Melbourne boy he appreciates the warmth of a handknit. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a decent picture of it - this is the best I could manage.

It's Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic in 8ply in Graphite - the pattern is Sue Flynn's Shawl Collar Jumper from "Australian Yarn Art".

Uni Results

And then, at 1am on Wednesday morning after the Opera House I log onto my Uni account and find out that I scored Distinctions for Legal Process & History and Legal Research. What a blast!

It's really reassuring for someone who hasn't studied for nearly 10 years to come back to it and find out that the amount of effort you're putting in is being rewarded - maybe this semester I don't need to work quite so hard. I think my other half would appreciate that...

Opera House Debut

One of my passions is singing and to feed that passion I'm a member of a community choir here in Sydney - we specialise in popular music, so there's no Bach or sacred music to be seen anywhere in the repertoire.

We've been invited to form part of a massed choir finale at the Choir of Hard Knocks shows at the Sydney Opera House in July - wahoo!!

The Choir of Hard Knocks is a wonderful group of disadvantaged and homeless people in Melbourne brought together by Jonathon Welch, who dead-set deserves a medal for what he's doing down there.

Anyhoo - that's why there's the counter at the bottom of the page. I've never sung at the Opera House, and now all of a sudden I get the opportunity to do three shows over two days in two different theatres.

Too cool for school!