1. Noro Kureyon, 2. Kyoto, 3. Marlene, 4. Vestular, 5. kaela, 6. IMG_0635, 7. silky jonna, 8. habu too, 9. habu2, 10. moebius, 11. Tour de Lance, 12. DSC00106, 13. Habu too, 14. Habu, 15. red twist, 16. plum twist, 17. habu cardi, 18. fishy, 19. stripes, 20. glovettes
Is good I fink.
There’s a bunch of stuff there. I went through some colour stages but certainly not enough RED! Must address that next year.
I think that 8 of these got to stay with me and the rest went to new homes.
I have been flipping and flopping between inspirations since the Jacket was finished.
Hankering to start something else but not wanting a huge project, I dug out my 200 Crochet Blocks book and got a bunch of the Moda Dea Cupcake yarn out of hiding. (Ohhhh Med Dea – from Spottttttttlight – yarn snobs run away! 
….. )
I have always liked the idea of a Babette’s Blanket but all those leeeeetle teeeeeeny tiiiiiiny squares and joining them together didn’t every seem appealing.
And, for me, reading a crochet pattern and getting the same result as the pattern is two different things. Maybe because I am left-handed and all reference books were for right handers when I was learning. I have had to teach myself along the way. I don’t know. It doesn’t come naturally. But I would like it to.
So.
Presenting square 1 of startin’ and finishin’
It’s Willow.
I love how it turned out.
I had planned to make different squares that didn’t necessarily match.
Then today, when skimming through Bloglines Sarah pointed me towards this lovely blog/idea. Low and behold, they have started with a great plan, AND WILLOW IS ON THE LIST! I am already ahead! (Heh heh). It seems like a good portable plan for what I perceive is going to be a STINKY HOT SUMMER!
So that’s the plan Stan. Startin’ something and hopefully finishin’ something. Don’t know what. Could be fun though.
That’s what I named the colourway of the Mess that I dyed up a few days ago.
It’s anything but messy though.
It’s a lush vibrant range of all colours I can think of and spun up into 490m and 230gm worth of beautiful soft merino silk slub.
Sadly I can’t seem to capture the colours in the photos as much as when I see the yarn. It stops me every time and a little smile escapes. Vibrant blues, muted blues, oranges, yellows, rust, olive, white, vermillion, plum, it’s all there.
Now to find a pattern to really make it work. Any suggestions? Here’s the specs……
MESSY MOUSE = 3 skeins total = 490 meters = slub/thick thin = lush!
Silly season ( silly post )(venting ahead – you have been warned).
Just went to the post office to send a Parcel to Denmark. Not my usual friendly post office though. Ran into the bigger post office. The one on the way to town.
The lady asked me over. I plopped the parcel down. The weight of the parcel was 505grams.
I looked and the lady looked. I said ( perhaps a little cheekily) ” Would that go as 500grams? “
The lady snorts at me. Says ” not with today’s revenue”. She walks off
Hrmpfff
The other Post lady looks at it. Says “put it back on and let’s have a look”. ( I think, wrongly, that she’s going to let it go) She weighs it. 505 Grams
I ask forlornly how much it will cost.
$26 something she says.
I ask how much it will cost if it’s under 500gms.
She says “$15.60….. not that much difference really”.
Hrumph I think. In what world is that “not much difference”. In another time I would let that go but I think “buggar it, it’s Christmas, every little bit helps” (and I am feeling stubborn now, goaded into being a bit pig-headed).
I unpack it.
Get a lighter envelope to send it all.
Weigh it without the extra card I put in.
It weighs 487grams.
I check the card.
Stupid card weighs 17 grams.
She prints out the postage and starts the process of the parcel…..air mail sticker, contents disclosure….drivers license….
I plonk the card on the scales again. “How much would it cost to send this to Denmark?”
She glances over, scans the weight and before I know what had happened she has printed off a $2.10 stamp, put it on the card and whisked the card to the huge post basket to send stuff.
I look at her. She looks at me.
I say “Actually, I need that back. It doesn’t have an address on it.” It does, however, have a HUGE smiley face scribbled over the front of it (as it was something I planned on throwing into the parcel).
And then I say “Actually, I didn’t ask for a stamp, I asked how much that would cost to send”.
She gets it out of the basket, smiley face and stamp intact.
She gives it back and says petulantly “I can take the stamp off if you want me to”.
What I want is to not be there anymore. It’s all too hard. I don’t think she wants me to be there either.
I feel hassled into leaving the stamp on. But I have to ask for a sticker to put on the front of the envelope to hide the smiley face.
I fill out the form, stick it on the card, scribble a message on the back of the package (now sealed) along the lines of ‘card to follow – an extra $10.00 to include in the parcel’….and get ready to go.
She says “Um, I need the $2.10″.
Crap. I’d forgotten to pay. ***
I scrabble through my wallet. I JUST USED THE LAST OF MY CASH ON THE PARCEL!
Crap.
I have to do an eftpos for $10.00 to pay for the bloody stamp that I didn’t want in the first place. Crap.
Finally I escape out of there….
The moral of the story?
Always go to Mr Nice Local Post Office where they would say…”5 grams? Don’t worry about it love”….
*** She charged me for a Letter to Denmark too – only worked that out 2 hours later when I was thinking how expensive that Christmas Card was.
(EDITED to add the bit that seemed to not save earlier- sorry if the post left you hanging….)
It’s a beautiful blue sky Saturday. There’s a millions reasons to have a big smile on my face. Here’s a few.
The kids and I camped out in my room and had a big sleep in.
I put on rage and they had a heap of old videos that I have been singing along to at the top of my voice.
Hey Kids! Come and look at this – this was my FAVOURITE song at one time when I was young. I remember when this guy burst on the scene and I was completely mesmerized. It seemed so different and amazing.***
I spun up some Mess and couldn’t be happier with it if I tried. Will post about it when it dries (wonder if I blow on it that it will dry quicker ).
The spotty angry rash boy is healing quickly.
Kaela came first in her 400m race at Little Athletics yesterday. I was so proud. Yes, it was the 2nd heat and she was in the slower heat but the look on her face and the spurt of energy she put out when she heard me cheering her on bought tears to my eyes.
Stevie has rung in many times from Singapore to get progress checks.
We are off to a HUGE party of all our favourite friends and accompanying tribes of children. (The kids go to a lovely school that is in the same area as a lot of our friends that we knew before we moved so it’s a lovely combination of good old friends and good new friends).
*** Wow – was looking for the Adam Ant Link and came upon this. Interesting. poignant – but not at all in keeping with these thoughts.
Have a great weekend all.
