I'm obssssssesssssssed with my dogs' bums....

....but I've been knitting again - a shawl for Mum for Mother's Day, using Knitting Lace Triangles, by Evelyn A Clark. It's a great book, gives you the beginning bit, the middle bits, the edging bits, and the transitions between each, so you can design your own patterns!!! After starting it about 50 bazillion times, I realised that "sk2p" means different things to different people (I thought it was "slip one, knit 2, pass slipped stitch over", but no, it's "slip one, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over" which makes a bit of a difference to the stitch count.....hmmm.... but it's sorted now, and I've done the first repeat of the leaf pattern. I'm using Peace Fleece worsted (70% merino, 30% mohair), in a beautiful rich Samantha-Katya Pink.....

(yes, those are ugggggg boots that you can see....I'm also wearing a flanny.....and trakky-daks....I have no idea why I'm single, I'm a catch I tell ya!!!)

ANZAC Day tomorrow, I'm going to take the hounds to the Dawn Service at the park near my place. Maybe I'll even have a shower first - I know, I know, I'm on holidays, but it's a special occasion...

Kisses,
xxxxxxxx

...and now for some knitting!!! (and the obligatory dog porn)

Yes, you read right, I've been knitting - AND I've finished something!!!!!
I give you:

- the shawl for the mother of the student I told you about earlier. It's a "shallow" triangle (so she can use it like a scarf as well as a shawl), made-up as I went, very easy, in Spunky Eclectic, Neopolitan colourway (the student chose the colour, said his Mum can't eat ice-cream anymore so she'd love it...sob...). I wasn't sure it'd be big enough till I blocked it and stretched the bejeebus out of it - it's very light and soft, and it smells lovely - I soaked it in Monkey Farts...

Helen's bag. It's Jo Sharp (a bag of 10 balls I got for $25!!!!) and Noro Kureyon (yep, I'm noticing a theme here with my bags, all seem to be a plain/Noro combo....but the colours are so pretty!!! I felted it with a pair of black (faded) jeans, and nearly died when I took it out of the machine - it was a ghastly grey/yellow - but now it doesn't look so bad, maybe it'll brighten up as it dries...I think it'll be okay. I'll call it "mustard"....

Dog porn...

'nuff said.
xxxxxx

Natalie Dee rocks!

...can you tell I'm on holidays?

I'm still to tackle the mammoth-sorting-of-the-spare-room....



...and Elly and Connor are sick of the sight of me - they've taken to sleeping all day just to avoid interacting with me......



Maybe I'll go and have a nap - blogging is tiring....

xxxxxx

Alas, poor Mr Ratty....

I don't know Katy, I think I may be harboring at least one of the dogs she talks about....

And I think you might be right about the white ones....(actually, it might just be the CARAMEL and white ones...the plain whiteys seem a bit too tired....)....

You Are a Mac

You are creative, stylish, and super trendy. You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Are You a Mac or a PC?

lazy

Not sure if I'm lazy, or if I just can't be bothered doing anything (hang-on, isn't that the same thing!?). I just want to watch bad daytime tv and have nanna-naps and schnuggle with my peeps. I've been half-heartedly trying (SAYING I'm going to finish them counts as trying, right?) to finish all of my WIP's while I'm on holidays, but no, I've started three more instead....a bag for Helen, and two more pairs of socks. I don't think I'm ever going to finish anything!

Had the laydees over on Tuesday night, for dinner and knitting - dinner was had, but no knitting took place....lots of laughing though! Shaz is off to Koorda for a tree-change today, so it was our last meet-up as a quartet for a while...

from left: Sasha, Moi, Jolene and Shaz
(pic stolen from Sasha - I'm too lazy to even email or text her to ask if it's okay - but I'm not scared of her, even though she's a zombie and might want to eat my brains - check out her April 7 post)

Okay, this poor excuse for a blog post has plum-tuckered me out, so I'd better go for a nap, before I go and pick up Jules for lunch at Zocolo's.....mmmmmmmmmmmm.....Mexican food........

Kisses
xxxxxxxx

Booty

aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

That was the sound of a contented sigh, from a very worn-out Lushie..... I have the usual-first-day-of-school-holidays-thumping headache (not hungover, just tired!), but am very glad to be still in bed at 11.38 on a Saturday morning, with no early mornings scheduled for the next two weeks. We've been out for a walk, and then breakfast, a shower and fresh pj's, clean sheets, all ready for a day of supreme lolling-in-bed, watching Law and Order tapes and eating junk!!!

First-up, here are the pics of the gifts I received on Thursday night from the kids at the Ball:
What a great bunch of kids. I love them. You know, I've been teaching for twenty years this year, and I can honestly say that while there will always be kids who do/say silly things, for me, it's other TEACHERS that are the main source of frustration and disillusionment (is that a word?) with the job (hang on,that makes me sound like I think I'm so great, that's not it, I'm just sick of the few crap teachers - who give "TEACHERS" as a group a bad name - at my school who won't do anything to make things better).....kids are kids, and they are learning how to be themselves, learning how to be good people, and so I can forgive a child pretty much anything, but other adults...? That's enough on that topic (does it show that I've had a gutful of some of my workmates?)

I leave you with Ted, a bear who is shared by two of my year 10's who love each other very much (at least I ask them if they love each other very much and if they're going to get married and have babies and stuff, to which they usually giggle and blush). Anyway, Ted had a hole in his bum, and so they asked me if I'd fix him, and so I made him a hat and a scarf as well...

Kisses,
xxxxx

Yes, I am lucky.

Just a quick one - it's 1.50am, and I've just gotten in from the Senior School Ball. It was an absolute mammoth event in terms of organisation (I started planning this time last year), and now it's all over (just got to get money out of the teachers now- yep, we have to pay to go to these things...), and tomorrow is the last day of term. There were the usual speeches - thank-yous, DJ/photographer info, toilets and emergency exits, and then there was a surprise from my Year 12's (I'm the Year 12 Co-ordinator at my school, I started as their Year 8 Co-ordinator and followed them through to now) - they had collected money from everyone and put together a massive basket of goodies (mostly pink - including a LAVA LAMP!!!), a beautiful bunch of flowers, and they made a card and all wrote in it. But that's not why I'm lucky.

I'm lucky because I got hugs and kisses and good wishes for my holidays and thanks for organising the Ball from about 160 teenagers. And I didn't force them to....

I'll put some pics up tomorrow, I HAVE to show you the card....

xxxxx

Well looky what we got here...

Well, I have a vague recollection of saying that I'd have time to blog over the Easter break.....My family all came to my place on the Sunday for a beautiful lunch (we don't seem to be able to all get together too often these days, so it was nice to have a few extra days) - we had it outside in the sun, it was a glorious day. The dogs played happily, we laughed a lot and ate too much. Lovely day...but not for the fluffy chickies:

And then a few weeks happened (WTF?), and I now find myself with laptop atop my lap, actually BLOGGING!!!!!

Today. Lunch with my girls (Jules, Princess Fiona, Sharon and Donna)! Restaurant by the ocean – it was pouring with rain when we got there, and by the time we left, we were in danger of getting sunburnt – nope, not ready to let go of summer yet!!! I had barramundi, crusted with dukkah (how does one pronounce ‘dukkah’?), and I nearly wet my pants with delight….I’ve never been able to cook fish properly…..It was served on potatoes, English spinach, and broccolini, with a hollandaise sauce that I wanted to roll in….. Fee and I submitted to the lure of the dessert selection, and a banana/chocolate fudge cheesecake was mine…. Then it was off to buy something to wear to the Senior School Ball on Thursday night – I’m the silly bugger that gets to organise a formal event for 300+ teenagers, and totally forgot that I HAVE TO GO as well, and so needed something to wear (do Crocs come in heels?)….groan…… Anyway, found some cheap shiny shoes, so at least my feet won’t be naked…..It’s a masquerade Ball, maybe I’ll just wear a big mo-fo mask, and my new shoes, it’s not like anyone at school has seen me all nudey, they won’t know it’s me…..would save the shopping nightmare for a dress-for-a-girl-who’s-fatter-than-she’d-like-to-be-and-so-is-delegated-to-matronly-section-that-costs-too-much-anyway….

Onto brighter things..

My Bag Swap bag(s) came yesterday!

I got TWO, and they are beautiful, and I love them! Thanks to Tia!!! I took the entrelac one out with me today to show her off, but she’s now packed with a couple of WIPs. Lots of pockets, awesome! The other bag was christened my “sex and the city” bag by Tia, I’m loving the beading! She’s a very clever lady!

I think that the bag that I made for my partner should be nearly at its destination by now, despite a traumatic event, discovered upon my arrival home on Monday (I’ve re-named Elly “Destructicon”, Connor insisted he played no part in it, he was sleeping at the time…):

All’s well that ends well, I washed and dried the bag (to get rid of the dog hairs….), and re-wrapped and re-packed the whole parcel – minus chocolates this time - two Turkish Delights, two pink Kitkats and a packet of raspberry bullets were consumed, so no pooches got dinner THAT night - didn’t want to tempt fate….)…

I’m always amazed at the transformation that takes place when felting, how this:
Ends up being this (I’m very pleased at how it turned out, wish I'd taken better photos though!):

I went on a shopping spree at Yarns on Collie. I'm never going back, and no, I'm not going to post pictures, because you'll organise an intervention and tell me that I'll have to sell my house to fund any more such expeditions.....

I bought some crack* from my local dealer a few weeks ago, and my lordy, it is magnificent!!! Two skeins of lace-weight, and one of worsted. I had ordered some bulky from an eBay seller just days before I found out I could get it locally (looks like the only Australian distributor, and she lives 2 minutes from my house!!!!), so I’ve got a nice little stash now! I made a tiny little shrug for my Principal with the worsted – now I’m trying to convince her to take a pic of herself in it to post here! It took about an hour to make, she’s a tiny little person – the pattern was “Shrug This” from One Skein Wonders. Needless to say, as soon as she felt the cracks’ soft, squishy goodness, she burst into tears (she’s been having a tough time, a crack-hug is exactly what she needed) and put it on right away!
(Velvet Grapes and Amoroso)

More spoiling – the very lovely Shaz made gifts for our knitting group – gorgeous sockbags! The perfect size for a pair of socks-in-progress, with a cool handle – just right for looping over your wrist so you can knit and wander around the classroom, barking orders at wayward teenagers who have yet to fully embrace the joys of Mathematics…. . They are exquisitely sewn, with co-ordinating zips and linings (mine’s red), made with fabric that has balls of wool printed on it – too cute!

What’s on the needles at the mo?
- Jules’ red socks (Destructicon got the finished one, so I ripped out the second one that I had started, and now am re-knitting both at the same time, with a slightly different pattern on the top (found a very cool heart lace-panel)
- Pair of cozy alpaca socks for Mum (to maintain my position as best child)
- Shawl for the Mum of the student that I told you about a post or two ago
- Scarf for Kristen (nail lady), using Fat Bunny in Garnet– Kristen has an angora bunny called Snooty (he licked me, I'm in love!!!), and I’m going to try and get some of his fluff spun for her. I saw this wool and thought she might just love it…!
- Multi-colour socks for Helen, she’s been doing it tough lately, and needs some sock-love
- Crack scarf for me
- A felted bag, for me (I never get nothing…..!)
- Peace Fleece shawl for Mum (she wears the shawls I make her out to lunch with her friends - one woman in particular is a major covet-er –if that’s a word – and is always checking everyone out, and trying to work out where they got it/what it cost, we all know the type, and it kills her when Mum tells her what the wool cost, or how long it took to knit, and that I’m so busy I couldn’t possibly knit her one….! I know where I get my nasty gene from!!!)
- The never-ending cushion-covers for my cousin. I hate these cushion covers.

I’ve joined SOCK WARS!!!! It sounds like great fun – (everyone gets sent the top-secret pattern on May 9th) you get assigned a target, and the idea is that you knit them their socks and get them to them before YOUR assassin gets their socks to you (as soon as you get a pair of socks, you’re dead). If you “kill” someone, then they send you their unfinished socks, and you finish them and send onto THEIR target and so-on, until only one warrior remains. Go have a look…

I think that’s all. For now.

OH, except for this picture for Katy, of her favourite part of a greyhound (Elly in this instance - oh I love her, she gets on my lap and snuggles and snuggles....) - we call this little bit of fluff under the nose "angel velvet":

Kisses
xxxxx