So not a sewer

When it comes to knitting, for me it is most definitely about the process of knitting rather than producing a finished item. Since finishing the pieces for the Clover Lace Wrap (from SnB Nation book) in about November, I have managed to do two seams - attaching each of the two sleeves to the back. I've now finished all the pieces for my niece's cardigan except for the neckband. However, to do the neckband, I need to attach the sleeves, fronts, back and the button bands so I can pick up all the stitches. Despite the tentative deadline of her birthday having passed this week, all I have managed is to attach one sleeve.

I hate sewing seams, but I do like trying new techniques, thus all the aran cable knits, intarsia, stuffed toys and now beaded knits that I have done . Thus I can sympathise with the Yarn magazine reader who writes to complain about the lack of complexity of the patterns in the magazine. I have to agree that none of the patterns in the issues so far have inspired me to want to subscribe to the magazine. The editor defends the magazine by saying it is about the yarn, which is a valid point, but to me, no matter what the yarn I still want something where I have to put some thought into the stitches that I am making. Knitting is something that distracts me from all the convoluted life stuff fluttering around my brain and without an alternative focus I the soothing stuff doesn't work. (Of course in theory, the complexity of seaming should also be distracting, but it just isn't the same!)

more bilbies

I went to the Royal Easter Show yesterday where there some real life bilbies on display promoting the Save the Bilby fund. Here's a picture from their website showing how realistic my stuffed toy is.

While I was at the show I naturally checked out the knitting entries. Fellow SnBer Meg entered but unfortunately was not awarded a prize. First prize looked pretty good, but Meg's looked at least as good as the Highly Commended. Of course, its a bit hard to fully judge when you can't pick up and closely examine all the items.

I just checked out Rebecca's blog and she took some similar shots to me of the craft section, so to save me getting them off my phone just check out her photos. Like her, I was also eyeing off the toy section as the section in which I would consider entering the show.

Easter themed Finished Object

Because of rabbits being such a pest in the Australian countryside, there is a bit of a push to buy chocolate bilbies instead of bunnies. (Actually, it doesn't seem to be as big a push as it was few years back.) Nonetheless in keeping with the spirit I present a photo of a stuffed bilby that I made for my youngest niece.

Also in keeping with the holiday I will have to mention chocolate. I have been doing some temp work at medical clinic and thanks to pharmaceutical reps I am well stocked with chocolate (also thx to my sister who gave me some as part of my birthday gift). My favourite medical juxtaposition is the chocolate from the anti-depressants group. Sometimes chocolate can be the best mind-altering drug!

Also related to chocolate, last night I went to an industry function dinner with a chocolate themed dessert. The white chocolate creme brulee wasn't anything special, but the chocolate icecream in an edible chocolate box-shaped container was divine.

Edible undies

Sometimes I have to worry about my mother. She and my nanna were the ones who taught me to knit, and during the long cold Canberra winters she would knit prolifically. Now that she lives in Perth and she has more warm jumpers than she will ever need she has turned to patchworking and quilting (Again very prolific, I can always rely on a completed project as a Christmas gift). However, she still has an interest in knitting. When she came to visit last year she kept eyeing my knitting until I let her knit a few rows. She also lives vicarously by collecting all the cute English Womens Weekly's patterns for me, and by sending me internet links. Now whilst I appreciate the patterns for toys that I might one day knit , like this





















However when she sends me a link to this Knitty pattern for licorice underwear you have to wonder.

On a loosely related subject, on Friday evening, a couple of friends and I went to the Rose of Australia for a girl's night/birthday dinner. The cocktails, food and service were all great, but we particularly enjoyed the Chocolate Slut (the connection - ha ha!) dessert, with chocolate tart, Belgian icecream and other samples. We didn't like the fried Mars Bar though.

Perspective

Last weekend I attended a fundraising lunch organised by our Zonta group. One of the attendees was a woman from Afghanistan. She and another woman have been sponsored to come to Australia for a year to do law studies. I didn't get all the details of her story but here is the overview. She has an undergraduate degree finished when she was 22 (she is now 32), but due to conditions, eg. the Taliban, fighting etc, she hasn't worked since then, because she is a woman. She is from Kabul, and sometimes her family would go to the provinces to get away from fighting, but now the provinces are too dangerous. There is a big atmosphere of fear. As a single woman it is hard for her to leave her family, even to come to Australia. Many other young women, who may have mean eligible to make the trip were scared (or their families were scared for them). Even now, being here and seeing how nice Australians are, it is still hard, with English as her second language and being the first time she has lived by herself.

I've been going through phases of feeling sorry for myself, as I am having difficulty finding work that I enjoy, and wondering where my life is headed (and having a birthday today is also a reason for introspection), but hearing a story like that really makes me realize how relatively well off I am. I'm well educated, have worked here and overseas, and have the freedom to live independently. That's not to say there aren't still issues about women's equality in this country. I had been dealing with a recruiter who told me he had a client company he felt my background and skills would be perfect for. The feedback from the company was that they didn't even want to interview me because I was a woman and they didn't think any woman would be capable of fitting into their organisation. This is despite the fact that because I have an engineering degree every job I have ever had has been male dominated. I'm well past the stage of feeling I have to prove a point, so I wouldn't want to work for a company that feels like that. The thing that most astonishes me is not that some men still feel like that, but that they feel comfortable enough to say it out loud. Have they been living under a rock while all sorts of legislation about equal opportunity have come in? Of course now with the new IR laws sexism can be excused as just a 'personality conflict'.

Anyway enough of the bad stuff. Its my birthday (yay!) and my parents have sent me some money so I have to think about how to spend it. Also congratulations to Meg for finally finishing her boyfriend-curse-busting sweater. I witnessed the final knitted stitches last weekend, so its great to see the photos of the finished product being modelled.

Bad girl?

I need to find out the source of the quote "Good girls keep diaries, bad girl's don't have the time". Not that I have been bad, but I have been out and about doing blogworthy activities instead of writing about them. My travel journals were always the same, if I was sitting writing in the journal, then I wasn't doing something worthwhile to put in them. Although, once I tried to be better by keeping my journal on hand all the time. I have one very long-winded entry that I cannot read a word of, due partly to the motion of the London tube train, but perhaps also the several hours spent in the pub with friends. At least with the computer, handwriting shouldn't be an issue.

Anyway, this last weekend I finally made it to another SSK session. Meg who has recently moved to the local area was there, as were a couple of visitors from Wollongong, including this blogger. I also met Mary-Helen, or the Witty Knitter, as I first knew her when I came across her blog a year or two ago. It was a good group of people with lots of interesting projects and yarns. I'm still working on my niece's cardigan, but several people were interested in the variegated purple Bendigo Woollen Mills wool I am using. I have to finish the cardigan before Jessica outgrows it, but going to those meetings always makes me want to get some new yarn and needles and start something else.

I am also now thinking about a trip to Wollongong. I'd been thinking about driving down, not so much for the destination, but to try out the new SeaCliff bridge (I cannot believe that was the best name the naming competition came up with!). Its supposed to be quite spectatular. Anyway, it now appears it would be worthwhile to time a visit with an attendance at the local SnB. It sounds like they have a really good turnout, and while the more cynical may suggest that is due to the lack of other activities in Wollongong, I'm sure its just a really keen group.

PS. Just did the Google thing and source of the above quote is Tallulah Bankhead.