2paw Lee goes to Collage.....*

  Today I bought things,and I have made a collage of the photos I took, with the most excellent Google Picasa2. It is so much fun. I am in love with it!!!!! Starting from the top left and going in a deasil direction: B&W and pink and white material, then wool, then excellent printed felt and finally some cotton for crocheting.

The wool is Moda Vera Vixen, usually $7-99 a ball, today : $1 a ball!! I have 40 balls now of the 'Green with Envy' colour, thats $40 instead of $320!!! What a bargain. I am thinking of knitting a blanket : slowly but surely. I started one a while ago but it fell by the wayside. The cotton is for making a little bag from the One Skein book and it is Neutrals so it qualifies for Project Spectrum.. I am not sure which one to make : round, rectangular or bobbly!! I have a zip so I am prepared for all three. The felt is for a rainy day. It might be pincushions a la Two Pink Possums. She's a Tasmanian ( or Taswegian, though I don't favour that name). And yes it is from the Black Spot of Doom Light, and so was the wool. Finally, there is more Project Spectrum Fodder : B&W and P&W material that will be bags as well!!

Harki and Peri had morning tea with The GardyGardeners this morning. They had plain biscuits, that's crackers??, they had 'bite-size' Saladas!!! Harki accidentally had some tomato. Last night at one of our 3 Knitting Coven Birthday celebrations, Sandra D, Suzi and Fifi gave The Labradors a Jumbone each!!! It is here, taunting them, till I next go out!!! They are very lucky girls!!

Another lucky (or fickle : you decide!!!) girl is MrsDrWho. Yes, MrsMacGyver has thrown Angus over for the Time Lord. The new Time Lord. Personally, I think it is just a passing fad. I've been 2paw for as long as I remember!!!!!!

The ELs is dead. Ding Dong etc etc. Now we have the old 8 Learning Areas again, but without LOTE. The more things change, the more they stay the same.......

*Tommy Lee goes to College is a REAL show!!! I kid you not!!!

When a lovely Flame dies, Smokey gets in your Eyes...

The Labradors are so lucky!! Tianne and Boss sent them, and me, a lovely present for Harki's Birthday!! The Labradors knew it was a present for them, there must have been 'Boss' scents attached!! As usual, Peri loved the post bag, she was so excited and could fit her whole nose inside. They sat so beautifully when I said there might be a treat!! And there was: for Harki and Peri special Pizza Party treats that Boss likes. I have never seen these before, but they are to die for. There was quite a lot of 'asking' with paws, dropping on the ground to lie, and then (unfortunately) drooling!!! For me there was a packet of Green Earl Grey Tea, what could be more perfect?, and green chocolate!! If I am ever able to eat chocolate, then Lindt is the one. I am having a yummy square every day. Minty Goodness!! ( as opposed to Angel whom Cordelia pronounced to be Salty Goodness!!!) What a lovely surprise and what a very apt card!! Labradors are very eager to please and enthusiastic!!! Thank you so much Tianne and Boss!!!

I have had a last minute run on Black and White and Neutrals for Project Spectrum. Yesterday I made a crocheted potholder with a skull!! Very B&W. This morning I made the Kosciuszko Scarf. This is crocheted too, in a blue wool with B&W strands mixed along. It was fast and easy. Much faster than knitting one. And it has B&W!! The Scarf is named after Mt Kosciuszko our tallest mountain, which is in turn named after a Polish explorer, but we pronounce it 'Kozzy-osco'. We added the extra 'z' in 1997!!! I can't tell you why it is so named, but any fans of Kath and Kim could work it out!!!I have also cut out some pieces of fabric to make two little girlie things. There is B&W in there too!! That will make 5 Project Spectrum things!! I may squeeze a few more in yet !!!

It is the Knitting Coven's second birthday. We are having separate day and night 'goings out'. This is not very good!! We will have to have another birthday at our regular meeting next Tuesday otherwise we will not have celebrated together!!! It is a hard job, but somebody has to do it!!!! We are off tonight to Smokey Joe's Cajun Cafe. Yum!! I am going to just have entrees and dessert. Have I said that before?? I am going to have a nap now. I didn't wake up till after 8am this morning and we had a late walk. I want to be able to go out tonight and stay up past 8-30pm!!!! See the Bare Naked Lady modelling!! She is a star!!!

Be Equine for a day!!!

Yes, Ann and I were queens for a day when we simultaneously wore our freshly completed Equine Vests on Saturday!!! How royally cool is that??? The  Vest is actually the Deep V-neck Vest from Jo Sharp's Knit 1.

School's in for Someone!!

Yes, you can knit a sock in less than a day!! And without the pattern too!! I took the second ball of wool for the Thuja socks to MrsMacGyver's house to knit whilst watching Doctor Who:The Idiot's Lantern (again!!) and lots of Stargate SG1, but, I didn't think I would get to the heel at all. I did. I was forced to rely on my so-called memory to knit the heel, the heel turn, pick up the gusset stitches and then knit the decreases. I managed quite well: it was all right!! So the socks are all complete and ready to post. I need to buy some things to pop in the bag. I'm thinking some nice lotiony things from The Body Shop. My sister had a giant log roll off a truck, onto her foot, crushing her ankle a few years ago. Don't ask!!! The is some fragrant Vitamin E moisturiser that would be good for rubbing into her ankle I think.....  and whatever else takes my fancy!!!

I have ordered some Harmony in Lime from the Bendigo Woollen Mills. I ordered 3 balls as if I ordered 2 I had to pay postage. I think I will need some Thuja socks made from Harmony. It has a little bit of Lycra that should make them snug. I want to knit Molly Ringwald  in Harmony and the Lotus Blossom top. I don't know what I shall make the Lotus Blossom with. I am hoping one of the 4 new shades of Zhivago for Summer will be green. Otherwise I am not sure what I shall use....

Teachers have made the news again. In a negative way, of course. Research shows that teachers today are not of the same calibre intellectually as they were in 1983. That was me in 1983 : of intellectual callibre!!!! We had to score very highly on our Matric exams and pass several interviews etc to be accepted for a Studentship and enter the B.Ed course. There was an expectation that we would all do well every year, High Distinctions, Distinctions at the worst!! And perform very well on teaching prac too. I even undertook Honours with my degree. These days, you need hardly any points at all to enter teaching. In fact you can have learning difficulties and they still accept you : can't discriminate you know. Now they want to pay teachers on merit. Fine, great, fantastic. Classroom teachers' salaries lag way behind other professionals, between 11 and 17% in real terms, and let's face it, teachers may spend more time with children than the parents do. As a society we want excellent teachers, so we need to pay them and treat them in the same manner. But paying on merit?? Does this mean that teachers with children who have specific learning difficulties in their class will be paid less, as these children will not show sufficient progress during the year? Who will want disruptive, violent, disabled or any other kind of challenging child in their class? How do you judge who is a 'good' teacher? Is it based on academic progress facilitated, or the emotional support they provide, their motivational expertise?? Different teachers will suit different children with different learning styles. It seems to me that the Education authorities need to go back to basics and search out the best candidates for teaching, train them to the highest standard and then run a giant PR campaign to show the community just what a great job these teachers are doing. A friend told me recently that teaching lost its status when we let external forces dictate what happened in our classrooms. Teachers do value the partnership they have with parents, but I don't shout and swear at my greengrocer, or throw chairs at him, or threaten him in any way : and this has happened to me, this, and worse. We don't tell doctors how to cure, or accountants how to best fill in our tax returns, or lawyers how to argue our case, yet society feels that despite 4 or 5 years of University and 20 years of successful teaching, society knows better than a classroom teacher. I would say in 99% of cases, this isn't true. Teaching is not a job, it's a vocation. Good teachers are not valued by our community. They should be valued: after parents, they are the last best hope for our children's future. Here endeth the lesson!!!

Harki has been honing her relaxation and exercise skills. She can lounge on the couch while still wagging her tail twenty to the dozen!! Such finesse, such daring!! The Labradors had a wet walk yesterday. They ran through the bush after smells and found some excellent scents near the little mystery house. I don't know what it is for. It is warm today, warm and sunny, and we are heading for 18*C later in the week. That's 18*C while we are still in Winter!! I am off to the physio for the last time I think, then to buy some wool to crochet!! I am making something B&W for Suzi and Project Spectrum!! MrsMacGyver guessed that part of my motivation for this project was the fact it qualified for Project Spectrum!!!

Oh oh oh oh Sweet Darlin', You've got the Vest of my Love!!!!

Ann and I have finished our KAL of The Equine Vest on the very same day!! And we both wore our vests out to knitting events today as well!!! The Bare Naked Lady is modelling again, and for your enjoyment: The Equine Vest. Today I wore it with my long sleeved green shirt, but I have a 3/4 sleeve blouse and a long sleeved T-shirt that match as well!!! I usually add 5 cm to the length of things I knit and I am jolly glad I did as it is exactly the right length. Most of the tops I wear will peep out the bottom, but I like that. It fits really well, and the rib is my favourite part!! I would make this again, but next time I would do normal bands instead of rolly ones. I shall wear this a lot in Spring and Autumn. Do you think The BNL has nipped off for a few modelling lessons??? It was fantastic to be Knitting A-Long with Ann, and I can't believe we have finished already!!! We will be in the Central Park Hoodie KAL if only my wool arrives in time.......... 

Please, if you have any goodness in your heart, go to MrsMacGyver's blog and urge her to return my Limoncello drink!! I accidentally left the bottle at her house and now she is holding it for ransom!! She is drinking it too. Who knows how much will be left if I don't do something soon??? It is a dastardly and thinly disguised plot to obtain more of my chocolate choc-chip muffins. She is an evil woman!!!!!

I have bought Knitting Journal #4! It has a blue cover behind some hard plastic, so I have temporarily put some dark green paper there, but I think I need lime. Inside, all the pages have little squares printed on them. How perfect for marking out and marking off rows. I will be in row marking off heaven. And it was on sale to boot!!

Harki and Peri are sitting far apart today. I wonder if one of them smells bad to the other? Or if they were hoping for a treat and they are maintaining a treat-consumption safe distance?? I don't know. I do know that they look inordinately cute, which is good, because Peri undid a game from its wrapping while I was at the Knitting Coven Stall. She is cute so I will forgive her quickly. Harki has a new game called 'Empty the Box of Toys Really Quickly'. She has 25 toys in her box and 23 of them were up the back yard. I picked them all up, brought the box back down to the back door and she started straight away: she chose a toy, I threw it up the back yard. She ran up, brought it back and then chose another toy. At least it can only last 25 turns!!!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Planet, Pluto's Not One Anymore Dammit!

So, the Bare Naked Lady has come into her own. Thankfully she's a unidexter or she would have legged it: taken the bag and the cardigan and hopped for her life.... Here she is wearing the Country Silk Mulberry Wrap Around Cardi - sans the wrapping around attacher - whatever that might be!!! I need a button or ribbon or tie. This wool is so lovely to knit. I hope it comes in more greens next year so I can knit something else, though, what the heck, I'll use the same colour again!!!!

Next we have the Bare Naked Lady (and believe me, this will never get old for me!!!) modelling the Hands Off My Stuff Bag. Of course this is a gift, so the recipient might like to amend the name slightly!! But it comes with Diana-Ross-and-the-Supremes "Stop in the name of Love'  hand buttons so you can aim the bag at people and say "Hands off my stuff!!!". It is striped black and white, with black accents and a secretly appropriate inside pocket. I have indeed left the handle loose at one end so it can be adjusted for the user's comfort. This was quite a good bag to make. For everyday use, like going to town for brunch, I would make it a tad smaller, but I think you could fit a lot of 'stuff' inside!!! This bag qualifies for Project Spectrum too!!!!! Huzzah!!!

Do I have a lot of watches? Oh that sounds like the Bob the Builder Song!! Yes I do. I took a photo of some watches before they left my hot little hand. Here is a sneaky look!!! I must gather up the others and take them in to be batteried tomorrow!!!

As I note in my title today, Pluto may no longer be a planet. 300 scientists at a conference voted, so maybe 151 people decided for all the world. I have decided that Pluto will be a planet for me. And so it is. I am not changing my mnemonic to suit 151 scientists. There may be miles of scientific proof, but in my happy world, where Woolies is still Roelf Vos, Telstra is Telecom and the Australia Post Headquarters in Hobart will always be the GPO : Pluto is a Planet!!!

Harki and Peri had a great walk today. They ran and sniffed and then plunged into the creek!! Then they helped me a little more with The Equine Vest. They alerted me with loud barks when the blocking board took off down the stairs in a fair wind. I have one armhole edging and two seams to sew and it is all done. I shall wear it to the Knitting Coven stall tomorrow!!!

Due to circumstances beyond my control, two planned outings fell through today, so I needed comfort food: Blancmange. (I wonder what the French for Blancmange is?? Is it the whole English Channel/French Channel debate all over again???) It is easy to make, you can eat it warm or cold and you can add many different flavours - chocolate, jam, honey, fruit - whatever takes your fancy.

Blancmange

• 500ml milk
• 4 tbspn cornflour
• 2 tbspn sugar
• 2 strips of lemon rind (if you like)

I used a non-stick saucepan and a wooden spoon. Pour all but 1/3 cup of the milk into the pan with the lemon rind and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, gently stir the cornflour and sugar into the remaining milk in a bowl of larger capacity then 500ml. When the milk comes to the boil, remove the rind and then pour it onto the cornflour and sugar misture, stirring as you go. Pour it back into the pan, bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes stirring all the time. When it is cooked, pour into small wetted molds and refrigerate till set. Or you can eat it warm with raspberries and bluberries mixed through it like I did. Then later on I ate the cold one with more fruit too!!!

I'm Dressin' Up So You'd Better Get This Party Started

The Equine Vest is temporarily stalled!! Actually it is pinned and blocking and ready to be assembled !! I nearly has a conniption last night when I was interrupted during the pinning, and Peri decided she would walk and then lie on the Vest!! I was working on the floor and didn't expect she would plump for a little impromptu acupuncture!! Luckily there was no damage : to Peri or to the Equine Vest - they were just horsing around!!!!! On top of the Vest you can see red Thuja socks for my sister's birthday. As usual, I decided on socks yesterday, but I am up to the foot already. These socks are very speedy and surprisingly good!!

Once again I have succumbed to the evil power of The Black Spot of Doomlight (TM) [I'm not making the text smaller - last time it made everything go boogelly!!] I have bought 3 dress patterns, half price!! Dresses are 'in' this year and I have found my instructions for 'biggering' the top to make allowance for my curves. I have material, but no doubt I will be off to buy more. I managed to find another wrap around dress, one with a twisty thing in the centre of the front - how cool is that? and then the very 60s pattern I saw on Rachael's new Clothespeg blog.

Harki has been helping with the Hands Off My Stuff bag. It is just about complete: I have the buttons to sew on, a tag and the handle. I think I will just sew on one end of the handle permanently, and then the recipient can adjust the length to her heart's content. I have managed to break off the top of my nail on my left index finger right where the white part starts, so the end of the nail bed is slightly uncovered. It doesn't hurt at all, but I must have sewn the material bandaid to the bag about a bazillion times!! This is, so far, my one Project Spectrum piece for August and it is likely to remain so. We'll see...... The only large 'metal rings' I could buy for the handles were these red D rings. In the end I made my own, sad, black biased strips and covered the red wth black. It looks OK.

The days are drawing out quickly, it is 5 weeks till Daylight Saving starts. The Labradors can find  plenty of time to work on their tans and take every opportunity. Peri had a quick catnap (dognap??) on the balcony, curled up behind the table in the warm Sun.

I took 8 watches to have new batteries today. I have 3 or 4 more that I didn't have time to grab. I am out of the habit of wearing a watch, but I have so many that I love, especially the green one with paw prints and a 'Woof' written on it!!! (MrsMacGyver found it last year overseas. Who knew there was a watch especially made for me???) The Bare Naked Lady?? Well she is hovering in the hall wearing the Country Silk Mulberry Wrap Around Cardi, waiting to see if I am ready for her close up!!

I wondered, lonely as a cloud,

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,                                                                                                What's that I see standing so proud?                                                                                                   A bust, through golden daffodils!!!! ... with apologies to Wordsworth!!

Yes, lurking in the cold depths of the City Mission Shop at the Knitting Coven today was this fantastic find!! Sharon came running( well, walking slowly and gasping as she has a horrid cold) to tell of her find. "Does anyone want one??" she asked. I ran ( well, walked and puffed) up the building and there she was in all her glory: The Bare Naked Lady!!!!!! I know there is a band called The Barenaked Ladies, and this is an amazing fact in itself, but I have no idea of their songs though they may have been on Charmed once?? I don't know. I only know Frank, and Tony and Perry and Doris!!! But she is wonderful. I have played with all her dials and her leg comes out and her neck can be made bigger too. And how much did she cost?? She cost $20!!!!!!!! Yes, $20!! One of her windy knobs is broken at the back ( and who amongst us hasn't got a broken windy knob somewhere???) but she works perfectly well. The Labradors are not sure of her yet, and think they might like to run out the gate and far away. "We can see the car..please take us away from the very red and scary Bare Naked Lady!!!"

The BNL has had The Equine Vest draped over her and now she is sitting quietly in  the corner, in repose.

                                                                                              

Limoncello, very Pretty and the Lemon Flower is Sweet!!!

Ann and I are on the home straight of The Equine Vest!!! Ann: in the round, and me: on the flat!!! I am just about to decrease for the v-neck and then there are only 80 rows to go!!! We exchanged pattern problems last night. I confess that I ignore anything I don't like and I always make the back first, note down every row, and make the front to match!!  I like to do both sides of the front at the same time too so the decreases match.

Harki thanks everyone for her lovely Birthday Wishes. Now she is the Luckiest Labrador, as well as the Best Labrador in the whole world!!! MrsMacGyver gave the Labradors a beautiful blanket as part of a present!! We have one blanket that gets moved about a lot, but now they have their own!!! Peri loves it. She likes to burrow under it to go to sleep on the end of the bed. Now the nights are warmer she gets too hot, and suddenly erupts like Vesuvius from beneath the blanket, in a state of panting and severe hotness!!! Harki likes to turn round and round till everything is arranged just right, and then flops down in a bouncy round ball!!! Oh, inside the blanket was a big surprise!!! Dog treats, 4 packets of dog treats!! They had to sit and wait till I said they could have their chewy rawhide bones. In the picture, Harki is trying to look at me and keep an eye on the bones. Peri is looking at me with her best cute face, hoping I will be quick. They are very good girls to wait so well!!!Now they are happily munching a treat and there are wagging tails everywhere!!!

What do you do with $20? Why you stock up on tea!! Five packets of leaf tea to be exact and there are 2 packets of beautiful Japanese tea from MrsMacGyver. They are wrapped and labelled with care and I have already opened a third packet. It is restful green tea: real tea leaves!!! I am also the lucky recipient of a new tray, a cup and coaster. I think they match in a kind of 60s psychedelic way??? Thanks MrsM!!! I am having cups of tea made with water from my new filter jug, and I can taste the difference; the tea is less bitter, or more sweet.

Thanks to an alert fron the Bona Fide Redhead, I am the happy owner of some Limoncello!!! MrsMacGyver and I had a cocktail made from Limoncello and a little bottle of bubbly. Oh, it was like the nectar of the gods. Oh yum! Now I am on a mission to cook with it a la Nigella. I like the trifle with Limoncello,  but until then I will be forced to drink some, only to keep it aired and well oiled, you understand!!

I am off to knit as fast as I can, so I can block my vest, give it a light steam and start the neck and armhole edging!!! I might just have cup of tea, I don't think I should knit and drink a cocktail!!!!!

Oh Happy Day, Happy BirthDay, Oh Happy Day!!

Today is Harki-Parki-Parker-Posey's 7th Birthday!! Happy Birthday Harki!!  I remember she was such a tiny baby puppy when she came to live with Vundy the German Shepherd and Tori Too. And now she is the Big Dog. Harki is, in fact, the very best Labrador in the whole wide world!!!!! Today we had a big play with her old Dingle Dangle toy, in and out of the paddle pool, with a lot of smiling on her part!! Harki had a brand new Squeaky Toy and a pig's trotter!! Peri must not be left out, or else she will be sad, so there was a pig's trotter for her too!! In no time flat the treats were demolished and there was time for more play!!! Harki had so many squeaky toys at the moment, but she has the special power of 'de-squeaking' and is disappointed when they don't make a noise anymore, so there must be a constant supply at hand!!!

The second Dishcloth is almost complete. I just have to crochet an edging. It is very lovely!! I love the pattern : it is easy to remember and makes lovely knitted bubble wrap!! It should be a good wiper. I am going to make Dishcloth 3 in doily fashion: 4 or 5 needles and a circular shape. That should be interesting!!

There was no new BSODLTM  purchase today. There may be one tomorrow. The odds seem to favour it at the moment. Mind you, as has been pointed out to me,  I do seem to wear the same clothes all the time. Not literally, but if they can be washed and dried overnight, I am likely to wear the same thing for a few days in a row. It is comfort and familiarity dressing. It makes me feel happy. I have a lot of green clothes and even more green material waiting to be made into clothes, and yet, I have worn the same thing for 3 days in a row now!!!!!

Stunningly fine conclusion to Doctor Who's Cyberman two-parter tonight. I cried at the end of The Age of Steel! Excellent writing, the Doctor was in fine form and Mickey??? Can't say enough!!!

Happy Birthday Harki!! Love Peri and me!!!