Like A Peasant

Like A Peasant Cap from Ravelry. I’m no good at reading knitting patterns so I messed up a bit. I wanted a casual,  slouchy knit hat that stood up high and long in back, like a kind of Nefertiti beehive. I knit it for a bit too long and it got a little heavy so instead it sorta flops. Still, I'm way happier with it than I might look.

We've had really lovely weather the last couple of days but there's a definite chill in the mornings and evenings and winter isn't far off. I'm not looking forward to it, because our heater burps out air that's about as warm as vacuum cleaner exhaust. So this hat may see a bit of indoor use. 

zingy knit

I figured the store running out the yarn I needed to finish my incredible scarf was justification to break my vow to make another three garments out of stash fabric before making something with zingy knit. I just cut straight to the sweet zings. I like how this top turned out, although I can see how a person would consider it too much zing. Simon is one such person. I put it on to show him and got an "Oh! Okay." Then his eyes pinged all over it as though they couldn't find a comfortable place to rest. Then I got a big bright smile so I knew dude hated it.

At least he doesn't have to take my pictures anymore, though! We got a remote, and he found a software download for my camera that shows what is going through the lens on the computer screen. So a person can spend all afternoon making Zoolander faces at herself.

The pattern is modified from this eightiestastic KwikSew number. I narrowed the bodice and back and sewed rectangular bands to the tiny kimono sleeve openings, recreating the style of a grey wool Kookai top I have. The neckline I improvised could possibly stand to be re-done now that I look at these pictures. It would sit better if I cut it shorter. I find that estimating how much to account for stretch with knit neckbands is very hit-and-miss, I wish there were a foolproof formula! I probably can't be bothered to fuss with it again though. I really like the shape, I think it's very flattering. So I'll likely make a couple more but in plainer fabric... I've come to realise that this blog is basically documentation of the extreme overuse of stripes in my life.

circus and rollerderby

Circus training finished up for first term yesterday. We finally got to try what I've been wanting to do since I started- aerial! Trapeze, spinning aluminium cubes, rope ladders, tissue, and some things I can't name.

To be honest it wasn't all as fun as I had anticipated. Aerial work relies heavily on core and upper-body strength. My core strength has really improved with the training and from yoga, but I'm still a bit of a weakling in my arms. I got to the top of the rope ladder, which was cool but... yay, you're at the top of a rope ladder! That's not really a trick. And I could only really sit and swing on the trapeze.

The spinning aluminium cube looked fun, but it was very uncomfortable! Metal bars pressing into you, any shift in weight sending the whole thing pivoting on some counterintuitive axis- frustrating!

The tissue was fun, but also quite hurty at times. Fabric grinding against skin and pressing against bone. My favourite trick with this one was discovering I could sit in it like it was a hammock and pull the sides around me . If I'd had a book and some snacks with me I'd have been comfortable for hours.

I'm not sure what to call the apparatus below- our teacher just referred to it as non-traditional. I liked it the best. I twisted it up and then let it unwind and had a nice dizzy spin.

After training a bunch of us went to watch a roller derby match. I'd never seen roller derby before except in the movies and I found the bouts difficult to follow but I think the Rock Mobsters were beaten by the Dead Ringer Rosies who went on to defeat the Toxic Avengers and then the Dolls of Hazard.

Pretty exciting day all round. We're on holidays from circus for two weeks and then Term 2 resumes. I can't wait! It's such a fun group of girls, we're all becoming really good friends.  

incredible scarf

I got this AS SEEN ON TV Incredible Sweater Machine at the Preston Cash Converters for twenty-nine dollars. It has sat idle for about six years, after a few afternoons of frustrated swatching led to moderate success followed by a total enthusiasm dropoff. Despite Simon's pleas to turf it I've held firm that I would definitely be using it properly one day, and it's survived two crosstown household moves.

Incredibly, that day has come. Early mornings and evenings are starting to get crisp. Want new scarves. Too impatient to handknit them. I saw this plainish circle scarf and remembered the knitting machine. After another couple afternoons getting reacquainted, here's what I've managed.

I've got quite the learning curve to crawl up before I can think about making anything other than stripy rectangles but according to the swatches stuffed in the box, I'd figured out how to do two-colour patterns that look kinda like space invaders. I have tentative hopes of getting this scarf completed in the next few evenings. As knitting machines go its very rinkydink but for an eighties infomercial product there does seem to be a lot that can be done with it, and though it's plastic, it's sturdy. It's making me wonder if I ought to reconsider a whole slew of ridic products I've rolled my eyes at over the years. What do you think, should I start trawling ebay for a Linda Evans' Rejuvenique? 

hard labour

We did the bike-along-the-beach thing this morning, and we returned home and I plopped in front of the computer with a big spoonful of peanut butter. On the fourth trip back to the pantry I registered two facts: that I was set up to fritter away Labour Day on internet-faffing, and that there was hardly any more peanut butter. So I told Simon we had to go on another bike ride. To my parents place, to pick up a package I'd had sent there.

It was quite sunny today, and I was so thirsty the whole time we rode. We had to keep stopping for water breaks. Simon looked to be getting a bit of a sunburn and I told him so, and he said I was getting one too plus I had peanut butter on my nose. We got to my parents' place after a long stretch of there being no water fountains. My parents aren't at the house, they're in Coober Pedy.  Thought we'd get some water from one of their garden taps, or water tanks, or from a hose, anything, but I'd forgotten that Mum's got all the hoses on timers with funny valve-connectors and it's all systematised in such a way as I'm not sure which hose goes to which tap or tank and just what substance any hose might release, I know she's got greywater and something she calls 'poo juice' going on and didn't want a mouthful of either of those. There was just NO WATER to be had. I had such a headache, and the worst peanuty cottonmouth. We grabbed the package and headed off to the bubblers at the school at the end of the street.

Anyway it was all worth it because the package I had picked up was a Holga lens for my DSLR. I got it so I can take thousands of out-of-focus, poorly-exposed pictures and not have to pay for all that film development.  I think the pictures look just as nasty as the ones you get from a real Holga plastic film camera. When I got home I was able to snap a few hundred frames and here are the least awful.

Our passel of tradie next-door neighbours have started on this garage wall piece. I don't think it's finished, I'm no graffiti connoisseuse but it seems a bit plain. The funny focus of the Holga lens is messing with perspective, making it look as though they have a triffid or magic beanstalk growing up next to it but that's actually just a vine on the fence. I shot this through a gap in between two rotten palings.

Next to the tradies, the freegans are flying their Eureka flag. Not just for Labour Day either- it's there permanently. I sort of want to take photos of their whole compound, because it's looking really interesting, they've dotted some reclaimed stonemasonry around the property and have also fabricated an art gallery out of found materials. I know its an art gallery and not just another lean-to because they have a sign stuck on the front of it saying so. But I'm not rude enough to go taking pictures.

Our garage door. This is sort of a pretty photo... I guess? Yeah, maybe not.

I hope you had a lovely Labour Day weekend!