Every time I look at this photo I want to eat this again

I was in Melbourne the week before last, and am finally getting around to processing photos. My sister took me to Borscht, Vodka and Tears and I ate a lot of (delightful) pierogies.


My dad and I went to a football match at the mighty MCG for the first time. Look at this weather! Is that not the perfect first MCG experience? (I'm actually not being sarcastic).


The game could have been a little bit more exciting, but at least this old scarf is still going strong. I did have to confiscate it for repairs after the Sydney game we attended last year.


We also visited Hosier Lane - there is information about some of the art here.

She lets her ladder down for those who really shine

Rhonda asked for photos of the bracelets on my wrist, and I am happy to oblige. They seem to go with my casual vibe these days (I'm still on long service leave).

Latest obsession

I know I saw instructions for this method somewhere online in the last few weeks, but I can't find any trace of that tutorial now. Luckily I remembered the basics of the method from when I first read it. It's a three-strand plait (braid) with beads placed in the middle of the plait on every second cross. I already had quite a collection of coloured waxed cotton (and I found a few more colours in the dollar shop yesterday) and lots of beads of all kinds. Only certain shapes/sizes of beads work - some of them won't stay in place properly in the plait. So far I'm only really happy with the turquoise beads. But I think there will be some more good ones to unearth from my bead collection.

Your smile seems softer than it was

Okay, I'll admit it. I am on long service leave and have been for a month. Not that you would know it from my output. I seem to be doing just a little more of everything (reading, sleeping, socialising, exercising, knitting, felting, mooching around), none of which adds up to anything substantial to report.

But I do have some nice before'n'after photos. Those are always fun.

One small idea that wafted into my head was to do a felted rainbow something. This little grey pouch wasn't carefully planned, as you may be able to tell from its slightly odd dimensions. I didn't want the flap to obscure the rainbow, the stripe sequence needed a certain number of rows, and then I needed more grey at the bottom to balance it. It probably should have been wider to balance the length.

I used these instructions for travelling jogless stripes but I think the execution is flawed. It looks really messy to me. Maybe I wove in the ends too tight.

However, felting hides a multitude of sins. Actually in this case it only almost hides the mess, though it may not be obvious in the photos. Felting is great for hiding messes. I think with the right simple project, felting might be ideal for beginner knitters. I certainly take advantage of the opportunity to be slack with things like weaving in ends (I don't really bother for most projects) and keeping tension even on DPNs. I often use really large ones - 8mm or more - and don't fuss about the loose stitches at needle changes. For any other project I have to keep an eye out for ladders and tend to constantly move the stitches around the needles. And this has resulted in annoying spirals more than once.

That pear has been stuffed but won't have its stalk and final shaping added until it dries.