Been to Biennale

Last weekend I went to Sydney for the Biennale, which was a fascinating array of contemporary art. The festival was spread around several venues, but the two main ones were the Museum of Contemporary Art and Cockatoo Island. Cockatoo Island was fascinating in itself, an abandoned industrial site, a small, completely built-up island in Sydney Harbour, which was once a convict-built prison and then a naval shipyard. It made a really interesting site for the festival, with space for work that wouldn't have fit easily in a conventional gallery. And lots of little dark bunkers and tunnels perfect for video installations.

Fresh fruit

I'm making more pears and I've altered my technique. I always used to stuff them before felting. I knew that they would felt better and faster if I did them hollow (the fabric can move around and agitate better) and yet I resisted trying it this way. I was attached to the idea that it was best to attach the stalk while sewing up the hole at the top, before felting. I would do this with the same wool the pear was knit from, and it would all fuse together nicely. I was worried that the gathered part at the top would look too chunky if it was sewn together after felting.

Ha. All that thinking! And yet when I tried it the other way I was very happy with the results. The felted fabric is firmer and I like it better. They are less like little fat cushions (I've worked on a slightly slimmer pear shape too) and a little more sculptural.

As a bonus, because the stuffing doesn't have to stand up to the felting process and also dry easily, I can use a wider range of things in the stuffing, including fabric and wool scraps.

I have saved all my ribbons

For mother's day (a bit late) I made Mum a face washer using a stitch pattern called "Slate pattern" from an old Mon Tricot book. It's not exactly a reversible stitch, but the 'wrong' side looks ok. (oops, no photo though).


She saw that when it was in progress, so I added a surprise - a set of buttons covered in knitted Noro Silk Garden lite. I think these are an improvement on the earlier ones I made, because I switched to smaller needles for the knitting.

I tried using a covered button kit, but even knit with smaller needles, the fabric is still too thick. So I just found eight matching (in shape and size, not colour) buttons in the stash, and covered them by running a thread around the outside of the (vaguely circular) piece of knitted fabric and pulling it tight to hold it on the button.

We enter into it, it enters into us

This is the Cabled raglan baby sweater by Rebecca L Daniels.

I had just finished talking to my friend, very pregnant at the time, about how I was going to wait til a while after the baby was born before I would knit something to suit him or her. Then a 200g ball of Bendigo 4ply cotton in white landed in my lap (you know who you are, thank you!). And it seemed perfect for something for a newborn (as well as a perfectly bad idea for the toddlers in my life). This is the softest, lightest cotton I have ever felt. It was almost like knitting with baby wool. And this kid lives in a warmer place than here, so cotton is ideal.

Even though the pattern is written for DK (8ply) yarn, I saw comments from others who have knit the pattern that it came out quite big. I made the smallest size, and while I didn't measure the finished product, I don't think it was far off the measurements given for that size (3-6 months). It should be fine for a newborn.

I made a couple of small adjustments: I made the two cables mirrored - in the pattern they both go the same way - and I made a crochet loop for the button, instead of putting a press stud to fasten it, with a button just for show. I like the button offset to the side - it seems to go with the 'eccentric cable' (that's what it's called in the pattern). But I think maybe I should have put a press stud on the other side of the collar - I'm worried it might sag on that side. Too late now.

If you look closely at the photo you may see that I got an unintended spiral effect on the sleeves. I tend to keep moving a couple of stitches around the double pointed needles every few rounds, to avoid ladders. Unfortunately with such a soft yarn, I must have pulled the first stitch on each needle a bit too tight. The spirals are the tighter stitches, with their position moving around the tube each few rounds. I wasn't too happy with this, but not unhappy enough to redo it. (I was trying to get the package sent before the baby arrived, though that didn't happen). I think it should smooth out with a few washes.

Now it's more like the little sister's vest

This is the 'dress' I knit for my niece early in 2009.

She's grown quite a bit. I'm stoked that she is still wearing it. And I think it's really cute as a vest. It must be the most-worn thing I've ever knit (a scarf I've been wearing for several years might be the only thing that would rival it).

Swan family

Last weekend we had a family picnic/leaf kicking event by the lake. This family of swans came right to the edge of the water and hung around for a while with quite a few people watching. Perhaps they were hoping some food would fall their way.

Can I just ask you a question?

The other day I was walking through an indoor shopping centre on my lunch break. There are some stalls in the middle of the walkway, and when the people selling skin care products offer me a pamphlet, I'm used to just saying no thanks and continuing on my way. But this time the woman had a different tactic, she said, "Can I just ask you a question?"

I knew - of course I knew - this was just an attempt to get me to stop in the hope that I would become interested in the products after all. I also knew there was no way I was interested in buying or even finding out more about them. I should have said no. But politeness obviously runs deep, and I stopped and waited for her question. I think it was something like "what kind of skincare products do you use?" At that I said I'm not interested and started to turn away, but again she said "can I just ask you a question?"

She already HAD asked me a question. Why on earth didn't I just say no?

She peered at my face and said, "What products are you using? Because your face is looking a bit sensitive."

Finally, at that, I was offended enough to say "I'm not interested" and walk away quickly.

It was only thinking about it later that I realised why I was so offended and annoyed. It was so much more annoying even than the 'clipboard people' (paid workers who hassle people to sign up for charity donation programs - they don't accept one-off donations). I've learned to say no to them straight away. My arrangements for charitable donations are my own business and I don't need to be pressured on the street about it.

This woman caught me off-guard because I was expecting her to take the usual polite 'no thanks' for an answer. She took advantage of my (and I'm sure many others') basic politeness - it's very hard to ignore someone who addresses you directly. What made me really mad was the intense scrutiny of my face. I hadn't even entered a shop, let alone requested advice or a makeover, and I found myself being examined and the appearance of my skin judged!

I wished I had said as much to her, but of course I wasn't quick enough and anyway, I just wanted out of there.

And yes, OK, my skin might have been a bit thinner than usual (metaphorically speaking) due to a recent milestone birthday, one of the ones requiring a new driver's licence. And my new licence photo is fine but I liked the one from five years ago better. I think my skin was a bit less 'sensitive' then.

I'd say I might even be old enough to be a bit less polite. But I don't actually want to be less polite, I want people selling things to behave themselves!

Free Comic Book Day is on again

If you like Comics, or free things, or both...

You should know about Free Comic Book Day. It's a week and a half away - the first Saturday in May.


And if you're in Canberra, of course I recommend Impact Comics. I'll be there. It's K's business but I help out once a year - pointing out which comics are free and which ones you still have to pay for.

Setting the record straight

I just realised that when I said this idea just popped into my head, that was not true in the slightest.

It was actually inspired by this leafy necklace. I found it a couple of years ago, a $5 bargain at a Portmans clearance shop, and it tends to attract comments when I wear it (more than any other piece of jewellery I own - most of them attract no comment, generally.)


I realised as I took this photo, that there is a jump ring missing! Will have to fix that.

I remember at some point writing an idea in my notebook for a version of this with felted leaves. I never pursued that, though I may one day. But it was clearly a stepping stone to the crocheted circles necklace.

You might see the trap but you still fall in

This is meant to be my new go-to, wear all the time black cardigan for this winter. The pattern is Mr Greenjeans from knitty.

I like it better with only one button done up, but all three is a warmer option.


Unfortunately I'm disappointed with the wool and wish I had used something nicer. Sometime last year, Lincraft Merino Crepe 8 ply (actually more like a 10ply in weight) was going very cheap, so I bought a whole lot of it with some kind of cardigan in mind. I expected the wool to be a reasonable imitation of Patons Totem and thought it would make a good, hard-wearing fabric. It seemed pretty crunchy as I was knitting it. A soak using hair conditioner helped a bit, but it is still a bit hard, and somewhat prickly. To add insult to injury, it doesn't appear to be terribly hard-wearing either. The first time I washed it, I left a lot of ends hanging (because I wasn't sure if I would have to rip out and redo some of it), and I was amazed to find that just a gentle soak and rinse had made the loose ends start to felt!

I actually finished this a while ago, well before the leaf yoke top, when it was far too warm to wear it. I didn't even manage to keep it on long enough to try for photos. And I was really disappointed at how scratchy and prickly it felt - I really wondered if I would end up wearing it much at all, and if I would always have to wear long sleeves underneath. Now that the weather has turned cooler, it doesn't feel as bad, and I think I will end up using it quite a bit.

Putting aside my feelings about the wool, I am pretty happy with the fit. Others have pointed out that there is something a bit funny about the raglan shaping with this pattern - there seems to be a little bit of extra fabric there, and it hangs oddly if I wear it open. Other than that it is an elegant, simple pattern that was easy to adjust - I made the sleeves and body longer than the original, and started the cabled section higher. I also made the ribbed band a few rows wider than the pattern specifies, partly because the buttons were quite big and partly because the body seemed kind of narrow (though blocking sorted that out).

I did have to pick up and knit the band twice - the first time I had way too many stitches and as you can see in the picture above, it flared out badly. The second time I followed the pattern instructions (crazy, hey?) for the ratio of stitches to pick up, and it worked. I also took the opportunity to change the button spacing - I knew I wouldn't wear it done up at the bottom anyway, and I liked the idea of putting those oversized buttons quite close together to emphasise their scale. They were a lucky op-shop find some time ago.

Thanks dear sister, for taking the photos of the finished article and putting up with my self-conscious chatter the whole time.