In a holding pattern

I applied for my student loan yesterday - it only took 15 minutes online - so now we wait... It doesn't seem like there is alot to do between now and February - other than packing of course, for both my christmas holiday and moving cities, but right now I feel like i'm in a bit of a holding pattern until things can really start moving again. I suppose I should be grateful and just appreciate the calm before the storm!

Store update
I've made a little soap sack to go up in my Etsy store!

I still have some cute cotton colours left over, so I'll be whipping more of these out over the next couple of weeks. Great stocking stuffers! Any ideas of other easy embroidery designs I could do?

Knitting update
I have finally started on the Central Park Hoodie! [Rav link] I chose to start with the sleeve, just to get the cable pattern sorted, and i'm not far off the sleeve cap now. I'm using Needful Yarns London Tweed (again, I hope I have enough, its another discontinued yarn!). Here's what it looked like on the weekend:

Of course, I was aided by my ever-faithful (and ever-hungry!) puppy dog, who against all odds is still with us...

I had a brief thought that I could get this done in time to wear in the -15 degree weather in New York in January, but I am now resigned to the fact that that isn't going to happen! I don't want to push myself during what will be my busiest time of the year. Oh well, there's always next winter :)

How to...
I tried my hand at something else a little crafty this weekend. With all my stitch markers in use on my clapotis scarf, I had nothing to use for the cable pattern, so I grabbed some old paper clips and beads and got to work with some SUPER basic DIY stitch markers.

They aren't the greatest things ever made, and they are a little big, but they are good enough for me - real stitch markers are REALLY hard to come by in New Zealand! You can see them in use in the sleeve picture above. If you're interested in making some basic ones for yourself, i've done a little 'How to' photo series on Flickr. You can find it here.

Chat for the comments
What WIPs have you got at the moment? Or is everything on hold while you work on Christmas presents?!?

~Happy crafting!~

Share the love award

I was honoured to be one of the recipients of the Neno's Award from dear Karen over at Musings of a (mostly) Self-Taught Knitter. Thanks Karen for all those lovely things you mentioned about me!

The Neno’s Award Rules and Regulations:

1. As a dedication for those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging.

2. To seek the reasons why we all love blogging.

3. Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it.

4. Don’t forget to mention the person who gives you the award.

5. Answer the award’s question by writing the reason why you love blogging.

6. Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like.

7. Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post.

I love blogging because its great to be able to share. Whether its the book i'm reading, or what crafty project i'm working on, I can share it with people all over the world - its great to get my little voice out there, and to get feedback about it too! Its also great to record what progress i've made since I started knitting, which really wasn't all that long ago.

And the award goes to...

Susan at 2BKnitting! This lovely lady is a knitting machine! The reviews she does on all her knitting projects are super helpful, and she takes great pictures of what she's working on. She and I have had many conversations about alterations to projects and trying out different techniques, its good to have someone to bounce ideas around with. Although i've never met her in person (hopefully one day!) she's a good friend.

Leeshie at The Knitty Gritty! She and I 'met' over at the 20-something bloggers group (I think, is that right??) and she's a great blogger, with a cool sense of humor, and she's made some lovely projects since i've been reading over the last few months - check out her new Owls sweater! (And she's in Ysolda's knitting group! How cool is that!)

Let's have a chat in the comments - what is it about blogging that you love?

Let's talk: Christmas presents!

Firstly - thanks to everyone for the lovely comments on my last post! Its great to know I have lots of support out there, and i'll be keeping in touch about what kind of things the course involves as I go through the year(s).

On to topic - there was an interesting post that I found though The Knitting Pen's blog, about how people with knitting-based blogs tend to* respond to comments through one-on-one contact like emails (or Ravelry) - and i'm the same, although I do respond to people when it goes through to Facebook. But doing it that way makes you forget that what you are replying, might be of interest to other readers as well. (*I say tend to, because I know a couple of bloggers that do reply in-comment - but I usually forget to go back and check if there's a response!)

So - starting now, i'm going to make an effort to respond in the comments section to all comments I get. Maybe we can start a discussion about a pattern or technique that you've been wanting to know more about that I mention, or you can talk about a book you've read that you think we might like. Share your opinion!

Let's start the comments ball rolling with something topical - what do you think about handmade gifts for Christmas? Have you thought about looking at Etsy, Felt or ArtFire for something that you could get personalised? Or do you make your own knitter/crafted gifts for friends and family?

I'm doing something a little different for my family presents this year, although I guess technically it's still handmade. I saw an ad a few months back about buying t-shirts incorporating designs that are drawn by orphans in Africa [here's the link] - so Sis, Mum and Dad get to pick one each :) Buying one t-shirt will feed an orphan for a month, so its a twist on the 'buy a pig/goat/pair of shoes' gifts i've been doing the last couple of years.

Let me know your thoughts - and check back to see what other's are doing, it might help you get some ideas!

If you're like me and forget to go back and check for a response, there should be a little box you can tick in the Blogger comments screen that says "send follow-up comments by email" - that's probably the best way. Facebook should notify you if someone else comments on a note you've commented on.

On a new path

I handed in my resignation at work yesterday, after working in this office for the past four years. I'm starting again in a new direction...

I have decided to move out of Wellington, to go and study full time in Hamilton*. The course I will be doing is a Bachelor of Contemporary Christian Music at Vision College, majoring in bass guitar and minoring in vocals. You may remember that back in January I did a week-long music course - this is following on from that! It had been niggling at the back of my head that it was something that I really enjoyed, and that I would be silly not to pursue it. So after much thought and organisation, I applied for the course, did the interview and got accepted all in about a week! The full bachelor program is for three years, but i'm just going to take it a year at a time**.

This is a huge deal for me - i've never studied full time at university level before, and i've never lived in a new city on my own away from my family, so i'm both nervous and excited. Luckily I've visited Hamilton quite a bit over the last year and really love it there.

The timing of things should work out quite well - I finish work at the end of December before going on my holiday to the states, then when I get back I have about two weeks of relaxing/packing before the course starts, with two days of orientation before classes start.

So there you go! I've decided too, that with my new start will come a new blog, but more details on that closer to the time.

Knitting update
I've been pretty slack with knitting recently! I finished off a little something new for my Etsy store***, but that's about it. I have cast on for the Central Park Hoodie [Rav link], starting with the sleeve, but I need to find some more stitch markers for the cable section before I can go much further.

---

* for those not in the area - Wellington is at the bottom of the North Island, Hamilton is about a 7 hour drive north, closer to the top of the North Island. Here's a map if you're interested!
** they all say that - and they all do the full three years! It just sounds good...
*** I want to make a couple more, then they will be listed :)

Five books on the re-read pile

With the dawn of audio books, I've been rather slack at reading actual books, preferring to jam in my headphones to get me through the train trip every day.

Meanwhile, i've still been buying books from the local second-hand place! There's just something about holding a hardback in your hands that seems terribly romantic and 'old-fashioned'; it will always appeal to me. Recently i've been getting flashes of my highschool days, when we were told to pick books to read from a reading list, and then write an essay on the themes. Sadly, this took the fun out of reading the book for entertainment - you know it inside out, but because you know it so well, you don't enjoy it - there's no tense moment waiting to see what will happen next, because you already know! On the plus side, you got to read books you normally wouldn't even consider reading, and perhaps understand them more from all the study.

It appears i've been on a pursuit lately to read books that have had movies made from them, to look at it from different angles. Now i'm going to try something different - going back to books that I've read a long time ago, in order to recapture some of what made them so interesting in the first place. Here's my list of books to re-read:

• Tooth and Nail

This book is set in the 1930s depression era. Sadly it doesn't appear to have made it to any listings on the interweb, so I can't even tell you who the author is, but from what I remember it was set in New Zealand, about a teenage girl, and what it was like for her and the choices she had to make in terms of school and then work. I remember reading this several times during high school, so much so that I may have held onto a copy when school finished (they had plenty of other copies there!). There is a part in the book where the only work she can get is to paste up posters of upcoming shows - although disguised as a boy because girls weren't allowed to do that kind of work - and i'm reminded of this every time I walk through town and see people pasting up posters. I can't remember what happens in the end though, so this is definately a re-read, once i've found my copy!

• Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

I was quite suprised to find I had the urge to read these ones again. They come in the catergory of reading-too-much-then-picking-themes-to-study - so I really wasn't a big fan at the time (I think the black and white movie of '1984' put me off!) but for some reason they have stuck in my head, and i'm interested to read them again now that i'm older and see what I think...

• False Memory - Dean Koontz

I read this post-highschool - it was the first Dean Koontz book that I read, and made me want to read more of his work. Sadly I've found that none of his books were as good as what I remember of this one... I've been hunting around for a while for my own copy of it, and finally found one a couple of weeks ago, so that's made the list, so I can remind myself why it was so good.

• Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

I got this on audiobook a while ago [my review is here] and thoroughly enjoyed it - it was the unabridged version of it, so the hardcopy book should be the same, but i'm interested in seeing how I go with the constant change of narration between Henry and Clare, without the voices to guide me through the story.

• Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë

Ok, so I haven't read this one before. And to be honest, the only reason I want to read it is to be able to follow up the quotes they use in Twilight (yes, i'm slightly obsessed, this we know!). But going through my dad's old bookshelf a month ago, I spotted a copy, so i've added that to my pile too - why not! I figure a story that was also made into an opera, movie and song must be good!

Over to you:
What books did you have to study back in the day? Are you compelled to re-read any of them again, just to see if you enjoy them more now? I'd love to know your opinions!

~Happy reading!~

Needle storage

Wow, three posts in 24 hours! That's some record for me!

I was reading Marilyn's blog, The Stair Landing, this morning, and her latest post has got me thinking. As well as covering what fearless knitting she has done in 2009 so far, she's also questioned how people store their knitting needles.

My 'system' leaves alot to be desired... when I got back into knitting again last year I was on the prowl for needles for a long time, buying bulk sets in online auctions, so I have far too many needles! All my straights are in one knitting bag, a piece of string holding together the different sizes. My old circulars are just lumped and tangled together in another knitting bag. My knit picks are probably the most organised - i've written on their plastic case the different sizes of tips so I know which ones go where - although the cables are a mess. My DPNs are sitting in a glass jar on my desk. Along with Marilyn, I too probably have a few stray ones in project bags spread around the place. The piece of knitting equipment I have to have at the start of every project is my needle sizer just so I can find the right needle to use!

My question to you - how do you sort and store your needles? Do you have any tips you can share with me and others about how to tidy things up a bit? I look forward to your comments!

~Happy knitting!~

Etsy Treasury: Blue Butterflies

Spazzyyarn made a gorgeous Etsy Treasury a while ago, and kindly gave me a link to instructions on how to make one. She also linked to a clock which showed how long to go until the next slot to get in to make one, since you've gotta get in quick!

Since then i've been checking on and off, waiting for the numbers to drop in my favour so I could get in there and make one for myself - and finally today I looked at the right time!

Here's my Treasury: Blue Butterflies

(expires 30th Oct)

The search I did for this was blue butterflies - my favourite - and all the items are perfect stocking-fillers for Christmas.

If you're not sure what a Treasury is, it 'is an ever-changing, member-curated shopping gallery of handpicked items.' Its a good place to start hunting for items on Etsy, as they are usually grouped by colour or theme.

If you've joined Etsy and would like to make one for yourself, here's the instructions, and the clock to keep an eye on. You have to wait until the number of lists drops below 333 - right now as I write this, there are 641 lists! They expire after three days, so that's when you can jump in to a free spot.

Have a look at Spazzyyarn's Etsy store - she spins and dyes some gorgeous yarns - or follow her on Twitter. A big thanks to her for the tips - it was alot of fun putting together my own collection! I'd love to make another one next time I get a chance :)