tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47401440477523104342012-01-24T10:24:39.880+10:00Where a slightly loopy Australian knitter muses randomly on knitting, family, stuff, and the occasional trip in Lulu, her purple Corolla hatchback.Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.comBlogger1571100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-66246367508511348152012-01-16T10:26:00.000+10:002012-01-16T11:48:54.123+10:00

I love knitting for babies. It's quick and there are so many gorgeous patterns. I have a number of go-to patterns that I keep coming back to because the patterns are well-written and I've had great results - Jacki Kelly's Felix's Cardigan, annypurls' Peace Baby, Georgie Hallam's Rainbow Dress, and the Ribbon-tied Wool Vest from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies. But when I found

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-88172207146419623302012-01-11T08:59:00.000+10:002012-01-11T08:59:23.245+10:00

I was so confident yesterday that I had sorted everything out. I spoke too soon. When I went back and re-read the page from Google, I realised that it wasn't that my blog was now on blogspot.com.au, it was that it existed on both domains and as an Australian reader of the blog, I would (randomly?) get sent to blogspot.com.au. So the fact that I migrated all the comments to the .com.au domain

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-85222913534296402302012-01-10T21:23:00.001+10:002012-01-10T21:36:01.144+10:00

It turned out I didn't have it all right after all. The comments had gone again by this morning and the only seemingly helpful piece of info I could find online suggested that I should ditch my custom blog template and start again from a standard one. Hence the new look. It worked, but only for as long as it took for me to work out that I was now back to standard Blogger comments and I had to

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-29398452757044335042012-01-09T13:27:00.000+10:002012-01-09T13:41:07.847+10:00

Oops. Thanks to anyone who has commented over the past few days. (in fact, thank you to anyone who has commented here EVER). I wanted to reply to you and have realised that blogger doesn't give an easy way to reply to comments.  So I did a bit of a search and saw that a lot of people were using DISQUS. All the instructions on the DISQUS site seemed simple, so I took the plunge.  Install

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-54810584334595879102012-01-08T11:58:00.000+10:002012-01-08T11:58:09.309+10:00

We went away for a week and a half from the 24th of December. Drove to Sydney to spend 5 days with my family, then out to Orange to have New Years with the Man's Aunt and Uncle, and came home up the Newell Highway, with a day at Western Plains Zoo on the way. The Man wanted to take his car (which makes sense, as it's larger and much more comfortable to travel in than my tiny hatchback) and as

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-45648240275647350152012-01-06T12:08:00.003+10:002012-01-06T12:47:12.429+10:00

I've always found it a bit tricky when coming back to the blog after an absence. I've come to accept that there are times that I just don't feel like writing, so there are going to be gaps, but after a while I want to write again, and I start mentally composing blog posts and then I stop.....  Herein lies the dilemma. Do I ignore the fact that I've been away, and just post like I was never gone?

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-55087048908443829332011-10-25T14:17:00.002+10:002011-10-25T16:32:25.743+10:00

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-88206759867938758042011-06-23T14:16:00.001+10:002011-06-23T14:20:25.048+10:00

Your Mum, to whom you posted the cardigan you knitted for your Grandma, loves it much that your Dad is concerned that she won't give it to Grandma*! And here, because I have no photos of Grandma's cardigan, is a totally random photo of some lovely oranges from a colleague's backyard tree. *there is exaggeration here. My Mum loves my Grandma so much that if Grandma liked a sweater I had made

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-45345646727710031542011-06-21T10:47:00.000+10:002011-06-21T10:47:47.651+10:00

But I can't prove it to you.  I finished Grandma's cardigan last week, sewing on the last of the 12(!) buttons while I was at home sick with a head cold. I washed and blocked it this weekend and put it in a postage satchel and dropped it in at the post office yesterday.  But I forgot to take a photo! Aaargh! It is finished, I promise!

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-66770513807871540302011-05-29T22:50:00.001+10:002011-05-29T23:04:34.951+10:00

When I was little, on special occasions, my Mum and Dad would make pancakes for breakfast. Mum would get out the cookbook and it would fall open to the pancake recipe (it was the only recipe she ever used from that book, and it had been used so often that the spine was broken at that spot). Mum made the batter, and stood at the stove and cooked, and the rest of us sat on stools at the bench along

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-1428130377267020762011-05-27T09:03:00.006+10:002011-05-27T09:10:23.017+10:00

I am still attempting to finish the cardigan which appeared sans sleeve in the previous post. It is a Sprout-growing roots, in the long-sleeve, longer-body variant, knitted with Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 10 ply. I'm knitting it for my Grandma, and while she would never put a deadline on it, by my own standards, it's already getting way too late. It is starting to get pretty cold in Sydney

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-78359968705938964432011-05-20T13:18:00.006+10:002011-05-20T13:25:26.442+10:00

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of sleeves, I will fear no evil, for I am a knitter, and even though I hate knitting sleeves and I've already knit this whole sleeve and unraveled it because I got the tension wrong, no stinking tube of knitted fabric is going to beat me!

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-82170294601696690182011-05-19T07:57:00.003+10:002011-05-19T08:59:43.431+10:00

It was rather cloudy and dark outside this morning, and then a sudden rain squall decided to dump on me on my walk to work so I wasn't feeling at my happiest, but then I looked up and saw this. It's just light shining through raindrops, but rainbows make me smile. How about you? Are you a fan of rainbows too?

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-36565258939203518842010-11-14T18:03:00.002+10:002011-05-19T10:40:27.479+10:00

I thought I’d better pop in and let you know that I’m still alive and still doing stuff, I just haven’t really been able to put enough cohesive thoughts together for sensible blog posts. Work has been extremely busy. The job I do means that we have a rush towards the end of every year and it has been particularly hectic this year. I’ve been very stressed out and probably haven’t been the nicest

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-82323949000169156812010-10-26T22:14:00.002+10:002011-05-19T10:43:32.315+10:00

Yesterday’s Yarn Harlot page-a-day calendar page contained a note that there were 9 weeks till christmas, which was a fairly strong hint to get on with the christmas knitting. I know that a lot of knitters get worked up over the whole christmas knitting thing and I think that it’s brilliant that lucky people will be getting lovingly hand-knitted gifts, but this year my cunning and devious plan to

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-51019648131562424912010-10-08T19:20:00.001+10:002010-10-08T19:22:04.737+10:00

I was shocked and saddened recently to read about Tyler Clementi, an 18 year old gay man from Rutgers University in New Jersey, who died when he jumped from the George Washington bridge after his roommate secretly filmed Tyler's private life and streamed it on the internet.The statistics around all the young men and women committing suicide because of persecution related to their sexuality are

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-89079841422580182122010-09-23T21:28:00.002+10:002010-09-23T21:40:18.211+10:00

This is not the first yarn I've spun on my spinning wheel, but it is the first that I'm really proud of. It's 19.5micron merino from Highland Felting and Fibre Supplies, which I hand-dyed with Queen's food colouring before spinning. It is incredibly soft. I'm not certain what this is going to become, but I know it is going to be something for me. I think a nice soft drapy scarf will be nice. ps

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-47729912072638923352010-09-13T21:53:00.000+10:002010-09-13T21:53:25.339+10:00

These bookshelves (Billy, by IKEA) disappointed by not containing one single fastener that required the use of an allen key. I thought EVERYTHING at IKEA, even the swedish meatballs, required assembly using an allen key. Obviously I'm wrong (and despite the fact that the restaurant was almost full when we left the store, not one single person was eating their meal using an allen key, so I must be

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-64636109789928909532010-08-13T09:25:00.001+10:002010-08-13T09:25:47.635+10:00

I had a rotten day yesterday. Crazy busy, trying to manage about 5 or 6 serious problems at once, and to top it all off, our new staff member, who has been with us for under 2 weeks, decided that it wasn't the job for him, and resigned. I had to stay late to take care of some of the issues, and stumbled in the door at home at 9.30, tired and cold from the walk from the bus in the wind. When I got

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-43997543215375664612010-07-22T14:33:00.001+10:002010-08-16T09:00:00.569+10:00

We have successfully moved into the new house (thanks to the 4 burly blokes from the moving company who spent about 6 hours cheerfully and expertly moving all of our stuff 110m up the street) and have unpacked all the essentials, so it's starting to feel a bit like home. We've reached that limbo point where we need to do some big stuff like getting the Salvo's to come and get the furniture we no

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-70829573825350303842010-07-03T23:49:00.001+10:002010-07-03T23:49:36.932+10:00

We move into our new house on Tuesday. That's providing there are no issues with settlement on Monday, but I've been as much of a control freak as I can and chased everyone up on this side and I think everything is now actually out of my control now. Virtually everything is in boxes or bags or suitcases or plastic crates and everything else will be following suit tomorrow. I'm pretty sure my

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-91040159354748079552010-06-16T12:21:00.001+10:002010-06-16T12:22:01.669+10:00

I've been toying with the idea of writing a blog post for a couple of weeks now, but I keep stopping because I can't work out how to adequately account for my absence. I guess it comes down to this...I was depressed....I still am depressed. Not enough to make me want to stay in bed and shut out the world, but enough to make it really hard to do anything but collapse on the couch with my knitting

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-57441033040487414742010-04-19T11:27:00.000+10:002010-04-19T11:27:37.528+10:00

I know I haven't posted in ages, but I'm still here. It's just that a million and one things are going on and I'm shattered by the end of the day and I haven't felt like writing or taking pictures or uploading them, and when I feel like doing one of them I haven't been able to coordinate it with the others and so I've ended up not posting.  I will try and do better.

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-50475941290510321862010-03-30T14:47:00.000+10:002010-03-30T14:47:53.281+10:00

Please send me either four more hours in every day, or someone to do my timesheets for me.  Thanks in advance,  Lexy. xx

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-29387186233130383402010-03-21T18:36:00.000+10:002010-03-21T18:36:39.986+10:00

My Knitting Olympics prize arrived in the mail yesterday morning. The yarn is beautiful and soft and smooshy and gorgeous. The colour is just stunning. Now I need to find something beautiful to knit with it. It's HandMaiden Cashmere 4 Ply - 170m of DK. I'm looking for something beautiful, for me to wear, that will get some wear in the Brisbane climate. Any ideas? But for the moment I'm quite

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-6170873064700170272010-03-16T20:18:00.001+10:002010-03-16T20:20:28.744+10:00

My head has been all over the place in the last week. I've been down, after a few too many restless nights up with a sick boy while the Man was overseas, up with my Knitting Olympics competition win, down with some challenges at work, and up with some important things finally going right at work. The Man arrived back yesterday after ten days away, so things should get back to normal soon, but I'm

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-90116814026350035482010-03-11T08:26:00.002+10:002010-03-11T13:00:28.361+10:00

There are a few people and things I get all fangirl about - David Tennant, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Firefly, and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot.  Regular readers will know that I recently entered the Knitting Olympics and failed to complete my cardigan despite a gallant effort (if I do say so myself).  Stephanie recently ran a competition for Knitting Olympics entrants, whether they

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-68597398116246499212010-03-02T10:26:00.000+10:002010-03-02T10:26:51.877+10:00

When I read the lovely comment from Lauren on my last post, recommending that I try out Portuguese knitting because it works for Christine, who also has bad wrists, my first thought was, uncharitably, not "Brilliant. That sounds great". It was actually. "No, I don't want to learn another way of doing this. I tried continental once and that was an unmitigated disaster. I don't want to be a

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-50401926396408447922010-02-20T21:06:00.001+10:002010-02-20T21:07:13.940+10:00

It was always going to be a challenge to finish my Chicknits eyelet cardi in time to register a success in the Knitting Olympics. That's the way it's meant to be.  Unfortunately, my bad wrist started to twinge about halfway through the week, and despite an effort to take it easy since then, it's now clear that I pushed it a little too hard, and while it doesn't actually hurt to knit, I can feel

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-54059940637496982092010-02-15T19:29:00.001+10:002010-02-15T19:30:44.616+10:00

Garry: It's over to you, Larry and Barry! Larry: Thanks, Garry! Welcome back to day 3 of the 17 day Women's Seamless Cardigan event. We've had a great three days of competition here and we've seen some absolutely amazing knitting, haven't we, Barry?Barry: Yes, Larry, it's been really tough out there but they just keep coming up with the goods. After the really tense moment on day one when the

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-29443626334001376672010-02-14T00:25:00.000+10:002010-02-14T00:25:43.062+10:00

For anyone who actually knew what time the Winter Olympics started today, my post from yesterday must have looked a bit silly. Two people pointed it out politely in the comments. The opening ceremony started at 12noon Brisbane time today, not 4am, as I said yesterday. I had looked it up online and found a way to display Vancouver time against Brisbane time. The only problem was that it also

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-31364406468322668822010-02-12T08:39:00.000+10:002010-02-12T08:39:46.029+10:00

I signed up for the Knitting Olympics this morning. I wasn't going to do it as I've got unfinished projects that I want to complete and taking on a whole other project that had to be started and finished within 17 days just seemed beyond me, but as I thought this morning, the Knitting Olympics only comes round once every 4 years so I should at least have a go. If I fail, at least I failed while

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-43295971458226740062010-02-08T20:49:00.000+10:002010-02-08T20:49:42.319+10:00

At the end of last year, I went to support some of my Stitch 'n Bitch friends at the Queensland Spinners and Weavers Christmas Fair. It's one of only two days per year where non-members are allowed into the hallowed hall of the Emporium, a large room full of fibre-y,  yarny, equipment-y goodness. The very lovely Miss Vicki helped me to choose some lovely Merino from Treetops and a gorgeous silk

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-52473724592219245132010-01-26T19:54:00.002+10:002010-01-26T20:00:17.913+10:00

Everything's been a bit slow lately. I'm still advancing slowly on the baby blanket - I'm up to the 540st rounds, which according to my calculations is 57% of the minimum size I want the blanket to be. I've joined on a new ball of yarn, using a russian join (the first time I've tried it and I love it - will use it for cotton yarn from now on!). I haven't taken photos but it looks just like it

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-53827655815627792952010-01-20T21:29:00.000+10:002010-01-20T21:29:41.483+10:00

I've been in a bit of a blog slump lately. Which is funny, because there's lots going on. I've been knitting away on Margot, and she now has about 26cm of one sleeve (not certain if it's a left or a right, the pattern is completely reversible, so I guess it depends on which way around it is when I go to put it on). This is more sleeve length than is called for in the pattern but I've decided to

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-62962864811640723562010-01-17T19:47:00.000+10:002010-01-17T19:47:57.109+10:00

Monday 28th December Nelson-Greymouth It was raining steadily when we left Nelson so we didn't stop at any of the "pick your own berries" farms we'd seen on our excursion to Richmond the day before. I did get to buy some raspberries from a roadside stall later on in the morning. They were cheap, and some of the best raspberries I'd ever had. We drove to Cape Foulwind and walked out to the

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-77017766949280147252010-01-15T22:00:00.000+10:002010-01-15T22:00:49.522+10:00

Saturday December 26 Christchurch-Kaikoura We popped into Christchurch city centre for brekky, picked up a local sim card for my phone (who wants to pay international roaming charges?) and got on our way. I called to check in with Mum and Dad, who informed me that the change to airline regulations had come through earlier than expected and I could have taken my knitting on the plane the day

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-48950991984872576622010-01-15T13:12:00.000+10:002010-01-15T13:12:40.170+10:00

Friday December 25, 2009 We got up really early on Christmas morning as our flight was at 8.30am and we wanted to be at the airport by 6.30. We woke the boy and pointed him in the direction of his present from Santa, a Transformers Devastator toy. of course, just looking at it wasn't enough, we had to open it, which meant unwinding what felt like 4 million little wire-ties. I gave up after a

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-85758510772125033622010-01-10T10:55:00.000+10:002010-01-10T10:55:43.597+10:00

I'm procrastinating about going through the holiday photos and compressing them for the web, or purchasing a Flickr pro account (I know which one's going to win, the Flickr pro account is much easier!) So until I get that sorted out - some time this afternoon, I think - I will leave you with some resolutions for this year. Mostly I think that New Year's resolutions are a bit silly, as reviewing

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-89653465426117131432010-01-09T17:48:00.000+10:002010-01-09T17:48:40.928+10:00

Well, I'm back from my break. We arrived home from two weeks in New Zealand this morning. We got up at 3.30am Christchurch time and have done the flying and arriving home things today - the checkin, the big wait for the flight, the flight itself, collecting baggage, getting home, doing several loads of washing, mowing the lawn, downloading and watching David Tennant's last two episodes of Doctor

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-89686402599125548332009-12-24T19:16:00.001+10:002009-12-24T19:54:43.415+10:00

The CT scan results indicate that there isn't anything seriously wrong with my neck or brain. We think it's just that stress and poor sleeping and sitting positions have resulted in my shoulder and neck muscles being so tight that they made the Physiotherapist laugh, and that was pushing on one or more of the nerves to my arm. I saw the afore-mentioned Physio last night and I have sore but more

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-81914745224772630772009-12-21T17:28:00.000+10:002009-12-21T17:28:08.547+10:00

I've been having some problems with my right arm lately. On two occasions I've had a sensation as though I'm recovering from pins and needles - slight tingling in my hand and a very slight numbness and heavyness in my whole arm. I had it a week or so ago and it went away, only to come back again on the weekend. I saw a Doctor this morning and got sent off this afternoon for a CT scan of my head

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-6344334664457781412009-12-14T20:50:00.001+10:002009-12-14T20:52:45.300+10:00

Usually I knit for at least 30 minutes every day, quite often a lot more. Recently, with my dodgy wrist, I've done a lot less knitting than normal, some days as little as 10 stitches in the day, some days none at all. So I was really happy to have reached the last raglan increase row on Margot, all ready to divide for the sleeves and body. I did one final count to make sure I had the right

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-39786429985577129192009-12-13T21:23:00.006+10:002009-12-13T22:07:45.121+10:00

We went away for the weekend to celebrate some family birthdays. We had a lovely time in a beautiful house up in the Byron Bay hinterland, with room for all of us, a verandah on which to have some tasty meals, and a great swimming pool for lots of fun and shenanigans. This was the view from the verandah...        And here is a shot of the shenanigans in the pool I gave the remaining two

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-58062010968669360052009-12-10T21:34:00.000+10:002009-12-10T21:34:21.552+10:00

We gave away the first of the knitted bags today. It was the stripy blue booga bag and we gave it to The Boy's Prep teacher as a thank you gift. All of his class met this evening at the home of one of the other boys, and we ate and drank and made pizzas in their wood fired pizza oven and chatted and had fun. The Boy handed over the gift to his teacher and proudly stated "My Mummy made it". I

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-690686013890872192009-12-06T16:45:00.000+10:002009-12-06T16:45:10.573+10:00

I've been felting today. These three bags are the closest thing to Christmas knitting that I have committed myself to this year. Two are for birthdays in the family and the third is a thank you present for The Boy's prep teacher. They all need to be finished by this Thursday. I got them all felted this morning - due to my wrist still being a little bit fragile, I went against my usual principles

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-87676662636055232632009-11-30T22:35:00.000+10:002009-11-30T22:35:26.046+10:00

...because Santa Claus went online and bought my Christmas present today. I'm getting a Kata 3n1 20 to carry my Nikon D90 camera in. I love Santa (and not just when he's buying me presents, honest!) And here are some photos of my hand-dyed yarn when it all dried and I put some of it in pretty skeins. You can really tell why commercial variegated and space-dyed yarn is sold like that. It makes a

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-89681559366459831632009-11-26T19:58:00.000+10:002009-11-26T19:58:07.697+10:00

I had the day off from work today. I find that when I'm stressed out at work, occasionally I just need to take a day off and have a bit of a rest. Today I watched some TV and decided to attempt to dye my big bag of cream Cleckheaton 12ply. I got all the food colouring out of the cupboard, realised it wasn't going to be enough, and set the yarn to soak in a 50:50 mix of luke-warm water and

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-65104005433610230222009-11-25T11:06:00.000+10:002009-11-25T11:06:41.924+10:00

... ... Is very very quiet.

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-21248830883792518432009-11-23T19:05:00.000+10:002009-11-23T19:05:16.401+10:00

I have a very sore wrist. I blame Farmville, a farming game on Facebook which involves a large amount of repetitive mouse use. It's certainly the only change to my routine that I think is likely to have caused the wrist pain. It even hurts to knit. So I am resting my right wrist and I have it wrapped in a bandage. I've moved my mouse at work to the left hand side which gives me the giggles

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-35725283198121017592009-11-20T22:06:00.001+10:002009-11-20T22:34:36.242+10:00

I've just got gauge for my Margot in the 8ply Luxury Mink on 4.5mm KnitPicks needles....And the fun begins!

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-67522829627274363042009-11-20T09:43:00.001+10:002009-11-20T09:44:28.035+10:00

I called Bendigo Woollen Mills about my order yesterday and they said it went in the mail on Tuesday so I'm hoping it turns up today. Aus Post says parcels from Bendigo to Brisbane should take 3 business days so it could be today. When I was doing some stash diving for the blue stripy Booga bag the other day I found a bag of cream Cleckheaton 12 ply wool which I saved from a half-finished

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-3664371988002395982009-11-18T18:49:00.000+10:002009-11-18T18:49:10.546+10:00

I've been knitting bags as gifts for The Boy's teacher and for a couple of family birthdays in December. I've finished knitting two of them, and one has been languishing. It's a blue stripy Booga Bag made with double strands of DK. I realised a little while ago that it was turning out a bit big. It was 25x14cm on the base and after the requisite 64 rows would have been 42cm tall. I've found in

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-9463818426419994502009-11-15T19:39:00.001+10:002009-11-15T19:40:35.822+10:00

I've finished the knitting on two of the bags I am making for gifts. I still have to felt the bags and add some needle-felted embellishments. Also, here is a photo of my Kaylee Frye (from Firefly and Serenity) costume from the Friday the 13th birthday party on Friday night. It's a little bit blurry but it gives a bit of an idea. I couldn't get good boots cheaply, so just wore my walking shoes

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-69412498052933633712009-11-15T12:22:00.002+10:002009-11-15T14:06:44.551+10:00

Ever do something stupid? I slipped while making a cup of coffee this morning and burned my finger on the steam wand of the coffee machine. I didn't think it was all that bad at the time but it has formed a small blister. This shows where I carry the yarn while I'm knitting - it's far enough away to continue to knit, but close enough to make me nervous. It's pretty sore, too. All that for a

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-84603856196661551192009-11-12T21:38:00.002+10:002009-11-15T14:07:11.797+10:00

I've been feeling really tired and a bit down for a few weeks. I haven't really felt like doing much of anything, including knitting. Strangely, despite the fact that my attention span isn't long enough for anything complex, the monotonous nature of the projects I have on the needles at the moment, rather than being soothing and relaxing, is making me anxious to start something new and exciting.

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-58812126284160587962009-11-09T20:23:00.002+10:002009-11-15T14:07:46.399+10:00

It's been 10 hours since my last yarn purchase...... I don't have as big a stash as some knitters I know, but it's sizable. I have 4 million tons (possibly a slight exaggeration) of acrylic from my early years when I didn't know any better, many odd balls of all sorts of stuff, and many projects worth of various yarns, some with mental project attached, some waiting for the perfect project to

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-16638328148456042792009-11-06T20:11:00.003+10:002009-11-06T20:45:38.665+10:00

I work in software development. We have a development team of about 40 people, which is reasonably self-contained process-wise within the organisation, so individuals have the ability (and indeed a responsibility) to influence practices, processes, toolsets and the like. I don't know whether this environment attracts people who are passionate and outspoken about their opinions or just provides

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-20528073693582237992009-11-05T21:10:00.003+10:002009-11-05T22:45:01.684+10:00

I love to sing. I sang in the school choir all the way through primary and high schools and with the staff choir in my first job. But I haven't really sung in public since then. So when a colleague, knowing my interest in choral music, told me that his family was involved in the QYC, and I found out that they have a non-auditioned community choir for the over 26's, my interest was piqued. I

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-21606816655471039222009-11-03T18:56:00.000+10:002009-11-03T18:56:09.508+10:00

Today was okay. We had lunch for Melbourne Cup so I dressed up and wore a pretty dress and a fascinator and won the office best dressed contest. But still, I thought about Doug a lot today. I hope he would be proud of the person I am now, of what I have achieved. I'm not sure today's essay is any good. It probably hasn't had the amount of editing it deserves. Still, it's finished, and I

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-83697339825861189522009-11-02T20:24:00.001+10:002009-11-02T20:25:10.160+10:00

Tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of the death of my Husband Doug, who died at the age of 30 of a pulmonary embolism. 5 years seems like a long time and I think it deserves some sort of commemoration. So today I'm posting an essay I wrote in June 2005, 6 months after Doug's death, about grief and knitting and how the two affected each other. Tomorrow I am hoping to be able to post a follow up -

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-73602445417890237662009-11-01T00:15:00.001+10:002009-11-01T00:18:07.587+10:00

The Boy is possessed!. Well, not really, although I'm sure all parents of 6 year olds must think that occasionally. I found these photos last night, which were taken on a visit we made to the Queensland Museum. I thought they were appropriately demonic for today. (hint: click to embiggen - the red eyes look so much more creepy that way!) I didn't get much knitting done today as I was

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-6955149619255025042009-10-30T22:27:00.000+10:002009-10-30T22:27:38.894+10:00

I still feel a little bit like I've been run over by a truck, but probably a smaller truck than yesterday - maybe a Holden Ute rather than yesterday's Kenworth. So it's "Random Stuff Friday" again. 1. My copy of Interweave Knits Weekend arrived today (thanks Kelly and the team at Tangled Yarns). Well, actually it arrived yesterday but since I wasn't at work, it was sitting patiently on my desk

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-25419779482781939792009-10-29T17:17:00.001+10:002009-10-29T17:21:08.522+10:00

I've been very tired lately and yesterday at work I was having trouble concentrating and had a couple of vague, slightly dizzy moments. So I'm at home today, resting. I don't think I totally got over the head and chest cold I had a few weeks ago. I've not felt like doing much lately but thought I would share some photos of an activity The Boy and I did last night for school. They had read "

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-90669533149023900412009-10-26T20:27:00.000+10:002009-10-26T20:27:34.148+10:00

It hasn't rained in ages. The grass in the front yard is beige and crunchy, which seems entirely the wrong way for grass to be. So it was really great when the big grey clouds rolled over this afternoon - not so great that they chose the period in which I was walking down the hill from the bus-stop to dump really hard, but brilliant that I can see puddles in our front yard, and I'm sure my shoes

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-7823354788946674932009-10-25T18:32:00.000+10:002009-10-25T18:32:50.485+10:00

A while ago, I found out that there were three babies recently born or due very soon among my workmates. These were all from parents who I don't work directly with, but I felt that I could handle making two simple cardigans for the little boys and finishing a bolero which was in the UFO pile for the little girl. I gave away one of the cardigans and the bolero, and found out that the other baby's

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-22448150434827593402009-10-24T17:57:00.000+10:002009-10-24T17:57:57.440+10:00

Some time ago our green wheelie bin had a bit of an accident and it's been missing its lid ever since. We should probably contact the council and get a new one but not having a lid doesn't really stop it doing a good job as a bin, and while this may change as we really come into summer, it hasn't really smelled much or attracted many flies, so we haven't bothered. Today we discovered a reason

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-5077205696416228022009-10-23T20:16:00.002+10:002009-10-23T20:19:58.581+10:00

I'm tired today. I've managed to get rid of most of my cold but the last creepy tendrils are just hanging on, and I've got a bit of a headache and all I want to do is curl up on the couch with a cup of tea. That, combined with the fact that nothing phenomenally momentous is happening, has led me to invent "Random stuff Friday", where I will cover a few random things which don't need much

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-88848980364412120112009-10-20T08:51:00.000+10:002009-10-20T08:51:18.679+10:00

Not here, although I'd love to have enough Malabrigo to be giving some away. Head over to Salihan Crafts and enter for the chance to win two skeins of Malabrigo of your choice! (and stay and have a bit of a read while you're there, Salihan is great, and her amigurumi pears are seriously gorgeous. They make me want to learn to crochet properly!)

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-88018580962961353482009-10-19T20:51:00.001+10:002009-10-19T21:10:43.255+10:00

Over on Ravelry, it's not that hard to find a discussion about knitting speed on the forums. It seems to be something of importance to a lot of knitters. I must admit that I'm not overly concerned about my knitting speed now, but that could be because I've reached a skill level and speed with which I am content. Out of interest, I timed myself the other day. On my current primary project (still

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-56851498365443333792009-10-18T19:15:00.000+10:002009-10-18T19:15:03.845+10:00

It's not been a particularly exciting weekend. The cold I have been trying to fight off for the last week laid me flat on the couch for most of it and I haven't felt like doing much of anything, including knitting. I haven't even really been able to concentrate enough to read Unseen Academicals. We took the Boy to his first swimming lesson yesterday. He seemed to go okay but he has trouble

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-5872385225574654122009-10-15T19:30:00.003+10:002009-10-15T19:49:44.729+10:00

Dear Alpaca Vest I have something to tell you. It's not easy to say this, but I think we need a break. I know that yesterday I said that I loved you and only you, and that l wanted an exclusive relationship with you and, well, most of that is still true. I do love you. I think you're lovely, and I still really enjoy spending time with you. It's just that, well, something new and exciting has

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-82179384904390048822009-10-14T21:13:00.000+10:002009-10-14T21:13:26.376+10:00

I've been noticing over the last few days that monogamy has its benefits. I'm talking here about staying faithful to one knitting project, not about staying faithful to one person, although that has its own fair share of benefits as well. I normally have a large number of knitting projects on the go at any one time. I choose whichever one I feel like working on depending on what sort of knitting

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-59389621744542417222009-10-13T21:50:00.001+10:002009-10-13T22:02:43.831+10:00

Well, this is the third time I've done the ribbing and the fourth time I've done the first few rows of stocking stitch on Dad's alpaca vest. It looks okay but I'm trying hard not to get excited about it until I've done enough stocking stitch to really know that I'm still getting something close to the right tension. I ended up having to go down to 3mm needles for the ribbing and 3.25mm needles

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-8721187666568050552009-10-10T17:23:00.003+10:002009-10-10T18:44:40.079+10:00

Yesterday I finished the ribbing on Dad's Alpaca vest. Or, rather, it finished me, and I decided that 20 rows (out of a recommended 24) was quite enough and started on the plain stocking stitch of the body. I used the 4mm needles called for in the pattern and had about 15 rows done before it started to dawn on me that it didn't look or feel quite right. It was gathering up quite a lot on the

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-63335041161709740392009-10-07T19:48:00.001+10:002009-10-07T19:49:24.378+10:00

I started a plain v-neck vest for Dad on Sunday night, in some Bendigo 8ply Alpaca that I had originally purchased for another project, then changed my mind. I did my usual trick of using the needle size recommended for the body of the garment rather than the needle size stated for the ribbing (I don't like my ribbing to pull in too much), but after 17.5 rows of k1p1 ribbing I realised that it

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-36279921415165272792009-10-06T18:17:00.002+10:002009-10-07T08:48:00.866+10:00

When I started my cabled cardigan with my newly delivered Bendigo Classic 8ply, I realised very quickly that knitting with this yarn was going to be a challenge. I noticed in passing while I was casting on (using the long-tail method) that the yarn wasn't untwisting as much as I normally notice with cast-ons but that was a bonus so it didn't really warrant further attention. It wasn't until I

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-55971612064938159482009-10-05T19:43:00.002+10:002009-10-05T20:48:28.293+10:00

Monday again. The weekend always flies by so quickly! The Boy is back from school holidays with his grandparents and School went back today. I asked him how his day went and got the standard response..."Bad". No elaboration, so I don't know what in particular was bad about today, but I guess I'd better get used to being told only what he chooses to tell me....Some days I wish I was six years

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-23636583374187816062009-10-02T13:26:00.001+10:002009-10-02T13:27:14.295+10:00

Over on his journal, Neil Gaiman is discussing the fact that The Graveyard Book has made it to 52 weeks on the New York Times Children's Bestseller list. I got The Graveyard Book (audiobook) as my first download on my Audible.com membership and I'm loving it. I'm not to the end of it yet, so I suppose it's theoretically possible that it all goes to pot in the last chapter, but knowing Neil's

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-24552005721819679982009-10-01T14:24:00.001+10:002009-10-01T15:23:16.481+10:00

I wrote this some time ago, starting it before my move to Brisbane three and a half years ago, and finishing it afterwards. It came to me in bits and pieces, words and ideas here and there, and totally out of order. After it had settled itself into its final form, I entered it in a poetry competition. It didn't win anything (but then, I didn't like any of the poems that did win). I haven't really

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-88255293442729216432009-09-29T09:01:00.000+10:002009-09-29T09:01:33.766+10:00

I've been doing a lot of knitting lately but either I've been too busy or it's been too dark to take decent photos so there's nothing much to show. I'm working on a lot of baby things at the moment - finishing off a Little Petal like this one, only in red, and working on a wool vest and a couple of Felix's Cardigans for babies of work colleagues. I'm going to try and make it to Stitch and Bitch

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-5764752176579994472009-09-23T20:09:00.000+10:002009-09-23T20:09:49.792+10:00

I just logged on to make an update, and I found that there was a problems with the Tweet feed tool that I had on my sidebar and it was displaying someone else's tweets. They were highly profane, which is their right, but wasn't really something I wanted appearing on my blog, especially as it wasn't clear that they weren't my tweets. So I'm sorry if anyone was offended. I have removed the feed

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-23524801042615452842009-09-23T09:08:00.000+10:002009-09-23T09:08:22.496+10:00

I've had two days off work to try and recover my brain from its burnout. I am still tired and not entirely on top of my game, but I feel a lot better. I may need a few more strategically placed long weekends but I think I can get on top of it all.  I finished the February Lady yesterday, just in time to wear her in my attempt to catch up with the Brisbane Stitch and Bitch for the first time. I

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-39843196379783477232009-09-15T18:43:00.001+10:002009-09-17T08:41:24.698+10:00

Well, probably not. People who know me would probably suggest that the statement that I am a very emotional person who feels things deeply and has trouble hiding what I'm feeling would be an understatement. I wear my heart on my sleeve. It's just how I am. It can be a bit of a double-edged sword. There are undoubtably benefits - I think I've gravitated to the sort of job I have, which I

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-63325905238179339132009-09-10T20:25:00.002+10:002009-09-14T08:42:40.630+10:00

Lots of knitting going on here - not enough to get some stuff finished by the time I wanted it, but I can live with that. Finished - One Cable Cardy - Long Line Cardigan in style B from Cleckheaton book 950, Bendigo Classic 8 ply in Pampas. Only crap photos with the cardy being modelled by the kitchen stool or the couch, sorry. I'll blog more about the experience of this project later when I

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-77324419856128320872009-09-06T10:43:00.000+10:002009-09-06T10:44:25.970+10:00

I had my colonoscopy on Friday. The prep turned out to be unpleasant but not too bad - certainly not as bad as the last time. On Friday the whole process seemed to go quite smoothly, and the twilight sedation was just as good as I remembered - one moment I was chatting to the anaesthetist, the next, waking up in recovery. I tried to knit while I waited for the Man to pick me up but the canula

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-64483914262059906972009-09-03T08:56:00.000+10:002009-09-03T08:56:59.263+10:00

I started seaming up the cabled cardy last night. I love how the instructions just say "Join shoulders , sew side and sleeve seams" like it's quick and easy. Ha! As if! Don't get me wrong, I love mattress stitch. I think it's one of those magic things in knitting, up there with the way lace reveals itself after blocking.  A few stitches back and forth, pull the thread taut and your two pieces of

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-77767759241837733232009-09-01T13:33:00.000+10:002009-09-01T13:33:27.036+10:00

Good girls go to heaven, Bad girls go everywhere. Mae West I'm getting used to the lace on the February Lady Sweater and have gained enough confidence to start carrying it everywhere. I'm knitting lace while I wait at the dentist, on the bus, and at work in my lunch hour. On the weekend I took her to the open day at the Boy's school, and upon finding a mistake I couldn't fix in place, I tinked

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-26006446910011214492009-08-25T19:44:00.003+10:002009-08-26T09:07:08.384+10:00

I've had unpleasant digestive symptoms for all of my adult life. Three years ago, at the end of a long process which started going to a new GP for an unrelated condition, I got my Crohn's Disease diagnosis. I have moderate Crohn's, in that if I'm not on my medication I tend to get symptoms all the time. Currently I'm on Salofalk (mesalazine) which the literature indicates doesn't work for Crohn's

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-41108840606268978482009-08-24T15:08:00.000+10:002009-08-24T15:08:16.091+10:00

This blog has been green with a narrow column down the middle for too long so I'm trying out something different. It's not quite right yet. There's some work to go, and I'm seriously thinking of digging into the part of my brain which I'm hoping might still contain some dusty old HTML knowledge. But this will do for the moment. :)

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-19917749862719193162009-08-24T07:40:00.003+10:002009-09-10T20:33:56.924+10:00

Winter is well and truly over. It's been around 30 degrees celsius for the last few days and forecast for 33 today. I haven't got around to sending my nephew's jumper down to Sydney and I suspect that I may have missed my chance. It's not quite as warm in Sydney as it is in Brissy at the moment but it will still be 27 degrees there today. Too warm for wooly jumpers. I think I'd better get it in

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-37971015534730691652009-08-20T22:27:00.002+10:002009-08-20T22:45:21.318+10:00

I didn't get to wash and block the cabled cardy pieces. Various other things have gotten in the way over the last few days and since the Man is now at the snow until Sunday, the Boy and I will need to occupy each other, which will mean I won't get much time to spend with the wool and the baby bathtub. That's okay - the cardy pieces aren't going anywhere and it took so long to get this far that an

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-43068231620940570172009-08-18T19:22:00.005+10:002009-09-10T20:32:28.434+10:00

I’ve been busy lately. Work has been a bit of a challenge. It’s not the first time my team has been really busy, and not the first time I’ve seen individual project teams struggling under the weight of incipient deadlines, but it’s the first time the entire Software Engineering department has been buried under a raft of heavy commitments. Everyone is a little tense right now. I’ve ended up

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-86593290413346854482009-06-15T17:53:00.000+10:002009-06-15T17:54:08.825+10:00

I believe very strongly in the concept of hand-written communication but I do very little of it. Often it seems like I don't have enough to say so I'll not even start, or I'll start and add bits slowly until I realise that the bit at the beginning is old news and is either already known to the recipient due to alternate communication or so old as to be pointless and I throw the letter away. And

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-88606585784805831392009-04-04T18:16:00.000+10:002009-04-04T18:17:23.440+10:00

Finally, I passed my driving test today. It's been an interesting experience overall, doing all the lessons and practice and learning, but I'm so glad that I don't have to do another driving lesson. It has been raining on and off since Wednesday and it poured last night so I was a bit concerned about the wet roads, but in the end, it was okay. There weren't many other people on the road, which

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-66422512593129449742009-02-11T21:49:00.002+10:002009-02-11T22:18:49.068+10:00

I overstretched at my jazz class last week and had trouble even walking normally right up until Sunday. I took it a lot easier last night and so far I've only had a few twinges. My dance teacher Wendy said that they'd broken me in last week and that this week would be better. So far so good.I enjoyed the jazz classes so much that I wanted to do more dancing. So I'm going to start ballet tomorrow

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-89833879099081139272009-02-03T22:21:00.004+10:002009-02-03T22:50:48.366+10:00

I've been wanting to go back to dance classes for a long time. I haven't taken a real class (I'm not counting the exercise-driven ones at the gym) since high school but I dance in my head much every time I hear a piece of music, and I'm always glued to shows like So You Think You Can Dance.I finally took the plunge this year, after figuring out that there was a dance school at the top of our

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-41783389631476064932009-01-26T19:35:00.006+10:002009-09-10T20:35:54.892+10:00

We made our way to Southbank parklands today to take in the Australia Day atmosphere. The Man and I claimed our favourite spot on Southbank beach with our Australian flag towel and settled back with the newspaper and the Boy ensconced himself in the water, where he happily played for the next 4 hours. The weather was almost perfect - warm enough for the Boy to be comfortable swimming all morning,

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-50225871502949033782009-01-14T13:34:00.004+10:002009-09-10T20:37:11.055+10:00

I remember my Mum and Dad telling me that when I got older, the years would go really quickly. Well, I think I must be getting older. So many people around me have been saying this that it's become a bit of a cliche, but I really can't believe it's January already. The Boy starts school in a couple of weeks time. We have his cute little maroon uniform (just thinking about anyone being dressed

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4740144047752310434.post-64035959171836288732008-11-17T18:01:00.003+10:002009-09-10T20:38:06.858+10:00

If there's one thing that Jon Stevens does well, it's scream. If the Noiseworks concert a couple of weeks ago is anything to go by, Brisbanites the right side of thirty* are pretty good at screaming right back at him. A couple of months ago, while listening to some old music late one night, The Man mentioned that he'd like to see some of the old bands live. I commented that at least one of them

Lexyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11192387833153608786noreply@blogger.com0