Clay stuff

Well, all I can add to my blog for now are some images of my potting ventures from times past. The recent rains have put a damper on construction for the kiln extension to my studio but there progress in site as of today. That kiln is going to go in soon.

Here are some of my pieces from days when I had a kiln available and set up...





from days when living in Taiwan.
A few from Mittagong.

Kiln travel

Yippee

After years, and I mean years of wanting to set up my potting studio with my very own kiln, the day has arrived. I found a second hand gas one, sized it up, bought it and then spent 14hrs getting it home over the Easter holiday. And now I own my very own gas kiln:) This is a big deal to a potter.


My studio is tiny but will do; am having a wee extension added just for this magnificent firing goddess. Work in progress and firings to happen within the next month. Shall post whatever comes out. So excited!

Am knitting in the meantime...

Delayed blogging...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...but does this apply to blogging?

Welcome to 2009 in mid April.

Gosh! Life has taken its toll on me and in between a few panic attacks--whilst driving on the highway to and from Sydney, making them truly scary attacks--then having my left eye bruised and bleeding by my dog in his attempt to show me how much he loves me, and hunting for more equipment to stock up my pottery studio with while also completing a few knitting projects [you can stop now and take a breath], this sore-knuckled lady here has had a joyful but painful past few months. The only victim has been my blogging spot & website: totally neglected.
As for me and the above mentioned little dramas, well, was ordered to get some sleep. A lot of it.
And that's how've I've spent my Easter break, sleeping and napping like the 'ol lady I'm becoming.

But wait! I've not been idle. Am so excited about the next few weeks. Must tell you that I've found a pug-mill and the gas kiln I've been wanting for so long. Both second hand ones (can't afford new ones at the moment). Pug-mill already sits in my studio, yippee. The kilns been a huge task though. We're going to have to get organized next Friday to drive a rental: pallet truck with crane attached. And then its off to Sydney to lug the huge thing back home here on the south coast and squeeze it into our garage; the more exciting part is that within the next couple of months, after a few more weeks worth of work to earn some pennies, we'll be making an addition to my sweet little studio just for the kiln. Heidi-ho, I'll be reveling in my full-blown studio space then, making pots and sculptures and well, getting dirty;)

Have also knit four new sweaters since we got home and me poor knuckles are taking the toll.

Shall post fotos of both studio progress and knits in the next blog--but for now all I have on the brain is that gas kiln coming home to mama.

Allan Caiger Smith

Allan Caiger Smith
Originally uploaded by Martin Beek

Shetland Yarns

We just got back from our holidays in the US and Scotland where we were able to make our way beyond Down Under.

It was very special for me as I'd been away for too long and hadn't seen my family and friends in years. And while catching up with everyone during our visits, I put 'shopping for yarn' aside and replaced it with eating. Yes, eating. We enjoyed sumptuous meals, shared with special people from California to Hong Kong; ooh, my mouth still waters when I think of the apple pie and various cakes had in the Blue Mtns of Georgia, the stone baked organic pizza in Maine, and that Peking Duck in HK...

But back to yarn related topics. Fate had it that I would literally stroll past the sweetest yarn shop in Edinburgh, the k1YARNS shop on West Bow. While driving from Glasgow to Edinburgh we missed a turn and ended up parking just round the corner from this precious little shop. Its on a steep, curved lane that begs you to just visit. So that's what I did and voila! I found myself smack infront of k1YARNS. Amongst many, this was truly a highlight of our trip for me.

Gosh, had to go in. So I asked David to go for several smokes and check out the local coffee shops for a bite to eat so that I could spend a good half hour with yarn. And that I did. I found the last skeins of a shetland wool from the Isle of Harris. Apparently they've been bought out by a developer who isn't interested in maintaining the flocks or wool industry so this is the last of what they have to offer. I ended up getting myself some lovely dark caramel skeins, and a light tweed gray. Then bought myself more awesome Scottish strands from Jamiesons and so far, have made myself two jackets that I shall complete next weekend and will show pictures of them here for you to enjoy. They'll be posted in the patterns section on my website too. I've also got some yummy St. Magnus angora yarns from Orkney to make a scarf out of...but am considering joining them to some silk strands I have from Posh Yarns to make a lightweight coat/cardi to lounge around in. Ha! who am I kidding?! like I have time to lounge around...but it doesn't hurt to wish for it nor to have another knitting project to love.

Seasons Greetings to everyone!

Seasons Greetings to everyone! and may you have a most delightful and safe Christmas holiday. We're flying to see my parents and family in Atlanta the day after tomorrow so you can just imagine the energy levels that are busting up around here. Most of it is really me trying to leave things tidy for our housesitters, for the pets, and store away all my stashed wool... but being busy is a good thing, especially when it involves getting ready to see everyone I've missed and not seen for over six years now. Yes, it's been a loooong time for me, too long.

I'm including a few images of more knitted stuff that I've been working on over the past few months so that you can enjoy them while you too get ready for your Christmas tidings.

All the best for a great New Year as well.

Meet you back here in 2009.

Is it almost Xmas time?!

OK, I know, we've only got two weeks to Xmas and most of you are mostly ready for it--at least that's the way it seems in my mind...

We're flying back to the US to visit my family and all I can think of is our trip. So as a result my blog, website and life have taken a back seat to being organized. Yikes!
But shall get fotos of my latest knits posted here by tomorrow so that you can enjoy and hopefully be inspired to pick up some needles and yarn during the holiday season.

Warm wishes of peace and joy to everyone for Christmas.

And another one on the way...

Am almost done with my newest design, a lush purple cardigan made with one of my favorite tweeds by Jo Sharp.

I couldn't resist the temptation to just dive into another one while still working on two others, but managed to finish this one first. When you become as addicted to knitting as I am, it really doesn't matter which one you finish first. I find that I'm most keen to keep the stash down to a reasonable level so that I can continue to buy more yarn, simple really. Any knitter would understand that logic.

And having several projects running at the same time--not to mention them running parallel to one's life, marriage, basic necessities of bathing, feeding, socializing, pet-loving, etc.--its 'all in a day's work.' And so very worth it.

I'm still having to put a zillion hours, and then some, into editing and updating my website. I've discovered that I need to fine tune the program I'm using as it's a new version that isn't completely compatible with some of the older versions of Windows. Oh well, its been like learning a new language for me so I just need to keep at it.

Am off now to tidy up, just a bit, before finding out how the presidential debate went down between Obama and McCain. I know who I'm for but as I live over here in the land of Oz, I found that the process for voting from here was going to be awkward, expensive and tedious. Just hope we are able to put a beating 'heart' back into the White House.

Website launch at the BrighsideKnitter.com

You can now visit my new website as it's ready for viewing. Just click on the heading here to take you directly to it.



Please visit anytime to see a showcase of my work and designs. I have knitting patterns for sale and free. I shall be adding to both these sections every fortnight so visit again and often to keep you inspired. Happy knitting! with kind regards, the BrightsideKnitter

www.brightsideknitter.com/

The Chocolate Shop

I've been tangled up in yarn so haven't been around to add to my blog. And in between my tangles, I've been enjoying some fine motobike rides with my husband through the gorgeous countryside here in the Illawarra. My favorite so far has been our rides to Berry to pick up sourdough bread and to check out the latest window display at the LYS called Sew n' Tell. Yesterday we rode over to the seaside to have lunch in Shellharbour Village and were so lucky to enjoy a really quiet Spring day. No rain, all sunshine for a change. The highlight for me was dessert at The Chocolate Shop.
Yes, if you ever make it to this place, you've got to have some chocolate at the chocolate shop. I've added a foto of what we shared: a rich hazelnut cake that was dripping with dark yummy stuff.
Very decadent and oh so good, mmmm.

I've managed to complete four more designs, knitted and all, in the past couple of months while tending to an allergic reaction that had me swell up...not really worth telling any more than that. It was painful.
Working a lot to get my website up and running. I've discovered that the most time consuming part if editing and formatting the images to get them just right. Gosh! how easy it is to take all that imaging for granted until you have to work on it yourself. I think I'll start to look into updating my digi-camera this next year as that may help me with what I'm trying to do.

If you've got any tips or suggestions to any good digital cameras out there, do let me know.

Well, hope you are also knitting up something wonderful to wear when not browsing the blogs here in cyberspace. I'm torn between trying to do too much but love knowing that I can cuddle up to my dogs and cats when knitting after a few hours spent roaming through and staying in touch with fellow craftsters. Craft on amigas/amigos.

Yours truly, the BrightsideKnitter

I'm also launching my website tomorrow, visit my work at: www.brightsideknitter.com/

Fotos

Fotos

Talk about learning curves being steep!
In the past two months I've learned how to set up and put together my website, with many, many thanks to a very patient and helpful website supporter by the name of Geoff from Etisymsolutions.com.au

And I learned how to blog. The funny thing is that once you start blogging, all that overwhelming sense of "oh my, what & how am I doing this and who will want to read the stuff in MY blog?!"
Well, am so glad to know there are fellow knitting and fiber enthusiasts out there to share blogs with. And I've also discovered that my blog is a great way to stay in touch with family on the other side of the globe.

But now that I'm ready to launch my website I've discovered that the endless hours of editing, pasting, waiting for the net to upload, download, transfer, etc. hasn't finished yet. I don't like the fotos I've taken of my designs so must now get back onto Picnic and edit them with better resolution and color. gosh! am getting pickier by the year but the truth be told that it's really quite a lot of fun.
So stay posted as my next blog will announce the launching of my website.

Good day to all.

Wooden Buttons

Buttons for my Durran Durra Cardigan
website: www.brightsideknitter.com/
Here’s a foto of my cardigan’s buttons finally sewn on. I made this one last year and have waited—and delayed—the button addition until now. You can get a freepattern of this cardigan from my website within my patterns section. I designed this cardi a few years ago and even made a sweater version for my husband in a flax tweed. But that one still has to be typed up (which takes time that I don’t have at the moment), but if you’d like to make something for that special fella, visit my website before Xmas and I’ll have that pattern up for free too.


This is the men's version I knit for David.

Pillion Daze

There's a time in a girl's life when push comes to shove and one doesn't always think it'll happen too close to home...but this naive old girl has just realized that it often happens mostly at home. And so I introduce you to our new family member: my husband's motorcycle.

There's no name to it and the least I will do for it all is have a customized set of license plates made for David to jazz it up. Not that it needs any. And the truth be it that after a few arguments before the conception of it all and during the planning and gestation of financing his pregnancy to purchase such a two-wheeler, I'm actually enjoying it as the official "pillion." Yes, I'm a pillion now, ayayay.

The plan is to make time for us together, riding along the gorgeous coastline of the Illawarra here in Oz on our motorbike--as the Aussie's call it--with my knitted-goods-in-progress safely tucked away in my backpack and a few bucks in the pocket with which to purchase some turkey-cranberry-with-avocado-on-sourdoughbread sandwiches on a sunny weekend day...and perhaps some yarn;)

That's romance David's way;)

For the Love of Bob

Ravelympics 2008

I have just checking in on my fellow For the Love of Bob team mates at Ravelry and oh my! What amazing energy and projects they came up with. They've carried the flag, the weight and the stamina of true Ravelympians. Go Team Bob knitters!

As for little 'ol me, well, must be fair and admit that I walked off the course. Yes, no injuries, no sore knuckles or overused tendons, just couldn't devote the three weeks to pure knitting. Am so sobbing about this as it would've been a true dream to ignore everything and everyone around me and just knit. I know you guys were able to not ignore and still include knitting into your daily routines which makes me wanna be you when I grow up.

But fortunately, am still married, my pets still love me and the antibiotics kicked in before this influenza type x managed to keep me from frogging.

And in the spirit of true yarning, I insist you visit the Ravelry pages to see what amazing things were knit in just three weeks!

Double posting

Oops.
You're not reading double...
Just noticed that I made a double posting. I thought I had lost the first entry then wrote another then posted both somehow.

Olypmics 2008 Ravelympics

How fast the past three weeks have flown by. In between daily life stuff, working at a job and at marriage, staying warm and warding off a the flu (its cold really cold this winter here in NSW), I managed to work on a Ravelympics project. There were a few moments in the evenings when I had a chance to watch an Olympic event. My preferences are for all the sports; and I was thrilled to see my fellow Americans do so well, and even so for the Australians. But in all, I'm thrilled to see anyone accomplish such incredible physical feats as all the athletes that were there. Really, how awesome and how incredible to be one of those amazing human beings who can be so diligent and fortunate to aspire to great physical strength. I kept thinking back to the Cirque du Soleil show we saw last month and how any of the athletes at the Olympics could surpass the already incredible performers of that show.
In all that awe, I kept thinking that I should be doing more outdoors instead of sitting on my lazy ass knitting away...
I can be so harsh with myself sometimes. I can just hear all knitters reading this scorning me for thinking that knitting is not a difficult task. Believe me, I know it is and I've the pain in my fingers and back to own up to it. But somehow, all that sports on tele was just so much more. It seemed like true accomplishment.
Perhaps I should just call myself the "unsatisfied knitter."

And then I hit a wall.
The cast on stitches, and then some, that made it through the opening ceremony were frogged.

So after a few days of having 'walked off the course' I restarted my Ravelympic sweater with a new idea. Am pleased I did so. Its not finished and no, I don't get a medal but that doesn't matter. I'm almost finished with my husbands poncho. I designed him a rather rustic one for when he's out on the porch for his evening smokes. After hunting around for the perfect wool to knit him a piece he'll 'wear to death,' or so I hope, I found the perfect alpaca wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills here in Australia. Its very rustic but soft, lighweight and warm and does not have pink in it. Gosh, I'd love to knit David a sweater that's both masculine and has pink...but he won't wear pink. Someday...

Shall include snap shots of the finished poncho when it's done next week. Have been so thrilled with how it's turned out that even though am only 3/4 of the way through it, I've already began the pin-stripe embroidering with a 2-ply alpaca yarn in a dark Mallard Green. My inspiration came from a Peruvian poncho my mother got for me when I was ten--I wasn't allowed to actually use it as it was used as a wall hanging and eventually a bed covering when I took it with me to Paris back in the 80's.
Here's sneak view of the beginning of David's poncho.

Olympics 2008 Ravelympics

My, how the past three weeks flew by. And now the much anticipated Olympics are over. I didn't get to watch all of the events, my favorites being the swimming, gymnastics, track & field, rowing, tennis, cycling, gosh, I suppose most events. So in between daily life stuff, I did see a lot of my American and Australian athlete faves grab gold. And it was very cool to see all other athletes win as well.
My eyes always get teary when the medal ceremony is happening and I'm always thrilled for whomever wins. Those Olympians are all so incredibly talented--who cares if they didn't win a medal, after all, there's only three to be given but so many more deserving the recognition. Hope they all had a great time whilst in lovely Beijing.

And then there was the Ravelympics that I signed up for. The casting on happened like clockwork once the opening ceremony started but after four days of squeezing in knitting time while trying to fight off the flu (its cold over here in the NSW winter at the moment), working both at a job and my marriage, I simply hit a wall. So the frogging started for both the original idea and the front of a new Ravelympic sweater. I just walked off the course.

But I'm pleased with what I've done with the new idea so far. I didn't give up.
I came up with another idea and just worked at my own pace. It should be finished in the next few weeks after I complete a poncho I designed for my husband to keep him warm during our rather cold winter this year. I've used a very rustic, heathered alpaca wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills down in Victoria. It's turning out to be just what David prefers--the natural, rustic manly look is all he'll put on. And somehow, I still want to knit him a very masculine jumper with pink in it. But he won't wear it.
Here's a snap shot of one of the sections I've knitted up so far. Have it 3/4 finished so far and began the pin-striping out of excitement. Shall post images of the poncho next week once it's done. I'm embroidering into it some very fine 2-ply alpaca yarn in the most gorgeous dark mallard green I could find. It'll have a pin-stripe effect and should keep David warm while outdoors on the porch for a smoke.

birthday knits n' gifts

My husband's daughter just turned 18 so I knit up a pair of gloves and a head band--doubles as an ear warmer. Made in her favorite shades of purple with the icon du jour, the skull.

I found this hard wearing wool, not specified as merino or shetland but it feels more like shetland, from our local fabric/textile shop in Wollongong. It's a purple that is very rich in direct sunlight but almost looks black in the shade or at night. Needless to say, this little visual quality has been an unexpected joy for the birthday girl. I added ten tiny purple buttons along each cuff for an added feminine touch.

The mitts are fingerless but will keep her hands warm in the sub-zero temps of Goulburn, that cold and dreary town where she lives. Best thing though is that there is a very good restaurant there where we take her and her brother for a meal and catch up with them when we visit.

desk time...

After a sleepless night due to strong and noisy winds along our Illawarra escarpment, I'm finally sitting down to visit my blog. I've been thinking a lot about posting some good fotos taken over the past few weeks but somehow Time has simply gone too quickly. It's as if I've been unable to maintain some type of schedule where I can fit in a bit of time to blog. And blogging takes time.
So I've come to the realization that I've got to find dedicated time every week or so to sit at my desk and be the BrightsideKnitter I set out to be.

Now, to find that cord that links my camera/phone to my computer...

Didn't say I was organized yet!
Do stay posted. Sitting at my desk was the first step in my new life amongst bloggers.