When all else fails.....

When there is a heatwave, in Spring no less, and you are forced to endure overnight temperatures of 30 degrees (as I type at 11.21pm)......



There really is nothing else to be done. Gin is the only solution.

I am terrified of the Summer we are about to have. For those of you who live in the bush - good luck, and please, please - do your clearing now. Let's not see last Summer repeat itself.

xxxx

Today has been a comedy of errors - I went to work to meet someone who didn't show up, drove to my favourite second hand shop to find it closed, came home and found the cat with a grass seed wedged in her eye, and had to take her to the vet taped inside a cardboard box because we don't have one of those cat box thingys.

By the time we made it to the vet, she'd somehow gotten it out, and we paid the vet $60 to look in her eye in a perfunctory manner and pronounce her cured.

Sheesh.

I have a dye pot on the stove which I can just tell is going to turn out crap.

Thank god for knitting and the Tivo. I shall retire to the couch now, and spend the rest of my ridiculous day off with the winking cat and the rest of my jumper, perhaps accompanied by some Monarch of The Glen, or NCIS, or Medium, or something equally as unchallenging, and ponder whether I feel brave enough to attempt to cook some dinner.



I may burn the house down yet - stay tuned.

xxxx

Morning....

This photograph is from Sunday, but since it looks exactly the same here this morning, I figured you wouldn't mind.

The only difference, is that today I burnt the toast, set the smoke alarm off, and scared the shit out of the cat.

Proof perhaps, that sometimes a picture doesn't tell a thousand words? Happy Wednesday!

xxxx

Cool Change.

It's been hot here - too hot to knit, which after a long, satisfyingly chilly winter, is a wee bit depressing....

But today, after a long, hot afternoon, a cool change rolled in, allowing me the chance to cast on for my new project.

It's Wollmeise sock yarn - incredibly hard to get your hands on, but lovely yarn - the colours are amazing. I've been fortunate enough to find someone who was willing to do a trade for some of my hand dyed yarn, and now the balls have been wound, and dinner ordered - I'm ready for a night on the couch with some trashy telly, The Man, and an impossible amount of stitches on tiny needles.......



Also on the needles is a pair of crazy striped socks:



You've gotta love Noro - it's a pain to knit with, the yarn is a little rough, but it washes up beautifully, and who can say no to insane colour changes like that?

Have you noticed the trend yet? Yes, I'm still knitting away - nary a sewing project in sight, but I promise I haven't gone completely over to the dark side - I bought some linen yesterday, and something gorgeous came in the mail from Ink and Spindle the other day:



So all is not lost!

In the meantime though, I'll be back on here a little more often now - I'm getting used to the new work routine, and have graduated past the falling asleep on the couch after work phase.... the poor neglected blog is well overdue for some love....

More to come!

Leah xx

* a small footnote - thanks so much to everyone who bought yarn in my shop update - the shop is looking a little bare right now, but I'm dyeing more as we speak. It shouldn't be too long! xxx

Update.

Finally, after weeks of dyeing wool in the middle of the night, I have come up with a Shop update......




The update will go live at 8.30 am Australian Central Standard Time on Sunday, Sept 27.

For our American friends, this is 7pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Saturday, Sept 26 - I hope to see you all there!

****

In other news, time is of the essence around here - or more precisely, the lack of time...

I've gone full-time at the bartending job, as well as taking on a whole new role at the pub (booking the bands! ha!) - so by the time I make it home it's all I can do to fall on the couch, knit a bit, and stare at the television. Depressing, but true.

I'm sure the routine will even itself out soon, but for now, I'm exhausted. Which means the blog will continue to suffer, I'm afraid.

I desperately miss my blogging community, and I hope to pick it up again sooner rather than later - but for now, the boring life stuff has to come first. blech.

The flip side of this is that I've almost completed my first knitted jumper. I'll take some photos and show you when it's done - I'm inordinately proud.

Take care sweet peas,

Leah xxx

Farewell to Winter.

For a person who works with yarn, the end of Winter is a bittersweet thing.

Part of the reason I started knitting in the first place was to keep my poor bones warm - being a skinny bitch has it's disadvantages, you see, and poor circulation leads to frozen toes and chilly kidneys - all of which I sought to soothe through the wrapping of woolen things around the body......

And now, having accumulated rather a massive stash over winter, my knitting projects are finally coming to fruition:



This is the beginning of my First. Ever. Jumper.

I am being guided through it by the pithy and hilarious Elizabeth Zimmermann, queen of the Basic Instruction and the Freedom to Improvise - just my kind of thing.....

I should share with you my hilarious project sketch:



If I can make this, then it really is true - miracles can happen.

And it'll probably be done just in time for our summer heatwave - in which case I will insist on wearing it, inside, with the air conditioning on.

Just because.

Just because achievements, however small, should be rewarded.

Now - anyone have an ideas as to what one should knit out of 1740 yards of chartruese lace weight?



nope. me neither.

xxxxxxx

Introducing:

The latest ladies to grace my Les Femmes yarn collection:

First up, Georgia O'Keefe:



Georgia O'Keefe superwash sock yarn - 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 450 yds, 100g.



Georgia O'Keefe silky lace - 55% silk, 45% superwash wool, approx 1020 yds, 100g.

and to follow, close behind:

Germaine Greer:



Germaine Greer superwash sock yarn - 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 450 yds, 100g.



Germaine Greer silky lace - 55% silk, 45% superwash wool, approx 1020 yds, 100g.

These are the first two colourways of my official yarn collection. After a long process of dyeing and experimentation and trying out different bases, I am finally ready to be dyeing for a shop update.

The yarns are named after women I admire - women who have shown colour, determination and flair in their life's work; something to which I aspire to pay homage to.

The name Hyena In Petticoats is a clear marker in the beginning of that tradition - by choosing this name for my blog and my business, I set in motion a personal journey of consideration.

In the beginning with Mary Wollstonecraft:, and later with other women who's work speaks to my sensibilities - my craft journey follows a path that many women have tread before me, in all genres of craft and endeavour.

Making things by hand is a meditative task for me - I feel connected to the women who came before me, who hand crafted things out of necessity and frugality, who lovingly constructed useful and beautiful things for their homes and families.

These craftspeople left a legacy for the future; the work of their hands lives on, and it is my hope to leave such a legacy myself. I create yarns for unknown makers, but the colourways are named after our rather more famous examples - who paved a path for women like me to be able to do exactly as they pleased, with no real thought to whether or not it is appropriate, proper or decent to be throwing yarn and fabric around in such a manner.

It is my small thankyou - to be born free and female, thanks to the hard work of others.

There will be more colourways to come - stay tuned.

xxxxxx

Results.

These pictures were taken at night, but I think you get the idea.....



All colours get the Puzz seal of approval.



A couple of the colours need a return trip to the dye pot before I can call them done, but for now, I'm happy.

I hope you're all having a good weekend....

xxx

Alchemy.

There is an ancient process going on in my kitchen today.



A transmutation of raw materials.



The manipulation of basic tools.



The steam of productivity.


Results tomorrow.

xxxxx

Silence.

luz interior, originally uploaded by irana.

I know I am seriously off the radar right now.

I'm not dead, or sick, or pregnant.

The computer is broken, and in the repair shop, and I have access to The Man's laptop for abut ten minutes a day. sigh.

I'll be back soon. I have a lot to share, and plenty of time to knit with no internet in the house.

I miss you all - more to come......

Leah xxxx

(ps: someone talk me out of getting a tattoo just like that one up here? )