Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Please don't make me rush

What gives me the rage:

  • People in the US* who moan about their petrol prices. Effectively, $4.59 a gallon equates to $1.21 ($1.28 AUD) a litre. Swedish friends have been paying over $2 a litre for years. In Australia last weekend it was $1.65 and more. You've had it good for a really long time, unlike the rest of us. Take a bus. Ride a bike. Walk. You don't need to pay that much for fuel if you're not using your Hummer or 4WD, gashole.
  • People who judge me for owning (paying off) a house. We worked hard to get where we are today. Piss off.
  • People who try to bring others down because they need to feel better about themselves.
  • My ex-employer who STILL hasn't paid me even though it was promised for Monday.

Things that I LOVE (got to elimmmmminate the negatives)

  • Waking up to the sound of rain falling on the deck.
  • Sitting in Tilley's for two hours doodling in my design book, drinking hot chocolate and watching people. Wondering who the guy with the bottle of champagne is waiting for so anxiously. Listening to the beefy hunk at the table next to me chat up two students in the booth next to him.
  • Not being at work.
  • The fact it's still raining.
  • My ladies' lunches with the girls in town.
  • WWKIP Day in Sydney on Saturday.
  • Daydreaming.
  • The fact my stitches tape comes off today.

The other day I mentioned the Purple Cardigan of Doom. Well, here it is in all it's about-to-be-frogged glory.

Essential Cardi WIP - urgh

There's a lot to be said for reading the pattern. Really reading it. Because if I had really read it, I would have noticed the little teeny sentence at the end of one of the sections that said "fold lapel back over front and stitch down. Take a look here at the finished photo. That lapel thing? Pretty and all, but when you combine a thickness of 12 ply single crochet, and a thickness of double crochet rib, what do you think you get? Right - a 1 inch thick lapel to add to your already ample bosom.

So I frogged the front and lapel again and tried to create just a plain front that I could button or use a shawl pin on. By the time I did it, I had to face up to the fact that the pattern hadn't allowed for extra length or extra armhole space when it went up a few sizes, and the collar at the back was doubling over (I was aiming for a mandarin collar), and to fix that I had to rip out the fronts again. Plus it was stupidly heavy, and I hadn't added any extra length or the sleeves yet. I hated it. So it's back to the drawing board, aka Ravelry.

Chevron Waves scarf WIP

In instant gratification news, I picked up some Vintage Hues at Spotlight yesterday for only $2.99 a ball, and came home and immediately started this Chevron Waves scarf, using my own pattern. I really love it. It'll be my bus crochet for today when I head into town for lunch, and then back into town later tonight with my old work friends for a trivia night.

* No, I don't mean all people in the US. I mean those who moan about the petrol prices.

15 comments:

  1. Mmm, gorgeous scarf. Really makes me want to learn to crochet. That vintage hues has got some very yummy colours.

    You going to the Belco Library on Friday for their knitting thing? I thought I might go.

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  2. The complaining Americans also tick me off, and I'm an American. I hate SUVs. I actually find them morally offensive. We're paying some of the highest gas prices in the state, because we live in one of the areas attractive to tourists. The upside? I don't have to drive far to get somewhere nice (the beach, for instance). Those whiny, entitled Americans give us all a bad name, but please don't think we're all like that. Some of us actually realize we do not live at the center of the universe.

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  3. At least (compared to the US) we have fairly good free medical care. I have been meaning to do the conversion from gallons to litres, so thank you!! (and I'm with you on the hummer thing. Gah!!)

    Sorry about the cardigan frogging. The chevron scarf is a nice make up for it though!

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  4. Good on you for dealing with your rage...now I hope you feel much better you have a lovey day!

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  5. With you on the SUVs and Hummers. Here as well as the US.

    #2 - what the?

    Shame about the cardigan - especially since it was your breaking-the-purple-dislike thing. I so got to learn to read the pattern / recipe all the way through too!

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  6. Aren't bosoms a pain? And what is it with these tent like flowy cardi thing's that just hang from said ample bosom and make one look pregnant.....ooops off on my own rage there ....sorrry.

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  7. Congratulations on leaping out into the wide blue yonder. I'm sure it won't take long to suppress all of those APS memories.

    Have a hot chocolate for me at Tilleys.

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  8. ah i see the pattern-corrupting fairy as been at your place, i wondered where she went, she seems to have finished teaching me simliar lessons here. for now (touch wood, taps self on head). have fun at WWKIP!

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  9. Poor purple cardi - but you're making up for it with that lovely Vintage Hues scarf (hmmmm, should I try to squeeze in a trip to Spotties while the sale is on?). Nice work!

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  10. One of the things that would have us move to a city in the future is good public transport. W/o a car here, you are pretty much up a creek.

    Hope the good is outweighing the bad for you today.

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  11. That is what I love about Canberra - I can actually ride my bike around! Now if only I'd get thinner doing it!

    That knitting thing in Sydney looked fun. I would have gone to that.

    I've got my own little cardigan of doom going on here at my house. Am thinking of just starting over!

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  12. So glad the positives out-numbered the negatives - though I do love a good dummy spit! I think there may be some (idiot)people you should not think about for a while and just focus on your delightful scarf - the colours look fantastic so far!

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  13. Just discovered your blog...I refuse to complain about gas prices...I drive a fuel efficient car, maximize my trips, do a lot of walking and take the bus quite often to school. Not ALL Americans are complainers, but the ones that are give the rest a bad image. I'll be back for a visit!

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