Sunday, January 27, 2008

But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity

Over it. Seriously.

See this? It's the blasted Radiant Shawl. Please, would someone remind me that just because I enjoyed making a pattern the first time does not mean I'll enjoy it the second time around? Anyway, I was on the last row - the row with the picot edging - when I realised that I was going to run out of wool. About halfway along the row. And I'll be buggered if I'm going out to buy my fifth ball of $10 yarn for this project.

Result? I've ripped back to the next row and will start the picot again. God I hate picot, even if it does look really pretty. I'll finish it off today if it kills me, and I'll block and take photos tomorrow.


The other day Taph wrote a brilliant post about being a process or a product person. I like to think I'm both. For the Radiant Shawl, I'm definitely a product person. But for things like new patterns for socks and scarves, I'm totally process. Is it normal to be this mixed up?

In "I'm a total yarnwhore" news, yesterday I visited Happy Spider and the Bunnies (sounds like a 60s all-girl doo-whopp group) and got this gorgeous handdyed crepe sock yarn.

'Happyspider

Isn't it pretty? I love how the orange and green and yellow all blend gently into each other, making me want to make up colour words like grenge and orlow and yelleen. This yarn is my anticipated reward for finishing Radiant and finishing Crocus (there I go doing a pattern for the second time again) by mid February.

The garden is still fruiting like it is expecting armageddon sometime soon. This weekend has been a non-stop Grigliata Mista (mixed grill) - chops, snags, kebabs, grilled eggplant, capsicum, zucchini and tomato using recipes from Tessa Kiros' Twelve. At the moment all our cookbooks are off the shelf and we are trying to find recipes to help us eat from the garden. Yum. And so much fun.

Cornucopia (AKA colander) of vegies

And because you know I love me a good rant, let me direct you to a very honest post written by a crochet designer about her finances and the impact of copying on her income. Those who know me really well know how much I hate people photocopying patterns or copying music and never paying a cent to the designer or musician concerned. I just find it unfair, and while many of the copiers will state that copying is a form of flattery to the originator, I don't think flattery helps feed children or keep the electricity on.

7 comments:

  1. Oh bugger about having to rip back to cast off - argh! But it will all be worth it in the end... just concentrate on your Happy Spider sock yarn ;)

    Your garden is so bountiful - just wonderful! I have a huge gardening / cook book (in a box somewhere) called "Cooking from the Garden" - lovely thing.

    And yeah, totally agree about the whole copying thing. I'm registered with the Copyright Agency Limited, which at least garners me royalties when schools photocopy my puzzle books ...

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  2. "making me want to make up colour words like grenge and orlow and yelleen"

    *snort*

    You're the best :)

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  3. ooooh have i mentioned (like a zillion times) how I wish i had your garden?
    I do have a capsicum growing, but it appears unlikely to grow any bigger than a kidney bean, on account of the plants has the approximate dimensions of a stick of spaghetti!

    That Spidey yarn is divine!

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  4. ha ha we are doing just the same. Zucchinis, tomatoes and plums abound! It's fun isn't it? I don't need to go veggie shopping this week!

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  5. Your veggies look great. It's photos like these which make me wish I had a vegie garden. Until I remember about weeding and staking and other garden chores.

    Personally, I like "orlow" quite a lot!

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  6. Mmm, vegies. And that lovely yarn!

    Sorry to hear about the shawl troubles - it was very pretty when I saw it a while ago!

    Very interesting article about copyright. I am so much more aware of it since joining the online knitting/crochet community. It's sad that most designers can't make a decent living :-(

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