...and there was more Harry Potter madness ...

I painted a little ceramic wizard statue, especially for my HP Pal ... I think it came out quite well ... and it even survived the trans-Atlantic trip














My Pal likes stars - can you tell?
She also wanted something specific to the country where I live. These gorgeous replicas of handcarved Arabic doors make lovely picture frames. We made a HP picture into a cross-stitch graph and DD spent hours (um, no .... weeks!) embroidering it.

I loved designing/inventing these special goodies and can't wait to see what my upstream Pal has in store for us ... Long live Knitty Swaps!

A golden snitch stitchmarker holder ...

...try saying that fast three times!!

I joined a Harry Potter Knitty swap. And, of course, had to invent something completely unheard of ... Have a look at the Golden Snitch Stitchmarker Holder ...



It is golden, with white "wings"











When you open the "wings" (ties) out pops a clear plastic egg














Which contains some lovely stitchmarkers




I'm sorry, but I just have to brag .... "Brag"!

I hope my Secret Pal enjoys the uniqueness of it!! She IS the only person in WORLD who has one!!

Talking about wine ..... we WERE weren't we??

Just a little interlude .... and maybe a prelude .... (remember the Wine Blossoms? Well, here comes the pattern, folks ....) But first ....

There is a wine farm in South Africa that is situated right in the middle of a breeding ground for frogs. Yes, frogs! They are protected (the frogs, that is) and at mating time, the frogs have right of way to cross the main road which separates the boy frogs from the girls frogs (kinda!)

So, as you do, the wine farm owners named their wine farm after the frogs .... Paddagang (which means frogway, or frog right of way.) They then went on to name each of their wines in the groggy froggy theme ...






Never let it be said that we South Africans are NorMaL!!

Such a poser .....

A while ago, I f-i-n-a-l-l-y finished the sweater from Hell .... a boring, neverending test of patience and stick-to-it-ness.

DH is not a small size and kept saying "make the sleeves longer .... longer .... longer" - until I threatened to make various of his body parts a LOT longer by strangling him with them!!


But, on the positive side, it DID give me the opportunity to use some of Entrelac's famous stitchmarkers (the first time I have ever actually seen or used these modern devices!)

Anywho .... IT IS FINALLY F*CKING FINISHED!! And here, for posterity is the proof ....

... He hates being photographed and just stood like a lump on a log.....

Until I threatened him AGAIN (see above) ... whereupon, he "POSED"!!















Awwwww....!! The things we do for love ....

One reason why I knit ....

Knitting Prayer (by Richard Muto - adapted by Christine White)

As my fingers count and caress each stitch
They become a heartbeat, a safeguard and a rhythm of comfort

Row after row, I am lulled into meditation
My journey guided by the rhythm of the needles
The rhythm of the loom
The rhythm of the spinning wheel

Each ancient fabric is my testimony
Stitch by stitch I incorporate my soul into the fabric

I join a long strand of humanity
Whose story is told through the textiles of time

The ancients who braided precious fibres into their hair

Early Egyptian weavers whose delicate linen wrappings
Secured the final journey of the Pharaohs

The earliest mariners whose purposeful knots
Now add beauty to my sweaters

Passed to future generations ...
My stitches of life will endure

Professor McGonagall

Did you know that Professor McGonagall loves to transfigure and has turned herself into her Animagus - Precious the Cat.......

The Bag knits a bag

I am busy knitting a bag (aka tote) for an exchange. Man, it is such fun - my new fav thing to knit. You can be as plain or as ott(over-the-top) creative as you want.

But, for this swap, I managed to keep my creative juices in check and am knitting a relatively staid cabled bag. I am using variegated yarn from Peru or Chile or Mexico ... one of them Souf American cities!!! So maybe it comes from a push-me-pull-you or a yak or a cactus - who knows ....

(And don't you go thinking the colours look like sha-khi - cross between shit and khaki, the true colours are actually olive green and a khaki yellow - very camoflaugy - well, my swapee did say she liked natural colours and what could be more natural than green and yellow weeds?)

Anyway, I digress .... I was so excited and enthusiastic with the knitting of this bag, that I did this .........

Ooooops!! Broke my circular needle - on its very first outing too.

Nevermind, a spot of superglue and we were good to go again .....

I will post pics of the finished product once said Swapee has received it ... try to control your curiosity!!

COME ON BLOGGER

WHAT?
WHY?
HOW?

GRRRRRRRR

Thank you # 3

During a Secret Pal Swap, you send gifts to one person and someone else sends gifts to you - that is how it works,... except in the case of Maryannlucy http://maryannlucy.blogspot.com/ ... she was the one I was supposed to spoil during Spring Fling, but somehow SHE has ended up spoiling ME like crazy. You can see some spoilage in an earlier entry (scroll down), and look what she has been up to NOW ....

We were definitely sisters in a previous life and share a lot of the same interests and values .... From the sublime ....















To the ridiculous ....



Now, in case you haven't quite got the whole squinting thing right yet, let me describe what she sent me ... Two amazingly interesting motivational books which I am devouring ... I didn't realise I needed so much spiritual help!!

The big pink blob is a shower cap in the shape of a raspberry ... aptly named "Raspberry Beret" OMG, really?? It gets better ... pink false eyelashes ... YES, P-I-N-K!! She reckons that when I dress in my abaya with my face covered except for my eyes - I can flutter my PINK eyelashes and the camel boys will come running .... THAT I have just got to try!

Now, how do you say thank you to someone for coming into your life in such an open and giving way, someone who you have never met and have not known long, but someone who you KNOW you can be yourself with, you can laugh with, you can be silly or serious with.

The Universe is smiling - two TRUE friends have met!

Thank you # 2

The fabulous, clever, delightfully witty name of this blog is the result of a competition I held on the Knitty Board. One of the ladies who entered (but, alas did not win the main prize) was Linnea in Germany (http://lackofalltrades.blogspot.com/)

This fantastically generous knitter decided to spoil me with the most amazing gifts ... I felt like I had won my own competition! Have a look what popped out of her parcel .......

These are yarns that Knitties discuss all the time on the board, but which I have never seen (and have no access to here in the desert!) NOW I know what the ladies are talking about - I have some!!

JUST LOOK AT THIS YARN .... (Oh, and there was a ball of Sari Silk which escaped being photographed)



And further spoilage ensued .... Sets of double pointed needles, chocolate, tea and THE cutest ladybug stitchmarkers. But, it was not over yet!



















Linnea, an excellent and accomplished spinner, decided that I, a complete hamfisted, ignoramus spinner, should be tempted .... She sent me some roving (which is pre-spun yarn), a spindle ... wait ... it has my signature sign-off and LULU painted on it - it is MY VERY OWN PERSONAL SPINDLE .... and a beginner's (read idiot's) guide to spinning .... and an example of what yarn SHOULD look like - a ball of her very own homespun yarn.

Thank you are such small words for such a big and generous gesture, but I just don't know what else I could say. Lots of good knitting karma is definitely coming your way!!

Thank you #1

Have I mentioned before that knitters are THE most generous people?

Let me demonstrate ....

The Knitty Spring Fling Swap ran for 6 weeks and my Secret Pal spoilt me with these goodies :

A case to hold my needles, some row counters which I desperately need (I'm sick of little bits of paper, which tend to get lost overnight!), cute needle tip protectors which I had never heard of before, some lovely squishable Debbie Bliss yarn (NOW I know what you ladies are talking about!), some cotton rope ... mmm what shall I knit with THAT? A tin of almond biscuits which DH nicked immediately, some mousey toys for my cat baby and that lovely Stitch Book you see - I am planning on knitting EVERY SINGLE one before I die!! So, my first thank you goes to Piewacket (http://piewacketknits.blogspot.com/). This was my very first experience at Secret Pal Swapping and it won't be my last!

Lulu - The Rock Chick!!

Ok, well...... Lulu - The Old Rock Hen ....

Off we (DD and me) grooved to see Aerosmith live in Dubai. Don't believe me? Well, here are the photos to prove it ....




We would never have had this opportunity back home












You need a magnifying glass to see any sign of human life on the stage (we were in the cheap seats, ok?)












It was hot (in a cool way!) and it was HOT (in a Dubai middle of summer way) but it was
R-O-C-K-I-N-G
Dude!!

I did want to take my knitting, but DD threatened me with all kinds of bodily harm if I even thought about it!!

Knitty Swapage

Sandykins (http://sandykins57.livejournal.com/) and I both signed up for the Spring Fling Secret Pal round, but could not wait for it to begin, so we had an unofficial, between-the-two-of-us swap and she was sooooo generous, have a look at what she sent me all the way from Sweeden ....


No, you are NOT seeing things ... she sent a complete set of circular needles - how COOL is that!! Some soft snuggly light green bamboo yarn - gonna make some sox when I get over squishing it!

Raspberry chocolate most of which didn't even make it out of the car ... well, the wrapper did! And salted licorice - a treat from my childhood.

Then there was a gorgeous cross-stitch runner - beautiful colours. Some serviettes with a picture of a painted wooden horse ... from the town that paints them!! I can't bring myself to actually USE them and am seriously looking at using them to decoupage a box ... And a miniature moose keychain/purse which is already hanging on my handbag.

You just can't beat Knitty generosity, can you???

Beautiful yarn begets beautiful socks

Do you remember the scrumptious yarn that Lori (aka Crazyknits) sent me? In a Random Act of Kindness package that was soooo fabulous .....



Well, I finally stopped snogging it and plucked up the courage to actually wind the skein into a "ball" .... I first had to have help from the knittyboard friends as to how to do that .... being the virgin that I am!!

Then, after ploughing through heaps of sock patterns, finally found one that was worthy of my precious yarn.


I am so proud and excited at how they turned out - my first REAL pair of socks - I am in love with them ...... which brings it's own problem ...... >


>















There are no pictures of the socks on my feet - no way am I WALKING on them!!
Just as soon as I figure out how to fit them in, I am so FRAMING them!!!