Two of my favourite things

This weekend I have been rampaging through other people's unwanted stuff ... fabric and books! Does it get any better than that.

The fabric is donations to the quilter's group that are starting to take over the shed. We are going to try and sell it at a destash sale in a few weeks but first it has to be ironed, sorted, measured and priced. This is part fun treasure hunt and part wake-up call for those of use that hoard fabric. If you can't use it all ... it ends up not treasured, no-one wants it. It's a bit sobering, especially when you see things that were clearly precious projects in progress.

And the books were the town's book fair which has been on the Australia Day long weekend for a very long time. The amount of books is staggering - I volunteered to help with the stocking and tidying. The books can't all go out at once so as they sell we go to the stash and re-stock. It is just mind blowing ... but again, all the gardening books and cook books were on super sale because no-one wants them. 

I had a lovely time and volunteers are positively encouraged to snaffle books for themselves. Everyone has an increasingly tottering pile in the kitchen (volunteers also get cake, it's very social) and pay up at the end. Awesome ... I will read my way through my tottering pile and donate it again for next year. 

Johnny Depp

Art classes have re-started and I have decided this term to focus on faces, because my faces are dreadful and some actual instruction would help. So I spent two hours creating this woeful mockery in charcoal from a black and white photo of poor Johnny Depp.

I feel like I should write to him and apologise. The reason why I am focussed on faces is because my mission during the break from art classes was 'a nude a day'. I didn't quite make one a day but got close ... and they were pretty terrible, especially if I tried to draw the faces. I ended up sketching a lot of bums (much easier) and backs of heads. Here is a representative sample: I'll start with the better ones.

These look like people. This second lot are a bit rough but also look like people ... no faces though.

These ones don't even look humanoid, they look like misshapen aliens.

It's all a bit difficult - there are websites that have reference photos for artist's models and a lot of the poses are far too complicated. Swords? No. I have enough trouble with arms.

Contemplating 'pants' and 'vests'

Pam left a comment on my dyeing post saying that for her 'pants' are only underpants, and those would be called 'trousers'. I found this quite intriguing, because for me 'pants' are all things you wear on your bottom half that aren't skirts ... the superset. Trousers are a subset, and not really a word I would use very often, although it's not an unusual word. Trousers are generally full-length, although I suppose you could say 'three quarter length trousers'. But you'd generally say pants for everything, and specify more if needed.

Underpants are definitely 'underpants', and never 'pants', but I would most commonly say 'undies'. Occasionally 'knickers', and in my house we also say 'pundies', 'grutlies' and 'jocks' ... but I accept that is likely to be a local usage (i.e. local to my house). The words 'panties' and 'briefs' also exist but are not to be used by right-thinking people (shudder).

Vests are sleeveless garments that are worn over other clothes and almost always close up the front. So you would have a hi-vis vest, puffer vest, or fleecy vest. If it is a bit fancy (tailored, buttoned and lined) then it would be a waistcoat although you could use vest in a pinch (but you'd probably have to say 'suit vest'.) You could use 'sweater vest' even though it doesn't do up the front but I would probably say 'sleeveless jumper'. 

If a sleeveless garment is worn under other clothes to keep you warm it's always a singlet. If the garment is worn on its own - like a basketball player - it's still a singlet, but you can also use 'tank' or 'tank top'. This is more likely as the garment gets more about fashion - 'singlet' carries a bit of the underwear nuance to it. 

Thank you Pam, this stuff is endlessly interesting to me! I mattocked around a new garden bed yesterday and I was thinking almost entirely about clothing names :)

Knitting

I've finished the socks and moved on to my new, big, scary project - the world's easiest jumper. These are the latest pairs, firstly a self-striping number in pretty colours.

I really like the colours and the stripes but it was a bit harder to knit because it's ever so slightly fuzzy. You can't really tell but I could feel it on the needles, and I stuffed up some of the pickups.

And the last pair were a Malabrigio sock yarn I found in the magical tub of yarn under the bed in the beach house. These were lovely to knit with although the colours are a bit odd. I can't remember buying it at all. After four pairs I think I am done with socks for now, although they make a very good travel project so I'm sure I'll have more on the go in the future. I certainly have more sock yarn to use up.

The big scary project is going OK so far - I went with the "Step by Step" sweater because it is super easy, has been made by thousands of absolute beginners, and has an hour and a half video on Youtube where Florence goes through each bit with wonderful thoroughness (and slowly! it's amazing).

It's top down on circular needles so I've done the folded collar, the shaping at the back (german short rows! I had to watch the video about fifty times) and I'm moving on to the increases for the yoke. It's all one colour and all stocking stitch, so couldn't be simpler (we shall see!). I bought the 10 ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills and it is a nice clean wool that I'm enjoying knitting with; although it feels like absolute rope compared to sock yarn. I don't know how I'll go when I have an entire garment on the circulars, it will be like hauling around an elephant. I will keep you posted in about six months when I reach that stage...

Dyed some pants

As part of my ongoing series "nothing is too trivial for the internet" may I present some pants that I have dyed a different colour. Here is a before shot of my favourite three-quarter pull-on linen pants (rolled up, wrinkled) that I have worn at least twice a week for the last four summers.

I never really understood linen until I got these pants, and washed them and wore them and washed them and wore them, and they went all soft and drapey and gorgeous. I thought linen was scratchy and rumply and hard to wear ... but when the colour finally started to wear out of these pants I put them in a dark green dye bath and will keep on wearing them until they literally fall to bits.

Which won't be far off, the seams are starting to go and even a new dye job hasn't stopped the wear. But I will count this as a success.

Heatwave

We have had a few days of 40 degrees - the first of this kind of heatwave for a few years, after a couple of wet and cool summers. Some fires near us but nothing too worrying, unlike Victoria. The smoke coloured the sunsets for us for a couple of days.

The heatwave was forecast a good week out so we planned on a few days down the beach and it was gorgeous. The water was freezing cold but it was high thirties in our little beach town which is really hot for us, and only comes from nasty strong westerly winds. For a couple of days each year we think we really must get air-conditioning (like the couple of days each year we think we need better heating there) and this was absolutely one of those times. It's one thing to sleep with the ceiling fan on, another to sleep with no sheets and no clothes, but you know it's really hot when you get a wet towel, wring it out and cover yourself in it while the ceiling fan evaporates the water ... it sends you off to sleep just fine and then you wake up two hours later under a dry towel. That is the kind of hot I do not need in my life.

So we had some excellent swims, drank many iced beverages, read some books and lolled around in sarongs until the cool change came through Saturday afternoon and it dropped fifteen degrees in an hour. And yesterday on the way back up the hill it was misty and 11 degrees ... much nicer. Now all we need is a few days of solid rain. 

Kitchen cupboards

Some time in the blur before christmas I re-painted the front panels of  the kitchen cupboards ... which of course I have been meaning to do ever since we moved in. Why then? Who knows, but when the urge for a project hits, I do it. One of my children has been diagnosed with ADHD and there is definitely a strong genetic component ... I don't think I would be able to support a diagnosis for myself but I do have a lengthy list of learned tricks to get myself to do things. 

This is the cupboards before - actually before we moved in - when we brought number one out for an inspection (and snacks). The light aqua blue is actually quite lovely and looks nice with the floor.

Unfortunately it did not work with the dark blue that we put in the hallway, and which the painter also used to go around the hearth in the kitchen.

So I painted the cupboards the darker blue as well. It's quite a striking colour and perhaps not something I would choose for a kitchen ... but it definitely looks better having it all the same, rather than different blues. 

It took about three quarters of an hour for each coat (I did two) so not a huge job. And you wouldn't want to look too closely at the edges ... but for a kitchen that we'll probably have to replace in about five years anyway, it's fine.