tow happiness in the mail

When I was a little girl I always introduced a new doll to my old dolls. Sort of like an initiation ceremony to the toy chest if you will. I would gather all my old dolls together and set them up to prepare for the new arrival. I would bring the new doll in and show them to each doll and tell them what her name is. When two skeins of my favourite yarn in the whole wide world arrived yesterday I did just that.

Blue Suzanne, Gewitterhimmel, Am Kalter Polar, Barista, Pfefferminz Prinz, Digitessa, and Vergissmeinnicht meet your new friends

Sultan and Spice Market.

The photos were a re-enactment of what I did last night much to the amusement of ACA. He also got treated to my views on having soooper spechiaaaal sock yarn that never gets used, only collected. I think a yarn is sad when it doesn’t get used. It’s sad because it didn’t get to fulfill it’s potential. I am buying these yarns because they are beautiful and I love turning them into beautiful things for me to wear. I absolutely adore the knee socks I made and I get compliments everytime I wear them (even when I don’t pull up my pant’s leg to show the socks I made). Once I get good at knitting with two colours Sultan is going to become a sock with a white skein. Unlike every other Wollmeise skein I have this colourway loves showing up true to its colours on my camera.

I couldn’t capture all the colours with photographing one side, so here’s the other side.

Wheee!

The other skein I got was Spice Market. I am having a hard time photographing this one because it is a cloudy and overcast day. I took some photos of it yesterday and they are pretty close to what it looks like.

Looks like Wollmeise changed her label style again.

I do like it. But it is difficult to take off to photograph the yarn, but slips right back on once you take it off.
I bought this because it reminded me so much of the Misir Carsisi (Spice Bazaar) in Istanbul. I’ve been there many times in my childhood and last summer when I was in Turkey. This pair will become Nutkin socks. Ravelry link here And looks like for once in my life I’ll be using the exact yarn in the exact same colourway as the pattern suggests. Why mess with perfection?
Another treat that came in the mail was the Loopy Ewe’s “Don’t be blue” sock kit. This was for people who didn’t get a spot in the Loopy Ewe sock club.

The yarn that came is 115 gr of lusciousness known as Handmaiden Casbah sock. The colourway is called “W(h)ine with Roses.” It came with a pattern, a pen that says “Loopy for socks” and the extra awesome bag you see in the photo. The bag is nice and sturdy. Also has nice side pockets to hold notions and needles or hooks. I am not blue anymore!
And the final addition to my stash this week was 20 balls of Jo-Sharp Desert Aran Cotton in midnight sky (how many fancy words for black are there?!). I found the project I want to knit it into right away.

It’s the Dovetail pullover from Interweave Knits Spring 2008 issue.

On the needles I have this pair of socks.

It’s a do over of a pair that I have already finished back in January. See this entry for details. I had a lot of trouble finding the perfect pattern for this yarn and I have frogged it more times than I can count. I finally called them done and started wearing them. Everytime I wore them I had a nagging feeling that I really could have done better with these socks. So couple of days ago I ripped the sock back down to the heel turn, put it back on my needles and started over. I am planning on making these socks longer. I only made them ankle high last time because I was sick of the yarn after trying three different projects with the yarn and I just wanted to move on to a different project. Now that I am done being mad at it, I can make the socks longer and nicer.
I have also been working on a sweater. I didn’t put photos of it because a sweater in progress really doesn’t look very interesting. It’s the Phyllo Yoked Pullover from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan. Here’s the ravelry link The front and the back and the sleeves were to be knit and seamed later. I don’t like seaming when I don’t have to so I knit the body and the sleeves in the round. I also added waist shaping and short row bust darts. I joined the arms and the body together and now ready to knit the yoke. I already ripped it out once. I am hoping to get it right this time.

See what I mean about boring photo? I also knitted the hem in seed stitch because I don’t like how stockinette curls up. I am calling this the GTA sweater because while I was working on the sweater ACA was playing GTA IV. It strenghtens my argument that his hobby (video games) is a waste of time. In the time it took him to clock the game I knitted up almost a sweater. I am smug that I have the more productive and fun (well I think anyway) hobby.
We are going to a wedding this evening ins and I am planning on wearing my butterfly wing shawl. I will try to remember to take some action shots but don’t hold me to that!

There was a question about how I dye yarn. I use food coloring, Kool Aid and Wilton’s Icing dyes. I have a lot of sock yarn that I either claimed for free or was gifted that I don’t like the colour of. That’s why I started dying. I have also dyed a skein of yarn that wasn’t dyed before. I like dying the yarn in a pot on my stove because it’s less messy and I like how the colours get shaded. Hmm, maybe I should take some photos next time I am dyeing. I don’t have a developed method yet. I just satisfy my inner mad scientist by adding colours and mixing and seeing what happens! This is an action shot of “Kina Gecesi” getting dyed.

tow procrastination

Oh the things I find to do when I am putting of important things! I am not sure how but I ended up on the Bushells Tea site and took the test to determine if I drink my tea Aussie style or British style. Since I like dunking “bickies” in my tea and I don’t fuss about things like saucers or stirring my tea with a teaspoon I drink the tea Aussie style. Oh and a “bicky” is a biscuit, which is what they call cookies on this side of the world. Of course “biscuit” is too long of a word, so it gets shortened to a “bicky.” Gotta love the Aussie English! Lately I picked up the habit of adding *gasp* milk to my tea. I don’t know if I can be considered a Turk if I add such nonsense to my tea!
Another way to procastinate is to bake. I got a banana bread recipe from the Amateur Gourmet website. The bread is in the oven now and it just started smelling awfully good. I love the smell of cinnamon-y things being baked.
Back in uni most of my procrastination was achieved through writing random blog entries. Have a look at my old blog, particularly entries as the deadline of my senior thesis approached (Spring 2006) and you’ll see what I mean!
Speaking of random blog entries, here a yarn I’ve dyed, and my inspiration behind it.

I thought about dyeing a yarn in these colours while I was listening a song they play at “kina gecesi.” In Turkish tradition the girl and her friends get together for kina gecesi (henna night) the day before the bride gets married. The colours that came to my mind was red, brown, and orange. The highlight of the henna night is the application of henna to the bride. Now I went unconventional and got a couple of my friends to apply henna Indian style. This is how my henna turned out.

The photo is from my wedding day. You don’t wear your wedding dress to the henna night. There is a special outfit that you wear but I went without it so I can get a more useful item –my dishwasher! The outfit is called a bindalli and you find tons of examples from google.

That’s me seated in the middle at my henna night. The girls walk around you holding candles and singing a song about a girl who got married off to a far away land (heh, fits my story doesn’t it!). You are supposed to cry, but I couldn’t stop giggling honestly! One of the girls carries the tray with the henna on it. When they are done singing mother of the bride applies the henna. Then the mother-in-law places a piece of gold on your hand with the henna on it. At least that’s how we did it. I am sure there are tons of variations from place to place. After they took the red scarf off me I saw my mum crying, then I busted out crying as well! I looked around to find the version of the song we used at my henna but I couldn’t find it. This one is sung by my favourite Turkish singer, Candan Ercetin. It is not the traditional version, but it is still pretty.

The moral of the story is I was trying to capture the colours I have remembered from my henna party. Mostly reds and golds with a bit of brown for henna. I am still new at the yarn dying business, so when I get better I will take another crack at it later. I am happy with how this one turned out as well!
The banana bread is done and I am sorry to report my oven burned the outside while leaving the inside mushy. I really, really dislike my electric oven. When I get my own house ins I am getting a gas one!

tow stuck

I amaze myself with my own brilliance sometimes. Today for example I achieved this with the car,

I went to the hospital to pick up my test results (nothing to worry about, just run of the mill yearly testing). I haven’t been to this hospital by myself before and I had trouble finding the public parking area. I drove in to a parking lot and the boom gate met me there. Clearly I wasn’t welcome. I felt stupid and started backing out. Stupidity was just begining.
I realised I hit the curb while backing out in haste and felt the car “plunk.” I switched to drive and tried to go forward and felt the traction control kick in and the car making a God awful noise. I immediately stopped the car and got out to investigate. As you can see from the photo the back right wheel went over the curb thing and into the soil. I wish for a moment I was Hulk so I can lift up the car, or a witch so I can Wingardium Leviosa the car. I looked around helplessly for someone to tell me what to do. Believe me if I was in Turkey there would have been five people around with five thousand solutions to my predicament. I wouldn’t put it past some of the more ambitious Turks to come together to lift up the car. Alas I wasn’t in Turkey and other than curious glances at the car nobody stopped to help. I asked a friendly looking guy if he could help me, he said I should call RACV. Thanks buddy! I called hubby and he asked me to SMS a photo of the situation. Gotta love technology. I took the photo you see above. He called me back and said “It’s like I thought.” “Fantastic dear, how do I fix it?!” He said the power of the other wheel should get the other wheel out and told me to give it another go. Reluctantly I got back in the car. I was half hoping he would say, I’ll come save you! Except of course he was working in the city 45 minute train ride away, and I had the car! I snapped out of my damsel in distress mode and put the car in reverse for a second then back on drive and gave it another go. After a few seconds the car moved and the stuck wheel came out. Elhamdulillah (thanks to Allah) I was able to drive away.
Unfortunately I managed to drive myself into another staff parking lot and this time I wasn’t able to back out because three cars lined up behind me to get in. The boom gate stood resolute waiting for me to wave some sort of key in front of the key reader. Desperately I pressed the green intercom button, clearly in place for instances like this. “Umm, I accidentally got in line to get into the staff parking long, I am not staff, I can’t get out because there are cars behind me.” “I am not having a good day,” I hastily added. The voice on the other end asked for my name. “I am not staff, just a umm member of public,” I repeated. The voice said that he needed my name for the record. Right, I spelled out my name while glancing at the rear view mirror to check if anybody was getting ready to gesture unkindly my way. I heard the voice pressing some buttons and the gate opened. With relief I drove in, made a U turn so I could get back out. And met the boom gate! Sheepishly I pressed the intercom button again and told the voice it was me again, could he please let me out?
After getting out I drove to the shopping centre across the street and parked at their parking lot. It is PUBLIC parking after all. The rest of the day consisted of waiting in the waiting room for an hour and half, a cup of latte with espresso made from burnt coffee beans and scalded milk, and a three second visit with the doctor who said everything is normal.
Normal is good. We like normal.

tow butterfly wing

The butterfly wing shawl for me is finally complete! I started crocheting this back in November when my friend Mel gifted me a skein of laceweight yarn she dyed herself for me. After playing around with couple of different stitches I’ve decided to go with the butterfly wing shawl pattern. I mostly worked on this shawl when I attended lectures in the mosque on Wednesdays. It’s the perfect pattern to keep my hands busy while I am listening to the teacher. I started out with 4.0 mm (G) hook and gradually increased hook size all the way to 6.5 mm (K) hook. This gave the shawl a beautiful drape as it got more airy and open towards the end.

I am planning on wearing it like this.

This is the back.

This shows the stitches better.

And here’s the shawl taking flight!

I have been winding yarn cakes back into skeins so I can dye them. I decided that the yarns look so much prettier when they are in skeins. I spent an afternoon doing just that. There were a couple of yarns I’ve purchased from destashes that came in yarn cakes and I turned them into skeins
This is the yarn cake I’ve received.

An action shot of the cake becoming to a skein

And voila! Look how pretty! If I named this yarn I would have called it “Fawkes” named after Dumbledore’s pet Phoenix.

It’s easy to make skeins with the swift my father-in-law made for me. I put my finger into the very middle of the swift and just spin it until I ran out of yarn. I’ve became very, very good at tying figure 8’s around the skeins so that they won’t get tangled.
Here are the skeins I’ve made sitting pretty!

The yarns from top the bottom are:
Electric Fiber Arts Hanspun in Sandstone colourway.
Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 I got this from a destash at Ravelry. This colourway was for a yarn club
Honey and Mint. Handspun just for me by a Ravelry swap partner.
Bizyhands Handspun Straightaway colourway

I am continuing my adventures in yarn dyeing. I enjoy the process of dyeing immensely. This one was another overdye. I’ve received 2 balls of Moda Vera sock yarn as a part of the Magic Yarn Ball swap. I turned the ball in to a skein so I can dye it.

After a session on the stove with lots of dye and vinegar this is what I came up with

And this is how it knits up

I named it “morcivert” This needs a bit of explaining, I’ll do my best. “Mor” means purple in Turkish. And “lacivert” means navy blue. Put the two words together you get “morcivert.” It’s not a real colour. Whenever I asked my dad what colour I should colour something he would say “morcivert” to tease me. If morcivert was a colour I think it would look like the yarn I’ve dyed. Bits of blue and bits of purple existing together.
And here’s a yarn from Sundara. The dyer lady has amazing colour sense and does magical things to the yarns she dyes. This one is called “Night Blossom”

It’s very dark purpley-brown with highlights of light purple and creams through out. I haven’t decided what to make them into yet, but I know they’ll be pretty!
I bought yarn from the stitches and craft show I went to last month. I just got around to photographing it,

It’s 4 skeins of Super Soft Merino in 4 ply goodness known as Pear Tree Yarn. The colourway is called “Damson” (that’s Mürdüm Eriği for the Turkish speakers. Hi mum & Alex!) I have paid an arm and a leg for them in anticipation of my stimulus payment! The seller gave me a discount for flashing my Ravelry badge!

I am happy to report the leaking tap has been fixed! ACA the husband extraordinaire hard at work

Love my handyman! It is hard to believe in June we are going to be married for two years. Two happiest years of my life, I can assure you that!
ACA and I met on the internet when I was living in the US, and him in Australia. Because of that we spent a lot of our time away from each other. From the time we met in August ‘06 to the time I’ve moved to Australia October ‘07 we had spent a total of 6 weeks together. Two weeks when we got engaged in February ‘07, and four weeks after we got married and had our honeymoon in June ‘07. I missed him like crazy especially while I was waiting in Turkey waiting for my spouse visa to arrive so I can move to Australia. This was the song I’ve listened to many, many, many times on the occasions I’ve felt the saddest. The band is Snow Patrol. I’ve been a fan ever since I’ve heard the song “Run” on the radio. The song is called “Set Fire to the Third Bar”

I’m miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
– Snow Patrol

Hermoine says hi!