SnarCraft

You can all thank Hannah. Now, let’s see how rusty I am at this. How long has it been? I daren’t look at my previous post to check...certainly it’s been a couple of months… I honestly do feel guilty about that. All the drama that was happening last year before I started the blog (which, to be honest, is partly what the blog was meant to be helping me decompress from) started up again. We, in some ways, are right back to where we were last year, or a couple of years ago, and that’s really crappy. I honestly was thinking about the blog every day I wasn’t writing and posting (which was most days, if we’re sharing and all…).  I didn’t stop knitting or playing with fiber. I didn’t stop having ideas for things to design and I didn't lose the happy feeling I got when I looked at yarn/knitting/crochet/fibercrafts. I just...I just didn’t have the energy to fight my own head and body to be still and focus enough to write. I know that one of the best things I can do for myself when I’...

I hate spiders Last night I woke up with a start. I thought at first it was because I had fallen asleep with an audiobook running and it had come to a, rather loud, theatrical skirmish. I blearily turned off the book and rolled over onto my back, only to stare straight up at a gigantic huntsman above my head. Let me take a moment to remind you lovely readers that I live in Australia, and in Australia spiders range from microscopic to the size of your face. I'm aware that generally the poison level is inversely proportional to the size of the spider, but that doesn't stop me finding a spider big enough to smother me in my sleep terrifying. Also, I did not grow up here, so I inherently have a -5 resistance to local spiders. Since moving to Australia, I've tried to sort things with the spiders myself. I have tried to reason with them; applying to their sympathies by pointing out that I, too, spin and therefore we should be able to live amicably in respectful cohabitation...

I've been keeping secrets, but I'm sure you'll understand. You see, there was no post last week because I was recuperating from wonderful short holiday of yarn, road trips, a hens night, finishing a knitted wedding/birthday present, and watching two amazing human beings get married. (Tip: click on the individual photos for a closer view.)       A little background…. I met Mel, the bride, at a speculative fiction convention a couple of years ago. I don’t remember who noticed who’s fibre project first - I’m sure one of us was stitching away and the other bounced up to excitedly ask about it (it’s something we’d both do unabashedly, so I’m confident in claiming it was one of us.) But I do remember deciding pretty much right on the spot that she was going to be a friend (with consent, of course!).  We spent the rest of the convention amassing other stitchers to join us in the front row (we did so well at this that it became a running joke with t...

IT. IS. DONE. That's right, you heard it here first! (Ok, actually if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you would have heard it there first, but let's not be too pedantic just now. I'm celebrating.) That beautiful steampunk/art deco inspired Stephen West shawl I have been slogging away at for over a month? I decided Sunday night that come hell or high water I was finishing those last 35 decreases and it was going to be off my needles. I sat down, I put on some DS9, and I gritted my teeth and whacked out the rest of that damn shawl. then I had a glass of wine in celebration. I also gleefully messaged everyone I could think of to say the fraking thing was DONE! (Sorry to my friends who are less excited about wool than me, but I'm sure you understand on some level.) Here's a photo of the project fresh off the needles. I will get a photo of me wearing it up for you soon. This is going to involve getting someone I trust to take my photo in decent lighting, s...