tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84662158215439774792024-02-23T04:20:44.469+11:00Merkin & AgletsFluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-15144373322512498872015-06-28T11:03:00.000+10:002015-06-28T11:03:37.976+10:00Gluten Free Sweet Shortcrust PastryI love to make Stephanie Alexander's Lemon Tart from her Cook's Companion (I have the first edition).<br />
<br />
Unfortunately I can't use her pastry recipes because I can't eat wheat, and for a few years I used to make it with Rowie's Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Mix. Even more unfortunately, that product no longer exists. I've made the tart again with a few gluten-free pastry recipes, but always wanted to try again with something like Rowie's recipe, which was much like a shortbread biscuit.<br />
<br />
I tried one at New Year using a shortbread recipe containing gluten free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill), but the garbanzo bean flour taste was a little strong. So today I am trying using a different recipe.<br />
<br />
I initially tried using <a href="http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/clone-easy-shortbread-biscuits-gluten-free/167570" target="_blank">this recipe</a> verbatim, but when I poured the milk in, I got a gloopy mess. Maybe it's because I wasn't using a thermomix, but in any case I threw that lot out and tried again.<br />
<br />
This time I poured the milk in a little at a time, and used slightly less than half the amount suggested... and we have shortbread. Tomorrow I will find out how well it goes with the Lemon Tart filling. I made double to ensure that I had enough pastry, and my other half was able to make little biscuits with the remainder. She put finely chopped rosemary in a few of them (maybe after 12 years we have some kind of strange osmotic thought process, because in my hunt for recipes I found a piece on the history and flavourings of shortbread, which I said nothing about and I know she didn't see...) They were indeed tasty!<br />
<br />
I think approx 1.5 times the original recipe would do for the pastry for a 22cm tart, so I think it should look something like this:<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
150 g raw sugar<br />
330 g rice flour (I try to use the course kind in order to get a slightly crunchy texture)<br />
180 g arrowroot or tapioca starch<br />
1.5 tbsp gluten free baking powder<br />
1.5 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)<br />
135 g butter, chilled and roughly chopped<br />
190 ml milk (likely to use somewhat less)<br />
<br />
Method:<br />
Pulse raw sugar in food processor for a few seconds.<br />
Add the remaining dry ingredients and pulse until combined.<br />
Add the butter and pulse until dry sand texture is achieved.<br />
Add the milk very gradually until you get dough. I used a very dry dough which I sprinkled in to the springform tin in crumb form, and then pressed in.<br />
<br />
I then baked the tart shell blind at 150 degrees, and my other half handily repressed it with a spoon so it wasn't so floofy.<br />
<br />
My partner was tired, I was tired and methotrexated... the kitchen was a disaster when we'd finished. Hopefully the outcome will stay together and be palatable!<br />
<br />
<br />Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-51550132639099768852014-12-21T21:41:00.000+11:002014-12-21T21:41:55.449+11:00Good approximation of breadSince I can't eat wheat, corn or soy, finding anything even vaguely able to be described as bread is a difficulty. Coconut and I also aren't on particularly good terms, digestively speaking, which makes a lot of paleo recipes unsuitable. <br />
<br />
I got pretty close with a bread machine and a combination of white rice, brown rice, tapioca and chickpea flour, but it always requires xanthan gum, which really doesn't agree with me very well either: I can't really eat more than two thin slices of bread a day when it's made this way. <br />
<br />
And then wandering around pinterest a few months ago I came across <a href="http://cookituppaleo.com/paleo-crusty-bread/" target="_blank">this recipe</a>. It took me until now to actually have the time to make it and it's utterly fabulous. Even though the almond meal I can get isn't ground very finely, it still makes a really lovely loaf. It isn't even particularly fussy to make.<br />
<br />
It's not terribly slimming due to the enormous quantity of almond flour but... it's so tasty...<br />
<br />
Recipe replicated here just in case it ever disappears off the internet (but please don't take it away, it's too good).<br />
<br />
Ingredients<br />
<ul>
<li>6 tablespoons luke-warm water</li>
<li>1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup</li>
<li>2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil</li>
<li>2 teaspoons active dry yeast</li>
<li>1 egg</li>
<li>2.5 cups blanched almond flour</li>
<li>1.5 cups tapioca flour</li>
<li>0.5 teaspoons salt</li>
<li>1 eggwhite</li>
</ul>
<br />
Method<br />
<ul>
<li>Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Grease a baking tray with coconut oil (or use baking paper).</li>
<li>Combine water, honey and oil. Add yeast and let sit for a minute.</li>
<li>Whisk in the whole egg.</li>
<li>Stir in flours and salt (I sifted my flours and discarded any almond flour which refused to fit through the sieve)</li>
<li>Form into a baguette shape on baking tray. Brush with beaten egg white.</li>
<li>Make a few slashes in the tope with a bread knife.</li>
<li>Bake for 25 - 35 minutes or until browned.</li>
<li>Let cool completely before slicing. (Ok, I completely failed to do this. I wanted to try it as soon as possible. Maybe next time...)</li>
</ul>
Go visit <a href="http://cookituppaleo.com/paleo-crusty-bread/" target="_blank">http://cookituppaleo.com/paleo-crusty-bread/</a> and look at the lovely pictures<br />
<br />
Even though I find coconut difficult to digest, I bought Heather's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LK8QJGU" target="_blank">book</a>... on the grounds that the person who came up with this bread recipe deserves some encouragement!<br />
<br />Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-14851106703073868412014-11-23T21:40:00.000+11:002014-11-23T21:40:47.042+11:00Stewed BlueberriesWe had some blueberries and then found some better ones for fresh eating. So I stewed the remaining ones and we had them with plain yoghurt. Just sweet enough to balance the tang of the yoghurt, not so sweet as to be cloying. Lovely dessert at the end of a very hot day.<br />
<br />
175g blueberries<br />
50g sugar<br />
50ml water<br />
<br />
Pinch a few blueberries so that they break apart.<br />
Put all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the blueberries start to go a bit wrinkly. I don't really know how long I cooked them for.<br />
Cool, put in container and refrigerate until you are ready to spoon over plain yoghurt.<br />
<br />
I had my first mulberry off my "big" mulberry tree. The weeping mulberry produces tiny fruit which are sweet but only suitable for garden grazing. I bought two Beenleigh Black trees and planted them this winter. They are both currently smaller than the weeping mulberry, which we've had for several years, but if I don't prune them viciously they will grow into enormous trees.<br />
The mulberry was small and almost made into jam by the heat of the day, but it was very tasty. It had hit 39 C by midday, perfect fruit-ripening weather... Pity we're not built for that kind of heat!<br />
<br />
The possum that lives in the garage door was most put out this weekend. First she and I startled each other when I was watering the garden late on Saturday evening, just as she was emerging from the garage roof. I squeaked and she galloped off over the roof and into the trees. Then when we went out to pack the car late on Sunday afternoon she was sitting with her tail out the door as she does on very hot days. She's not really afraid of us but she'd still really rather we didn't exist. She moved uneasily around in the garage roof until we took the car out and closed the door. She then presumably smoothed her ruffled fur and set down to wait out the heat until evening.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-17095213145770454082014-10-17T22:40:00.001+11:002014-10-17T22:40:54.308+11:00Almost-instantaneous Chocolate CakeI had a terrible desire for chocolate cake / pudding and used the power of Pinterest to track down this recipe:<br />
<a href="http://www.delightedmomma.com/2012/09/3-minute-chocolate-paleo-mug-cake.html">http://www.delightedmomma.com/2012/09/3-minute-chocolate-paleo-mug-cake.html</a><br />
I edited it very slightly to come up with:<br />
<br />
3 tbsp almond meal<br />
3 tbsp cocoa powder<br />
2 tbsp sugar<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
1 egg<br />
2 squares of chocolate<br />
<br />
<br />
Mix dry ingredients together in a ramekin. Mix in egg with a fork. Put the squares of chocolate in the middle. Microwave for 1.5 - 2 minutes. Let it cool down a tiny bit. Eat with a spoon. Leave nothing behind.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-44835903901855338582014-06-08T23:02:00.000+10:002014-06-08T23:06:01.661+10:00Swatching Crochet Ruffle Edgings<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have been swatching for a crochet edging. While originally intended for a hand dyed green jacket based on <a href="http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v8885-products-44857.php" target="_blank">Vogue 8885</a> View D, I came to the conclusion it wouldn't quite work (I'm going to resort to hand dyeing purchased cotton lace for that one). However, I have now been inspired to make a shorter, simpler jacket, dye it purple and use variation 3 as the edging.</span><br />
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Crochet edgings</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b>Sideways Crochet Ruffle Edging</b><br />Quite a heavy edging.<br />0. Chain 14 turn<br />1. 1sc in each ch, ch1, turn<br />2. [1sc in each sc] 4 times. [1 hdc in each sc] 3 times. [1 dc in each sc] 3 times. [1 tr in each sc] 3 times. Chain 4. Turn.<br />3. [1 tr in each tr] 3 times. [1 dc in each dc] 3 times. [1 hdc in each hdc] 3 times. [1 sc in each sc] 4 times. Chain 1. Turn.<br />4. [1 sc in each sc] 4 times. [1 hdc in each hdc] 3 times. [1 dc in each dc] 3 times. [1 tr in each tr] 3 times. Chain 4. Turn.<br />repeat rows 3 and 4.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><br /><br /><b>Variation 1 on <a href="http://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet-the-diamond-mesh-stitch/" target="_blank">Diamond Mesh Stitch</a></b><br />Loose, floppy edging but very fast. Improved by addition of row 10.<br />0. Chain multiple of 4 plus 3<br />1. Skip 1 ch, 1 sc into next ch, * ch 5, skip 3ch, 1 sc in next ch; rep from *to last ch, in last ch, turn.<br />2. *5ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, working last sc into sc, turn.<br />3. *5ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />4. *5ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />5. *7ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />6. *7ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />7. *7ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />8. *9ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />9. *9ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />10. 1ch *9sc in next ch sp, 1sc in next sc; rep from * to end.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/14180426947_aa173229f2_o_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/14180426947_aa173229f2_o_d.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Chain edging</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2917/14180428697_632d259e32_o_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2917/14180428697_632d259e32_o_d.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Sc edging: much improved</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><br /><b>Variation 2 on <a href="http://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet-the-diamond-mesh-stitch/" target="_blank">Diamond Mesh Stitch</a></b><br />More structured than variation 1 but not as pretty.<br />0. Chain multiple of 4 plus 3<br />1. Skip 1 ch, 1 sc into next ch, * ch 5, skip 3ch, 1 sc in next ch; rep from *to last ch, in last ch, turn.<br />2. *5ch, 1sc in centre ch of 5 ch in previous row; rep from * to end, working last sc into sc, turn.<br />3. *5ch, 1sc in centre ch of 5 ch in previous row; rep from * to end, turn.<br />4. *5ch, 1sc in 2nd ch of 5 ch in previous row, 5ch, 1sc in 4th ch of 5 ch in previous row; rep from * to end, turn.<br />5. *5ch, 1sc in centre ch of 5 ch in previous row; rep from * to end, turn.<br />6. *5ch, 1sc in centre ch of 5 ch in previous row; rep from * to end, turn.<br />7. *5ch, 1sc in centre ch of 5 ch in previous row; rep from * to end, turn.<br />8. 1ch *5sc in each ch of 5 ch in previous row, 1sc in next sc; rep from * to end.<br /><br /> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Variation 3 on <a href="http://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet-the-diamond-mesh-stitch/" target="_blank">Diamond Mesh Stitch</a></b><br />Good balance between laciness and structure.<br />0. Chain an odd number<br />1. Skip 1 ch, 1 sc into next ch, * ch 3, skip 1ch, 1 sc in next ch; rep from *to last ch, in last ch, turn.<br />2. *3ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, working last sc into sc, turn.<br />3. *3ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />4. *5ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />5. *5ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />6. *5ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />7. *7ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />8. *7ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />9. *7ch, 1sc in next ch sp; rep from * to end, turn.<br />10. *7sc in next ch sp, 1sc in next sc; rep from * to end.</span><br />
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Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-52370101493298454452014-04-16T10:03:00.001+10:002014-04-16T10:03:47.312+10:00Sad closure of local manufacturerA few years ago I discovered <a href="http://standarduniversal.com.au/" target="_blank">Standardknit</a>, a knit fabric manufacturer located in Botany. As well as catering to businesses, home sewers could go to their stock service showroom and buy fabrics by the metre (although one could only buy lengths of 5 metres or more... how terrible to be forced to buy such quantities!).<br />
<br />
Sadly, they have had to cease manufacturing although their stock service is still open until their stock is cleared.<br />
<br />
I managed to buy two rolls, one of organic cotton 1*1 rib in white, and another of light weight cotton single jersey in natural. Lovely though it is to have these on hand, I will miss their cheerful service and the ready availability of so many plain knit fabrics in wonderful colours. It is so rare to be able to buy locally manufactured fabrics and know that they were made under Australian working conditions.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-52290220715680816392013-06-28T20:55:00.001+10:002014-06-08T23:06:14.198+10:00Bacon and Tomato SoupOlive oil<br />
2 small or one large onion, coarsely chopped<br />
3-4 rashers of bacon, chopped<br />
1 carrot, grated<br />
2 tins of whole tomatoes<br />
1-2 cups vegetable stock<br />
2 tsp smoked sweet paprika<br />
<br />
Sauté onion and bacon in olive oil for 10 mins over medium heat until onion is translucent and bacon fat is mostly rendered.<br />
Add grated carrot and cook briefly<br />
Cut stalks out of tomatoes and add to saucepan<br />
Add vegetable stock and paprika.<br />
Cook on low heat for 20 minutes.<br />
Blitz with a a stick blender.<br />
Reheat a bit and serve with excellent bread.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-3364395120730209702013-02-04T01:20:00.001+11:002013-02-04T01:34:53.985+11:00Bolognese SauceI was virtuous on Sunday afternoon and cooked a Bolognese sauce for freezing and future consumption. I now have 12 little packages of sauce solidifying in the freezer and a satisfying feeling.<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>2 large or 3 medium onions</li>
<li>2 - 3 cloves garlic</li>
<li>2 zucchini</li>
<li>2 carrots</li>
<li>300g mushrooms (any type)</li>
<li>3 - 4 anchovies in oil</li>
<li>500g beef mince</li>
<li>500g pork mince</li>
<li>750ml passata</li>
<li>1 tsp ground ginger</li>
<li>1 tsp ground cinnamon</li>
<li>2 tsp sweet smoked paprika</li>
<li>2 tsp <a href="http://merkin-and-aglets.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/vegetable-stock-concentrate.html" target="_blank">vegetable stock</a>, vegetable stock powder or cube</li>
<li>olive oil</li>
</ul>
Preparation:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Chop onions roughly</li>
<li>Squish garlic in garlic squisher</li>
<li>Grate zucchini, carrot and mushrooms (a food processor is helpful here)</li>
<li>Heat oil in a large frying pan or stovetop-safe casserole dish</li>
<li>Brown meat in batches, remove to a separate plate or bowl</li>
<li>Add a little more oil to pan and lower heat</li>
<li>Cook onion over medium heat until translucent</li>
<li>Add garlic and cook approx 1 minute</li>
<li>Add spices and cook for 10 - 20 seconds</li>
<li>Add anchovies and cook for approx 1 minute, breaking down with your spoon / spatula thingy</li>
<li>Deglaze pan with a bit of passata if necessary</li>
<li>Add grated vegetables to pan and cook down for a couple of minutes</li>
<li>Add browned meat to pan and mix in</li>
<li>Add vegetable stock gloop, powder or crumbled cube (do not dilute in water, this adds too much liquid)</li>
<li>Add passata to pan and stir in, bring to boil</li>
<li>Add pepper as required</li>
<li>Cook, uncovered, for 1 - 2 hours over slow heat, just bubbling</li>
<li>Makes approx 2.4 kg, approx 12 servings</li>
</ul>
Notes:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>This always tastes better the next day.</li>
<li>The anchovies and the vegetable stock help add the middle notes to this sauce, which I found so hard to do when I first started cooking it. Red wine can also help with this, should you have any around, but it does add a lot of liquid. I like a dryish sauce, particularly for freezing as it tends to weep and separate when you defrost it, otherwise.</li>
<li>Grating the vegetables not only deepens the flavour, it hides them from those children (and grown-ups) who have an aversion to visible vegetable matter, and improves the texture after defrosting.</li>
</ul>
<br />
This weekend's version had *lots* of swiss brown mushrooms, because I happened to have a lot around. It's resulted in a lovely dark colour and deep flavour.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-76092428042399164212013-02-04T00:56:00.002+11:002013-02-04T01:34:53.986+11:00Vegetable Stock ConcentrateSince becoming intolerant to wheat, corn and soy, I've had increasing difficulty finding a stock concentrate which doesn't contain any of these. While I understand the move to replace chemical thickeners with cornflour, it leaves me with a problem.<br />
<br />
While I could make a traditional vegetable or meat stock and freeze it, I have limited space in my freezer and rely heavily on stock concentrates for soups and flavor in other recipes. Thankfully, I was able to use the power of the interwebs to find out that you can make vegetable stock concentrate at home.<br />
<br />
I was originally looking for a recipe which would give me a powder, but after some reading I realized that a gloop would be easier to obtain and no more trouble to keep. Many of the recipes assume you have a thermomix, and it would doubtless be easier if I did. However, it is still perfectly possible to make stock concentrate with the aid of a food processor and a saucepan.<br />
<br />
The theory behind this is that more surface area gives you more flavour. The finer you chop your vegetables, the more surface area you are exposing to the cooking process. This also works well for putting vegetables in spag bol, for instance: next time grate your carrot, zucchini and mushroom before you add them to the frying pan. It also helps you disguise them from children who have an aversion to vegetable matter :-)<br />
<br />
This is loosely based on <a href="http://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Bron's_Spanish_vegetable_stock_concentrate_(TM)" target="_blank">this</a> recipe.<br />
Ingredients:<br />
<br />
Approx 1.25kg of vegetables which could be something like:<br />
<ul>
<li>1 brown onion </li>
<li>1 bunch parsley, stalks and all</li>
<li>2 cloves garlic</li>
<li>2 tomatoes</li>
<li>2 carrots</li>
<li>1 turnip</li>
<li>200g mushrooms</li>
<li>170g celery stalk</li>
</ul>
Plus<br />
<ul>
<li>1 glug olive oil</li>
<li>125g salt</li>
</ul>
Preparation:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Chop onion roughly.</li>
<li>Squish garlic in a garlic squisher or chop roughly</li>
<li>Peel and de-seed tomatoes.</li>
<li>Put prepared onion, garlic and tomatoes with parsley in food processor with a blade and chop.</li>
<li>Peel carrots and turnip if they look dirty enough. Cut to a size that will fit through the feed tube of your food processor.</li>
<li>Clean mushrooms if they are especially dirty.</li>
<li>Destring celery</li>
<li>Put carrots, turnip, mushrooms and celery through a course grating attachment. Yes, bits will get stuck. This is fine. If you don't have a grating attachment on you food processor, you can do this all just by chopping with the blade although it does make the most unholy racket.</li>
</ol>
<br />
Cooking:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Heat oil in a saucepan, hot but not smoking.</li>
<li>Add everything to the saucepan (it doesn't seem to matter if you add salt now or later).</li>
<li>Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 mins or so, until everything looks cooked. Nothing should be in the least bit crunchy.</li>
<li>Take off heat and cool a little.</li>
<li>Put through the food processor with the blade until you get a browny-green gloop. Gloop colour will vary with ingredients.</li>
<li>Store in a glass or plastic container in your fridge, avoid metal containers due to the salt content.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
Use approx 1 heaped tsp per 500ml water, remembering that it is about 10% salt.<br />
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<br />Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-85529635882487351802012-01-01T13:24:00.000+11:002012-01-01T15:01:32.211+11:00Pirate Pants... are what all the cool ladies are wearing to bed this summer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZooEbQLvzTxukY8WfULjIIkz3cT-L44lPp0p8yJ1mDOLRbCsbksVIjXjt6T8PQOyHHbCdjb4CWhNnlMLwWQ6Dc5LYaPHjUWbPjdwdEz3DXAcWO20Islnnns8G-iDNGG5vVk_UrLQa_o/s1600/pirate+pants.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZooEbQLvzTxukY8WfULjIIkz3cT-L44lPp0p8yJ1mDOLRbCsbksVIjXjt6T8PQOyHHbCdjb4CWhNnlMLwWQ6Dc5LYaPHjUWbPjdwdEz3DXAcWO20Islnnns8G-iDNGG5vVk_UrLQa_o/s400/pirate+pants.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pirate Pants 1 and Pirate Pants 2</td></tr>
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Some while ago I made my other half two pairs of woven cotton sleep shorts. A slightly shorter while ago, the pair made out of very light cotton decided to rip, leaving only one pair of sleep s.horts, which puts a bit of urgency on the washing/drying cycle. So I bought some random cotton jersey with a skull-and-crossbones motif on the grounds that jersey would be easier to run up a pair of sleep shorts in (I'm fussy about woven sleep shorts: they have to have french seams, since the main purpose of sleep shorts is comfort. Jersey ones have an overlocked seam right side out). I quickly put them together and handed them over, and sighed a sigh of relief... only to discover that they were so comfortable that my other half now refused to wear the surviving woven cotton pair.<br />
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So over the break I put together a plain red pair with pirate patches from the leftover fabric of pirate pants no. 1, and we now have two pairs of sleep shorts in circulation again. Yay! The patches on the centre back seam are to ensure that they go on the right way around. Sometimes when you're sleepy it can be difficult to figure out which way is the right way...<br />
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I don't know the pattern: my mother in law makes beautiful sleep pants for all her children, born and acquired, and I copied our size onto cardboard one day so that I could have a template. I'm guessing something like <a href="http://www.simplicity.com/p-2197-misses-mens-plus-size-loungewear.aspx">Simplicity 4889</a>.<br />
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I made myself a very sedate long grey pair to replace a pair of elderly flannel ones which now have rips on the back thighs from seam to seam and are somewhat less comfortable and more drafty than they used to be.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-61950623381856604892011-12-24T14:35:00.001+11:002011-12-24T14:37:00.935+11:00Christmas Cherry CakeThis is traditionally made at Christmas in my family - because we live in the southern hemisphere and Christmas is in mid-summer. Nothern hemisphere residents might find this a little difficult, or at the least very expensive to make at Christmas. I believe the recipe might be a clafouti, but whatever it is, it's delicious.<br />
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Pastry<br />
2 cups plain flour<br />
2 tbsp sugar<br />
1/4 tsp baking power<br />
pinch salt<br />
4oz butter<br />
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Filling<br />
1.5 lb cherries<br />
3/4 cup sugar<br />
1 tsp ground cinnamon<br />
2 egg yolks<br />
1 cup sour cream<br />
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Preheat oven to 400 F / 200 C.<br />
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Pastry<br />
Sift flour, sugar, baking power and salt togther into a bowl. Cut in butter and rub in (or use a food processor). This will not make a dough, but a sandy, crumbly mixture. Press into an 8" square or 25cm diameter baking tin. No, it will not fall apart. Promise.<br />
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Filling<br />
Stem and pit the cherries (I recommend the <a href="http://talismandesigns.com/index.html">Cherry Chomper</a> by Talisman Designs. It looks like a toy, works like a dream and is so much easier on the hands than the pincer-style ones)<br />
Place fruit on uncooked base. Mix together cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle over cherries.<br />
Bake in a hot oven (400 F, 200 C) for 15 minutes.<br />
Meanwhile, mix together the egg yolks and sour cream. Pour over the cherries after they have cooked for 15 minutes, then cook for a further 30 minutes.<br />
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Serve cold. Guard jealously.<br />
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I can't eat wheat, so I'm trying this with <a href="http://www.rowiescakes.com.au/pantry.php">Rowie's sweet shortcrust pastry mix</a> as a base.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-19108840040987039752011-12-24T14:15:00.000+11:002012-04-05T20:01:24.892+10:00Thai Red Curry KedgereeWatching Jamie's Christmas, I was inspired to make a kedgeree with what I had in the cupboard, which turned out to be:<br />
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Olive oil<br />
1 large brown onion<br />
1 clove garlic<br />
1.5ish heaped teaspoons of thai red curry paste<br />
2 - 3 cups cooked rice<br />
1 bunch coriander<br />
2 eggs<br />
100g smoked trout<br />
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Chop onion roughly, cook over medium heat in olive oil until translucent. Chop garlic finely or put through garlic crusher, add and cook for a minute. Add thai red curry paste, and mix together, cooking for a few minutes. Add more olive oil if the curry paste is too dry.<br />
Add rice, adding some water if the rice has dried out a bit (I was using leftover takeaway rice), and stir until rice is nicely curried.<br />
Reserving a few leaves for garnish, chop corainder roughly, getting finer when the stalk gets bigger. Stir into rice. Turn heat down to medium low and let cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Try to not to stir too much if you like crispy bits.<br />
While the rice mixture is cooking, hard-boil two eggs. Peel, chop in quarters and add to rice mixture.<br />
Chop or flake smoked fish roughly, add to rice at the very end and stir through until warmed.<br />
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Later update: adding roughly grated ginger (about 1.5 cm) and using thai yellow curry paste are also to be recommended.<br />
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Eat while watching more cooking shows for inspiration.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-91298218187669578342011-10-21T15:34:00.001+11:002011-10-21T15:39:57.460+11:00Flourless Chocolate Biscotti<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finally managed to make a reciped I've been wanting to try for some time, and it is delicious. The horrible oven in our mountain abode nearly destroyed the result, but they were saved... and they are lovely. These are courtesy of the Food Network Canada and can be found </span><a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Dessert/Chocolate/recipe.html?dishid=7901"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. In case they decide to remove the page, I am copying the recipe here... with added notes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ingredients</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 large eggs at room temperature</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup sugar</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup light brown sugar</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 tablespoons vegetable oil</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 3/4 cups brown rice flour</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup regular cocoa powder, packed</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 teaspoon fine salt</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/8 teaspoon ground cloves</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup shelled pistachios</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Directions</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With electric beaters or a standing mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip eggs, sugars and vegetable oil until frothy and pale, about 4 minutes. Sift rice flour, cocoa powder, salt, pepper and cloves and stir into egg mixture by hand. Fold in pistachios and chocolate chips or chunks.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a work surface dusted with rice flour, turn out dough and shape into 2 logs, each about 12 inches long. Place onto prepared baking tray and press flat, so each log is about 2 1/2 inches wide. Bake for 30 minutes, until surface of biscotti logs crack a bit. Let cool for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remove biscotti logs from tray and slice on an angle into 3/4 inch biscotti. Return to baking tray and bake for 12 minutes. Remove pan, flip biscotti over and bake another 12 minutes. Let cool completely before packing in an airtight container.</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used 1 cup of slivered almonds and no chocolate chips or chunks due to a mild pantry failure. For similar reasons, I used 1 tsp cinammon and 2 tsp ground ginger. Yes, we do have pepper, but the pepper grinder resulted in such large chunks I didn't fancy it. Note to self, get mortar and pestle for mountain house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are quite tart and cocoa-ey, but I adore them. Thank you Anna Olson (whoever you are).</span>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-61637890057216796152011-09-20T19:25:00.005+10:002011-09-21T09:12:18.498+10:00Gravlax Summer Pasta<ul><br /><br /><br /><li>25g gravlax or smoked fish </li><br /><li>1 punnet of cherry tomatoes</li><br /><li>approx 1 small handful thai or opal basil </li><br /><li>1 - 2 cloves of garlic </li><br /><li>olive oil </li><br /><li>2 large spoonfuls of low fat yoghurt </li><br /><li>juice of 1/2 lemon </li><br /><li>salt and pepper to season </li><br /><li>2 servings of pasta (e.g. spaghetti)<br /><br />Slice the fish into small strips (approx 1 cm * 3cm)<br />Quarter the cherry tomatoes<br />Finely chop the basil<br />Cook the spaghetti, drain and leave in the colander over a small quantity of the cooking water.<br />Pour a splash of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan and put the garlic through a garlic press into the oil. Start with the oil cold so that the garlic does not burn.<br />Bring to mid-heat and cook until garlic is no longer raw.<br />Add tomatoes and stir for a minute or so until tomatoes are hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.<br />Add fish and basil to the pan and stir until warm.<br />Pour in some lemon juice, stir, pour in yoghurt and stir until all is amalgamated.<br /><br />Add pasta to pan and stir until coated.<br />Serve.</li></ul>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-74951829967677037382011-08-08T01:03:00.010+10:002011-08-13T23:45:42.743+10:00The Pink and The GreenA few months ago I went to the Old Bus Depot Markets in Canberra (apparently there had been a sheep and wool show the previous week... my timing sucks). I found a stall which had skeins of yarn which each consisted of 3 mini-skeins. My four-year-old companion glommed onto a vivid pink and blue skein, and I chose a green and sparkly skein for her six-year-old sister. Unbelievably, I have actually finished the scarves (loop scarves, to help prevent untimely loss) while there is still cold weather ahead! I handed them over this weekend.
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<br />The colour sequence was determined by relative length of each yarn in the skein. The green scarf is knitted straight, the pink and blue scarf is a feather-and-fan variation which uses kfb rather than yo.
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<br /><p align="center"><a title="green skein by Fluffy Geek, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/6017739485/"><img alt="green skein" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6121/6017739485_b18c031e5d.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a>
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<br /><p align="center"><a title="green scarf by Fluffy Geek, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/6017739947/"><img alt="green scarf" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6017/6017739947_b999bb5143.jpg" width="500" height="219" /></a></p>
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<br /><p align="center"><img alt="pink skein" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/6017739251_512779d9ca.jpg" width="500" height="349" />
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<br /><p align="center"><a title="pink scarf by Fluffy Geek, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/6017739709/"><img alt="pink scarf" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6127/6017739709_884582764b.jpg" width="500" height="213" /></a></p>
<br />Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-30020516050001815762009-12-29T23:49:00.002+11:002009-12-29T23:55:54.110+11:00Staggering alongWell, it's been a shit of a year, which is partly why I haven't posted for well over a year. I started getting painful hands and feet in November 2008, and by early 2009 I had trouble walking, couldn't open a new milk bottle or water bottle and couldn't chop up vegetables. Eventually I was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis. I'm currently trying to get a combination of drugs to work, and it's not brilliant... but I can walk, open milk bottles and chop up vegetables without too much pain (these are my benchmarks), so it could be much, much worse. And I keep on reminding myself that of all the auto-immune diseases I could have developed, it's probably the least scary.<br /><br />Work is also crap and not giving me much time for myself.<br /><br />During this period I haven't been completely non-creative, although it's been close. I sent off my contribution to The Milkweed Project, pictures to follow when I get them off my other half's camera. The link is <a href="http://sticksandstitches.squarespace.com/the-milkweed-pod/2009/11/29/claire-monroe-nsw-australia.html">here</a>, although my last name is misspellt.<br /><br />I've made a pair of trousers for work which aren't a complete disaster, but the linen is a bit scratchy, which I'm not a fan of. I have enough fabric for another pair, but I'm not sure I want to use it.<br /><br />I also dyed some yarn with my mother-in-law: we were given a large stash of yarn when a friend's grandmother died, most of it truly awful colours from the 80s. I invested in some <a href="http://kraftkolour.com.au/Landscapes_Dyes">Landscape dyes</a> and spent some time transforming the yarn into more agreeable colours. My father-in-law, who is a man of useful hands, made me a lovely skein winder out of some scrap after I openly coveted the one he made my mother-in-law. I'm very lucky in my in-laws.<br /><br />And finally, I've made myself a scarf. I've got several in the pipeline to knit, but because I never really need them, I never actually get around to finishing them (I only need scarves for the 1 or 2 weeks of winter I spend in Ballarat with my parents). The idea was that I would wear it in New York when I went for 4 days in November, but it was too warm most of the time. I did get to visit <a href="http://www.habutextiles.com/">Habu</a>, though. It took me a while to find it, and I think my colleague was a little nervous by the time we did so as it's a little off the beaten track. Never mind, it was worth it.<br />So, recipe for said scarf:<br /><br /><ol><li>Buy a 2.5 m x 1.16 m length of greyish silk twill from ebay</li><li>Cut a sample off it to play with.</li><li>Hem the remaining fabric with silk thread leaving you with rectangle of 1.1 m x 2.18 m which weighs about 160 g.</li><li>Machine-embroider your tag on it.</li><li>Wash it, because the iron insisted on leaving residue on the silk at random intervals (I either need to clean my iron in some drastic way or buy a new one)</li><li>Fold it in half, matching the two short sides.</li><li>Accordion-pleat across the scarf as detailed in <a href="http://www.ehow.com/video_4428854_vertical-pattern-tie-dye-shirts.html">this tutorial</a> on t-shirt dyeing, using a pleat width of 10 cm.</li><li>Roll up into a ball and secure with the rubber band you found after much running around the house with a perplexed look on your face.</li><li>Fill a vessel with 4 cm of water and add 4 g black dye.</li><li>Put the rolled-up silk into the dye, one spiral-side down. Microwave until done.</li><li>Repeat with Bloodwood dye on the other side of the spiral.</li><li>Take off the rubber band and unfurl.</li><li>Fill vessel with water and 16 g of Salmon Gum dye. Add silk, microwave until done, stirring frequently.</li><li>Wash, hang up to dry and wait nervously to see the real colours.</li></ol>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-62096430868773317662008-06-23T19:37:00.007+10:002008-06-23T20:32:28.376+10:001.5 years to FO Clapotis<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In January 2007 I started knitting Clapotis, and in June 2007 I finished her... now I have actually blocked her.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I laced pieces of string through her sides, laid her on an inflatable mattress and laced her up the back. It didn't work too badly, although I should have laced a little more frequently: she's a little scallopy. As a first attempt at blocking anything it went pretty well, I don't think my mother will mind a few scallops, and it drapes beautifully.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I've been more than usually ditzy this weekend, so trying to get the inflatable mattress and the string to do what I wanted was extremely challenging. Especially as I chose to wrestle with it in my oversized pyjamas, and at one crucial point I was trying to manouver the damn thing while my pyjama bottoms were falling off and tangling my feet. I carefully put the whole thing down, got out of the pyjamas and continued. I have no idea what in independent observer would have thought.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">One of the advantages of blocking on a plastic surface and being able to put the entire thing out on the balcony in the Australian sun: it was bone dry within an hour. I did have a lovely day for it, and although we're technically in winter, the word has little meaning here.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Photos will be added later: maybe a lot later if I don't get around to taking any before it is wrapped in tissue paper, stuffed in a satchel and sent nearly 1000 km to Ballarat (still a lot closer than the 17,000 km it would have had to go if I'd finished it last year).</span>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-49071447094192042572008-05-25T11:45:00.005+10:002008-05-25T11:53:49.234+10:00A little here, a little there<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The scaly iPod case is my current commuting knitting and I'm about half-way through it. I really only get about 1/4 hour of knitting a week now, as the train part of my commute is only about 15 minutes and I rarely get to sit down. I get most of my knitting done standing on the station waiting for the train. I'm not complaining about the shorter commute, though. Not at all.<br /></span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a title="scaly iPod bag half knitted by Fluffy Geek, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/2520077338/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img height="333" alt="scaly iPod bag half knitted" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3083/2520077338_f6db78f5ba.jpg" width="500" /></span></a></p><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><em>Scaly and protective of iPods </em></span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><em><div align="left"></em><br />The case is turning out pretty well and I'm pleased. I'm toying with the idea of textured i-cord for the cord, but I suspect by the time I finish knitting the main body I will desperately want to finish it off with a twisted cord. Maybe in black for contrast. The main colour is darker red than the photo would indicate.<br /><br />I played with much of the fabric I washed and dried a few weeks ago. I drafted the pattern of a shoulder bag I want to make and cut out some if it, but the plain blue cotton I bought was such terrible quality that I need to buy something to replace it. It doesn't make sense to put a lot of work into something and use materials which will give me no pleasure at all.<br /><br />The hemp tea towels are cut and the edge seams ironed, I just need to sew them. The hemp-cotton pillowcases have been cut to size, but I need to edge and embellish them before taking an existing pillowcase and figuring out how to fold the fabric in order to sew it up. I have plans of using black linen thread for both the tea towel edges and the pillowcase embellishment. We will see.<br /><br />I've been reading lots of blogs where people spin, so I bought a spindle (from </span></div><a href="http://stores.ebay.com.au/Carolines-BooksnCrafty-Bits"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Caroline</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">) which came with some corriedale and made my first handspun. It's pretty bad - I think the singles are overspun and I under-plied, but I look forward to doing better. I understand why people like spinning wheels, but I can't justify it right now. Maybe some year in the future...</span><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></div><p align="center"><a title="first handspun by Fluffy Geek, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/2519249355/"><img height="333" alt="first handspun" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/2519249355_c1685417d1.jpg" width="500" /></a></p><div align="center"><em>Over-spun and under-plied.</em></div><p>Today I am unpacking some of the boxes of things from Britain which have been sitting unpacked in our living room since they arrived, since we have nowhere to put the contents. I get to unpack all my indian fabric! I haven't seen any of it since before Christmas, so I am planning to take my time enjoying it. That's why I have these things. </span></p>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-58764351556413515662008-05-06T07:42:00.001+10:002008-05-05T07:53:14.209+10:00Why is it May so soon?<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This year is going far too fast.<br /></span><div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's whistling by and I seem to be running to catch up on all fronts. So far I have managed precisely one creative thing: in January I knitted and fulled an i-Pod case for one of my partner's friends. I finally got around to sewing it up on the Easter weekend. This weekend I took a photo of it and hopefully I can send it winging on its way to Britain. If we get our collective act together and write its accompanying letter.</span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196509985225378850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSLHhPy6uV227erJXAO_P4v2l-ilP3jtGUwx322Bj6cy9YNvwBaRox5NfinvS3e22kJMGlvaDLMUQtrDyP0XVTTVCOXJX2lYLhglMybZrNgfGQ-rAV56dg3Spv8bcpN7JBZfROyGNYWs/s400/iPod+case+1+closed.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196510586520800306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOLdLFiNjCyjtXzS9GqdqEhqVQM7ESPLQqLUvaHITXG2P6WzGl5C6Hvr7ivuBXTDyDh4RnVmfRPwah3CwjUo6-uQRtY_VMOdVzETrqp0i6fTvr6OkJcpIKXgmPw7-imKBygy70q6H3Po/s400/iPod+case+1+open.jpg" border="0" /></span> <div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Next weekend I have a 'me' weekend booked, so this weekend was spent doing some prep: washing and drying fabric for a couple of sewing projects, and getting some knitting projects set up.<br /></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Firstly, I fulled a sample of Karaoke (two-row stripes in Copper and Intensity) in order to calculate the specifications for a replacement PSP case (the hastily-put-together polar fleece one is getting rather ratty).</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196510590815767618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCDbZOj2hFB8k0c9rDWZ0ib3zUZ51YfGFWUV00NqT3TnNjodqFwMqOkK46XEOOtTV4byTZYQVuXWjPsuUK7Y0N8B8OJxpQ3kPMD6X-BDrj8gkA4OCZQRaTq-1JMd0noFIpWOufnMi7EVw/s400/Karaoke_swatch_front.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196510595110734930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxPQIwL15XfDUrfkleuIVGv1uJvttOEWwa-YTc-Ops0eW16H7e-eEFwu6j8oMhKkbTAvJcp1NOJGhzKCe4EkGSFl48VEKbEFgHY7Szu7gLhcrU1FvE9fpXpBjcI-D-JS4UkrAiHMnboE/s400/Karaoke_swatch_back.jpg" border="0" /> </span><div></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Secondly, I knitted a swatch of 'tiny scales' from the </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vogue-Knitting-Stitchionary-One-Dictionary/dp/1931543771"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Vogue Knitting Stitchionary volume one</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> in </span><a href="http://www.josharp.com.au/Yarn/Yarn.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Jo Sharp Classic DK, Scarlet</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. This will become an i-Pod cover for my other half, who chose the stitch pattern herself and requested it, so I need to measure it up and cast on.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Karaoke swatch specifications:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Stitch: Stocking</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Needles: 4.5 mm addi turbo</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-fulling: 10 stitches: 5.5 cm, 10 rows: 3.8 cm</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Post-fulling: 10 stitches: 5 cm , 10 rows: 3 cm</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">PSP in hard case is 24 cm in circumference widthways and 42cm in circumference lengthways. Finished fulled fabric should be 27 - 30 cm x 42 cm. I'm thinking vertical stripes could be the way to go, with maybe a two-color twisted cord.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">JS Classic DK specifications</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Stitch: tiny scales</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Needles: 3.5 mm unbranded bamboo</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">10 stitches: 4 cm</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">10 rows: 3.2 cm</span></div><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">i-Pod is 16 cm in circumference widthways and 24 cm in circumference lengthways. I need a piece of fabric 18 - 20 cm x 24 cm, and then a twisted cord. I may do this like a simple toe-up sock: no finishing to speak of, then. Casting on 40 stitches sounds about right if knitting in the round.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And thirdly, I washed and dried (but did not necessarily get around to measuring).</span></p><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><a href="tp://www.hempgallery.com.au/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Hemp Gallery</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Mid weight canvas - 705</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-washing: 0.96 x 1.01 m</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Post-washing: </span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><a href="tp://www.hempgallery.com.au/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Hemp Gallery</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Hemp / organic cotton sheeting - 02</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-washing: 2.87 x 1.05 m<br />Post-washing:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">White Muslin</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-washing: 1.51 x 2.74</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Post-washing:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Cotton wadding:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-washing: 1.54 x 1.33 m</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Post-washing:</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Plain blue cotton:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-washing: 1.10 x 2.20 m<br />Post-washing: </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Blue and white printed cotton:<br />Pre-washing: 1.13 x 1.08 m</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Post-washing: </span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Orange indian cotton:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-washing: 1.17 x 1.54 m</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Post-washing: </span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Blue striped indian cotton:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-washing: 1.24 x 2.70 m</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Post-washing: </span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Mottled grey flannel:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pre-washing: 1.20 x 3.46 m<br />Post-washing: </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In household news, my partner and I have decided to commit to staying in the current abode and buying my parents out. We discovered that the only place we could afford a house was the Blue Mountains, and while we both love the idea, the practicalities of commuting to North Ryde and Redfern would mean that we would never see the house in question in daylight, except on the weekends, when we would spend most of our time sleeping, anyway. There would be severe and prolonged grumpiness, which is not exactly the idea.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And then I stand on the front balcony on a day like this Sunday and think we've got it pretty good:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span></div><p align="center"><a title="balcony view 1 by Fluffy Geek, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/2464446314/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img alt="balcony view 1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2166/2464446314_29a69b7579_o.jpg" width="600" /></span></a></p><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span></div><p align="center"><a title="balcony view 1 by Fluffy Geek, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/2464446314/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img alt="balcony view 1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2166/2464446314_29a69b7579_o.jpg" width="600" /></span></a></p><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We have both taken deep breaths and given each other major concessions: I have decided that the living room can become her gaming space and can be decorated with small comic-book-character figurines, dragons etc. She likes to game socially, so it make sense. She has conceded that the double bed can be stored in the garage and the small bedroom can become my workroom plus clothes storage (both of us would prefer less furniture in the main bedroom). It will take a while (over a year, I imagine), but I should eventually have a dedicated room for textile activities! I already have my eye on an expensive (but obtainable) </span><a href="http://www.sitbackandrelax.com.au/index.php?action=item&itemId=298"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">sit-stand table </span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">which should help my back and make it possible to carry out a number of different activities in comfort.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Meanwhile, I need to go and see a solicitor to figure out how to get us both owning this property outright.</span></div>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-78498204058492005322008-03-24T11:23:00.000+11:002008-03-25T03:06:49.812+11:00All quiet on the creative frontI've been doing very little knitting or crocheting, or indeed anything creative. Sometimes I nearly miss having a long commute... but not really.<br /><br />I did crochet a face washer out of organic cotton, and I like it, although I crocheted on the bias and it is definitely diamond-shaped, not square. Never mind. It still washes a face perfectly well.<br /><br />I'm still crocheting a bag in cheap squeaky acrylic, just to prove that I can. Hopefully I will eventually finish, but it is easy to get distracted.<br /><br />Speaking of distractions, I did succumb and buy the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vogue-Knitting-Stitchionary-One-Dictionary/dp/1931543771/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206374698&sr=8-1">Vogue Knitting Stitchionary vol 1</a>, which I have wanted for a very long time. As a result, I've been knitting a face washer in linen stitch. While the stitch is a pain to do since you both slip and knit every stitch, the results are lovely. I really like this stitch. I think the resulting face washer will be pleasantly smooth on one side and nicely nubbly on the other.<br /><br />Cooking has been fairly standard, except for this weekend. I made two flourless chocolate cakes (from Delicious: Wicked), soaked them in run and sandwiched them together with whipped cream. I had a slice for breakfast this morning. I only do this about once a year, but there's something about starting the day off with dessert which ticks the little box labeled 'total decadence' for me. I remember the last time vividly: it was champagne trifle made on chocolate cake when I could still eat wheat without getting a migraine. Actually that makes it about 3 years ago. Clearly I don't indulge in total decadence nearly often enough.Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-28108502338969012272008-02-22T10:56:00.000+11:002008-02-22T00:15:44.998+11:00Peering out of the burrow<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's a bit startling to realise how long it has been since I posted. I've been running around like some kind of nervous rodent trying to resume our life here. Being back in Australia is odd, working for the same company but in an office 1/10 the size of the previous one is odd, being back in our flat is odd, the way the city has changed but not really changed is odd. It's all a bit odd.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">So to complement the oddness I decided to learn to crochet, firmly believing that one should never avoid taking up more crafts* because knitting, sewing, weaving, dyeing, tatting, macrame and needlepoint <em>just aren't enough</em>. I'm working on a small shoulder bag in a some rather squeaky acrylic and buying organic cotton for my next project.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I'm also in the middle of making a couple of iPod covers for my other half and one of her friends. Unfortunately work and dealing with the general oddness of life means the first one has been sitting on the bookshelf, felted and waiting for me to sew it up for several weeks. It's Kureyon, a yarn I've been thinking about for a while but never used. It does felt beautifully, but I'm not sure I like it all that much. The colour ways annoy me a bit, too. They all seem to be slightly off.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">While some of the yarns I have grown to love aren't readily available here, there are other attractions, including a growing number of online sellers stocking organic yarns. I'm looking forward to working with organic cotton, hemp and nettle. I feel like making containers.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">*Except possibly the kind of craft which involves a glue gun and diamontes.</span>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-58454054284701965252007-12-31T12:38:00.000+11:002007-12-31T14:25:29.457+11:00Finis<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">No, I'm afraid there are no FOs in this post.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is my last post for 2007, and probably my last post from the UK. I'm flying home to Australia in 4 days (and due to the flight length and vagaries of timezones, will arrive in 6). My partner and I have spent the last week trying to clean out the house and get rid of various goods in a responsible manner.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I'm not quite sure why, but there seems to be far more a culture of the new in the UK than I'm used to in Australia. Maybe it's just the area we live in over here. It's quite difficult to get rid of second-hand but perfectly reasonable goods. We had to throw out more than we were comfortable with, but what can you do? We did manage to sell or give away most of our larger encumbrances and found a recycling centre for much of the rest.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Most of the stash left in boxes to sail the high seas just before Christmas. I had to inventory it and price it for insurance. Given how much I've spent on it, I'd damn well better start doing useful things with it. Hopefully I will see it again some time in March. Two pieces of knitting remain with me: the one row scarf I have been trying to knit for some time now, and a baby jacket for a friend whose baby is due any day now. (I am realistic: the jacket is sized for a 6-month-old.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Unfortunately my hands and shoulders have been getting a cleaning workout, and knitting is not really on the agenda right now. I have an intermittently pinched nerve in my neck which started bothering me very badly a couple of months ago when I a) slipped on a nameless slippery substance on the footpath and jarred my arm and b) fell up the stairs at a client (I had only had 7 hours sleep in the previous 3 nights) a few weeks later. At the moment the last 3 fingers of right hand ache which isn't too bad: at worst I get numbness, pins and needles, my elbow aches and my shoulder aches. It gets worse when I get cold, so I'm trying to apply heat packs to it on a regular basis.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">One more night in this house, and everything has to be out including us. We are staying the next two nights with some friends who put us up for the first month we were over here. The last night we are staying at the airport Hilton: I've spent so many nights in hotels of the Hilton family due to work that I've earned a couple of free nights.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I am still very ambivalent about moving back to Sydney. I've spent 2 and a half years living in London. I can't say it's where I'd choose to stay forever: between the insanely busy lifestyle and my allergy to London air it hasn't been the best time. I've learnt a lot over here, and done things I never would have thought myself capable of. I've overcome my fear of flying and can stand up in front of a client for 5 days on end either training or facilitating and enjoy it. I didn't get to explore London the way I wanted to: too much travel has meant that if I'm actually home on a weekend, that's where I want to stay.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I'll miss the cooler weather terribly. So far the weather forecast for the next week in Sydney isn't awful from my point of view, but it isn't great, either. I'm not sure what possessed us to return at this time of year.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Trying to pack up and go home has been a real pain in the arse, but one of the advantages of this is that it makes me view the long flight home and the fact of being home with more pleasure: we're so tired of packing and cleaning and making decisions that we just want it to be over.</span>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-21127316249236728412007-12-15T09:51:00.000+11:002007-12-15T09:51:52.545+11:00Ravelry<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I love </span><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Ravelry</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. I love it for lots of reasons.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1. I can look at how a pattern has turned out for different knitters in different yarns.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2. While it doesn't replace reading blogs, it allows knitting porn viewing <em>in bulk</em>.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">3. I find people I would normally never stumble across in my usual web-crawling.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">4. I find patterns I would normally never stumble across in my usual web-crawling.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">5. People are actually looking at what I'm doing.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I don't know why I find that last point so exciting, but I do. I don't know many other people who knit, and it's nice to have people randomly decide that what I'm doing is interesting enough to look at.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We're busy packing the house up to move. Lots of things are in boxes to be shipped, other things are in piles to be sold or given away. I've signed a contract with my current company's Australian office, and it's all becoming real now. I'm sad about leaving, but I'm also looking forward to lots of things: Christmas, New Year, not working for a month, living in our Sydney flat again, catching up with family and friends.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Mostly I'm just desperate to stop moving at such a frantic pace. I could do with a bit of peaceful slowness.</span>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-14066068053782531182007-11-26T08:52:00.000+11:002007-11-26T08:54:12.130+11:00FO: Baby Kimono<div align="center"><a title="kimono by Fluffy Geek, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/2063823988/"><img height="274" alt="kimono" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2266/2063823988_50e2c1ad7a.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I have finally finished the baby kimono: i-cord ties attached, garment machine washed and dried to prove indestructability.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Mason-Dixon baby kimono in Patons 100% Cotton DK in kiwi and orachard. 4 mm circular needle for garment, 2.5 mm dpns for i-cord. Now let's hope it still fits the poor child for whom it is intended!</span>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466215821543977479.post-1738971767056434262007-11-13T08:00:00.000+11:002007-11-13T08:12:39.409+11:00In the meantimeBefore I went to India in September, I bought some yarn to make some of the new and immanent babies in my life things to wear. I swatched on planes and trains and in airports, and I knitted in Norway and after Norway.<br />The sum total of my efforts is a few swatches and most of a Baby Kimono from the Patons from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mason-Dixon-Knitting-Knitters-Patterns-Questions/dp/0307236056">Mason-Dixon knitting</a>: I just have to make i-cord ties now.<br /><br /><p align="center"><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/1956832594/"><img alt="baby kimono front" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2054/1956832594_a93fca8b95.jpg" width="300" /></a><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/1956003339/"><img alt="baby kimono back" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/1956003339_87f694d1bf.jpg" width="300" /></a><br /></p><br /><p align="left"><br />Knitting this was an interesting experience, and is a milestone for me: the first thing I have ever knitted with seams, or which is, in fact, a garment (I don't think hats count). I don't think I like seaming much, and I may have figured out a way to knit this pattern without seams. I'll see if I want to give it a try, but I'm not entranced by the way the neck turned out. If it fits the recipient and the recipient likes wearing it, I'll give it another go.<br /><br />The recipient is my very first "other" family niece: the mothers are two of my friends, the biological father is another friend's brother. The poor little girl has more aunts than she's going to know what to do with.<br /><br />Randomly, I have aquired some very sweet buttons and beads: the ceramic beads on the left were bought from <a href="http://www.perlehuset.no/">Perlehuset</a> in Bergen, and the wooden buttons on the right were bought from the shop of the <a href="http://www.museutextil.bcn.es/">Textile and Costume Museum</a> in Barcelona (unfortunately I didn't get to visit the museum itself). No, I don't know why I have this sudden affinity with owls.<br /></p><br /><p align="center"><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffygeek/1956001209/"><img height="300" alt="owl beads and buttons" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2215/1956001209_3eb6ed2174.jpg" /></a></p><br /><p align="left"><br />Last weekend I had a friend staying, this week I am in Amsterdam for business. We're flying directly home to Australia, having abandoned plans to go through Canada as too expensive, and we're likely to be too exhausted to enjoy it. We're flying home on 3rd January, which is much too close. I have very mixed emotions about going home. I do want to see my family, I will enjoy living in our flat, and there are things about living in Australia that I miss. I was going to list all the things that bother me about moving back, but I thought for two seconds and realised that compared to most of the rest of the world, I live in luxury and have extraordinary choices and freedoms. I think the only thing I can legitimately complain about is that my partner and I <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_of_gay_unions_in_Australia">can't get married</a> there.</p>Fluffy Geekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610268519714451324noreply@blogger.com0