Did I say I like to cook?

yeah well I do and if it wasn't for the fact our injury-ladden household is perpetually considering weight-loss from all the lack of exercise , I would probably cook more than I knit (shocking really sorry knitters). But I thought it would be ok to confess this as viewing the blog world it seems baking/cookery/eating rants go hand-in-hand with knitters. I think one of my favourite things is to cook for big groups of people - and that disability unfortunately applies whether there is a small or large group present (result of growing up in a large family)! I think Italy influences me the most and my trip with KD and MD in 2006 just suckered me in more. Thai and Japanese also feature heavily and I love cooking vegetarian. NZ is only just coming out of the 1950s grip of the "meat and 3 vege" era so serving a fully vege meal tends to surprise a few.
I'm also a fan of old-skool baking - you know stuff like yo-yos, brownies,

banana cake, bread & butter pudding - which can all be jazzed up eg bread & butter pudding made with old croissants or frying slices of old banana cake with butter, cinnamon and honey on top. In our new house we are looking at dining tables which is causing me all sorts of excitement with wondrous plans - not of decor but banquets. We've only had 1 group for dinner so far and I made THE 2008 summer salad (which means I'll repeat it many times for the next few months) of tomato, basil, olive oil and fresh boccocini from kapiti (about the most reasonable priced fresh mozzerella I can find in NZ). I then cooked loads of pasta - puttenesca (a butchered Jamie Oliver's recipe), Olio un Aglio (oil, garlic, chilli spaghetti) and pesto ribbons with pinenuts. Yeah overkill but nothing beats cold pasta salads the next day (and the next day)!
And to knitting: I went to Knit Rangers on sunday and made an appallingly effort on the Debbie Bliss vest - it was just too hot and humid to face the wool that day. I ripped half the front back as trying to put Joe's name on the front in a contrasting stitch proved a poor effect. I'm currently considering cross-stitching his name on or doing a cool robot drawing on calico to stitch to the front. It was good to catch-up with the knitting-folk and see their latest projects. In particular it was nice meeting THE bag (and it's creator Catherynne ) - a bag to inspire all knitted bags.
I've just found out about the Cross St Carnival which is happening locally - I'm trying to get a stall through Craftwerk but am a bit nervous as they seem a bit uber-cool-craft conscious and I'm not sure I fit into that category. It will be a bit of a rush if I can but I will be able to sell my bags & brooches left over from last year's stalls. And I have a few ideas for some quick and crafty goods.
And one final thing - a design store in Waitomo called HUHU (if anyone has been there can they tell me about it) has asked Toggle if I can contact them to sell my beanies in their store - how cool is that!Have a "uber" week people!

and the knitting...

Ok, so I think some time should be committed to knitting on this blog (you will need to get used to this kind of content because my first ever mortgage payment came out last week and there isn't going to be anymore silly skylarking like skydiving and backpacking!). 2008 I am determined to be more sensible about my knitting and have a few aspirations for the year:

1. To knit CH something eg. hat or jersey

2. Knit myself a vest or jersey in chunky wool

3. Only knit for specific events eg birth of baby instead of random knitting

4. To learn cables

5. Learn to knit st or garter without looking at the needles

6. Plan products ahead of winter stalls - focus on time-efficient products to ensure aspirations 1-6 are met throughout the year.

Most of these require one thing from me - casting on WITHOUT trouble: the result must be the same as first envisaged ie no more troublesome, hybrids of the original knitted idea.

First project off the needles this year was for a little girlie called Lily, born in Nov 07. This is the Raglan Sleeve Sweater from Debbie Bliss's Baby Knits for Beginners. I really love this pattern and have knitted quite of these up now. I've used some of the wool I got in Wanaka earlier this year - it's smelly and brown like the Romney sheep it came from (dad is from the south island so it seemed the right wool). I also attempted to add Lily's name in red (mum's favourite colour) which ended up ok although it "bubbled" a bit - I think I was holding the wool too tight. I've made it quite large and hope she will get 2 winters out of it. I also did a matching hat - will post photos when winter gets here and she starts wearing it.

And this little number is the vest from Debbie Bliss's Baby Knits for Beginners. This is for Joe Joe who will be 1 yr in March. I'm using a nice pure NZ wool (002 Navy) from The Wool Company which is based in Utiki, south of Taihape. I've spent a lot of time knitting, ripping, re-knitting to get the gauge right for the pattern - changing needles, change pattern size - it's actually be very good for building my knowledge on yarn-usage in general. I've just got the arm/neck ribbing and front to do but am having some problems with trying to add the name JOE in garter stitch. It's all coming out in garter stitch lines so I might do a bit of re-working and perhaps do it in moss stitch.

So the last project I have on the needles is one for my sister who is due mid-Feb (her first baby). Now I don't think she's one for appreciating the fine art of knitting so I'm going to make her a patchwork basinet cover as inspired in Erika Knight's "New Knits". It's a really good idea if, like me, you have a magpie's eye for lovely coloured single balls in the bottom of sale bins! I've collected all my pink, purple and cream colours and am halfway through knitting up a stack of "patches". This weekend I'll go through my fabric collection to complete the cover.

There you go - said I'd blog about knitting :) . Am off to do finish some work and start my mad & nutty weekend.

Knees up by your ears...

What a way to bring in 2008 - a tandem skydive from 12,000 ft with Auckland Skydive! My friend Mer gave me a voucher for my 30th - she always likes to push me!! I was pretty cool about it all until I actually geared up - this photo doesn't show the anxious forced smile that it was!! But maybe it's been lightened by the humour of wearing a dodgy leather helmut - I felt like Snoopy. I was pleased to have slightly more safety gear on since I was always going to compare this to bungy jumping (80metre jump in 1997) - I only got a wide piece of velcro around my ankles that time. A pretty blue mechanics suit and complicated harness was reassuring.








So I couldn't actually afford the photographer ($165!!!) or video ($245!!!) so CH took some photos from the ground. I jumped in a tiny plane and squashed into a crouching position with 4 other blokes. At 5,000 ft the guy I was to tandem with grabbed my legs and they opened the door - a bit worrying since I wasn't even strapped onto him. Then the guy next door to me who had his glasses held onto his head with a series of rubberbands shot out the door - a parachute jumper - opens his chute instantly with no freefall. Another 10mins and we were at 12,000ft. I lay backwards on top of the tandem guy while he hooked us up; then we scuttled a couple of feet like a big blue crab and swooshed out the door before I could ask "was I meant to sign the bodily injury waiver". The freefall of about 50sec rocked! We were spinning around like Cirque de Sol acrobats. With spit flying out my mouth for africa on one hand it felt really fast but looking below me, going through the cloud cover and seeing the patchwork fields - it didn't seem fast. I guess you are at such a height there's no vertigo as the land doesn't seem like it's getting any closer.



Then he let the chute go and I swear it felt like we were suddenly travelling upwards - but it was just the fact the other parachuters were still freefalling at about 120mph whereas we had slowed to about 15mph. We circled around in the air for about 5mins and this was so quiet and lovely - I'm so going to try hang-gliding next to get the same buzz!







About 30sec before we landed he told me he was going to put me down on my bum and to get my knees up around my ears. Hmmmm ... yes ... damn difficult normally but even harder since the harness had cut the circulation off in my legs and felt like stuffed pillows. So he got me down and quite frankly I could have sat down harder - it was gentle!!

So here I am afterwards trying to get my stuffed-pillow-legs walking back to base. The other guy in the photo is one of the company's pilots and he took a little video of me on his private helmut-cam = I'm now trying to stalk him to see if I could get a copy, on the sly without having to pay the company's normal fee of course!!

In summary skydiving is far more enjoyable than bungy jumping and I would definately do it again - Mer, note for future terrific pressies ;0) . But maybe just tandem - I'm not keen to have to concerntrate on things like pull ropes or actually take the jump from the plane myself. Highly recommended too anyone as there's no effort required on your part - in fact I think the guy gave me only 3 simple instructions the whole time: hands on your chest & legs bent, knees up by yours ears & ROCK ON!

PJ

She was bought from the SPCA in Jan 2006 as a scrawny moggie. Named PJ as the first time I took her to the vet I was wearing pj bottoms and when a name was required that's all that came into my clouded morning brain. She has a few "issues" as anyone whose known me long enough knows all my pets do. PJ likes only eating when I stand in the kitchen with her and kills copious numbers of the local skink (lizard) population whenever I'm away on trips only stopping the moment I come home - slight abandonment issues I think! Bring in Dr Phil. Anyway I've been trying to get myself electronically organised and found these cute shots of her. INDULGE YOUR INNER CAT LOVER (thats directed at you Toni-the-Pony):

ok ... must start blogging about knittin!!

India and beyond ...

HELLO 2008! I can't believe 2007 has finished already - it only feels like March 07 to me ...

I'm back from Southern India and had a very good trip with some of the highlights being (in no particular order (except the first actually)):

• finally getting to do some backpacking in India with Miss Toni-the-Pony


• seeing tea plantations in Ooty, Tamilnadu and drinking hot milky cups of chocolate tea and marsala tea


• trekking through leech territory in Periyar National park and making it out alive with no bites


• taking a rickshaw ride around the french quarter of Pondicherry and then having the shakes from the strongest coffee of my life


• Kashi Cafe in Fort Chochin - the coolest cafe which has a set menu each day and several cake options


• finding a primo swimming pool and cold Gin & Tonics after trekking down from Ooty


• eating some darn decent biryanis


• seeing the PONY needle factory


• buying a bronze Ganesh for our new house entrance
  
• going back to Jewtown and getting the kitch Hindu cows for my wall
  
• washing an elephant's back

Ok there's actually too many to recall and I'm not one for a long post so will follow this with a few photos for further evidence of lovely Southern India. Sorry but I can't turn the pictures round so kindly wiggle your head from side to side: On the road in the Nilgiri tea plantations; Hindu & Catholic sit side by side in Jewtown, Fort Chocin - a result of the Portugese occupation; the giant Hindu Bull deity; sunrise in the Kerala backwaters; being fools in the Madras palace 68,000 lightbulb-ed grounds; gorgeous basi-reliefs & sculpture at every turn.

So other news - we have moved into a new house out in infamous West Auckland. I'm completely house made now and can't sit still in it. I keep wondering around exclaiming how much (*space, light, sun, storage) repeat*. I'm sure everyone will get very sick of me soon. One of the best things is we have space for a STUDY and I now can spread all my knitty-sewie-crafty things out and never have to put them away. It feels so good having that space, I'm dying to get creative in it but house stuff keeps me away. It's funny how much I'm delighting in the kind of things I hated as my parents made us do for chores - mowing lawns, cleaning windows, gardening, trips to the dump etc - I guess you find the motivation when you have financially invested in something! The 2 photos are the back yard and front area - theres a load of work to do and I'm very excited about it!!!!

Jeepers - I haven't even written about my knitting or skydiving exploits!!