Afternoon Sugar Rush

Mmmm ... when was the last time you had a toffee apple ... lip smacking yum!

(photo by Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

It's all about being green folks ...

Since moving out west, I'm really embracing my inner Greenie. Here is my latest "reducing waste" venture - eliminating takeaway coffee cups by using this Bodium plastic fantastic. Local coffee joints are more than happy to use it too. There are heaps around from expensive, labels like StarBucks to cheap Warehouse ones. I got mine from this cool little tea shop "Customs Coffee House" in Queen's Arcade for $10.

To be honest it is debatable which is worse: the non-biodegradable waste from a waxy takeaway cup vs the energy used to make the petroleum composition of the Bodium plastic fantastic.

Of course, the ultimate solution is I could just have less takeaway coffee.

Stupid idea, I agree.

Labour Weekend

Labour Weekend in NZ is really just a gardener's working bee or shopaholic's sales weekend - I don't think anyone these days even knows what it's about. So I looked up Wikipedia and now I'm thankful for my 8 hours a day!

Its origins are traced back to the eight-hour working day movement that arose in the newly founded Wellington colony in 1840, primarily because of carpenter Samuel Parnell's refusal to work more than eight hours a day. He encouraged other tradesmen to also only work for eight hours a day and in October 1840 a workers' meeting passed a resolution supporting the idea. On 28 October 1890, the 50th anniversary of the eight-hour day was commemorated with a parade. The event was then celebrated annually in late October as either Labour Day or Eight-Hour Demonstration Day. In 1899 government legislated that the day be a public holiday from 1900. The day was celebrated on different days in different provinces. This led to ship owners complaining that seamen were taking excessive holidays by having one Labour Day in one port then another in their next port. In 1910 the government "Mondayised" the holiday so that it would be observed on the same day throughout the nation. Nowadays for the majority of New Zealanders it's "just another holiday".

In anticipation of "just another holiday" in Kerikeri without the distraction of home renov (ooh by the way I learned to "concrete" last week - it's my new favourite DIY skill - will show photos once finished. Aaaaand I went to the Mt Roskill Bunnings Ladies Night last week and learnt to Gibstop and how to diagnose which end of a tap is broken!). Bugger I just got distracted with DIY!! ... back to knitting.

After the F'ugly shrug attempt I took a long hard look at my knitting-self and decided to try the dark art of fol-low-ing-a-pat-tern. Well, well say HELLO to the all new and improved Casting on Trouble peeps!! Here is my first lacey "Feather and Fan" stitch (aka Old Shale stitch) - growing it's way to being a scarf; I used this blend of 4 linen/cotton yarns that I scored from the Creative Fibre shop last weekend for 50c a ball. Really nice mix of pinks and silver.

(aaah look at that ball of yarn - I love the Mighty E - I should bake Jussi something nice as a thank you for the introduction.)

Once "yarns overs" became YO and not "yarn-somewhere-under-um-over-um-between-the-needles?" the fabric was turning out very pretty, so I immediately cast on for another scarf. This time using some more of that lurking stash - I'm a fan of these cream/moss/gold/pink colours but think the pink is a tad too bright for the others - but hey it's all about the stitch pattern people!!

And since learning a new stitch was very motivating for my knitting-mojo-monster this weekend - after much pained expressions and loud "huh?" I also learnt Trinity stitch (aka Bramble stitch, aka Cluster stitch). Very cool and I'll be using it for a new project which is hush hush ... for now.

I hope you too had some great knitting moments over the weekend.

Dukkah!

This is my favourite new recipe. Take some pieces of chicken : I used boneless thigh : chop into favourite eating size : I cut mine so each piece was 2 chomps worth : lightly dip in flour, then dip in beaten egg : coat in dukkah : I used this one : fry in a little oil on medium heat until brown all over : bake in a hot oven for about 15min or until cooked through : serve hot or cold with yoghurt or hummus and a salad. I think you could even use this on fish or meat - I'm really keen to make my own dukkah too.

I've been seeding up a storm of veges over the last six weeks - in fact some plantings like the zucchini are just excessive now. A great tip I saw somewhere was to plant them in egg cartons a) it recycles the cartons and b) you can easily seperate the seedlings for planting directly into the garden - carton and all. It has worked really well but they need lots of watering as the carton soaks loads of water up.

Auckland is pushing hard for spring - view from my desk last Wednesday and today:

It's a nice view to have from your desk - everyday I catch jumpers out the corner of my eye or see the bright orange suits of the walkers on the top disc. In fact last week there were some orange muppets up there in the grey, waltzing around - goodness knows what they could see!! Ah well at least it was a bit more tourist money in the pot for our poor economy!!

Fluffy and F'ugly

While the mojo is low, I've been slow-motoring with little presents to send to UK - neck warmers, scarves etc - all good things to use up the stash and for knitting on the train. And I'm chugging away at the Donkey blanket - I think it's going to take me 6 months to be honest.

I mentioned last week I had a disastrous piece of knitting to show and tell. There are 100 reasons why I'm frogging this attempted shrug: IT'S TOO FLUFFY x 20, IT'S F'UGLY x 30, IT'S BLOODY AWFUL x 50. In fact I think this is to blame for the lack of knitting motivation. At some point I HAVE to learn that not all rules are to be broken and following knitting patterns with correct gauge will more often than not result in FO!!! You tell in my defeated posture that as much as I like the yarn and am psyched for ADULT project - it turned out as good as Iceland's banking industry. So I'm winding it up and putting the yarn to the side for now - hell even PJ can't look at it!

Before I wheel out the Mighty E to wind up the kidsilk, I want to write about the play I went to a few weeks ago with lovely Lara/Deon/Jenny/Alan. The Dentist Chair is another play from the group, The Indian Ink Theatre Company, who also did Krishna’s Diary. The music was composed & performed by a friend's wee brother Dave Ward (well he’s not that wee now but I’ll always think of him like that!) - here's his other bit of webbie-ness. The play is about a troubled dentist, his wife, the flirty, buck-toothed cleaner (hey I thought Madonna made that cool?) and the ghost of the first man to die in the electric chair. Full of human guilt and indecision - it's a dark laugh seriously -I’m terrible at summing up plays - so just go see it. It’s a small cast with the 2-piece band paying onstage and part of the acting cast. There is this lovely “O Brother Where Art Thou” feeling about it with the eclectic, folky, banjo-and-double-bass music from Dave.

HOORAY - got tickets to Big Day Out 2009 to see Neil Young with TTP!

Choices

Picking out some buttons for my chunky cushions ....

... not sure on a woody look or choc brown.

Distractions from Knitting

I have been obsessed with foodie blogs lately – you know how you can end up wasting half an hour by following some blog roll that leads you down the long path of fanatical New York foodies, amateur British restaurant critics, Danish pastry bakers or travelling donut obsessives?? I hope you do - cos it's a yummy 1/2 hour! I love the blogs with drool-worthy photos the most - am actually jealous of all the light they have to snap away in. One day I should actually make some of the recipes (although it will require some USA measurement translation – which means rules – which means I’m already uninterested - so I’ll just keep looking at the pictures).

Here are my favourites for today – warning look away now if your sweet tooth needs no encouragement:

Joy the Baker – who started it all for me really
Culinary Concoctions by Peabody – OMG caramel peanut brownie!! Good blog roll.
Orangette – great writer and she has a good list of foodie blogs!!
Chubby Hubby – check out their new kitchen and Singapore restaurant review
Artisan Sweets – mmm pastry mmmm butter
Slow Like Honey – such a choice name
La Tartine Gourmande – great travelling food stories
The Laughing Gastronome – a bit of NZ goodness

I’m running out of eating adjectives so I’m off to eat a macaroon or two.

Or three with a cup of Earl Grey!

Hints for Knitting on the Train

I try to train to and from work for the majority of the week. With a 25-35min ride I find it's the best time for me to fit some knitting in. There are a few things that ensure it remains my best space for uninterrupted knitting and keeps up my good knitterly image - I am a suit with sticks after all!

1. Take a small WIP: nothing with too many balls otherwise you awkwardly scramble and scavenge around in your bag in that small space between seats looking like a feral-bag-lady-knitter. Untangling balls often ends with elbows flying and half your knitting going bush - and your fellow passenger giving you "the subtle, rude look".
2. Use circular needles: straights end up stabbing people beside you in the arm, resulting in silent, annoyed looks of "I'm-pretending-the agro-knitter-beside-me-didn't-just-violently-attack-with-her-right-needle-on-purpose" which amuses me really as my 5mm bamboo ends are about as sharp as a hot cheese croissant! Circulars are also really easy to quickly pack up if you have to give way on the seat or nearly miss your stop. Obviously a crochet hook is the extreme streamlined craft tool.
3. No mohair allowed: use non-fluffy yarn - unless you work in a shearing gang brushing half a fleece off your lap and onto the next person is not cool for school. It's also messes up your suit - paleese.
4. Take the WIP in a cloth bag with long straps: sometimes I can do the stand-up/leaning crochet position and having the bag over your shoulder but still hanging low makes the whole thing more transportable.
5. Never take an ipod or mp3 player: nothing ruins the lustrous knitter stance than suddenly finding yourself in the zen-knitting-position humming your version of the TING TING's "thats not my name" then the kid next to you gives you "the subtle, rude look" and has to turn his ipod playing Slipknot up even louder! Actually the truth be told I don't even have an ipod anymore but I still find myself doing this ... geez talk about when one is zen.
6. Expect questions - it's funny the people who ask me what I'm knitting - old, young, men, kids. The usual comment is "I only thought grandmas knit" to which I occasionally reply "gee - thanks I thought I was looking pretty good for my age these days"!

Happy knitting!