check out my firm's new website

I'm not on it yet, but will be in the next draft. Prize to the first to find the Easter egg(s)! And feedback please once you have found it. There's a bit of debate in the firm about whether to leave it in.

Sarah's first socks!

Look! I made socks! Ok, they're in the 3 month size and destined to live on Nico's little feet as soon as they're not quite as little as they currently are (he's 8 weeks, but moving into 3 month clothes already). They're from the Debbie Bliss Baby Knits for Beginners book, which is a pattern written for two needles but I adapted it to knit them on 4. Quite ambitious for a first sock attempt, I thought! Although having knit booties before it was too much of a stretch. They took about 3-4 hours on Sunday afternoon.


I do apologise, I took these photos very late at night and I was half asleep.... I was watching Flashdance when I knit this baby sweater. That should explain a few things!

I took some photos!

This is, in order, what I see on my way to work in the mornings. I have the best walk to work!

http://summeralong.blogspot.com

Comment or email me to join!
I'll try and get the blog properly up and running over the weekend.

A glimpse into the future

With lace leaf finished, what am I knitting next, you ask!

Firstly, I'm knitting a little baby sweater out of the leftover cashmerino (I ordered more than I thought I would need just in case, knowing that I could knit something for little Nico with the leftovers!). I'm using the boatneck sweater pattern from Debbie Bliss' Baby Knits for Beginners, so it should be easy and fast! I actually already knit half of one of these in some wooly wool, but decided it might be a bit scratchy for baby.

I'm also determined to finish my Clapotis, currently languishing under my bed. Sorry to all of the Clapotis devotees, I'm just not enjoying this one!

After that I will delve into my stash to knit Glampyre's Bulky Mini and then - gasp - my first pair of socks! I'm thinking Baudelaire, just to jump in the deep end!

Hopefully I can get all of that done before the warm weather really hits and then it'll be summer knits from here til eternity! I'm thinking of starting a summer knitalong for those of us in the southern hemisphere - anyone keen?

Check out my project queue/inspiration list on flickr.

Lace leaf vital stats

Pattern: Lace leaf pullover, from Loop d Loop, by Teva Durham.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran in Moss, double stranded, 11 balls. I find it incredibly soft and squooshy, and luckily even though it's double stranded it's not too horribly warm - must be the acrylic content. I think it will probably pill lots though - we shall see. Also, because it's so smooth, it's very hard to keep those ends woven in!

Time taken to knit: 1 1/2 weeks - that's a sweater record!

Pattern mods: None, although to get gauge I needed 10mm needles (the pattern calls for 9mm).

Comments: I enjoyed knitting this and the finished product will probably get lots of use as a "mooching around" type sweater. Being a "boxy" type design it doesn't actually fit me that well as I am your classic hourglass shape. It looks ok from the front (although has a tendency to bunch above my bust) but is very very roomy in the back. As I said, mooching!

More photos to come after I get home!

winter weekend

Yes, I went to Castle Hill:

Where I modelled the now Unsecret Sweater:



Blogger has resized it so it's gone all pixellated and yuck, you can see the large version over on Flickr. But anyway, as you can see it's the Lace Leaf Sweater from Loop d Loop!

I found some snow:


And once again failed to get a decent picture of Hourglass!! That sweater is so camera-shy, I swear!

Leafy Green!

I am wearing the Secret Sweater. Technically it is still winter, but yesterday blossom trees everywhere burst into life! So today I am going somewhere where it is still winter. In fact, I am going somewhere where it is always winter! While there I shall take photos and post them on my return tomorrow. So you all have one last chance to guess what it is before I get back.

As for the other sweater I am going to complete before the end of winter, I will try to complete it in the wintery place! Bonus points for guessing where I am going :)

I actually feel like setting myself a real challenge here - how about three completed sweaters? I'm thinking of picking up an abandoned sweater and finishing it too...

HaHA!

Keri came into my office today and saw the Secret Sweater, but didn't register it at the time, and now she can't remember what it looks like! All will be revealed in a short time however, I am about half a sleeve away from finishing.

Speaking of Keri, I said goodbye to her today and on Sunday she is off to Wellington and then probably Auckland and I will miss her very much. Love you babe!

Prego!

Dinner was delicious and now I am very full! I had pizza bread, pasta, gelato, and to drink a glass of Montepulciano and a long black (I've started drinking coffee again - I have no idea how I lasted so long in the legal world without it). And yes, I did catch my mother trying to negotiate my dowry with the owner. He has three sons and was quite disappointed that mum only has one daughter. I honestly don't know how she does it. An Indian amma's got nothing on my mother.

Krn, no, thank goodness, she has not discovered eBay! And we like to keep it that way. My Dad is the online auction nut of the family - for example, he recently bought four pairs of binoculars. Why I'm not quite sure, he still had only two eyes the last time I checked!

One sleeve to go on the Secret Sweater! Are you all on the edges of your seats? It was so easy I've set myself another challenge: one MORE sweater by the end of winter!

Picture post

It's been a while since I posted any pictures. Here are a few from my two recent dance trips to Hanmer.


Me and Andrew - I love my hair in this one!


Another action shot - yes that is a frozen pond and I am doing a double spin!

The meddling mother

Mum: So I have to take some things to your brother tomorrow, and I was wondering whether you wanted to go for a bite to eat after work

Me: Sure

Mum: Is there somewhere nearby we could eat? (note: I work smack bang in the centre of town, there are about 20 restaurants in a one-block radius)

Me: How about Portofino? We can look at the hot Italian waiters!

Mum: Good idea! I can ask one of them to marry you!

Me: Brilliant! He could get residency!

Dear faithful readers

A gentle reminder that if you comment on the livejournal syndication of this blog, I only read the comments there every 2 weeks or so. If you want me to actually read your comment or reply, do so here where the comments are emailed to me! It would also be good to have them all in one place.

What a day!

So I came home from four hours straight of dancing, and my flatmate (the blonde one - I think that's how I'll differentiate my flatmates as they both have the same initials, however one has blonde hair, one dark brown, and I have red hair. And we're all stunningly beautiful and intelligent and funny, and often walk around the apartment in our underwear - that last bit was for the benefit of the two guys who read my blog - hi Matt and Marcel! Oh and Marcel, if you read back a few posts you will find out who my good buddies Rory and Lorelai are)

Anyway, The Blonde walks in and says "oh my God, so I was in the bathroom before and when I came out I closed the door quite hard and then I hear this little click behind me and I thought 'oh, you're SHITTING me!' now the door's locked and we can't get into the bathroom! I've texted The Brunette to call the property manager but I haven't heard back!" And then she disappeared off to her boyfriend's, where there is a shower.

Now, this is not what The Redhead wanted to hear after four hours of dancing, let me tell you. There was a little hole in the lock and I tried poking a chopstick in it, and then a bent paperclip, and a pair of nail scissors. I attempted to unscrew the door handle/lock mechanism with the screwdriver attachment ofmy cordless drill (I stuck that in there just so's you don't think I'm a completely hopeless female with no tools to call my own). After about 30 seconds I gave up and called my brother - "help, can you come over, the bathroom door's locked and I can't get in and I can't go to the toilet or shower or brush my teeth and I smell and all my makeup's in there, please??" Very Modern Woman of me, I know. And very whiny, but after two days of salsa dancing I'm all out of perky.

Anyway, a quick wrist flick with a screwdriver and he had the door open. Hooray for brothers. He also gave me a sexy, sexy little jeweller's screwdriver should the problem ever occur again!

The Secret Knitting continues apace. I would have the body finished, but for some ill-advised late-night knitting and the complete absence of any counting skills on my part. Rrrrrip!

And then

there are little things that happen to just make your day!

I just got this email from my boss:

The partners would like to offer everyone the chance to see one of the excellent films in the Film Festival during work time and paid for by the firm.

ROCK!

I sort of mentioned to one of the partners yesterday that I really wanted to go to a film, but given my schedule and complete lack of money I wouldn't be able to. And why don't we just all go during work time instead?

Sometimes, I love my job.

Also, turns out Laurie aka Crazy Aunt Purl read my post yesterday - the woman has eyes everywhere, I swear!

Oh and Nicole, you are wrong, due to budgetary constraints I am using mainly stash yarn for the current project (although I was a couple of balls short so had to buy a little more), and I don't think there's any way I could finish Starsky before the end of winter anyway! There's a clue - what do I have in my stash? - and here's another: it's not a project I've mentioned on this blog before.

Things that do not make my day - let me relate the hilarious conversation I had with my mother the other day (paraphrased):

Mum: So how would you like to go out with a 27 year old surf lifesaver?
Me: Surf lifesaver?
Mum: He does a bit of that but I don't think he has a regular job or anything. He's the son of one of my colleagues, she was telling me about him the other day. He still lives with her and she really wants him to move out, but he doesn't seem to want to.
Me: Gee Mum, he sounds like such a catch! When can I meet him?

Sun!

I can see the vague outline of the sun through the clouds - there's even a bit of natural light coming into my office! It's amazing what a little bit of Vit D can do.

It has been raining for three days, nonstop. I live up in a gable and when it rains it's very loud on the roof and on the skylight right above my head and I don't sleep very well. I get those weird dreams that seem really real and when you wake up you can't figure out if they really happened or not. And I get grumpy because of the lack of sleep and the lack of sun.

One good thing about winter, however, is that winter means sweaters! I'm going to set myself a challenge - I have until the end of winter to knit one more sweater. I'm pondering keeping it a secret, so there may not be any pictures up for about three weeks! I cast on last night, and tonight I'm going to go and get out season 2 of the Gilmore Girls (um, I watched the entire season 1 over the weekend) and spend the evening knitting and watching.

Sometimes it's hard being all alone, especially when work's tough and home is not really home but a shoebox that you share with two other people and their habits and quirks and boyfriends. But at least I have Lorelai and Rory to keep me company!

Still alive!

It's been one of those weeks. Work has been pretty tough, yesterday was a very long day and I was very tired by the time I had to go and teach a class. My poor students were treated to "quirky Sarah" which is just me being myself, really, but I try to tone it down for things like work, and teaching, and oh yes blog posts.

I wonder how I actually come across to people on this thing - hopefully intelligent, probably serious, and maybe even a little dull. When I and my nearest and dearest all know that I am crazier than Crazy Aunt Purl. Shh, don't tell.

I have also realised that when I started this thing I said I would write about dancing, but I haven't done much of that, mainly because I'm usually out doing it instead! My schedule goes something like:
Monday: usually teaching salsa
Tuesday: salsa rueda
Wednesday: was jive/chacha but now I get Wednesdays off!
Thursday: teaching two salsa classes
Friday: dancing in town
Saturday: two dance practices
Sunday: day off!

But this week is going more like:
Sunday: gym
Monday: teaching
Tuesday: bunk rueda
Wednesday: knitting!
Thursday: teaching, then dancing out in town
Friday: junior practitioners dinner and dance (where I get to look *pretty*!)
Saturday: Dance from 10:30 am to about oh midnight
Sunday: Dance from midnight til whenever, sleep a little, dance all day

I need a holiday.

Two things before I finish this post:

1. I see none of you have commented on Hourglass. That's fine because it's a crappy picture. If we ever get any daylight around here I'll post a better one, and then you'd better comment! I'm also going to sew some tape around the neckline I think, it should sit a bit flatter and also stop slipping off my shoulders.

2. Ask me a question, and I will give you a crazy answer!

Hourglass!

Recipes wanted!

Americans, help me out here! I'm after your best brownie and cookie recipes. For the brownies, I'm after something VERY chocolatey, and it has to be nice and crunchy on the outside and moist and gooey on the inside. Cookies have to be nice and chewy. I'd like a chocolate chip cookie and maybe a peanut butter cookie recipe too.

Oh, and this should go without saying but I have to be able to make them from scratch, none of this packet mix crap! ;)

I've never been much of a baker but I'd really like to have a few really WOW recipes up my sleeve.