Knitting Classic Style: 35 Modern Designs...

Another nice offering from Veronik Avery. - available at Kinokuniya for $44.95, or cheaper at BookDepository.

I originally favourited a few designs from this book, but there's probably only only one or two now I would knit.
Thats not to say its a bad book! The designs are more 'mature' or 'fussy' that I originally realised.

Great range of sizing, i.e. 32 inch bust to 52inch for some things, lovely pictures and well written. The fair-isle cardigan looks really lush (so do the latvian mittens). The military cardigan looked great online, but boxy in the book.

Give this one 6 Bex-points out of 10.

Fears of IVF Lawsuit Deluge

THE number of lesbian couples having Government-funded IVF treatments is on the rise, sparking serious concerns about a flood of potential lawsuits over unwanted births.

Argh. This is really starting to annoy me.

Yes - the evil lesbians are going to all get IVF so we can have millions of children and sue the Government cos we didnt really want them in the first place.

Do people actually realise how hard it is to get IVF if you are gay? Not all states will let you - Victoria for instance will only let you have IVF if you are medically infertile. Its not like thousands of lesbians are running across the border to get preggers - most cant afford it even if they want it.

For example: Some friends of mine want a baby. They called a NSW state government clinic to apply for donor sperm and was told that ALL of their donors have signed forms saying they do not want their sperm to go to lesbians or single mothers. So the only option is to go through a private organisation. Its 3 trys max, then straight onto IVF. Minimum cost for all that is about $7,000.

Second grump - the fact that its ALWAYS noted the women sueing are gay. I personally dont agree with their decision to sue, but must the headlines always read "Lesbians want to sue" etc. I've never seen "Hetero couple wants to sue" - its a non-issue. I understand why they want to sue as a medical procedure was performed, and it went wrong. They asked the doctor for one embryo, he implanted two. He admitted he made a mistake.

IMHO - The couple has made a comedy of errors by saying things like the mother has lost the capacity to love, or they were going to abort one of the babies etc etc. I dont think they have handled the situation well at all, and how are the babies going to feel when they get older? And now, its affecting the communities attitude (wrongly) about IVF for lesbians, that we are all heartless and undeserving.

Just my 2 cents.

Well, i guess i'm not suprised really...

What is your Harry Potter Identity? You are the one and only...Luna Lovegood! You are the open minded and unique one, known to be a gentle person and at times very random! Though you can be strange at times, people always grow to like you! You are a VERY unique individual who is not afraid to stand out as long as you are true to yourself and others! Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

First, a message from the fruit growers of Australia...

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LOL.

And finally took some pictures of my Swallowtail Shawl. Probably a good idea since the recipient is getting it tomorrow night!

The first picture is the most accurate one of the colour.

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Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl, IK Fall 2006

When: Started August 07 - Finished Sept 07

Yarn: One strand of orange Centola Vaggi and one

strand of Mystical Creations Yarn Rayon Boucle in Almond.

Needle: 4mm needle.

Mods: I followed the one on Pepperknit - great idea! Left off the damn nups too!

Really like this shawl! The rayon gives it a nice drape, and the merino laceweight gives it some body. Very happy! (Note to self - use lifelines. Ripping back 6 times is soul destroying).

Hairspray

Went and saw it last night - I agree with everyone, its great!!!!
(had my doubts in the first 3 minutes, until that line about the guy who lived next doot - brilliant!)

Dont forget - today is Talk Like A Pirate Day, me hartys!

Its not easy being green...

Its not easy to book tickets on the India Rail website either....

The Boi and I decided to pre-book our tickets for the Haridwar --> Varanasi leg of our trip. Diwali is on, so there would be a lot of people travelling at that time. Its also an 18 hour train trip (does anyone else have visuals of The Boi and I hanging onto the outside of a train?).

The India Rail website is composed of 3 different websites you need to be able to navigate - Trains at a Glance (the timetables), the Reservation Enquiry site (gives seat availability) and then the actual booking site here. It also helps to have their Route Map open in another browser window.

1. You use the Route Map to figure out your starting and ending points are - then look and see if they share anyof the same route numbers.

2. Now use Trains at a Glance, open up the correct route tables and hope that the train does indeed go between those stations - sometimes it doesnt!

3. Flick through 3-4 different route tables until you can find the train that leaves and arrives at the time you want. Make sure it runs on the day you want too (oh yes, some trains only run twice a week). In this case we wanted the one that left at 6pm, and arrived 4pm the next day.

4. Visit the Reservation Enq site, hunt around for the link (its in tiny size 4 writing at the bottom of the screen), and check the train number for station names . Write down the 2 you need - HW and BSB.

5. Go to another link, check seat availability. If there's some available in the class you want, proceed to the booking site. If not, return to Step 2. Doh.

6. Booking site - you have to create a profile to even get a looksie in here. And i can only be accessed after 9.30am sydney time.

7. Now you have to go through a similar process as above, enter the starting and ending station, the date, the correct class etc. Any incorrect information makes you do it again.

8. Next page, you have to enter all the passenger details, and where you want to sit. The easiest part of this whole damn process.

9. How to pay, there is 20 - yes thats correct - different ways of making payment. You have to choose the correct one (and none of them is labelled International Credit Card BTW). Wrong answer, go back to step 7.

Done. Now you can print out a ticket and take it with you to India - no need to queue.
Except that all the trains we wanted to take were full. We now have to go via another station, change trains, hope for the best - well it is an adventure right?
This has just sapped me for the last 2 days.

Blocking....

The Swallowtail Shawl is finished.... just waiting for it to dry.... ;)

Felt like something fun and mindless - cast on for this little cutie last night. Mochimochi Land Knitted Grass... so cute! I'm using Bamboozle from Lincraft - soft yarn but splits like a biatch.








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Life has been really busy at the moment, but thankfully The Boi comes back from the Ashram today, and wont have to go back for ages (he's been gone 3 weeks out of 4 for the last 3 months or so).
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Mental note - need sports bras for camel trek. LOL.
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BTW the latest Knitty is up!

Just realised looking at my sidebar - India in 35 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

APEC round-up

Well, the march itself was quite inspiring - I actually felt young in the crowd! Lots of 'older' people which was great!

This guy had the right idea...

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As did these guys....

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The Boi and I

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My flatmate and her Dad

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G-Boy and my Boi (hehe)

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Downside to the day?? The Police.

I've never had a problem with police at any rally/march before - ever. They're just doing their jobs - right?

Firstly, they comfiscated all the poles for banners - they could be weapons. OK. My huge umbrella is more dangerous than a piece of dowel (not to mention my 7mm aluminium needles).

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One policeman for every protestor was the estimate. See the little old lady below on the left? She got caught on the wrong side of the human wall and couldnt leave. She was pleading with the cops to let her through.

They didnt.

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My experience was twice trying to leave the rally (i really really had to pee) and not being allowed to. The cops had no name badges, numbers etc, and refused to let me leave.

When I asked how do I get out, they just shrugged and told me to get back.

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In the end I had to go with everyone else into Hyde Park, cut across the garden beds to St Mary's Church and go back to Town Hall Station. Not happy John!

It was really inspiring to see all these people from different walks of life (north shore socialites, working class westies, students, grandparents) who gave a damn.

I am a sucker for Rita Hayworth

and Mazzy Star....


Dont forget people - protest, Saturday morning 10am - Sydney Town Hall.
Promise to leave if it gets nasty (my flatmate's dad is coming too!).

Knitter's Almanac

Hey guys - its back in stock for $10....

Wonder Woman Jumper

Wow, this is pretty freakin awesome!

Feeling famous!

They published my sock in Creative Knitting.... yay!

Under the Blue Moon...

Great weather for it too... (this is Keffufal and moi). Whipped the skirt up in 3 hours the night before! (cant see the back, but its a fishtail with lacing down the back).

Did ALOT of window shopping - went to Gallery Serpentine because of the 20% off, but none of the corsets that I wanted were in my size. Trashie said that its the universe telling me to save for India, shes probably right!

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Then we (Trashie and me) did a tour of the TJ Andrews Funeral Home - pretty darn interesting if i do say so myself. I loved how the manager and the receptionist dressed up 'ghoulish': makeup and outfits, its nice they went to the effort. He also said that if anyone was walking past during the week, they are more than welcome to pop in and have a look around (they dont keep bodies there anymore...).

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Keffufal met up with us afterwards, and then the 2 of us went to SSK for some knitting time...

I have to wonder what the people around Arncliffe station thought when they saw me walking home.... :D.

I need to add - I won something!!! YAY! I won the Flickr group's project of the month, for The Knittery. I've won a free skein of yarn! Woot!