Category: Photo Post

Images and videos that I’ve taken on-the-go

  • web-goddess Oscar Contest 2010

    Oscar Contest 2010

    The Eighth Annual web-goddess Oscar Contest has finally begun. I’ve added a thirteenth category this year – Best Original Score – to lessen the odds of a tie. As usual, the number of dead people in the obituary montage will be the tiebreaker. And what do you get if you win? Why, it’s a Sparkly Emo Vampire Sockmonkey Playset! (And don’t worry, Twilight-haters. I’ve catered for you too.)

    The contest will end the minute the ceremony begins!

    Once upon a time, a girl named Bella fell in love with a very sparkly emo vampire named Edward. He gave her piggy-back rides in the trees.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Bella and Edward

    But her long-haired Native American friend Jacob didn’t approve and warned her away.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Bella and Jacob

    Bella didn’t care. She and Edward frolicked in a meadow and he sparkled.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - In the Meadow

    Jacob cut his hair and took to wearing cutoffs and hanging out in the woods in the rain.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Jacob

    But what’s this? It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer! With a flash, she whips out Mr. Pointy and reduces Emo Edward to dust.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Buffy stakes Edward

    Yes, ladies and gentlemen. If you win this year’s Oscar Contest, all this melodrama could be yours. You get three different sock monkeys: Edward, Bella/Buffy, and Jacob.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Edward

    Edward comes with foofy auburn hair, amber eyes, embroidered six-pack, and a black peacoat. Oh, and he sparkles in the sun.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Bella

    Bella has long brown hair, a grey coat, and a treasured copy of “Wuthering Heights” (with hand-embroidered cover). She’s also very clumsy and lacks any sort of personality. (Just like the books!)

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Jacob (Younger)

    Jacob (in his younger incarnation) has long brown hair, an embroidered six-pack, and a pair of denim cut-offs. He’s friendly and nice and has no idea he has a latent werewolf gene.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Jacob (Older)

    Later, Jacob gets ripped, cuts his hair, finds out he’s a werewolf, and kinda turns into a jerk. See? You can tell he’s scowling. Poor kid has no idea Renesmee is in his future.

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Buffy

    With a quick change of wig and the addition of a crucifix, Bella becomes Buffy! Buffy has long blonde hair and a wooden stake. She’s also quick with a pun and has very little patience with mopey emo vampires.

    The four wigs (Bella’s long, Buffy’s long, Jacob’s long, and Jacob’s short) all have a strip of Velcro on the underside that corresponds to a strip on the appropriate monkey’s head. You can mix and match to your heart’s content!

    Oscar Contest 2010 - Wigs

    So whether you’re a Twi-hard or a Twi-hater, there’s something for everyone in the Sparkly Emo Vampire Playset!

  • Weekend in Kiama

    Surf Beach in KiamaFor those who weren’t following along on Twitter, the Snook and I spent last weekend in Kiama on the south coast of New South Wales. It was BEAUTIFUL. I took a bunch of photos. Special thank you to Kylie and Ailsa for meeting up with us at the Guild meeting and going out for coffee afterwards! (And thanks to Fiona for looking in on the oblivious felines.)

  • Opera in the Domain 2010

    moblogged image

    Three cheers for Snookums, bringer of hot pizza and cold beer! It’s been a long day of sitting in the sun and knitting with friends. Now for “Candide”!

  • Knitters’ Christmas Tea Party

    Christmas Tea Party

    I went to a tea party! The regular Thursday night crowd from the Morris & Sons SnB all met up on Saturday afternoon at Harrogate Teas. We nibbled on sandwiches, sipped a variety of teas, and guzzled our weights in champagne. (I’m serious.) It was so much fun! We also had a “Kris Kringle” swap of decorations, where I got a lovely sparkly dove ornament. And of course, we all frocked up. I’m wearing a vintage “Jonathan Summers” dress that Ma Snook gave me last year. (Everyone joked that I looked like a Stepford Wife.) Lyn has some great photos here too.

    Miss Fee

    Fiona in a fabulous floral headpiece…

    Alison and Sue

    Alison and Sue prove that there is no occasion too formal for the winding of wool…

    Lee

    Lee was a fabulous organiser and looked so smart in his green scarf!

    Jody, Donna, and Ailsa

    Jody knits along with our distant visitors Donna and Ailsa

    Ness, Jody, and Lyn

    Recent graduate Ness chats with Jody and Lyn

    Group shot

    A room full of happy and talkative knitters!

  • Happy Halloween from Kenny and Dolly!

    Kenny and Dolly

    Islands in the stream, that is what we are…

  • Boba Fett!

    Boba FettThat bounty hunter is my kind of scum!
    The Snook and I both discovered rather last minute that some folks in our respective offices would be dressing up for Halloween. I quickly laid claim to the Snook’s Boba Fett helmet. As I was getting dressed this morning, I lamented that I didn’t have a blaster. “Yes you do!” Snookums said. “Your stepmom got you one for Christmas years ago. It’s still in the package!” And so it was! Frickin’ awesome. I brought along a bunch of stuff to decorate my desk and cracked open a bag of candy corn for my co-workers. (The Snook went as Indiana Jones, but I haven’t gotten a picture yet.)

    And no, these aren’t our official costumes for the party tomorrow… You’ll have to wait another day!

  • Food for the Future Fair

    The Food for the Future Fair is in full swing, and the Knitters Guild stall is being mobbed by kids who want to knit. Here are the unsuspecting knitters right before the onslaught:

    Food for the Future Fair - Guild Stall

    And here’s what it looked like after the kids found us. Eeek!

    Knitters Guild stall

    The Snook and I got to watch Lord Mayor Clover Moore open the new food co-op (while wearing a 350.org T-shirt); I sampled some macaroons from Sweetness the Patisserie, and I finally got to meet fellow Chippendale blogger Steven Noble. Pretty fun! Now I’m off to run some errands, but I’ll be back at the knitting stall from 2pm-4pm.

  • Outback Adventure

    Uluru SunsetThe photos from our trip to Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Uluru are now up! The main part of our trip was a three-day adventure camping trip with Wayoutback Desert Safaris. I can’t recommend this company enough. The trip was exactly what we hoped it would be, and it was worth every penny. Our small but varied group camped out under the stars together and hiked through some of the most amazing landscape in the world. Our guides Mike and Carl were knowledgeable, friendly, and capable. There was plenty of food, and thankfully many bathroom breaks with real toilets. It wasn’t the most relaxing trip, but if you’re looking for a real outback experience, Wayoutback is the absolute best way to do it. Anyway, yeah, go check out the photos for more details. (Eileen has posted some too.)

    For the benefit of future Googlers, I will add that in many respects, this was the wrong tour for me. I don’t like getting dirty. I don’t like sleeping outdoors or in strange places. I’m not the biggest fan of group activities. But even I had an amazing time, and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. Yeah, you have to gather firewood and help cook dinner and use dodgy showers and sleep on the ground and get up at the crack of dawn and deal with other people 24/7… but it’s still worth it.

  • Knitters Guild Camp

    Knitting Camp 2009This weekend was the bi-yearly Knitters Guild NSW Camp at the Kurri Kurri Conference Centre. I left work early Friday afternoon to catch the 5.15pm train from Central Station to Maitland with Fiona and Alison. It was a three hour trip, so we had a picnic dinner on the train and entertained ourself with – what else? – knitting. We finally got to the venue and settled into our rooms before breaking open the wine. I was happy to see that I had Optus internet access, albeit patchy at times, so I was able to twitter and keep in touch with the Snook. Saturday Fiona and I went for a run and saw lots of kangaroos! All day Saturday I taught my “Socks on Two Circulars” class, with Fiona ably assisting. Nearly everybody managed to finish their two sample socks. I even found time to cast on some new socks for myself! Afterwards I went to Alison’s excellent yoga session, which really helped to work out some of the kinks. Saturday night I set up the new Guild projector and helped Phyll with her presentation on the Guild Archives. Sunday I slept in before heading to my Knit One Below class. It was a challenging technique at first, but I soon got the hang of it. I made a couple samples. I suppose it’s good to know, but I don’t really see myself using it anytime soon. (The bulky textured fabric just isn’t for me.) I did another yoga class Sunday night, and then after dinner we had Show & Tell. Fee showed off her fabulous wedding dress to much acclamation. Then it was time for my “Welcome to the Knitternet” presentation. It went really well! We had quite a big crowd, and many of them chimed in with their own experiences. Fiona then did her “Colour and Knitting” presentation, which was well-received and even got some nods from special guest Prudence Mapstone! We finished the weekend with another run on Monday morning before catching an early train back to Sydney. I had a nice time, made some new friends, and hopefully even taught a few people a thing or two…

  • Rusted Root

    Rusted RootI should officially move this one into the FO pile! I started Rusted Root in March as a palate-cleanser during the rush to finish Na Craga. I tweaked the pattern a fair bit based on mods I saw on Ravelry (using tubular cast-on for the neckline, adding a few rows in the sleeves, putting in hip shaping, etc). I was unhappy with the waist though, and at knitting camp last weekend I decided to frog it back and try something different. The girls suggested a simple roll edging (rather than a rib). I think it really works! It makes the whole thing just a little more casual, which is appropriate given that it’s really just a cotton t-shirt. I’m still not sure it’s the most flattering style for a large-busted gal, but since when has that stopped me before? I used 3.5mm needles for the ribs and 4.0mm for the body. The yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Buttercream, and I only used 4 skeins! More details over on Ravelry.