Copied email from Bronwen last week:

Hi Barb, Woops, I still haven’t updated the blog, but have been looking at a lot of others. I also have my new laptop (which is slightly distracting!) Are you still available this Wednesday night for knit1purl1 activities? Talk to you soon, bron

Well, as you know Bron, it has been a hectic period. Writing the annual report and managing an audit for two separate organisations and two agm's has completely side swiped me. But always in the middle of busy'ness' along comes someone who helps you see the true path...

Let me introduce "Chipper" crocheted by Omar Misa in Launceston. I love my new purchase, is this chap chipper or not? He's just so good I am going to have to....

yep put another picture in. Behind Chipper sits my own ball of wool, hardly diminshed since I started, but tonight its clickety clack.

Anyway if anyone else is reading our blog, Bronwen and I are curating an exhibition here in Australia at CraftACT: Craft and Design Centre in Canberra, Australia's very own designed capital city. It is scheduled for July this year and will delve into the world of knitting and blogging. We have been scouring blog sites and I can't belive the plethora of knitting happening as I type. I am totally transfixed by this cyber world of knitting, upon reading a site, you want to know more about knitting projects, and life in the world of turtle knits or tangelled angel knits or the class people house, etc

Bronwen - here is a list of sites I have visited. Please post your sites. Lets meet next tuesday and make contact with some knitting critters. I was just checking on some and went down another new path of knitters eek.

This list is not in any order other than the random way I found them:

yarn harlot

knit 'n' bitch

knitting in public - doesn't seem to have had any recent action though

knittie nautie

neddles on fire

wendy knits

two pointy sticks

supergirl knits

tangelled angel knits

olannboa

cliketyknits

turtle knits

winona queen

tea and cakes

a simple yarn

tales of the knitty

knitty.com

safforn knits

the classy people house

I am still new to the blog thing - Bronwen next week we will have to work out how to make these links if possible. Looking forward to your list,

Barb

Having such an old slow computer has its benefits - I get a huge amount of knitting done waiting for things to load - but in the last hour I have decided that the time has come for a brand new wiz bang computer with the works and whistles (especially because I am tempted to throw this one out the window and I probably would if I could lift it)

I suppose learning to knit can be as frustrating as troublesome technology but once you get the rhythm it is like meditation. Once you understand how the stitch is made you don't panic when you realise you've made a mistake - just pick it up or pull it apart and start again. I think that is my problem with computers. Things just seem to disappear or discombobulate for no apparent reason and because I don't understand how they work it makes me crazy (but not crazy enough to make me really want to find out how they work - just crazy enough to go and spend vast quantities of hard earned cash on a computer with a good marketing strategy behind it.)

After some initial uncertainty, Barb's needles were clacking like the clappers and she was even able to multi-task with some dog-whispering with Sophie (pictured). Sophie has recently become an "outside dog" due to some flea and wee incidents, however she was allowed inside because of the scary storm (which was really just loud thunder at this point but I'm a bit soft)

So back to knitting, this is the green and pink bag I am making (which doesn't look like a bag yet but I promise it will if I finish it and it doesn't metamorphose into something else, because it used to be a cardigan, then something for Arwen to wear and then it told me it wanted to be a bag. This is my usual stream-of-consciousness knitting experience) I found this lovely op-shop wool which I just couldn't resist despite the overflow of my obligatory knitter's stockpile of irresistible yarns.

Arwen was also allowed to lie on the couch instead of in her bed (again, I know, I'm a bit soft) and proceeded to make herself comfortable in a vocal and theatrical manner. The evening descended into chocolate and biscuit fueled chaos against the backdrop of an eerie light show and Barb was eager to escape. Arwen and I went to bed with sound of rain on the tin roof and unaware of the chaos of another kind which hailed over Canberra.

I was sad to hear that, amongst many other buildings in Canberra, the School of Art, my old friend, fared badly in the storm and I'm thinking of all my sad and soggy friends who will be cleaning and repairing for weeks and months to come.

Barb and I promise weekly updates on knitting and other events from this point forward. Let us know what you think and tell us where you are blogging about knitting.


Bronwen

March 2 2007

Well its been quite a long time between postings on Knit1Blog1. There has been a very hot Christmas, New Year and summer holidays at the seaside. All relaxing and celebrating aside, its now time to really knuckle down on the Knit1Blog1 project.

Bronwen and I met up the other night and Bronwen introduced me to the fine art of casting wool onto needle. It has been too many years between my grandmother teaching a rather impatient 10 year old girl - to now. Eventuually I figured out I didn't need to hold the needles vertically up at eye level, that I could actually relax my shoulders and consequently my wool tension by holding the needles horizontally in front of me.

Bronwen introduced me to the easy cast on style of wrapping the wool around your thumb and picking up the loop with the needle, which I immediately jotted down in my notes so that I would never forget.

A couple of hours ruminating on why people blog, what it was that Bronwen was knitting (a beautiful bag), what it was that I was actually knitting (rows) and calming nervous children and dogs as a spectacular storm was brewing outside, ensued.

Bronwen showed me some photos she took of some knitted entries at the Royal Canberra Show which was on in Canberra 24 & 25 Feb this year. There was a spectacular and winning entry of some knitted bears playing tennis (everything was knitted, the racquets, the ball and ground and the net!), a wonderful octopus and a very fine outfit for a doll - think Penelope Cruz in her 2007 Oscar frock and you may get a sense of this outfit to die for.

It was a memorable night not just for knitting but also for the weather. Canberra had a a freak superstorm, cloaking the city in a white robe of ice - a veritable sea of hailstones fell from the sky creating a winter landscape in summer that not even our winter climate can produce. I narrowly made it home ten mintues before the lighting and thunder were over head followed by the eerie sound of the massive hail storm falling on the CBD just 3 kilometres away, and then watching as the edge of the storm came overhead leaving a more gentle and less dense fall of stones on our house and yard. Can you knit a covering for climate change, one that shelters from the hot hot sun and one the shelters from the harsh hail as well?

I feel I am beginning a new lifestyle as last night I picked up my needles and did a few extra rows. Already ambitious thoughts abound of what I might knit but in all reality, the pride I feel for knitting two more rows is the culmination of my talent at the moment.

This morning I thought I would spend an hour on posting a comment and checking out some knitting blogs but 2.5hrs later I had to drag myself away from the musingndoing blog by Ling. I think this is going to addictive as I read on about being inspired to knit or not and delving in to the February of Ling's blog, which I came to from Monna from Knit Knut's blog site, a great blog of handy knitting, stitching and quilting, which I came to from Meowgirl's site, which I always like to check out.

I saw a great pattern on chic knits as well and when I checked out the wool on Scouts Swags I couldn't believe the range of colours let alone the names such as hot fudge sunday, purple people eater and snakes on a skein. My knitting universe has expanded.

I am still looking around at the objects that people are making and next week I aim to pluck up the courage to comment on someone's blog.