Tuesday, January 27, 2009

a bevy of knitters

bev⋅y
   /ˈbɛvi/ Spelled Pronunciation [bev-ee]
–noun, plural bev⋅ies.
1. a group of birds, as larks or quail, or animals, as roebuck, in close association.
2. a large group or collection: a bevy of boisterous sailors.

this weekend a group of birds descended upon our house for kylie's summer knitting camp (no trademark infringement intended because im pretty sure no one owns the rights to the concept of knitting camp). it wasnt really a camp anyway, most people had proper beds to sleep in, although for a house with 5 bedrooms, we still needed to put a mattress out in the lounge room!

the birds in question were of the knitting variety, though they could also be mistaken for boisterous sailors, especially after a day of quaffing large amounts of bubbly while floating in the pool. the evening conversation was rather amusing as a result.

it was so incredibly hot on saturday we did little knitting but were mercifully saved by the pool. some clever people worked out how to put up the shade sail (which is actually a real windsurfer sail):

and there were no snakes swimming with us, although today we have a frog:

we nodded briefly at australia day by putting lamb on the bbq but it was marinated greek style and the chicken was portuguese, because australia is actually a land of immigrants despite certain redneck racist appearances to the contrary. thankfully some the birds bought their mates who carry the bbq-gene, so dinner and breakfasts were wonderful.

we had pavlova and chocolate chip cookies and mini lemon meringue pies and paella and sangria, including a non-alcoholic 'blonde' one made with sparkling grape juice. yummo.

there was also some knitting. dr k became a convert to the clappy, and also learnt the basics of sock construction, and bells and i plunged into the abyss of black lace. and long tail cast ons. for a being with an opposable thumb i was alarmingly badly co-ordinated in that department, but i did get the hang of it which is lucky because i had to frog the bloody thing of course. it got a bit easier when i submitted to the discipline of stitch markers after each pattern repeat but i am still doing something wrong - this is where i got to on the second go last night but its not quite right and i will probably start again today:

i do get the feeling tho that once i get into the swing of it it will be ok and the yarn is just delicious (jaggerspun zephyr mmmmmm).

today i am at home because there is something wrong with my car, it went funny on the way to work this morning so i came home via the mechanics and am waiting to hear. after such a lovely noisy weekend it is very quiet here today, and it started raining when everyone left and hasnt stopped, which seems entirely appropriate. i am a little bit tired and a little bit blissed out at having such wonderful people in my life who will come and spend a whole weekend and fill it with love and laughter.

but to the person who took the ikea body-drawing model thing and replaced it with this:

i know where you live...

k xx

10 comments:

m1k1 said...

sounds like a great weekend of fun.
why not try a sample bit of the pattern (2 or 3 repeats) with scrap wool, just to get into the swing of it.

Bells said...

ha! Too funny about buzz lightyear! I love it.

And the froggy! So cute. Thank you for capturing the details I forgot to mention like the lamb, the sock workshop, the meringues etc. So much to say, so little desire to write six pages in one blog post!

Thank you thank you thank you for having us.
xo

Bells said...

ps I'm sorry you have to frog again. I am trying very hard to not get too cocky with mine because I can so see this happening to me.

Georgie said...

Im so sorry you have to frog. But think of all that practice at the cast-on!! Oh and one word Kimmy: life lines!

It was a wonderful weekend. Thankyou a million times for having us.

Also, that ikea model is actually the evil emperor Zurg, who wants to take over the universe and make us all his slaves, in disguise, so you should be very glad that Buzz Lightyear, Spaceranger, has banished him to the outer reaches of the galaxy (otherwise known as on the sideboard).

Rose Red said...

Hee hee, Ikea man is in the corner of the dining room...or at least he was last time I looked!!

Lovely weekend, thank you lovey!

DrK said...

oh look! there he is! im keeping buzz tho. just because.....

Anonymous said...

Sigh. I 'op you 'r not getting, how you say, 'ennui' wis de lacey....es so 'tops'.

You know I just keep getting buzz memories of such a lovely time - you know - they creep up on you and before you know it you are cackling at something that was said/done/thought of etc etc.

Thanks x 1000000++ cause you asked me along and hosted so effortlessly.

Sarah said...

Sounds like you should trademark your knitting camp; what a great way to spend a weekend

2paw said...

Sounds like a wonderful time. The lace looks very lacy!! Hope it is all still going well!!

Fernicle said...

Quite jealous for many reasons - the biggest being the mini lemon meringue pies...oh I miss lemon meringue!!! :) xxx