don't fret precious i'm here, step away from the window...

well. that was a bit of a break, wasn't it?
i'm sorry! i could make excuses, but really, blogging just never came to mind. -_-'
so, what *have* i been up to?
well... not much. i know, poor, but the truth. a little bit of crafting, a lot of working, and a LOT of loving this rainy cold summer! i like my summers like i like my tea: English. :P
ah, but what have i been *crafting* you ask! well, i hope to have pictures for you very soon, i have a couple of finished items, and one so very close to finished that i think all it will take is a bad movie and i'll be at the end. i like to get organised at the beginning of the year, and i'm a memeber of a group on Ravelry (if any of you knitters/crocheters aren't on Ravelry, i highly HIGHLY suggest it. i have met such wonderful people!) called "Mission Possible", where people can post lists of 12 items - works in progress or things unstarted - that they aim to get done in that year. i've been quite bad, and some of my things are on the list third year running, but that isn't even really the point of it. it's to help keep me focussed on what i want to acheive this year, and help me put in perspective those things i haven't finished yet from last year (or the year before...). the scarf i hope to finish tonight is one of those 12 things, and i have already completed another one, so i'm in pretty good stead for january.
pity i just bought a sweater's worth of really, really gorgeous yarn, and have committed to knitting a shawl for a friend who is getting married. XD (who am i kidding, i love a challenge!)
i've also committed to going to Australia with my darling boyfriend in July this year. it will be our first holiday away together (please ignore the week-long chemistry conference in the middle of our week-and-a-half long trip. thank you.), and first time in 5 years that i have visited my dad in Melbourne. he's been over here every year, but i've only been over there once. :) but yes. three days in Melbourne, and a week in Adelaide (re: conference).
trust me, we're workaholics - a conference somewhere is about as close as we are ever likely to get to a *real* holiday. (do you think they ever schedule knitting conventions and chemistry conferences for the same place/time? hmmm. worth investigating.)

anyway, thats enough for a pure-text post. i just wanted to say i do remember i have a blog, and i will be back! and hopefully with pictures! XD

who stole the sand from the hourglass, and who filled it up with stones, drawing time to a close?

my oh my, where did that month go?

i swear i intended to post often and frequently, but i also thought i would notice the weeks passing me by...

so what have i been doing to warrant such fleeting time? studying, mostly. starting to write my thesis, as scary as that sentence sounds. currently not as hard as i had imagined, but i think i've started with the easy bits, and the time is passing me by so quickly...

so, you ask, what crafts have i been up to? what crafts! well. um. not a lot, i'm afraid to say. or at least, nothing worth photographing - little bits of progress here and there on a cabled scarf in the most sumptious black alpaca/silk Debbie Bliss, on my crochet afghan of doom, on dad's Dr Who scarf (please don't ask how long it's been since i started...), and on my bronze cardigan. whew! sounds like a lot more when i say it like that!

i do have a couple of photos to show that i had promised previously...

Mushrooms! a gorgeous six-panel teatowel; a smaller four-panel towel, and a single panel by itself. i just had to get them all! $2 from the Red Cross shop. i think the single panel will go as a patch on a bag, or maybe on one side of a potholder? the other two i'm not sure yet! they will sit until inspiration strikes.

and just so you don't think i never, ever finish anything...

Socks! my Charade socks, in al their firey glory. okay, a bit washed out it the sunshine, actually, but you get the idea. finished just in time for spring! yeah...

The other thing i have been doing lately, is spring cleaning. In anticipation of moving in November (our lease runs out and we want a nicer flat, with y'know, insulation and all that fancy stuff) i've been cleaning out a lot of my stuff. old clothes, books, and cds have been donated and thrown, and i finally dug into the two "misc" boxes that i haven't unpacked really since i moved out of my dad's place, oh, four years ago? they were quickly decimated, ruthlessly shed, and what few things i kept reintegrated into other areas of my room. but stashed away in there i did find a wee surprise. a suggestion that, maybe, maybe i knew where i was headed afterall.

Owls! charts for two Tawny and two Barn owls, plus an expanse of aida cloth. i have vague memories of begging my mother blue for this one day when we were in the craft store, when she was probably getting supplies for her never-ending Castle cross-stitch. i remember she kept showing me little mice, and flowers, and things done in thick wool, simple little kids kits. but i was adamant i could do the owls, i would do an owl for her and an owl for dad to go with their big dragon/unicorn/fantasy collections of stuff. i never did, of course - i think i remember mum buying one or two colours of floss to go with it, but i don't know i ever even started. but i kept them, in the paper bag they came in, with the aida. so maybe, even before i really knew i was destined to fall in love with textiles? i like to think so. and maybe i'll still stitch an owl or two for mum and dad, just to remind me why i love them.