Yarns of many different colours - RSS is finally RS

Oral Tradition

OznAsia

ABSTRACT ART - award 1 per post Pool

Powerhouse Museum - Photo of the Day

Library Stuff

Finally, finally, finally I am getting the hang of this. My feeds are on - putting pictures on is now a breeze (thats my lounge room with the first four patches of the blanket coming together).

I could go on for hours about the reasons RSS took so long- the stories of attempts to get Powerhouse loaded only to have it fail.

Or of following the Photo of the Day ( Mosman Bay), my old stamping ground, only to end up on a Mosman Library Blog feeling pathetically inept.

Or the endless hours searching for links related to storytellers or childrens literature only to find that most of us (storytellers and childrens authors) are also pathetically inept and don't have RSS feeds. So most of my favourite journals either need you to pay for subcribng or they don't have links. Yes some of us are still old fashioned.

I didn't get around to following up knitting links as my title page implies. Been too busy sorting out odd sized knitting 'squares' to do that.

But cheers the group now has one blanket about to be sewn up into a Crazy pPtch blanket. Look out for more photos.

Holidays and Aftermaths

Holidays can be so much fun, but coming back to work and picking up the loose threads ccan be harder.

I did get to visit my son in Middlemount - way up north in a mining town. Now that is an experience.

I got my my stories off to editors and got interested bodies to endorse them. Compassionate Friends are currently reviewing my latest offering Craig's Story. This is the story of a young child who won't let anyone tell her her best friend is no longer around her even though he recently died. Very heartwarming.

I think though the worst part of holidays is trying to use a dial up network to communicate. So its back to the good old libraries to sort things out, catch up and say hello.

I did get to check some great sites though. If you remember storyteller John Shield you may like to check out his site, http://oznasia.blogspot.com/ and see what is happening in Thailand's storytelling scene.

I did get some other links, but where oh where did I put them.

A Story or Two....

.......or is that a stoyteller or two.

Thought I'd practise putting on some photos. This is me trying to tell to School of the Air students through the Longreach School of the Air.

Look mum no hands!!! You guess it! It is hard to tell stories to a computer screen.

For the techno minded, the gadget in my left hand hand allows me to switch between speakers, so I could allow the voice of the child from Muttaburra to be broadcast to the rest of the class!

Picture Plus

Well today I push myself a little further, looking for images that portray a couple of my common loves, storytelling and the new found Knitting group fad. Naomi calls us the Nitwits. Our blanket is growing and should be a great "Mondrian" if I can work out how to get it together. Watch for the photo to come out soon!

May be true for her but I'm only half the person she is so am I a halfwit?

Anyway back to the job at hand to get a photo that links this two skills. I rather like this little one, wonder if I can knit something like this to take to Kids Big Day Out Storytelling at Mt Coot-tha next week

Thanks blossombird for her photo found at the supplied linkhttp://www.flickr.com/search/?q=+knitting+stories&m=text

Squared

How exciting. I now know how we can all have the same sized squares using different sized needles, different tensions and different ply wool.

Here's the pattern

Cast on 3 stitches
1st Row: k1 inc 1 K1
At the beginning of the next row and every row K1 inc. in next st knit to end of row
When side measures 20cm begin to decrease as follows:
K1 K2tog knit to end of row
Repeat till 4sts remain then K1 K2tog K1
cast off 3 stitches.

Good luck with your squares, you'll find that this gives a lovely diagonal pattern that can be adapted and used to create lots of interesting combinations when joined together.

Whoa..... what next. On line and afraid

Well it has finally come to this - a blogspot. An insignifcant start to a long and fruitful correspondence. But who with I wonder and about what?

From my heading you will see that I am concentrating on my storytelling and our "Knitting for the Homeless" knitting group.

In future I will keep you up to speed on just where these two projects are going.

For those not in the know I currently have one of my stories shortlisted in a competition. No mean feat. I am hopeing this leads onto bigger and better things. Who knows one day children will be writing to to me asking my thoughts on earth's sustainabilty and the position of finances in American Banks. Or maybe not!

As for the knitting/crochet group. My place next Tuesday 23/9/08
Cheers for now
myn