What I wear to do yoga in.

Yeah, right!

Today was hot, and I had to go out in it. :(

I've said this before, I HATE the heat. Can't stand it. Any humidity and it doesn't matter how long I've spent on my hair or how much product I put in it, I end up looking like a really bad Diana Ross impersonator. I hate getting sweaty AT ALL. I think thats why I love yoga so much, I love feeling the stretch and the burn without the breathlessness and sweating.

But I did need to go out and brave the sun today. I had a big ol' bag full of books I don't want anymore, and with Christmas just around the corner, it couldn't hurt to have a little extra cash in the form of an exchange voucher from Elizabeths!

I love Elizabeths (except for their complete lack of cataloguing; you're a freaking bookshop!! GAH!). Whenever I can, I buy my books from there. Second hand cook books have way more character than brand new, and sometimes the previous cook has left helpful little hints, or little clipped out recipes! And I have such a narrow taste in literature that most of the classics I buy, I don't actually like (sorry classic literature lovers!), and that's where my favourite part of Elizabeths comes in; you take your books back when you're done with them and they exchange them for store credit towards (yep, one of my favourite things), MORE BOOKS!! :) 

So this is what I wore to try and brave the heat. Nothing fancy, and nothing particularly vintage. I think the top might be late 60s/early 70s? But I'm basing that on the print and the sleeves (Dolman, or just Dolman-esque?), and hey, I've been wrong before. I've spent way too much $$$ on a dress I was CONVINCED was from the 40s, until it was shipped to me and I opened it and realised, it was an 80s repro. Ah well! Can't win them all. :)

Top: Eldora, from Vinnies

Skinny jeans: Pri-marni ;)

Shoes: Rubi Shoes

A very tasty salsa recipe!

Ingredients:

1 brown onion

750g ripe tomatoes, chopped into small chunks

1 green capsicum, chopped into small chunks

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 bunch coriander, finely chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

1-2 tbsp chilli paste (depending on how hot you like it)

1 tbsp chilli flakes

3-4 tbsp jalapeños

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. I chop my onion and coriander stems in my little hand blender, so that I don't cry all over the place. It doesn't take long, 10-20 seconds, just long enough to chop everything up fairly small. Put the onions and coriander stems in a pan with the oil and cook for 5 minutes over a medium-high heat.

2. Add the capsicum, tomato paste, chilli paste and jalapeños, and stir so that everything is coated. Turn the heat down to medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes, coriander leaves and chilli flakes. Stir so that everything is all mixed together, and cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, or until the tomatoes have cooked down to a chunky sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Et voilà!

Hot, lazy days...

It's hot outside. Not as hot as I know it's going to get later this summer, but a fairly accurate preview. Oh how I am dreading it! :(

This is what I wore today to keep cool. My friend Jamie told me that when I wear this dress with my pink apron, I look like bubblegum ice cream! 

It's the colour, it's such a lovely light mint/aqua, and it goes so well with so many other colours. My favourite combination so far is this dress with black accessories. Choc mint ice cream, I guess! Whats better on a hot day?

50's shirtwaist dress: Vixen Vintage

It's been a while...

I'm terrible at keeping up with diaries and journals and blogs.... I get all excited and post every day for 4 or 5 days, then something else will take my fancy, my attention will wane.... and then I have to post an apology for being so neglectful. So. I'm sorry for neglecting you! It won't happen again! Well.... it might....

Toasty toes.

It's getting colder, it's finally getting colder! One would think that after nearly 20 years of living in hot and sunny Perth, Western Australia I'd become somewhat acclimatised to the heat, but there must be a lot more British blood in me that I thought. I can usually cope with hot summers, but this last one seemed to go on forever, especially through February when it was day after day of 40 degrees and muggy as hell. So I'm really happy it's cooling down, and in preparation I've started on a whole bunch of knitted tops and sweaters, all of which are still W.I.P. But I did finish this pair of super toasty Mary Jane-esque slippers, so here they are.

They took me less than a day to finish, not including the time it took me to go to Spotlight for 8mm dpns, get cross when they didn't have any, buy a pair of bamboo 8mm straight needles, hack them up and turn them into the shortest dpns you've ever seen. The buttons came off a Ripcurl sweater I frogged a little while ago, and the black wool came from my stash, so all up my slippers cost me $7! Happy toasty feet time!

I used Leethal's simple mary jane style booties pattern, which is awesome and free and so so snuggly! Seriously, have you got something better to do with a day? You're feet will love you for them.

Swathe

Materials:

Craftworks Soft Touch Plain [sports weight, 100% acrylic], 3 balls [100g]

One set 6.5mm straight needles

Bodkin

Iron or steamer

Pattern notes:

This stitch pattern will naturally slant, making your finished piece a kind of trapezoid shape (pushed-over rectangle). I personally like it this way, but you may want to reconsider this pattern if you prefer your scarfs a little more regular.

I used a sport weight yarn because I loved the colour, but you can use absolutely any yarn you want, any sized needles to go with that yarn, whatever you want. It's a scarf, and it's pretty much impossible to mess up a scarf.

Pattern:

CO 46 sts, k 1 row.

Continue in following Shell stitch pattern;

ROW 1: K 2, *YO to m 1 st, sl 1, k1, psso, k 5*, m 1, k 2 tog.

ROW 2: P.

ROW 3: K 2, *m 1, k 1, sl 1, k 1, psso, k 4*, m 1, k 2 tog.

ROW 4: P.

ROW 5: K 2, *m 1, k 2, sl 1, k 1, psso, k 3*, m 1, k 2 tog.

ROW 6: P.

ROW 7: K 2, *m 1, k 3, sl 1, k 1, psso, k 2*, m 1, k 2 tog.

ROW 8: P.

ROW 9: K 2, *m 1, k 4, sl 1, k 1, psso, k 1*, m 1, k 2 tog.

ROW 10: P.

ROW 11: K 2, *m 1, k 5, sl 1, k 1, psso*, m 1, k 2 tog.

ROW 12: P.

Shell Stitch

Work these 12 rows until scarf is desired length, you run out of yarn, or your hands cramp up.

Weave in ends, and either steam or iron the scarf flat. Doing this will flatten out and really open up the pretty shell stitch, as well as reducing the rolling in at the sides. If you chose to use a finer yarn you probably won't need to iron it out, but a good blocking is still recommended.

Wrap, loop, tie, drape as desired, just get it 'round your neck.

Or your Dalek.