Musicals

Have you guys seen ‘A Very Potter Musical’? Tell me you have.

Roller derby

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The Roller Derby season is upon us. It’s a squished up one this time around – the first two bouts were within a week of each other.

 

I feel like a bit of a bandwagon jumper. But I love roller derby for a lot of reasons. I love the costumes. I love the speed. I love the crowds of excited people. I love the catcalling. I love the way it’s totally a real sport (a hardcore one) but without offputting blokiness. (Butchness, now… that’s a whole ‘nother thing.)

I love that, because it’s pretty new in Adelaide (it’s been going for a while but most people hadn’t heard of it) lots of people don’t have a team to barrack for. Personally I have favourite players, but I generally barrack for whichever team is losing. It’s more exciting that way.

I love how camp it is.

I love the punny Derby Names – my favourite umpire is called ‘Or Elsie’. I LOVE the socks and short skirts and frilly knickers. I love how cute the Derby girls are…

Yes, she is offering her butt up for slapping. Why do you ask?

…and how badass.

But the thing I love most – about the individual players, the teams and the people who come to watch it – is its alternativeness.

There are people dressed up in rockabilly retro clothes, in stockings and short skirts, in ripped jeans and a tshirt. There are girls wearing suits and men in checked shirts with piercings and spacers. There are complicated updos and dreadlocks and rad undercuts. Fat chicks, big guys, skinny ladies, kids. There are people in so many shades of costumery. All just hanging out. Just being themselves, having fun. So many different kinds of awesome. All together in one big arena, watching women in sparkly tights and terrifying face paint whizz round and round, giving each other high fives – and thumping each other.

Apparently, the tactics are also excellent. I wouldn’t know – I have a pretty loose grasp on the rules, I’ll admit. I can tell you who is the lead jammer for a bout, and that’s about it. And that’s an improvement - last season I couldn’t remember the names of the positions and I kept calling them names from quidditch. I think ‘beater’ and ‘seeker’ are perfectly appropriate, frankly. Be that as it may, the first bout of the season was totally thrilling:

The Mile Die club was THRASHING the road train rollers in the first half. But in the end, Kit Cat Krunch scored a grand slam in the last few seconds of the final point… so that to RTR won by ONE POINT. (Reading that sentence back it sounds totally hilarious. But it’s not! It’s deadly serious!)

Kit Cat Krunch is the stripey-socked blur on the right there

That was weekend before last. Last weekend, the Salty Dolls managed a win over the Wild Hearses – it was a pretty tough battle, too. There was screaming and shouting and gasps as Derby Girls hit the concrete. Barrelhouse Bessie did NOT flash the crowd again, but she did give the umpires plenty of lip.

Next bout is in a week and a half. I cannot wait.

I cannot get this song out of my head

Also, this one:

Craft camp

This time last week I was still at craft camp. It seems like much longer ago. Been back to normal life for a (short) work week, and a weekend. And I miss my crafty tribe terribly! All those lovely women!

There was teaching:

And learning:

There was sewing in the sunlight:

And at night:

Improvised dresses:

 

There was swearing: at machines, at skirts sewn in backwards

(This being after the skirt had been reattached. Twice. I still have Caroline’s heartfelt, horrified cry of ‘noooooooooooo!’ ringing in my ears. The anthem of crafters everywhere.) And at F*&^ bias binding, how does it work, anyway?

(Janet aced it, even though she ‘hates sewing):

There was rain:

And sunshine:

And photography:

Oh, and there was a mouse:

I like this photo best because you can see Eleanor quietly crocheting away (‘I can’t stop!’) with her feet safely up, and you can see Suse just in frame. Her feet are up on her chair and her hand is flapping direction to Sue who was bravely searching for the mouse. I also searched, but I put my shoes on first, not being as courageous as Sue. And I didn’t search very hard.

Janet sewed a freaking lovely top out of some freaking lovely Liberty fabric:

There was enough left for Suse and I to have a handkerchief-sized square each. Suse sewed hers into a handkerchief:

Which TOTALLY counts as an FO. Mine is still in my suitcase. Ahem. It’s been a busy week, ok!

In fact, my total FO output was nil. I worked on my 100-year crochet blanket and made decent progress, making several more inner bits and attaching another half-row. I don’t have a photo but there’s one in Janet’s photo stream of me wearing it like a (very hot) scarf.

I worked on my Riding to Avalon. I finished the second sleeve. Then I realised the first sleeve was way too short, so I re-finished that. Then I blocked it, meanwhile discovering a little hole right at the cast on. I am really hoping I just tore it, and it wasn’t a moth hole. Now all I have to do on Avalon is the hood (well, and the seaming), which involves lots of thinking and also having the whole thing on my lap and worrying that I don’t have enough yarn left. So I put that to one side.

I worked on a baby jumper, the last sleeve of which I finished last week on the bus. Now I’m just doing the applied i-cord edging. Is everyone aware that applied i-cord edging takes approximately FOREVER? Ok, then. Good.  Just as long as you are aware.

I had brought a bunch of yarn and a ballwinder, in case I got to some other projects. I didn’t, but the ballwinder was leapt upon with cries of glee from Kate:

And then by Suse:

Kate’s improvised swift was genius.

Kate and Suse, this is the ebay store I got them from. Here are the winders. I bought my swift and winder combined, it might be worth asking her about it.

While I am leaving messages in my posts, here is Yalca Fruit Trees, with all their lovely dwarf quinces etc. It’s run by Cam, Tanya’s partner, who is very very helpful (Cam, I mean. Although, Tanya is, too).

And I know Caroline found it, but here is the Comic Relief Dr Who with Rowan Attkison as the Doctor

And here is the Catherine Tate show with David Tennant

And here is the Armstrong and Miller appearance in the RAF bit

Anyway, that was craft weekend, basically. I can’t really photograph the deliciousness of the food, the peace of the countryside, the pleasure of being in such, such excellent company. I can’t really describe them either. I just know that I said a lot of sentences starting with ‘gosh!’. As in, ‘gosh, we are lucky to be able to come here!’ and ‘gosh that was a good meal!’ and ‘gosh, isn’t Eleanor/Sue/Janet/Suse/Caroline/Kate/Lisa lovely!’ Because you all are. So very, very lovely. Thank you all so very much, especially Janet and Suse who go to such effort to organise us all.

And then I flew home. Boo: