Creating things and feminism

A Stitch and Bitch snack (and Krafty Kath's talented fingers (dude, that sounds dirty!))
It's funny, as a feminist, I used to be a staunch opponent of craft, ALL craft.  I thought that the idea of making a dress, or knitting a scarf was antiquated; a waste of our brilliant minds.
HOWEVER, after becoming friends with some brilliantly crafty girls at uni (go English department at UQ! Woooo!) and at work, I've slowly, but surely become open to the very notion of creating things for myself.  Not that I didn't do this already via cooking (which I now see as more of a reflection of my growth as a vegan and society's obsession with the latest celebrity chef), but I now find myself fascinated by the possibility that I may possess the talent to learn to make my own clothes and other craft projects.
So, during the latest uni holidays, my friend Melissa (who, when she got married, made herself a wedding dress more beautiful than any you can buy) helped me learn to knit.  And thus, our little Stitch and Bitch group was born.

Snack during Stitch and Bitch at Kath's place - checkout the great yarn in the background!  It was made into a super cool skirt (Cam was jealous that he missed out on tasty snacks)
Of course, as a lifelong book geek, I had to purchase a reference text (no, it's not a knitting book, it's a reference text!).  My friend Kath had the book "Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker" by Debbie Stoller (a book with the BEST title ever).  So my friend Melissa tracked down, and I (ever the sheep) tracked down too, The original "Stitch 'N Bitch".  Wow.  This book is funny, and a great way to learn to knit.
Stoller talks about the great familial experience she has with crafting, something that I wasn't fortunate to experience as a child (I was very much encouraged to read - I can tell you stories about Shakespeare comic books, but I digress).  I think our group likes to feel a metaphorical connection with our foremothers, after years of connecting with our literary foremothers (see Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" for the idea).  With those invisible foremothers, with those background characters that came, saw and knit.

Stitch and Bitch mascot (well, wool devourer) Rowley.  How cute is he???
So, I want to know, of those of you are crafty and feminist, what do you think about crafty fun?

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie (and knitting)

It's my own bastardised version of the La Dolce Vegan Coconut Choc Chip Cookies.  I made a half batch of these and we ate them all at the movies!  (We saw Tropic Thunder - I love Ben Stiller when he plays a doofus!  It was like Zoolander, but set in the jungle!)
I have a Public Law exam this week, so I've been studying up a storm.  I lie - I've been knitting!  Check out this remarkably bad toy I made!  I think he needs a name......

Yum Yum Soup!

Actually, it's Tom Yum Soup.  Can you tell I'm going for the 'lame title' title this month?  (Also - what's with the number of posts this week?  Am I really trying to avoid study that much?)

I like it with a ton of coriander.   Soup-erb!!!

Cam's Indian Restaurant

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday night, and by Jeebus, he outdid himself!  (You can commence drooling now):

Mung Bean Dahl.  Need I say more?

Cam's favourite Savoury Chickpeas.

Amy's favourite Potato and Cauliflower Curry (he added Coconut Milk this time - it's a nice addition!).

Indian Salad.

Mushroom and Pea Curry.  This one was HOT but good!

Why are there never any leftover Chilli Potatoes?  Grrrrrr.

The whole shebang.
We followed all that spice with Spiky cupcakes!

They were the Toasted Coconut ones from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World topped with Chocolate Buttercream.  I made too much icing (on purpose).  Oh the joy of raiding the fridge for icing!!!!

(The diet started yesterday - I'm of course ignoring the English muffins below!).        

I bring to you..... my breakfast!

I couldn't let this one go without a pic.  Cheezley on English muffins with sliced up hot dogs (hooray for Sanitarium doggies).  Note the incredible melty browny goodness!

I'm actually still eating it (while procrastinating from law study - as always!).  Yummo!

Vegans in Brisneyland - part one

The first in a new series of food pictures (because I got a fancy new phone that takes awesome pictures!)
First up: My Heart Garden in St Lucia (a brisk five minute walk from the main campus of the University of Queensland (suck it QUT)).
I tend to visit this with friends for lively literary discussion, but I always forget my camera. Not anymore!

Cam had this burger - no idea what the name was... It looked gorgeous!
I had two of their great salads, with Korean Tofu. I'm so going to crack the recipe for the Korean Tofu!!!!

They make the best cakes!
Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake:

Vegan Chocolate Cake (note the literary hands - she's writing her honours thesis on Anne Bronte's The Tennant of Wildfell Hall - yes we're all into old English lit!):

They're open: Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri, 8am-9pm. Wed 8am-3pm. Sat 5pm - 9pm Sun Closed. (I always forget they're not open for lunch on Saturday!)
My Heart Garden: Shop 5 / 225 Hawken Drive, St Lucia 4067. 07 3870 8898

Wicked!!!!

So my trip to Melbourne was about four weeks ago now (but I can tell you lots of information about negligence torts with regards to omissions and psychiatric illness!), so it's probably about time that I shared the photos.  They're pretty damn blurry because my hands were shaking the whole time (yes, I was that cold).

Wicked was wickedly (lame, I know) awesome.  The fact that I knew all of the songs didn't detract from the performance.  I'm wearing my Defy Gravity t-shirt right now!

We spent most of the Saturday walking to Collingwood so I could get a new belt from Vegan Wages.  Above: picture of Vegan Mecca #1.
Vegan Mecca #2: Lord of the Fries!
This was taken at three in the morning at our hotel.  OMG.  How can the Melbourne vegans eat anywhere else?
We found Las Vegan, but alas, they were closed.

Finally, on Saturday night (after the show) one of my friends from high school took us to an awesome cocktail bar called Ginger.  Wow.  This bar showed me just how far Brisbane has to go to creating a decent nightlife.

I can't remember what the red one was called, but the one below was called Napoleon Dynamite! (ignore the non-vegan cocktail behind it)

All in all it was an awesome trip.  I'm dying to visit Melbourne when it's a little warmer!!