Knitting In Public: Christmas Edition

I'm not sure who floated the idea originally, but a few weeks back I heard that the Australian Knitters group on Ravelry were thinking of getting together for a Christmas gathering. To sort of do an informal version of a knitting in public day, because frankly the only problem with the international Knitting In Public Day is that it's during Winter here. Knitting in Winter is no hardship, but couple that with being outdoors in the midst of one of the worst Sydney rainstorms in 30 years... not so great!

So. What could be better than hanging out with a bunch of my knitting peeps at the Opera House? Taking a few hours out of an otherwise very busy weekend to just enjoy the company of my knitting buddies, and add some more length to the Christmas scarf I have to get finished for my sister. I got there a bit early, so wandered around in the sunshine and snapped some detail pics of that lovely complex of buildings known as The Opera House.

One of the things I love about the building, is that if you get up close and personal with it it shows all sorts of faces. Shiny. Rough and angular. Geometric. Sinuously curvy. You can see the understructure, even to the point of the moulds used to pour the concrete. The ribs that were inspired by palm fronds. The structure that the building sits on which is like a mesa, or an aztec temple, one giant staircase that creates an incredible sense of anticipation, of arrival once you gain the top.

Aside from the stiff wind off of the harbour, the Sidewalk Cafe under the Opera House was just about perfect to sit and knit the afternoon away. I hung out, knitted and chatted until about 5pm, when I headed off to Parramatta to celebrate my friend Ian's 50th birthday. Tall & Handsome arrived back in Sydney from his field trip at about the same time, so we met up in Parramatta to have dinner and celebrate with Ian.

We didn't get back to Newtown until well after 11 last night, and considering I had been out at Mikey (the lovely ex's) fabulous 40th birthday until nearly 5am early Sunday morning (5am!), I was pooped. Zombie-style pooped. Walking Dead, coming through! So we fell into bed and suddenly it was Monday morning. Way too quickly, but after an action packed and fun weekend.

[Click any of the pics to en-biggen them on Flickr and read more details.]