Bendigo '14

I haven't been able to make it up to Bendigo for the annual Sheep and Wool Show for a few years now, so I was very excited to have the planets align this year and be able to dash up for the day last Sunday with Jules.

We planned to take the (early!) train but due to a defective engine we ended up on the next (still early!) train and managed to get to the Show by 11am.  

We were blessed with a beautiful day both weather-wise and for the company and experience but I somehow managed to not take a single photo throughout the day...

It's all about the haul anyway, isn't it?

I was very restrained this year.  Working in a wool shop seems to have curtailed my susecptibility to yarn fumes a little, although there were lots of temptations!

Overall, I went for things that are harder to get, or a bit more unusual. 

The very first purchase of the day wasn't even yarn - it was this cute little woven bowl!  It includes corn husk, hemp thread, date palm and cordyline.

I'm keen to try my hand at basket weaving this year, and I had a lovely chat to the ladies from the Basketmaker's of Victoria.  They were so encouraging, and I can't wait to get started with them.

Next up was 200g of  Wirrawarra in "Tawny Owl" which will become a lovely squishy cowl for me.  I particularly love the ply of this yarn, which give it this lovely marled look.

A trip to Bendigo S&W isn't compete without a visit to the Button Lady.  I was VERY restrained here, but it was so hard!

By this stage I was feeling a bit weighed down, so I grabbed this basket.  It will be perfect as a knitting basket, to sit next to the couch and house my bits and bobs.

In our final shed for the day, I picked up this skein of 80/20 sock yarn from Fiberific.   I love the subtle dyework on this yarn.  It wil become socks of some description but undecided on the specific pattern yet.

plus 100g of squishy mushroom pink wool that will be a cosy hat for someone.

 My last purchase of the day was made impulsively as we headed to the shuttle bus to take us back to the station, and was also my biggest purchase!

3 skeins of luxurious Bunny Mink from Ixchel, in pale grey, charcoal and turquoise.

I was tempted by the mint colour as we first walked in but it's not a colour I wear very often, so I left it at the time.  A single skein of the turquoise caught my eye as we were leaving and it was a done deal.  Jules suggested they would make a lovely Colour Affection and I'm inclined to agree.  I'm not sure I *love* the pattern though, so I'm on the hunt for something similar but different?

There's been a lot of stash-flashing on Instagram - it seems like it was another good show for a lot of people.  Did you go?  What did you love so much you had to take it home?

follow that arrow

Ysolda's Mystery, Choose-your-own-adventure, KAL - follow your arrow - has come to a conclusion...

This has been a wonderful experience, overall.  I loved working towards a new clue each week far more than I expected to, and the small thrill of not really knowing what you were knitting was a different kind of buzz.  I guess it was also partly the motivation!  Although, for anyone who's knitted a bit of lace, the charts from Clue 2 onwards did give away the basic shape to a degree.

The lace was really quite simple and relatively easy to memorise, but the construction and some techniques did give enough challenge to keep you interested.  More than once the lace lulled me into a false sense of security and I was forced to rip back!

I'm pleased with the performance of the Bendigo Woollen Mill Luxury 4ply, too.  It's blocked out very soft, and there is no sign of pilling or fuzzing sometimes found with the 10ply of the same yarn.  I think if I were to knit this pattern again though, I'd either use a larger needle (I used a 3.75mm) or laceweight yarn and get that real lightness in the fabric that makes lace "lace".

I'd also like to give the cast-off edge a light steam press still, just to flatten out the slight rolling the stretchy bind-off method has created.  I'm not sure how to get around that edge roll another way?

Obviously, the very nature of the optional clues each release meant lots of combinations and interpretations, but with nearly 3,500 projects listed on Ravelry, there are so many interesting versions; it's well worth taking a look or checking out #followyourarrow on Instagram.

 Ysolda's patterns are always a bit of a treat, especially those that explore her use of texture, and I really am very happy with my version.  I'm so pleased I took part in the KAL - well worth it and would totally recommend it if another opportunity arose!

a small amount of procrastination...

I seem to have skipped a week somewhere along the way, sorry - time has got well and truly away from me at the moment.

However, I do have some finished pieces and new works to show you though!

For a 24/12 update, I went to cast on the Tears of Bronze beanie only to find issues with the pattern link.  As in, it doesn't seem to be available any longer?

I went scrolling through Ravelry looking for a substitute, but after no luck finding something I really wanted to make, I finally thought - pfft, how many beanies have I knit?  I can totes do this on my own!

So I did.

MossyHearts is a pretty basic stocking stitch beanie, with a twisted 1x1 rib band and a cable panel of hearts and moss stitch centres finishing with a simple cable up to the crown peak.

The wool is Madelinetosh DK in "Baltic".  Oh dear lawd, this colourway is FINE.  I'm pretty pleased with how it came up in this beanie, it seems to show off all the variations and has minimal pooling/striping.

Once the was finished, I decided it was time I knit my two beautiful nieces a cardigan each.  Coincidentally, this thought came almost simultaneously with Tikkiknits releasing a set of summer cardigans AND offering a coupon discount as part of the Indie Design Gift-a-Long that's happening on Ravelry at the moment.  

I ordered some BWM 8ply cotton in a pale grey and vibrant fuschia (to match their individual personalitites!) and got started.   I've just separated for the sleeves on the grey and the fuschia is only a few rows in, but I'm already loving the pattern.  It's got enough interest in the form of some lace details to keep you motivated, but it's simple enough to suit my modern young fashionista's taste.

I don't think they'll have them for Christmas - I'm making sizes 8 and 10 so these aren't toddler cardigans - but I'm hoping to get them both done in time for summer holidays at least.

THEN, just as a bit of a quick fix project, I dragged out some stash cotton and made a couple of dishcloths!  I love knitted dishcloths.  They are so soft and squishy, and I think they stay "fresher" than chux-like ones you buy at the supermarket?

I made on knitted one in a chevron stitch, and two crochet ones, because I'm determined to master crocheting from a pattern and I figure a dishcloth is probably a good way to practice.

(Keen blog readers will notice that despite a flurry of activity, there has been no casting on of the final project on my 24/12 list - the Gingko Shawlette...  I'm procrastinating, I know.  This week will be the week, for sure!)

forget love, wool is the drug

back home from Bendigo Sheep & Wool Show, and totally exhausted, but in a really good way.

Such an amazing time away - met heaps of Ravelers, stayed out drinking and talking, laughing with new friends waaaay later than I should have ;), got to handle wool I had only read about, and discovered wool I'd never heard of. Had BBQ breakfast by the lake with a bunch of like-minded souls, all resplendent in handknits, and spent most of Saturday out at the Showgrounds going round and round, discovering new stands each time!

came home with the bags stuffed to breaking point, and looking like a total wool mule! My head is still reeling from the whole weekend, but I just wanted to show you a couple of things before I collapse in my bed!

Pear Tree 12ply in Nut:


Pear Tree 8ply in Camo:


and some more Pear Tree 8ply in Blush and Galah:


such beautiful wool, I think I may leave this lot on "open display" in the main living area!

more to come over the next few days...

oh, and 62cherry has tagged me for a meme, which I must remember to get to, once my brain comes back down to earth and the heady wool fumes have cleared!!!

boots & all

I'm almost ready to leave to catch the train to Bendigo, but before I left, I just had to show you my new gumboots, bought specially for the Show.

They've got SKULLS and ROSES on them!! How freakin' cool is that in a pair of wellies?!

Every thread on Ravelry has made mention of how wet, muddy and dirty the Showgrounds are at the moment, so I thought, if I must wear practical footwear, it had better be cool!

and to think I nearly bought generic black gumbies from Aussie Disposals...

Bendigo sheep & wool show

Next weekend I will be heading up to the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show, and I'm really looking forward to meeting in person a few of those crafters I regularly converse with online. I'm attending the ACS-sponsored BBQ brekky on Saturday, then heading out to the Showgrounds to fondle the good stuff all day long.

But along with the nervous anticipation that I usually encounter when my blog-life smacks into my physical life, I realised that mostly I don't know what anyone looks like, and even those I do have a visual on, I wondered if I'd feel shy just bounding up to someone and saying "Hi, I know you, well, your blog, that is!"?

So as an ice-breaker, I decided to show you what I'll be wearing so you recognise me on the day:

I'll have on this:


and this:


and these:



which also do this:


Feel free to come over and say "Hi, I know you, well, your blog, that is!" It's an invitation, so relax, be comfortable with it, and know that you'll be welcome!!




...and if no-one comes and talks to me, I realise that either -

a) it's true, no one likes me, and all my high school issues will be re-triggered (twitch)

or

b) it's true, no one actually reads this blog! (twitch, twitch)

Hope to see you in Bendigo next weekend ;)