Yarnivorous

Oh I want! I want this , this ! And this one too! And this cutey too! Blasted budget. Sigh. Wantses but can'tses haveses, can we my preciouses? anon!

G'day all! Ah Friday. My day off! Oh blessed day off. I had big plans to drive for 7 hours to a little place called Crookwell in New South Wales. They hold a fibre fair up there every year. Only I have so many fleeces I don't know what to do with them all. Well I do but I don't have time to spin them all, especially since my new wheel keeps popping its driveband partway out (I've emailed Majacraft for advice after googling and coming up blank on this problem), which makes it heavy to treadle - it was so light and easy and fast before it started this rotten little habit. Then I found out that the Stitches and Craft fair was on this weekend. A 20 minute drive compared to a 7 hour drive... hmmm... So I arranged to meet up with a fellow SnBer. I checked the online trip planner and worked out the latest train I could catch and still be reasonably on tme. I was ready in time. I started walking to the station. As I walked, I heard suspicious noises. Noises that indic...

G'day all! Over the last few days I have been discovering the joys of knitting on honking great big needles. Joys such as being able to knit this and this in less than three nights for the pair of them. Yep, they are stashbusting scarfy-wrappy things. I'd actually like to sell them but I have to find the right market first. I have lots more of that sort of thing to knit up. I haven't abandoned my socks quite yet but I have not knit ANY sock for a day now! That is the first time in ages! Here's the self-striping sock off the needles. The sharp eyed amongst you, or imaginative might be able to see that I did a sort of graduated lead in to the ribbing at the top. I started at the sides and worked my way in then worked my way back out again until it was all one by one ribbing. Next time I try this (apart from on the sock mate to this one!) I'll do it every fourth row not every second. Today was interesting in a dull sort of way. Is that possible? I have some a...

G'day all! We have a winner! We have two winners, actually! They made the closest guesses. I was not very specific when I asked how much colourful sock yarn I had. That actual number of balls is *only* 32! (Shock, gasp!) Yes, you heard a-right! Only 32! Amongst those is about 8 100g lots, which is more than enough for two socks, and the rest is single sock balls. So that means I have enough yarn for about 20 more pairs of socks. Plus I have some handspun that is lurking elsewhere, ready to pounce when I least expect it. *But* I also had about 10 lots of partial balls/skeins in there. That is 42! So this means *TWO* winners! Katt and Chris , please specify your prize - yarn type and colours! Katt loves the brights - more brights, Katt? And Chris is on a GF diet like me, so an extra couple of yummies will go in the parcel for her. If I had waited another week before running this little comp, there would be another four skeins, but two are for a gift. Gifts are allowable ...

G'day all! Yesterday I promised pics of the self striping sock knitted from yarn I dyed myself. Not that I thrust my chest out when I say "Yarn I dyed all by myself!" or anything.... I would not be that childish! So here it is! Suh-weet, eh? I can't wait to play with more yarn, but I really have to do some more fixing up and tidying and clean out the dye pot. It is nice to hear from lots of other bloggers about finding succour on the roomy breast of the internet's knit blogs. I know of one blogger who freaked out totally when she discovered another knitter who lived only 15 minutes from her via her blog. For some reason this seemed to send her over the edge. Heck, finding more local knitters has to be a good thing? The more the merrier, or so I say! Plus I get to talk to people I would never otherwise get to talk to - people from all over the world. That is waaaaay cool. Time for a walk before bed. Gotta have a little walk, though I am dead dog tired. A...

G'day all! Well the conference is over and done with. We have learned a few things about what works and what doesn't, and what can be improved (eg having an MC who can get everyone's attention easily and remembers to say GO loudly! LOL). I also had some reminders about me. I've noticed in the blogging world, a lot of the northerners (and I am not talking banana benders from Queensland here!) out there are feeling rather introspective . I saw it happen last year, and when I read back through some blogs, it happened the year before. I guess it is because of a long winter and a need for spring to be sprung. I'm also seeing in it some local blogs. No excuse about a long winter here! This is probably my most introspective part of the year too, but not because of winter, more because we are losing the long days of summer which I adore. Sunset is going backwards at a great rate of knots - about 5 minutes a day it seems. Winter has its own delights, but spring and...

G'day all! G'day in particular to those people reading my blog from Poland, Switzerland, Finland, Thailand (wow - you knit in Thailand???) and Germany. I hope you are real and not just a figment of google's imagination! Give us a wave :-) I have to do this work conference for two days. I am helping run it. I'd better be there! It should be good but I have very little time - I should be packing right now. I had a couple of requests to see my sock yarn stash. This is almost all of the coloured stuff but not quite - I found an odd ball or two extra as I started stuffing stash into boxes: How many balls and what types of yarn can you see in there? Some will be unidentifiable mind cos they never had labels. It all fitted into the Krusty bag. I might send the best guesser a little something :-) I do have pics of clusters of the balls of yarn but I am time precious and job rich currently. Plus here is the sock yarn to dye for - the sock yarn waiting for me to dye it u...