What I made, by Sharon

 As mentioned last week , I replaced my Kindle Oasis with a Kobo Libra. It has been a very pleasant experience. It's pretty device, the buttons work well, the stand case is fantastic. I always struggled with cases for the Oasis, this one feels nice, is light, and is perfect for reading on my side in bed. There I also a landscape setting which is really comfy to read hands free, on the couch. The Libra is colour, which is neither here nor there, but it's pretty for the book covers. And I've been reading on it for a week and it has not touched the battery life, so that's a very good thing.   It was easy to get my NetGalley books onto it (through Overdrive), my Amazon books (through Calibre) and my first library book: Peacekeeping by Mischa Berlinski .It was the oldest book on my GoodReads TBR and I've quite enjoyed it. It's about Haiti and politics and aid going wrong. I'm 80 percent through and things are starting to get dramatic! Up next is  Second Best by ...

  After last weekend's fantastic but exhausting sheenanigans, this weekend I stayed home, and had a very crafty weekend. On Friday I dyed 600 grams of Polwarth fibre, for Andrea Mowery's  Traveller  hoodie. I was not confident about dying this much fibre in one go, but I decided to give it a go and see. At the end of the oven time, I was convinced that the top was a pale muddy mess and that the bottom would be super-saturated, because it looked like this: But it actually came out beautifully.  The fibre is a bit compressed, but not at all felted, and it puffs up with just a little bit of predrafting. While I was waiting for that to dry, I plied the rainbow yarn I've been working on over the last few weeks.  I didn't have a particular goal when I spun it, I just wanted it fluffy and delicious, which I achieved.  The only problem is that it is only 130 meters for 96 grams. I want the traveller yarn to be about 250 meters (or at least more than 200) so I did ...

The batteries on my Kindle Oasis were getting even worse, so I decided to replace it. I love the buttons and the 7 inch screen, and since Kindle doesn't have a version with buttons anymore I started looking at the Kobo Libra. It has buttons and is in colour. In Australia it is not possible to read library books on a Kindle, but it is on a Kobo. So, after reading on a Kindle since at least 2013, I've now liberated myself from the house of Bezos. To celebrate the ability to use my local library I'm going to go through my Goodreads "to be read" shelf and see how many of the 98 books on the list can be borrowed. The first book  Peacekeeping by Mischa Berlinski  has been on the list since 2017, and the library has it, so I'll be reading that next.  As soon as I finish my current read  More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham .  This is the 6th one of these books I've read, and I'm only reading them because they are part of a book / knitting club I...

This year's Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show is over and done and it was a fabulous year. Kris, Katie and I stayed in a really cute cottage and had a marvelous time. we've been doing this for quite a quite now, and have refined all the things we like: Thai dinner of the Thursday night, Women of wool lunch on Friday Friday night pizza at Suzane's - and my traditional terrible photo of it. Saturday shopping and looking at sheep, followed by a group dinner at the pub. This year we all knit variations of the Pressed flower pattern, and took photos on Friday and Saturday, because different people were available on different days. This was such a fun project to knit, and to wear as a group. By the end of the weekend people were asking if I was a Richmond knitter, purely based on my clothing! As you can see it was cold, windy and occasionally rainy. I visited Susannah, to show her the jumper I test knit for her: Kerryn, from my trivia team came up for her first Bendigo, and it was a lo...

I'm posting this on Thursday, just as we leave for the annual festival that is the Australian Sheep and Wool Show (or Bendigo, as we like to call it). Every year I like to take stock of what I have, what I "need" and what I want, just so I don't loose my mind and by a thousand single skeins of sock yarn.  (Planning Posts  from  2012 ,  2013 ,  2014 ,  2016 ,  2018 ,  2019 ,  2021 ,  2022  and  2023 )     The first thing I like to do is check out what I currently have 16,970 meters across 27 entries, which is about 700 meters more than last year. Although considering I somehow managed to knit 27 kilometres of yarn last year 700 meters seems neither here nor there.  So what am I planning to buy this year? Pretty much all the yarn I have now is 4-ply, so I'm going to buy yarn for an 8-ply cardigan for Elise ( Alma Cardigan ), a 5-ply cardigan for Leon (  Rockland Crewneck ) and a 8-ply jumper for me, ...

This weekend is the Australian Sheep and Wool Show (colloquially known as "Bendigo"). It's what I was knitting all those Pressed Flowers items for, and I'm very excited about the whole weekend. I wanted something simple to knit, so I cast on the Clam tunic (which I'm making as a dress. I've separated for the sleeves, so now it's lots of striped stocking stitch in the round. So restful.  In reading, I diverted from my plan and read the cyber-punk  36 Streets by T.R. Napper . It's violent, thoughtful book, featuring a plausible feeling future, lots of fighting, with subplots about nationalism, colonialism, memory and belonging - to name just a few! I'm very nearly finished and then I will read my last review book for July    Linh Ly is Doing Just Fine  by Thao V otang , followed by the next Albert Campion mystery. To read my all my book reviews, and to see everything I knit, you can find me on Ravelry as  Sharondoublekni t and on GoodReads as  Shar...

I sometimes swatch, but not that much recently. I have many of my old swatches, which I was keeping for no particular reason. I have taken to keeping little baggies of yarn in case I have to do repairs, I am still patching things from  last year's moth  problem. I was considering doing a swatch for my next project (I'm knitting the Clam tunic Clam tunic as a dress). The gauge seemed like something I was not going to match, so I figured either cast on and risk ripping, or swatch. And then I realised that a swatch is the perfect place to store yarn for later use. it won't get accidentally used on a charity knit, its not unknit yarn hanging about and getting tangled.  While I had all my old swatches out to take this photo I noticed that one of them is for a jumper of Leon's that I patched last week with the closest yarn I could find, rather than the exact yarn that was sitting there all the time! As for my swatch: It gave me 26 stitches for 10 cm before washing and 24 st...

On the 25th of May I started a Pressed Flowers Hat, as a swatch for my Pressed Flowers Cardigan . I knit the cardigan though the first three weeks of June. I couldn't declare is officially finished, because I made polymer clay buttons and I wanted to do shank buttons, rather than ones with holes. I went to my local bead shop. who didn't have any. I ordered some online, and accidentally ordered dolls shanks! I eventually got the right size: I also made matching hair slides, a broach and a shawl pin. Here's our attempt at a picture that shows all of these being worn:  And why did I need a shawl pin? Because, even before I finished the cardigan, I knew I wanted to keep knitting this pattern.  So I made the matching shawl : This was a very addictive knit, made even more so because I dyed both background colours myself.  It's particularly strange because,while the motif is very pretty and very fun to knit, but there are many problems with these patterns. The designer does n...

 As promised , I read  the NetGalley review book  Becoming Marlow Fin , (two stars, not great) and am not reading the next Albert Campion mystery,  Coroner's Pidgin  . I'm struggling a little with this one. There just seem to be loads of characters running around. Still, I'm only a quarter way through, and history says I will get into it.  After this, a review copy of   Linh Ly is Doing Just Fine by Thao Votang , which is both a review book due at the end of the month, and the oldest book on my kindle. In knitting, I finished the shawl I've been working on for the last couple of weeks, which is very pleasing: And I'm knitting a pair of mittens for charity, although I only have the thumbs to go. After that I'm going to knit a dress, so you'll see that plenty over the next few weeks! To read my all my book reviews, and to see everything I knit, you can find me on Ravelry as  Sharondoublekni t and on GoodReads as  Sharondblk .  I'm joi...

This is part 13 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me.  Today we have a very mixed bag, featuring Leonard Cohen for kids, cartoon cats and some thoughts about sci-fi short stories.  Leonard Cohen Maria Izabel Sanchez Vegara (releases 6 August 2024) When I first told my husband that I had requested a book about Leonard Cohen for kids, he was confused about why I would request that, and also why anyone would write it. Having now read it, it's beautifully illustrated and probably largely factual, but very sanitised. I still don't know why a child would want a bio of Leonard Cohen. I guess if your child overhears you listening to his music, pays attention and want to know the history of the musician, stripped of sex, drugs and politics, this would be the book. There is an odd line, hidden on the very last page "with help from an adult, you can listen to his music on-line". Which j...

A photo of this morning's sunrise. It's been unusually cold (it was 1 degree when I took this) but the colours are stunning.  Last week I announced we were in for the long haul, and this week I am both knitting and reading the same things as last week. I've made good progress on  The Weight of Ink . It's a dual timeline book, focusing on the Jewish community of Interregnum London and some 21st century scholars. It's got philosophy and feminism and a touch of romance (or love, or something). It's not a quick read, but I am loving being immersed in this world. I have started listening to a review copy of  Group Living and Other Recipes  by Lola Milholland. It's a memoir of her life, and so far it is interesting and entertaining and thoughtful. Next up is either the NetGalley review book  Becoming Marlow Fin , or the next Albert Campion mystery, depending when I finish my current read. I'm certainly not in a rush though. In knitting, the  Pressed Flowers ...

We had a fabulous and looong weekend in Hobart, for the Festival of Voices , a community choir  also attended in 2022  and 2017 .  Elise and Leon are founding members of a fun choir called Glee Plus.  I don't sing, myself, I just attend events, knit and enjoy the singing and music. Leon and I flew in on Thursday night, and immediately went to a brewery. Friday we spent much of the day hanging around, eating and drinking and relaxing. We had high tea at a tea shop (and purchased quite a lot of tea). I was particularly excited about this because we dropped by last time, but they couldn't seat us. This time we booked, and it was delicious. I stumbled into the Salamanca Yarn shop. I resisted the yarn, but these two packets of fibre came home with me, for a plan I'm hatching. I realised we were going to Franklin on Saturday, and that is in the Huan Valley, and I messaged Nat to see if that's near her. She said it was ten minutes up the road! So I got to spend some time wi...