What I made, by Sharon

On Friday after work we headed up to Bendigo for Bendigo on the hop, a beer festival we have been to (I think) three times before. This year it was just me and Leon, so we took ourselves out for a fancy dinner before going to bed early. We knew Saturday was going to be a big day. On Saturday morning we got up (always a good start!) and ran 15 kms. We didn't realise that the canal path doesn't actually go far enough for that distance, so we got to do a lap of the lake on the way back.  Then we cleaned up and got some breakfast and headed to the woollen mill. Last week Kate Davies released a cardigan pattern and I had that in mind when I was shopping. I got this stunning yarn - it's a dark teal and had a strand of shiny, although it's not sparkle yarn. I got the "recycled fibre" wool as the contrast colour. I suspect it's made of the scraps from the mill floor, and I really like it.   I also picked up a kilogram of fibre from the backroom, because it was c...

We spent the weekend in Bendigo again, this time for a beer event - Bendigo on the Hop.  Leon and i decided to make a long weekend of it, and public transported up on Friday, getting there in time for a lovely lunch. Then we walked to the mill.  I was pretty excited, because I keep on buying dyes, but I don't actually have any bare yarn to dye. they only had one skein of undyed sock yarn, but it's beautiful- really round and looks a bit like Socks That Rock , so I'm looking forward to dying / using it. I also bought some slow colour-changing yarn for a TellyBean Knits jumper - or dress, maybe. We had afternoon tea in a cafe by the lake, where we ended up going back for breakfast both days. Delicious.  Then Skip, Bee and Chris arrived and we had a lovely dinner. Saturday was Bendigo on the Hop - you go to 9 different venues and choose from 4 types of beers. it was a lot of fun and the town had a really great vibe. After finishing up we ate more delicious food and col...

This year's show was perfect! Kris and I drove up after work in Thursday, staying in the same wonderful cottage as we have the last couple of times. We started with the traditional Thai dinner on Thursday night.  On Friday we went to the show early and did most of our shopping before the Women of Wool luncheon, which was more good friends, as well as a wonderful meal, some interesting speakers and rather a lot of wine. There were dyers that I know I love, like My Creative Garage, and others who were new to me - including new favourites HodgePodge and The Autralian Yarn Co.  We then did some more shopping, before heading to Suzanne's for the traditional Friday night pizza event.  I was not very good at getting everyone (or even most people) in photos this trip! On Saturday we watched the sheepdog trials, which I always find fascinating, ate lamb for lunch and went and looked at (and patted!) some sheep, as well as finishing off the shopping. We had dinner with the Ric...

I have been planning to make the Ninilchick Swancho by Boyland knitworks for a while. The yarn I had picked out was Bendigo Woollen Mills in "li mited edition" tweed. I was putting off actually buying it, because I'm trying to buy as I go, rather than stash. there was also a chance that I would find a yarn that would have less left-overs, since Bendigo yarn comes in 200 gram balls. Although that option would still end up costing more, because Bendigo yarn is both good and cheap.  The other night (after the pub) I happened to notice that some of the colours, including the natural shade I was planning to use for the main colour had sold out. So I panic bought the colours I wanted and substituted this grey for the background. I've divided all the contrast colour balls into two so I'm not carrying around a completely ridiculous amount of yarn. Now it's just a matter of finishing the sock I'm working on and I can cast on this unusually shaped garment.

And what a weekend it was. I caught the train up on the Friday night, and Suzanne hosted the Richmond Knitters for cheese, knitting and pizza.  The house that Kris organised for us was adorable, and it had a deck. After we were exhausted from sopping and seeing sheep we actually got to sit on the deck in the sun and knit and relax before dinner. I am very pleased with my purchases. Pretty close to my list , with a heavy emphasis on Australian yarn (a lot of which is milled in New Zealand, but that's a blog post for another time). I bought a  jumpers worth of 'Field of Dreams" for Leon, which is a Polworth, Suri and linen mix, milled in Australia. A  jumpers worth of teal Millpost Merino , I love this colour so much, and will (probably)  make a Kildarton : A jumpers worth of Bellevue Park merino 10ply for Chuck   (undyed, and I bought the dye to make it the colour I want)  As planned, some Dyed by Hand   in smooth a...

I like to check in with my stash before Bendigo, just to be sure I', aware of, and greatful for what I already have. Pointless photo, because everything is in bags, but the Stash Box is half empty. More meaningful is my Rav stash page: Yep, 29 entries, I'm pretty pleased with it. And meterage count, is 9397 meters which is the least I've had since I started counting! This excludes Left Over Sock Yarn, since I have no idea how much of it I currently have. I don't have much of a shopping list for Bendigo, which doesn't mean I won't do a lot of shopping! I want some yarn for Waiting for Rain, probably including some Fluff from Purl Box, a jumpers worth for Leon and maybe a dress worth for me. I'd rather not buy sock yarn, I have plenty and I'd love to dye more. Mainly I'm looking forward to hanging out with the Richmond Knitters and seeing some sheep. I'll be back on Sunday with an update from my favourite weekend of the year.

I was spoilt this year and got a lift to Bendigo with Nat. I quickly did my shopping before the Women of Wool lunch: I'm really pleased with this wool I bought for Leon's jumper: It's from North East Yarn a fibre collective from the North East of Victoria. I said I wanted to buy more local yarn! Because they well by weight in 500g hanks, and don't know the yardage, I didn't want to risk running out, so I bough a kilogram. If there is enoug left-overs for a jumper for me as well I won't complain! I bought some Oyster yarns in merino silk and yak, which is just stunning, and this jumped into my bag: A jumpers worth of sparkle yarn from My Creative Garage . I hadn't heard of her before, but her colour pallete was amazing. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to make with it - make     This was my favourite sheep of the show Lunch with Women of Wool and the Richmond Knitters was a good time, as usual. As well as the women I knew...

The Women of Wool lunch was such a highlight of this years show for me. It was so lovely to get together with friends, old and new, eat good food and listen to inspiring women talk about their experiences. I did buy some yarn, but not a whole lot. A jumpers worth of Nundle Yarn for Leon. I love this colour and they are one of the very few small mills operating in Australia, so something I really want to support. I bought the yarn for Theme and Variation from Dyed by Hand Yarns , one of my favourite dyers. I'm really happy with these colours: Unexpectedly I bought three braids of Kathy's Fibres merino in the colourway "Stained Glass". I'm going to spin them up for the contrast colour to Tracey , a pattern I've been thinking about for a long time. I also bought some hand cream and Soak. I kept looking at all the stunning sock yarn and thinking that if I bought them they would still be sitting in my stash next Bendigo and that would make...