What I made, by Sharon

This weekend we went to Bendigo on the Hop- a beer festival where you go to 10 different venues and drink 20 different beers. We have been and enjoyed this event before -   2024  2023   2022  t he first year 2014 . As well as a fun festival, it's an excuse for a weekend in the country. This year we headed stayed at the Oval Motel - I've got a thing for basic, retro motels and I've walked past the Oval every time I've got to Bendigo. We went up on the Friday afternoon, and had a multi-course degustation dinner with matched wines.  Saturday morning we went for a run - along the rail trail instead of the river, and then headed off on the beer crawl. It was a fun time - the weather was ok (well, not raining at least) people were friendly and the beer was good. At the end of that we headed to where we had planned to go for dinner. They only had a table free for 4, but luckily another couple who had been on the Hop also wanted a table, so we joined forced and had...

We're back, and what a weekend it was! These sheep show weekends are all different, but they all have the same structure and rituals that the Richmond Knitters have built up over the years. This year we stopped as Castlemaine Mill on the way up and lunch and bought wine, cheese and chocolate. Then Nat, Katie and I made our way to the super cute cottage where we stayed this year: (Photo is from the Sunday morning, where we were exhausted and about to make our ways home!) On Thursday night we had our traditional Thai dinner, to fuel us for the excitement that is Friday at the show. Amanda was there too - I'm not great at getting everyone in the photo.  On Friday the weather was perfect - blue sky and no wind. As usual we went to the Women of Wool lunch, had excellent food and interesting speakers. In yarn I only bought the mini's for the upcoming Stephen West mystery sockalong. In 'lifestyle' I bought all the things: The stick  in the middle is a nostepinde, although ...

 I love a planning post. Every year, before I go lose my mind (and spend all my money) at the Australian Sheep and Wool show I like to assess what I have, what I'm planning to make and what I want to buy. Then I come back at the end of the weekend and see whether my shopping matched those plans! (Planning Posts  from  2012 ,  2013 ,  2014 ,  2016 ,  2018 ,  2019 ,  2021 ,  2022 ,  2023  and 2024 ) Here's my list, as it is in my note-keeping app: I currently have 13,156 metres of yarn, across 18 entries. Given that I have, so far this year, knitted more than 10 kms worth of yarn I'm not worried about my stash suddenly becoming unmanageable. Unless I buy so much that it can't fit in my storage trunk, I looking forward to revitalising and refreshing my knitting yarn, tools and fibre, as well as having a fun weekend away with friends and sheep. 

  The last Joji bags I bough t were in May 2024 and I thought I had that addiction under control. The last couple of weeks have proven me wrong. First there was an update with the Fibre Fanny Pack in the prettiest colour of periwinkle blue. It's perfect for a sock project. Because I do so much knitting in public I love having a bag that the yarn ball actually stays in when I'm knitting. I did have to hack this bag - it comes with a cross body strap. but I removed half the strap, put a clip on the remaining half and now it's a short strap - it suits be better for how I knit.  I also combined postage and bough a Cabin Bag. That's the ink bag at the front of the photo, not the giant  SANTA CRUZ   in the back. It's the perfect size for a three skein shawl, a bit like my shawl bag , but more structured.  And finally a new bucket bag, this one with a shoulder strap. I love my Pampa bucket, which usually lives with my wheel, holding the fibre I am currently spinn...

If I could just get the perfect bag, that is the perfect size and can carry just exactly what I need and truly represents who I am, I could have the perfect life. that' what we are all looking for in consumerism, right? Anyway, along with those thought I'm a minimalist. Or at least I aspire to be one, and we don't have a lot of storage spaces. I am also someone who picks a brand of something and keeps going back. it's a way of limited the relentless choice. I've been buying Crumpler bags since 2001, and in about 2006 I bought a little shoulder bag in green. I got rid of it in one of the big cleanouts, and then I sort of regretted it. The colour (green green, not blue green) is not one I'm really into and as a bag it has space for essentials, and certainly not for a knitting project. Still, I've been talking about that bag for a long time. And then the other day Crumpler has a "vintage" release. i think they must have found a whole lot of unsold bag...

The annual Handknitter's Guild Market, which we all call the Coburg Craft Market renamed themselves Melbourne Fibre Fest a couple of weeks out from the event. This did not change the wonderful market, which has all my favourites and  particularly Ixchel, who no longer vends at Bendigo. Becasue the market is only a month out from Bendigo, I went with the intention of not buying any yarn, and I succeeded! I bought two beautiful braids of yarn from Ixchel: And 500 grams (a jumpers worth) of this amazing blue and green Australian fibre from Ethereal Medusa who are a collaboration between Melbourne City Dyeworks and Cat and Sparrow. I also bought some more Chiaogoo  needles - even as a monogamous knitter it is sometimes good to have two sets of needles in the same size. Kerryn who is a core trivia member came along, as did about 10 of the Richmond Knitters. we went out to lunch afterwards, admired each other's purchases and did some knitting. By co-incidence, it was World Wide Knit...

  As I mentioned  last week we went to Fibre Feast SA. I've been to a few fibre festivals around the world, from the insanity that was Edinburg Yarn Festival  to a local festival in a scout hall.  This was somewhere in between. It was held in a fancy private school. There was a general market on the front lawn, and then an open sided gym and an inside gym full of yarn sellers. As well as some of my Victorian friends, there were lots of local sellers, and an heartening amount of yarn that was sources, spun and dyed locally. So, what's in the bag? My first purchase was very local, from the Yarn Trader yarn shop. It's   Højtid Single  from Circus Tonic Handmade. I bought it  Blanko pattern by Lone Kjeldsen , a large poncho style jumper that will be so snuggly and delicious knit in the merino, yak and silk blend. Then I found some beautiful grey yarn from Aveley FinnSheep. I'm obsessed with making an ordinary, slightly boxy grey cardigan. I did also b...

 As well as my friends giving my yarn, there are other reason's why my stash doesn't go down. But before I tell you about the latest acquisitions, and show you my new yarn, let's celebrate my stashcount (prior to this yarn being added). 13,548   metres. A number I would describe as "well under control". Haven't seen it this low in ages.  And then I got more yarn!  I recently participated in an Alma cardigan knit-a-long, and I made a modified alma for Elise. I won a skein of yarn from Bombed Yarns. I love Bombed Yarns . It would have been silly (and felt a bit rude) to just get one skein, so I got four skeins of this lovely greenish yarn for Leon's winter set, and some matching sock yarn to make him matching socks.  Glorious. The we had the Richmond Knitters annual Christmas self-striping: I say this every year, but Dani really outdid herself. Suzanne chose the colours this year, and also provided this door prize: Beautiful. It's like she picked the co...

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...

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...