What I made, by Sharon

This time we're going to New Zealand. it's not a specifically yarn based trip, although I am looking forward to going back to Holland Road Yarn Company and of course knitting with Kate .  And hopefully combining the two activities! That's all happening in Wellington, but before that we have running, and hiking and possibly llamas. One of the big questions for me is always, what should I bring to knit? I decided on the Redford jumper, a four ply jumper for Leon. Knit flat. So I think it should take the full three weeks. Anyway, I'm not taking emergency yarn, the towns between Christchurch and Wellington seem to have yarn sections in their nicknack shops.  I will have internet access, but i probably won't blog much while I'm away. Expect a full report of our adventures on my return.

We have a new camera and it actually focuses on things, which I am very excited about. it also means you can see in the photo above that my K2togs are much neater than my SSK. I'm knitting Milly , by Trude Hertaas, another pair of sneaker liners, this time in yarn I dyed myself . I'm reading T he Wildwater Walking Club by Clare Cook. It's pleasant, but not a very good book, with little character development and not a lot to recommend it. Earlier in the week I read Dietland by Sarai Walker, which raised some big questions about feminism and body image, so this is a complete change of pace. I would recommend Dietland- its a far from perfect book, but I'm still thinking about it days later. I've practically forgotten Wildwater already, and I haven't even finished it! I'm still listening to the Hitchhikers series. I'm up to book three and can't stop listening. Whenever they talk about how 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything i a...

10 months ago I wrote about randomly returning to my spinning wheel , and I haven't mentioned it since. I have actually been spinning, just a few minutes here and a few minutes there. After buying more fibre in Bendigo this year I wanted to clear my wheel. It took about 5 minutes to finish spinning the yellow polwarth, and then I plied it: I'm quite happy with how it came out, and quite happy to be starting fresh with rainbow yarn! I imagine it will take me another ten months to show you a finished skein of yarn, but I'm in no rush.

After the disappointment that was Montebretia I cast on for a pair of Pawkies . I rarely wear handwarmers, but I wanted some to match the hat and cowl I'm taking on holidays.  I had loads of yarn left over, and I really enjoyed knitting with my handspun (The green yarn, the pink is Cascade) So I knit these.  They were quick, and fun and oh so very pink. I just love the photos Leon took, which is why I've included so many of them here.   

I finished the first shawl from Kate Davies' The Book of Haps. It's the cover pattern, Montebretia , the pretty star of a book of great haps. Right? You'd think so. As I was knitting it I knew it was pretty: The colours, the welts, the bobbles. I figured construction was somewhat similar to  Colour Affection, and other medium sized shawls featuring short rows. Well, it's not. The final shape is odd, and basically unwearable for me. it's too deep to wrap around my neck like a scarf: It's too small to go all the way around my shoulders like a crescent shawl.  If I wear it like it's pictured on the front cover I can't move my arms at all. To be fair, it doesn't look like the model can either.  It might look all right held together with a shawl pin, but that's not really how I want to wear it, and it's still really messy. There is excess fabric everywhere, and the colourwork in the border means ther...

The title of this post is a pun, because I took this photo in the sun, but I was also at Sunshine Station.  I'm knitting a pair of green and pink mitts to match the rest of the crazy set. I'm using Kate Davies Pawkies  pattern. They might be coming out a little bit large, but they will definitly be warm and comfy and matchy matchy with the rest of the crazy set . I'm reading Rachael Herron's On the Market ,  a charming, light romance. It's obvious from the first page what is going to happen and it's still adorable. And I just started listening to Stephen Fry reading  Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy . I've been meaning to revisit this for a while, having read the book countless times, listening to the radio series, seen the movie and tv mini series. What surprised me is that I started listening to this and could not stop. Very addictive, even though I know practically every word. And that's another week in my knitting and reading. Pop over to ...

Late last year all the Richmond Knitters, or so it seemed, were knitting brioche. When I needed something else to knit in Queensland , I chose another pattern from Ysolda's knitworthy collection , a brioche hat. I was worried it would be tricky to learn this new stitch on an aeroplane, but it turns out brioche is not very difficult. That said, I'm not sure I like working it, or love the finished object. There is a lot of slipping stitches, and I didn't find it a soothing knit, despite being simple. I like the way the finished hat matches the cowl, but I guess knitting this was more about learning something new, rather than the actual finished object. Speaking of learning something new, three hats ago I took the time to learn the German twisted cast on, which I have used on all three hats I have knit recently. It gives a neat, stretchy edge and I quite like it. So yay for learning new things, and don't be surprised when you don't see much brioche in my future...