FIBRE ALIVE

Home Again (Naturally) - Vonda Shepard

I can’t believe that it’s been more than six weeks since I returned from my trip to Seattle. I really enjoyed my time away and Kent and Gary were such wonderful hosts but there’s nothing like coming home.

I took this photo just as my flight from Sydney reached New Zealand... that’s the green, green grass of home (New Zealand) at the bottom of the photo... and as you can tell from the logo on the wing, I was flying Air New Zealand.

 I’ve been so busy since I returned that I’ve hardly had any time to sit down and get any knitting done. I’ve been seconded to a new project at work and changed offices going from the first floor of my building up to the thirteenth. I don’t know if that’s lucky or not because the view is stunning but unfortunately I managed to catch  a ‘flu bug which was circulating around the office. You can guarantee that if there is a bug going around,  I’ll catch it. This one was particularly nasty and affected my breathing to the point that I couldn’t do any rowing for a couple of weeks and I lost my voice. A friend of mine caught the same ‘flu and her Doctor put her on a ventolin inhaler.

Before I lost my voice I made a presentation on knitting and in particular sock knitting to the Seatoun Arts Society. It was a lovely evening and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There were even a few women who were knitting away as I was giving my talk, clever multi-tasking I wish I could do during meetings at work. At the end a lady came up to me and said I was the most interesting speaker they had had in months. I took that to be a compliment!

Recently I was asked if I could be interviewed for a new podcast called “Crafternoon Tea with Granny G”. As it’s a New Zealand podcast and I’ve known Granny G through my blog and Ravelry for a couple of years now the answer was, of course, yes. it's a quirky and homely mix of crafy people, cooking indulgences and books to delight. So a couple of weeks ago we chatted away on the phone for a couple of hours, having a great time and even managed to record an interview at the same time. In recent weeks she has interviewed Morag from Vintage Purls and Stella from Knit Knit Frog so please go back through the archive and have a listen. The podcast featuring my interview is episode six and it went live this weekend. Here is the link for you to listen to it.

So on to some knitting at last... I’m currently suffering from multiple-project-itus and have far too many projects on the needles... here is some of the proof.

This is the first of several squares I'm knitting up in my old fail safe Bi-tone honeycomb stitch. I'll sew the squares together with a cable trim to create a new blanket to go on the bed in our bedroom. I'm using various colours of Ashford Tekapo corriedale yarn. this is going to be a long term project... I'm hoping to have it finished for the winter of 2011.

The Friday Night Sock Club are working on a friendship quilt at the moment and Ian and I have both knitted squares for it. I also offered to knit a cabled edging for it and it's taking just a little longer than I though it would... surprise, surprise. Here is a shot of how it's coming along. It's looking great and I'm sure the recipient will love it once it's finished.

 
  

At the Men's Knitting Retreat in Seattle we were given a sock pattern called 'Oliver ' and full of enthusiasm I launched forth and started knitting it up in some yarn I purchased on my holiday. Socks That Rock in the colourway 'Typhoon Tina'. I've only managed to complete one of the socks but in reality I've actually knitted enough stitches for a complete pair. I used the wrong needle size and by the time I made it all the way down to the toe shapingIi realised that it was going to be too big for my fit and I had used up more than half the yarn... I was forced to frog it back and grumpily started all over. I've finished one sock and for the first time ever I have fallen into second sock syndrome... but don't worry I will knit the second sock before Christmas.  

It’s been awhile since I posted any pictures of the garden and now that it’s Spring there is a lot of activity in the garden. The bees have been buzzing around the flowers, Tui’s have been feasting on the nectar in the kowhai tree and from the camellia bushes and wood pigeons have been flying through the garden keeping their eyes on ripening fruit.

The blossom trees have been... well... blossoming. As the blossoms fall from the tree the lawn looks like it's covered in confetti as if we've just had a civil union in the backyard... no we havn't had a civil union in the backyard yet but it may happen one day.

Ian tried a new colour of pansies this year... orange! I'm sure my friend Kent would be suitably impressed.

Here is a good photo of the confetti I was talking about earlier... Jazz the cat is guarding the strawberry plants from marauding birds.

The roses have budded up and are just about to burst forth into bloom. I can't wait to have the heady scent of cut roses filling the cottage again.

This is a beautiful and delicate native lily which we gave growing in the irrigation chanel next to the driveway.

Down the side of the house we have this amazing display of Granny's Bonnets which self seed and just keep on putting on a better display every year.

Speaking of self seeding... we've let some pansies self seed and grow in the cracks of the brick work of the back patio.

Finally we have a shot of the raised vegetable garden. As you can see it's still brimming with vegetables which will see us through to the Summer when we will plant a variety of lettuce for the salad season. Ian is also very proud of the seed potatoes he planted last week... he gets very excited when he starts to build the mounds of soil around the potatoes... I get more excited when I'm eating the potatoes we've grown.

Where The Boys Are - Connie Francis

The Thursday of the Retreat rolled around and as registration wasn’t until late in the afternoon Kent decided that we should spend the morning doing a little more touristy stuff… who was I to complain! The cunning plan was to drive into Seattle and head down to the waterfront and catch a ferry over to Bainbridge Island. The not so cunning part of the plan was that the freeway traffic was a little busier than we had anticipated and it took us longer than expected to get there. We knew we were cutting it fine but Kent managed to pull off some very classy driving maneuvers that would put your average NASCAR driver to shame (it’s always the quiet ones you have to watch when they get behind the wheel of a car!) to ensure that we triumphantly made it onto the ferry with mere seconds to go before it departed.

It was a slightly overcast day but it was lovely heading out over the water and watching the shoreline, and sports stadiums, fade away into the distance behind us. Moving to the foredeck I was somewhat in awe of Kent who was wearing a striking orange headscarf which was billowing in the wind. When I made a comparison with Isadora Duncan he was a little offended but I wasn’t implying that the scarf would lead to a nasty demise, I was instead likening it to her legendary diaphanous scarves famed for blowing in the wind. As we approached Bainbridge Island it was very obvious that it was a certain type of person… with a certain type of income who could afford to live there. Even in the distance in this photo you can see just how impressive some of the houses were. I guess a good comparison would be of Waiheke Island off the coast of Auckland. I guess it costs big money to live in paradise these days.

The Island serves as a beautiful escape from the city and has many beautiful shops and boutiques including… Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. Oh dear, I didn’t realize just how dangerous this quick trip was going to be… dangerous to my credit card that is. I did push the boat out a little in Churchmouse and spent about US$150 on yarn, earl grey tea flavoured candy and some very cute teaspoons with a teapot shaped top… I could have easily spent another $500 there without blinking aneye. Kent was bewitched by some stunning yarn by Alchemy and he even allowed me to fondle it once it was paid for. We stopped for a bite to eat at the Blackbird bakery (if you want delicious cakes… this is the place for you) and browsed through a few more stores. Browsing became purchasing when I spotted a stunning set of pate knives with Murano glass handles which I thought would be ideal for Ian. Feeling financially spent we headed back to the ferry terminal and after using my super human strength to break the ties around it, I wound a hank of Kent’s alchemy yarn into a ball for him on the return journey. 

In the end we didn’t make it to the Retreat until about 6pm by which time most of the guys were already there. We were met by WonderMike at reception and shown to our rooms before heading over to the activity room which overlooked the grounds and on out to Pugent Sound. Upon entering the room I was greeted with a type of birdsong… well not really, it was just Joe chanting ‘kiwi, kiwi’ and sporting that mischievous grin of his. Then after finding a seat I was given an enormous sports bag and told it was my goodie bag! I was rather bemused to read recently that people were disappointed with the contents of their Goodie Bags at the Air New Zealand Fashion week this year…well I don’t think that anyone could possibly have been disappointed with what they found in their goodie bags at the Retreat. The bags were enormous and bursting with fibre delights from around the world… here is just a taste of how well we were spoiled.

  

   

The evening got underway with a round of introductions where everyone said the usual stuff like who they were, where they were from and how long they had been knitting. With almost thirty people there my head was spinning trying to remember everyone. Luckily I already knew a few people from their blogs or from Ravelry. I decided to be just a little different and exceed my time limit by making my introduction bi-lingual. There’s nothing like talking in a foreign language such as Maori to a group of people to get their attention… but I think some of them thought I was speaking a different language even when I was speaking in English!

This was followed by a game where clues were read out about people in attendance and in turn you had to try and guess who the clue related to. Let’s just say that I wasn’t feeling very insightful because I didn’t guess anyone whenever it was my turn to guess… I could guess when it was other people’s turn to answer but that didn’t count for anything except smugness. It was however one of those egalitarian games where every player wins a prize and as people guessed correctly they got to choose gifts from a table full to overflowing with donated gifts and then clueless people like me got to choose a prize at the end. This is what I chose…

The book "Son of Stitch and Bitch" by Debbie Stoller and here you can see that I've cast on for the reversible argyle scarf featured on the cover.  

It was a very busy evening as I was a participant in the drop spindling workshop WonderMike was teaching. All the workshops were limited to 90minutes and were scheduled so that there was only ever one workshop in progress at a time to ensure that people could attend all of them if they wished. I thoroughly enjoyed the class with WonderMike and he proved to be a very clam and encouraging teacher… I have tried to drop spindle before but with no success but in this class I’m pleased to report that I did manage to create some yarn and here is the proof!

I need to explain this next picture… I bought a beautiful drop spindle from Mike and here you can see what it looks like today. When I packed my suitcases to come home I carefully packed the spindle to protect it but somewhere along the way security people searched my bag and did not repack it as carefully as I had. After arriving home and opening my suitcase I was a little upset to find that the spindle was damaged. I guess it was someone’s way of telling me that I should stick to my knitting and not take up yet another fibre activity.

I had to leave Mike’s workshop early as I was teaching the next workshop, “Bi-Tone Honeycomb”, and the two workshops were being run back to back. While it was a great space to teach in, the lighting wasn’t the best and as it was late in the evening, (the workshop started at 9.30pm and went until 11pm) most people were quite tired from their travel and the excitement of the evening. We did however have fun in the workshop and I handed out mini crunchie bars to everyone for a sugar rush boost. Crunchie bars are a candy bar which has a crunchy honeycomb centre coated in chocolate… very appropriate for a bi-tone honeycomb class. I can confirm that the candy went down rather well with the talented knitters in the workshop. Everyone quickly mastered the stitch and by the end of the class it was great to see the broad mix of colours in everyone’s swatches. After the workshop ended I did a spot more of knitting and retired somewhere around midnight… desperately in need of some beauty sleep. 

Day two (Friday) started with an almost embarrassing mishap of my heading to the women’s shower room by mistake. I don’t know who would have got the bigger fright if I hadn’t discovered that the men’s shower room was actually along the corridor and down a flight of stairs. It’s always nice to meet new people but everything has it’s proper time and place… and your morning shower just isn’t it. After abluting it was back to the activity room for a wonderful cooked breakfast, actually all the meals were wonderful, and a spot of knitting with the guys before the day’s workshops began.

First up was “Photographing your Fibre” with Franklin and this was without doubt the most popular workshop of the Retreat. I didn’t take part but I did eavesdrop and managed to pick up a few tips to improve my usual point and click… and hope for the best… technique.

The next workshop was “Hip Hems for Him” with Stephen and because the weather was so inviting he held it outside in the sunny courtyard.

After lunch we headed off on our first field trip which turned out to be a car rally out to Kent to have a tour of the head office of Skacel. I made the sensible decision to ride with Kent as being a local he went cross country and got us to our destination well before the others. But picture this… numerous vehicles in convoy, filled with enthusiastic knitters almost wetting themselves with the anticipation of being able to visit a yarn distributor with a warehouse full of yarn which we could peruse and fondle... oh and they also stocked addi needles. I don’t think the people at Skacel had ant idea what they were letting themselves in for. This was the first group of Knitter’s they had ever received as a ‘tour’ so our visit was as much a novelty to their staff as it was to us.

    

Karin, the owner and daughter of the founders, gave us a talk about the history of the business and an insight into what the current knitting trends were before we were split up into groups to tour the facility. We got to meet all the staff and quickly understood the scale of the business… it’s big already but the possibilities for further growth are incredible. Then we were allowed to enter the yarn lovers holy grail… their warehouse. Think of your typical double garage and multiply the floor space by at least twenty, add shelf after shelf after shelf and add yarn to each and every shelf. Scale is a wonderful thing and there was something quite special about seeing so much yarn in one place. Skacel were unable to sell directly to us as individuals but luckily for us one of our group, Morgan, just happened to own a yarn store and we were able to select yarn from the warehouse and purchase it at a discount from Morgan who would then be invoiced by Skacel. It was a win win situation for everyone. I’ve never seen so much yarn go onto credit cards in such a short space of time before! And yes, sigh, my credit card got used too… I just couldn’t resist the Zauberball sock yarn.

After dinner we then settled in for the evening and were treated to a guest speaker… none other than the sock maven Cat Bordhi. Cat is of course a ‘she’ but as Mike was introducing her  he presented her with an apple and said that it had belonged to a guy called Adam and since she was now in possession of an Adam’s apple she was an honorary ‘guy’ for the evening. In a refreshing change from how a speaker normally talks about themselves, Cat instead talked about us and the importance of ‘men who knit’. She sees us as the future of Knitting and was very focused on encouraging us to develop our talents and to delve further into design and teaching to make ‘men who knit’ more visible to the greater knitting community. She also expressed her desire to help anyone who wanted advice on getting designs published. Her talk certainly inspired a few of us… however, as with all things it comes down to one’s desire, commitments and time… but watch this space, who knows what will result.

After Cat’s talk we had a show and tell session where we each were able to show two or three knitted or fibre related items we had created or owned and explain to everyone what made each item so special. I showed my well worn Persian Poppies vest, freedom scarf and the first sock I designed. We saw a range of items from the group and what struck me was that every item was unique… there was no following the crowd here or knit-a-long overkill. We got to see what people had invested their time and love into creating and got to appreciate the passion we all share for the craft which had brought us all together. It was proof the great level of skill and talent gathered in the room.

Day three (Saturday) started after breakfast with me putting my teaching cap back on and leading a class in Kaffe Fassett’s “Persian Poppies”. It may seem a little strange to teach a floral design at a men’s knitting retreat but I’ve always loved the design and it was a delight to have so many men in my class who also appreciated the design for it’s colourful simplicity. 90 minutes isn’t nearly long enough to knit up much of a swatch but a few of the participants continued working on their swatches through the rest of the day and it was great to see how their colour choices developed. Whenever this class is taught it’s amazing to see how different everyone’s colour selections are.

We were then treated to a machine knitting demonstration by Morgan. I have to admit that I’m one of those people who really only ever thought of machine knitting as a faster way of knitting stocking stitch and a lazy way of knitting. Morgan however really knew his stuff and it was quite incredible how he was able to manipulate the fabric he was creating. I’ve always loved texture in knitting and had no idea there were infinite possibilities for texture in machine knitting. I’m not sure I’ll ever switch from needles to a machine but it was fun to watch Morgan enjoying himself so much as his creative juices were flowing.

After lunch the second field trip took place, this time it was out to a local fibre farm called the Moodshadow Alpaca Ranch. I opted not to go as it had been raining and I thought my shoes would probably get soiled which would be a pain when I travelled home. Border security rules returning to New Zealand are very strict and require that you have to declare if you have been on a farm in the last 30 days during your travels… and if you have they make a point of taking extra care in checking your shoes and luggage. It’s really not worth the annoyance factor when you have connecting domestic flights to catch. I did however regret my decision not to go when those who did came back raving about the experience.

I was able to use the time constructively though and managed to finish the scarf I had started on Monday. Not bad for less than a week of knitting.

I decided to catch a quick 40 winks before dinner but I must have been a little more tired than I thought as I ended up sleeping through dinner and most of the presentation made by Carl Brittain and Michelle Comancho of Toots LeBlanc. Their presentation was a case of bringing the fibre to the people. They had a wonderful selection of natural yarns including alpaca, angora and pygora from their farm. They proved to be a hit and their presentation ended up lasting more than two hours instead of the allotted one hour. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun… or when you’re displaying bad manners by sleeping like me!

Next on the agenda was a movie night and PJ party… except that most people were too comfortable already to go off and get changed into PJ’s… that and probably because many didn’t have any PJ’s to wear! I terrified all by wearing my blue nightshirt with cartoon sheep on it, a paisley robe, a bi-tone honeycomb night cap, Win’s world famous tartan tights and a pair of socks. It was a sight which should never be repeated… total maximum fashion faux par… but the ensemble was really comfortable to wear.

Terrified is perhaps not the best word to have used as the movie we were watching was a Norwegian vampire flick dubbed into halting English. I didn’t really get into the movie, choosing to believe that a little something had been lost in the translation, but there were a few scenes with some unexpectedly good special effects which kept me watching it. I continued to knit through the film when I wasn’t being distracted by Stephen and John who were hiding underneath one of the tables watching video clips on a laptop. I’m not sure what video clips they were watching but there was much giggling and bum wiggling going on… The giggling and bum wiggling was coming from Stephen and John… I think I enjoyed their performance more than the movie.

Day Four – Sunday – was our final day together, really it was only a half day, and it started after breakfast with a workshop on Fair Isle with Barth. Despite a few rain showers I took the opportunity to pop outside and take a few pictures around the Retreat venue.

 

 

  

    

Everyone then went off to pack their bags and prepare to leave… but not before we all posed for a group photo. Here I present to you a good looking and talented bunch of Men who Knit… the MFKR class of ’09. 

For a bit of fun I’ve listed everyone’s name, in no particular order, who was there and provided a brief description of the impression they each left on me. Most have blogs of their own so just click on their name for a little sight seeing.

Joe W: The gay knitting man’s ultimate piece of crumpet and one of the men who worked tirelessly to start the Men’s Knitting Retreat Movement… Joe we owe you so much!

Wonder Mike: Well they don’t call him a wonder for nothing… super organizer, drop spindler and podcaster extra-ordinaire… but sometimes geographically challenged like me

Franklin: Extremely talented yet modest… his company is very addictive and is a hard habit to break

KENT: A global ambassador for the colour orange and he called me his BFF bonus brownie points for that man (Best Fibre Friend I’m guessing)

Joe E: From L.A. via Florida he’s very good with his hands… but hates sewing up projects

Stephen: Gives good face and can work it like a supermodel…has a mischievous smile that never stops

John: Likes to pronounce Kenny as Kinney but everything else has a beautiful southern lilt. Wore a cute Ernie and Burt t-shirt with the caption F is For Friends… and John is friendly

Paul: Newly coupled and completely loved up ♥

David: The other half of the newly coupled and completely loved up couple ♥

Ray: A sweet guy who never stops smiling… easy convert to the delights of Persian Poppies

Kerry: A ‘gnew’ knitter with a good eye for colour, a ‘gnew’ friend to all… gives a mean bear hug too

Troy: A man who knows his own mind and doesn’t suffer fools… good at avoiding group photos

Jeff: Loves meeting people but doesn’t love multiple introductions. Has traveled to New Zealand… bonus brownie points for that man too!

Brian: Individual, indominatable and masochistic… knitting 14 socks at one set of circs. Also likes to wear pink… and it suits him.

Morgan: Machine knitting maestro and yarn store owner.

Keith: Local boy, quiet achiever, amazing tattoo on his arm and he actually liked the vampire flick we endured.

Andy: He’s from out of this world (Klingon most likely) but I’m glad he slums it on Earth so that we could meet.

Michael: A bear of a silver fox if ever I saw one, he has a big appetite for life and an even bigger heart

Harry: Slight in stature but a giant when it comes to spinning talent… his knitting is impressive too.

Daniel: Has a mind which is constantly processing everything around him… another talented quiet achiever

Brett: Captivating San Franciscan… great smile and great moustache.

Barth: Fearless Fairisler from Canada… I was able to talk degrees centigrade with him like any other foreign national

Geoff: Late to arrive but was easily able to make up for lost time, can project his voice like a teacher should

Nigel: A well traveled exotic beauty, well versed in all things knitting and able to engage in considered conversation on just about anything

Kenny: The cute Asian sensation from Houston who was piecing together a new sweater… also answers to “Kinney”

Chuck: Soda swilling, sweet smiling, swift stitcher from the South… hard to believe that he’s a newbie knitter

Ron: Insightful, creative, eyes that sparkle when he laughs and the possessor of a damn fine moustache. 

James: Well I guess you know all about me already

After the photo was taken Mike then took Franklin and I aside and took us to a back room… hmm no, not one of those!... to interview us for a new pod cast he was about to launch. My interview centred around my having travelled so far to attend the retreat and what my experience of the event had been. I kind of rambled and bumbled my way through the interview unlike Franklin who was a true professional who even sketched a cartoon while being interviewed. The great news is that the pod cast, called Fiber Beat, has now been launched and you can click here for the very first episode. If you enjoyed the Y Knit podcast he and Stephen produced you’ll love Fiber Beat. 

I enjoyed getting to know everyone at the Retreat and I was a little sad that our time together was coming to an end. As a male knitter who has spent most of my knitting life knitting alone or with groups of women it was a pleasure and delight to knit in the company of so many other men. Thank you to Brian and Mike for organizing and hosting such a wonderful event and thank you to everyone who attended the Retreat and made this Kiwi boy, with a funny accent, feel so welcomed and accepted. I would have loved to spend more time with everyone but I guess that’s a good reason for me to start saving my pennies so that I can attend another one… soon.

Then again perhaps I should just pull finger and organize a Men’s Knitting Retreat right here in Aotearoa, New Zealand… watch this space!

 

(p.s. Thanks Mike for letting me steal some of your photo's of the event!)

Seattle - Perry Como

  WARNING! A LONG AND WORDY POST AHEAD

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to have a quick trip away to the United States of America… the Pacific North-West… more specifically Seattle. I planned the trip with two goals in mind: to have a holiday and also to attend a Men’s Knitting Retreat. I always seem to cram something fibre related into my trips away.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I tend to leave things to the last minute… and packing my bags for a trip away is a perfect example. I did do all my laundry in the week before I flew out but I kept on putting off actually packing my two suitcases until the night before I left. That doesn’t sound too bad except that the night before I was due to fly out Ian and I were hosting a meeting of the Friday Night Sock Club at our house. It was another lively meeting and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves but I made the mistake of mentioning that there would be a slumber party as part of the Retreat and that I had bought a blue night shirt with cartoon sheep on it to wear… I say a mistake because the group requested that I model it and Win was very insistent that her world famous tartan stockings would be the perfect addition.

 

ANOTHER WARNING! If you are of a delicate disposition look away now… 

I did warn you!

 

Everyone left at about 9.30pm and Ian, being the sensible one, went to bed as he had volunteered to drive me to the airport at 3.30am the next morning. I, not being the sensible one, proceeded to pack my suitcases and and complete some household chores. I finally climbed into bed at about 1.30am in the vain belief that two hours sleep was better than none. Let’s just say I was not a pretty sight when we arrived at the airport.

I was flying on the Star Alliance so had a mixture of flights with Air New Zealand and United. I haven’t traveled much overseas in the past but air travel is pretty much air travel… all I’ll say is that as I drifted off to sleep on one flight I was dreaming of an alternate reality where children didn’t kick the back of your seat, or scream, or be obnoxious or if they did they spent the rest of the flight in the cargo hold.

 

When I landed in Seattle I was excited to have finally arrived and couldn’t wait to disembark and finally meet my friend and host Kent. Unfortunately the air bridge allocated to our aircraft wasn’t ready and we had to stay in our seats and wait…and wait… and wait until it was ready. After 15 minutes I suggested to one of the flight crew that perhaps they could activate the emergency slides and we could disembark that way, explaining that coming from New Zealand I was into adventure tourism.

Her response was to give me a remarkably withering look and somehow I guessed that when we finally got off the plane she wasn’t going to say to say to me “Have a nice day!”  Shortly later the air bridge was attached and I was able to disembark. After collecting my baggage I finally got to meet Kent who was patiently waiting for me in the arrivals hall.

 

 

Kent and I have known each other through our blogs and e-mails for just over five years but I must admit I did have a whole range of emotions including excitement and apprehension about meeting him for the first time. What can I say about Kent… he’s your typical All-American Knitster guy… tall, good looking, with a great smile, endearingly modest and a warm and generous host. (He even had a Pet Shop Boys cd playing in the car to make me feel at home). He’s such a popular guy in these parts that they re-named the town he lives in ‘Kent’ after him! (Well not really but he does live in a town called Kent) Within seconds it felt as if we were long term friends catching up rather than meeting for the first time. The only way I can explain it is that I just felt really comfortable and relaxed in his company. 

 

So after a quick stop at his home to drop off my luggage we headed off into Seattle to do a spot of sightseeing… and what’s a trip to Seattle without a visit to the Space Needle. The sun was shining and we had a fantastic view of the city, surrounding waterways and mountain ranges. What took my imagination was the number of float planes buzzing around and landing on the water.

 

 

Back home in New Zealand float planes are something of a novelty but they appeared to be a dime a dozen in Seattle. While at the Space Needle I discovered that Kent has truly embraced the art of ‘Kinnearing’ and I couldn’t take more than a step without the sound of his digital camera capturing yet another unflattering shot of me. The Yarn Harlot has a lot to answer for! As you can see I tried to return fire but Kent is a far better photographer than I.

After that it was a stroll through the Pike Place Market but there wasn’t much to see as it had closed for the day. We did however pop into the first ever Starbucks coffee house for me to have a… hot chocolate. (Sorry, I just can’t bring myself to drink coffee) It was, however, a beautiful store filled with lots of character and charm, something which is sadly lacking from most of their stores, and the woman who served us was delightful especially when she was trying to work out where my accent was from. From there it was out to dinner at a loud and noisy bar/restaurant where I sampled a local brew (quite nice it was too) and got acquainted with American portion sizes. I know people like to get value for money but there was no way I could finish what was on my plate. I also thought it a little strange that Kent keep grinning at me with a puzzled look on his face. I put it down to my being part of some joke I wasn’t aware of but later discovered that in reality he was having difficulty understanding my accent with all the background noise in the bar but was too polite to say. After dinner we walked around Capitol Hill for a bit before returning to Kent’s home for a spot of knitting in front of the TV. Given the time zones I had traveled through, the day had in reality lasted over 40hours for me so I was very happy to finally go to sleep in a comfy bed.

 

After my much needed sleep in Sunday saw us head out to a great place for brunch. I say it was great because we had to queue up outside and wait because it was so popular. Sorry I can’t remember the name of the place but I do remember how tasty my pirate pancakes were… and again the over the-top-portion size… only this time I did clear my plate, I couldn’t help myself. After brunch we set out on a yarn crawl and while I was trying to be good I did end up buying something from every store we visited… so much for the holiday budget. Here are some of the reasons why my budget got blown...

 

 

Everything just seemed to call my name in cute American accents. What I did notice in the yarn stores we visited is that they tend to have a wider range of yarns than we do back home and a better selection of artisan dyed yarns but that, of course, comes at a price. I thought that in general yarn appeared to be more expensive in America than it is in New Zealand, and the added sales tax didn't help matters. Kent also gave me a quick tour of the city and the suburbs but I have to admit that whenever I’m in the northern hemisphere my sense of direction is even worse than when I’m in the southern hemisphere and I couldn’t really understand really which part of Seattle we were in at any one time. We did however have wonderful sunny weather which flew in the face of all the warnings I had received about Seattle’s record annual rainfall. I felt like we were in the middle of summer and it was a treat to be driven around by someone who knew all the best places to go to. The day was completed by dinner out where I had my first ever mojito and our waiter looked just as tasty as our meals…

 

Kent then made the mistake of showing me how the TV in my room worked… I discovered the Tennis channel and LOGO. What a treat in the first week of the US Tennis Open to see matches at a civilized hour instead of at odd hours back home. On LOGO I got to see episodes of the US version of Queer As Folk… interesting but not as good as the original UK series. Somehow I can’t see SKY TV in New Zealand ever providing a dedicated channel targeted at the GLBT community so I enjoyed the viewing while I had access to it.

 

Monday saw Kent head off to work and me attempt to re-wire my brain to drive on the wrong (right hand) side of the road to get to the local park and ride to catch a bus into Seattle. It took me awhile to get the courage up to actually reverse the car out of the garage… I’m surprised Kent had the courage to let me drive their car!... but once I was out on the road everything seemed to go OK. I managed to catch a bus into the city and do a spot of sightseeing on my own. From the bus I saw a number of murals which I assumed were part of a community art project designed to brighten up certain industrial areas. It was a great idea and I enjoyed viewing them. I made it back to the Pike Place Market while it was open this time and I was amazed by the number of people and shops there. It was certainly the place to be for tourists and I was your typical tourist for most of the day and I enjoyed a sandwich looking out over the water while people watching. 

 

After a spot of souvenir shopping I managed to find the Perennial Tea Room (thanks to some texted directions from Kent) where I bought some of their coconut pouching tea for Ian and indulged in a nashi pear flavoured tea for myself. The woman behind the counter there immediately picked up on my accent, identified it as kiwi (the first to do so correctly up until then) and told me about a trip she had made to New Zealand several years ago. It’s a delightful store, only a stone’s throw from Pike Place market and well worth a visit.

The fun and games then began as I went about catching a bus back to the park and ride station… it took me awhile to retrace my steps back to where I had gotten off the bus earlier that day and then I wasn’t exactly sure which bus I was meant to be on but I got there in the end… except that the bus stopped right by the freeway and not by the park and ride so when I got off I was completely disoriented and ended up walking off in completely the wrong direction. After a panicked text to Kent (poor harassed boy) I was back on the right way only to be almost run over on a pedestrian crossing by a driver turning right on a red light… you can do that in America evidently… turn right on a red light that is, not run over pedestrians on crossings. He stopped millimeters away from me and all I could think of was that I was glad I had paid for travel insurance… even if only to replace my underwear. I finally found the car again and made my way back to Kent’s place having a whole new appreciation of being a driver and not a pedestrian.

 

To relax and unwind that evening I did what every self-respecting slightly stressed knitter would do and cast on for yet another project. This time a scarf I wanted to knit as a gift for a friend in Greytown. Feeling suitably calm and soothed Kent and I headed out for dinner and then returned home for a relaxing night in front of the TV watching the new series of Project Runway… which will probably screen in New Zealand sometime next year if we’re lucky.

 

Tuesday was a blur of confusion with trying to get a taxi service to take me to Kent Station shopping centre and back. The taxi company had no listing for it despite it having been open for about a year. When the taxi finally arrived it was just like back home… the driver was a foreign national for whom English was a second language and I was asked how to get to the destination… if I knew I would have driven myself. US$20 later and I arrived… Kent later told me that it shouldn’t have cost more than $5 or $6. After a spot of shopping it was an even bigger mission to get back and even with GPS the taxi driver got lost. I sort of knew the rest of the way but my accented directions were lost on him and he turned off the meter and started speaking a different language on his cell phone to someone who guided him the rest of the way. He wasn’t amused when we arrived and he realized that he hadn’t turned the meter back on… but I was!

 

Wednesday was another day of directional chaos but ultimately a lot of fun. WonderMike who was one of the organizers of the Retreat was flying in that morning from San Francisco and we had arranged to meet up and spend part of the day together. Mike decided not to opt for GPS with his rental and he too got lost trying to find Kent’s place. After a series of texts, phone calls and prayers Mike finally made it and we headed off into Seattle for a spot of touristy fun. Unfortunately Mike made the mistake of asking me to be the navigator and we missed the correct exit ending up in an entirely unexpected part of the city. Totally oblivious to where we were, we drove on until we found a café and stopped for lunch. It was one of those delightfully random events that proved worthwhile as it was a great little café (14 carrot) and the food was fantastic… yes, with American sized portions which I was unable to finish. Mike however was famished and made short work of his meal.

 

Given our track record we thought it best to skip the sightseeing and put some effort into finding our way to Skacell yarns where Mike was to meet with Brian, the other organizer of the retreat and Franklin Habit. Effort was indeed required as our google maps directions were inaccurate and it became something of a treasure hunt… luckily we eventually hit the jackpot and arrived. It was great meeting Brian and Franklin and before long we had to head off again as Franklin had to get ready for a book signing at a local yarn store called Renaissance yarns. Mike dropped me off at Kent’s and after Kent arrived home from work we headed over to the book signing.

   

As you can see from the photo’s it was a fun event and one of the staff members had made some delicious cup cakes and iced them with images of Franklin’s heart throb creation of ‘Delores’. Even though I already had a copy of the book I couldn’t help myself and bought another copy so that Franklin could autograph it for me.

This is probably the most flattering photo taken of me during my holiday... probably helped by the two handsome men either side of me. Joe from Florida and WonderMike himself... hi guy's! Did I say I bought a copy... busted! You can see in the photo that I bought two copies... just trying to help the American economy out of recession... I'm good like that.

 Franklin was the perfect Knit celeb, patiently working his way through an enormous pile of books and taking the time to talk to everyone there before reading one of the essays from his book and answering questions from the crowd. He has an understated calmness which seems to draw people into him. Everyone there enjoyed themselves and a group of us then had dinner together at a nearby restaurant.

What then happened was very interesting… a woman not known to any of us, but who had been at the book signing, joined us and it was quite clear that she was extremely smitten with Franklin. Well who wouldn't be? But this was something else and it felt rather stalker-ish. I’m sure she was perfectly harmless but it was a little unsettling because you never can tell what goes on in someone’s head… sometimes I don’t even know what’s going on inside my own head! After dinner we all headed off on our separate ways and Kent and I decided that as it was the retreat the next day it was best that we both had an early night.

The next post will be all about the Retreat... 29 manly fibre fanatics all in one place... are you jealous??? You should be!

Great Southern Land - Icehouse

I've been keeping busy of late preparing for a quick trip over to Seattle, in the United States, for a Men's Knitting retreat in early September... so busy that I forgot to blog about the inaugural Australian Men's Knitting retreat I went to back in July.

 

It was held in the beautiful Blue Mountains, a couple of hours drive outside Sydney, at a place called the Jenolan Caves. The location was quite spectacular and here is a photo of some of us who attended... left to right Andrew of Sydney knitting a scarf out of Habu steel yarn, Justin of Wellington (formerly of Australia), David (who organised the event) of the Blue Mountains and me knitting away on a sock... surprise surprise! The photographer was Jaimie from Wellington (also formerly of Australia).

Justin, Jaimie and I were all on the same flight to Sydney and we met up with Andrew at the airport before picking up the rental car and heading for the hills. Not that we could see the hills at the time as we had arrived in the early evening and had to make the drive in darkness. Driving through the Grand Arch cavern while it was illuminated was quite a spectacular introduction to Jenolan. David was there to greet us and after finding our rooms we gathered together downstairs to knit for an hour or so before retiring for the night.

 

The next morning after breakfast we were able explore our surrounding and this is the impressive sight of the Caves House where we stayed. It looked like some grand old European Ski Lodge nestled in a valley. Another impressive sight were all the crimson rosella birds which were ever hopeful of being fed by any of the tourists despite warnings advising us not to feed them. It's hard to believe that something so beautiful could become pests.

   

We then went on a short bushwalk which skirted around the caves and we got to take in the beauty of the area. The rock cliff faces were dramatic and the water in the stream and man made lagoon was an incredibly blue colour due to the limestone in the area. It allowed for amazing depth to the reflections in the water although all the tree ferns did remind me of New Zealand.   

We spent the rest of the morning knitting indoors and being gawked at in disbelief by female guests of the Caves House. Some were quite friendly and stopped to talk and look at what we were working on but I think many were slightly intimidated by the level of skill we were displaying and Andrew couldn't resist teasing them when they asked us where we learned to knit by saying... that we all met and learned in prison together. Some of the women didn't quite get the humour!  

 In the afternoon we went on one of the guided cave walks and I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

   

   

But on a fibrous note the following stalactite formation is called a scarf and really was these brilliant shades of orange despite being underground. Some of us thought the rock formation on the right looked a bit like a sheep... what do you think, can you see it?

 

The Caves House was having a themed mid-winter Christmas event that night but we opted for a bar meal and a few drinks while knitting away in a lovely seated area on one of the interior landings. We then settled in for an evening of some serious knitting, I as usual was on a tight time frame for some of my projects. Late into the evening we all started to yawn and decided to call it a day.

The next day we resumed our knitting in the morning and sat down beside a lovely roaring fire in a small anteroom off the main reception room. Then after lunch we wandered out to the Great arch again and David interviewed us for his podcast "Sticks and String" We're in episode 110 and then he interviewed me about J.O.Y. and that's in episode 111.

After the interviews we picked up our bags and headed back to Sydney... where Justin and Jaimie headed off to Adelaide to catch up with friends and family and I got to spend some time with my friends Mary-Helen and Sandra in their Leichardt lovenest. More evenings just spent knitting away in the company of friends, the best type of quick trip away there is.

 

 

Here I Go Again - Whitesnake

 

I woke up last wednesday knowing that I had the luxury of not having to go to work that day... no I haven't been made redundant... no I haven't quit my job... no unfortunately I did not win Lotto the weekend before... I spoiled myself with a trip to Sydney and the Blue Mountains the previous weekend and arrived back on Tuesday evening but when I booked my leave I made sure that I had Wednesday off as well because... it was my 39th BIRTHDAY!!!

I have yet to find the fountain of youth but I am pleased to be able to say that I like being 39 and just like the photo above I'm still looking cute apart from having a couple of chins. I don't know whatMum was thinking when she dressed me in this outfit... it's machine knit... but I guess it was 1971 after all. Mum claims that Grannie bought the outfit so she was obliged to dress me in it for the photo. I can't complain too much as I was lucky enough to have lots of hand knit jerseys and scarves all through my childhood thanks to the knitting efforts of Mum and Dad.

 

I did try to let this birthday slip under the radar as I thought that 39 was somewhat of a non-event but alas that was not to be. My friends and family were very generous in their acknowledgement of this 'non-event' age. Ian gave me this very cute teddy bear which instead of being made from fur it was made from a tourist tea towel of New Zealand. He said he chose it because it shows many of the towns I have lived in. I'm also wondering if it had anything to do with the fact I've regained the weight I lost last year and my chest is getting hairier as I age... perhaps I am becoming a bit of a bear... but atleast not one with a sore head!

A couple of months ago Ian accidentally trod on one of my namaste glass knitting needles and broke it. He offered to replace it immediately but I told him not to bother as it was a silly extravagance and that I hadn't seen any available since I had bought mine. Ian doesn't tend to take no for an answer and after being unable to find a pair in New Zealand he enlisted the help of our very good friend Joe who lives in the United States. After some hunting around he despatched a wonderful new set of namaste glass needles with green (my favourite colour) tops which arrived just ahead of my birthday. Thanks Joe, I was delighted to receive them as I quite like silly extravagances but I was even more surprised when I received another pair from my boss, Karen. She had overheard me telling someone that my set had been broken and she made it a mission to find a replacement pair. The pair she gave me have blue tops which look like sea mines and are a different size to the green set.  The box they came in also had an assortment of chocolate toffees... somehow they didn't make it home, no wonder I'm starting to look like a bear! As it's Karen's birthday early next month I'll have to see if I can make her something with the needles she gave me... no pressure!

 

Being a former book-buyer for a bookstore I can tell you there's nothing like getting books as presents. I spotted the Knitting Art book when I was wandering through bookstores in Sydney and had to have it so I bought it as a birthday gift to myself... I could have had several other books as well but I was trying to be good financially. Then much to my surprise I received the Wild Tea Cosies as a gift on my birthday from my lovely friend Win... I had almost bought the book when I was in Sydney too. Win you know me too well!

  

Two other friends must think I'm a bit of a mug as that's what they gave me! Carolyn gave me the striking pair of bone china rose mugs which I christened several times over the weekend. The other mug was gifted to me by Eleanor and features a picture of a ball of yarn with a set of needles and the phrase "If I knit fast does that count as exercise?"... well I do knit quite fast but I'm afraid I'm not getting any thinner lately. Eleanor also knitted me a pair of socks... certainly going above and beyond given her constant hectic schedule of knitting for others.

Thank you to everyone who helped me to celebrate my birthday, you're a wonderful bunch of people and I feel so lucky to be able to call you all friends. I have to tell you though, the best thing about turning 39 is being able to start planning a spectacular 40th birthday extravaganza... with cowboys... and chocolate... I can't wait!

Tea for Two - Frank Sinatra

  In my last post Joe  commented on the jersey I wore to my Grandmother's birthday party. It's an oldie but a goodie... I knitted it about thirteen years ago and I call it my 'Unemployed Jersey'. About six months prior I had left Hamilton and moved to Napier thinking I was in love... well the relationship only lasted two months but I stayed in Napier for another four months stewing in my own juices, too proud to return to Hamilton. A friend came to visit and convinced me to return to Hamilton and start over again. I returned to Hamilton a month later and moved back in with Mum and Dad.

In the time it took me to get a job (one week) I managed to knit this Jersey... while watching quality TV shows such as Donoghue, Sally Jesse Raphael and Oprah. It came from a European magazine which had a special Men's edition of handknits... if I'm completely honest I chose this pattern not because of the design but instead because of the model wearing it... more specifically because of his sleek straight hairstyle. (Does the word shallow come to mind as you read this?) I went to my hairdresser and asked if I could have the same hairstyle but he just laughed at me and said it was an impossibility with my wavy hair. So I opted for the next best thing... knitting up the jersey the model was wearing in a perendale yarn which Mum had in her stash. Thanks Mum... I think I asked before I took the yarn!

I'm lucky that I've only ever been unemployed for one week of my working career and this jersey always reminds me of that week and makes me thankful that I get paid every fortnight. With my yarn habit I need to be working!

In Knitting news I have been busy on a few projects lately and this is a 'Regal' tea cosy I knitted up for the last meeting of the Sunday KNIT-Tea knitting group. Our theme for the meeting was 'All things Royal' and I decided to knit a crown tea cosy. I used up some of the mohair-craft mohair from my stash to create this sumptious offering and despite mohair not being your first choice for a tea cosy this one works by giving it the right touch of luxury. The coloured 'gemstones' I stitched onto the crown was the perfect finishing touch. The tea cosy proved to be a hit at the meeting.

 

I've also been busy preparing for a weekend of workshops by designing some patterns to show off my favourite stitch... the bi-tone honeycomb. The workshops have a mid-winter Christmas theme so I came up with this Christmas tea cosy in the bi-tone honeycomb in Christmasey colours complete with ribbon and bells. The photos above are both of the same cosy... I just knitted it in two pieces and reversed the colours to emphasis how different something can look when using the same two colours in bi-tone honeycomb. My next design for the workshop is going to be a Santa hat in red and white...

 I've also been having some fun doing some other design work for J.O.Y. I'm working on creating two separate mini collections of patterns based on two designs (JOY and Doug) and I hope to release them in time for the first birthday celebrations of the shop in August.

Here you can see me working on a scarf which will form part of the JOY collection using the Vintage Purls sock yarn in the J.O.Y. colourway. The pattern is based on my Mother's favourite stitch which seems appropriate as I'm naming the collection after her.

 

We all like cutsey animal stories, myself included,  and I certainly had a big smile on my face after reading this story last week...

Two homosexual penguins have successfully hatched an egg that was rejected by its parents - and are now proudly rearing the chick.

Z and Vielpunkt, both males, gladly accepted their "Easter present"' and began straight away with hatching the egg," the zoo in Bremerhaven in northern Germany said.

"Both happy fathers are now diligently handling the everyday care . . . of their adopted offspring."

Z and Vielpunkt are part of a six-strong gay community among the zoo's endangered Humboldt penguins, who rose to fame in 2005 when four Swedish females were brought in an unsuccessful attempt to "cure" them.

I don't think there's any need for a cure... in fact Gay parenting seems to be quite the thing at the moment. Ian, Edward and I went to six films in the recent OutTakes film festival and the final film we saw was called 'Patrik, aged 1.5'. It was a heart warming Swedish film of a married gay couple who moved to the suburbs and were wanting to adopt a child. They thought they were getting a child aged 1.5 years but there was a typo in the records and what they got was an anti-social homophobic 15 year old with a history of attacking people with knives! I guess you're wondering where the heart warming part comes in but it does and the mixed audience gave the film a resounding round of applause at the end. I won't spoil the plot of the film for you in case you get the opportunity to see the fim so if you see it scheduled to screen near you... go and see it, it's a wonderful film and well worth seeing. But don't forget to take your glasses as the film is in Swedish with English subtitles.

Today is Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary... another of the 'firsts' we have to go through since Dad passed. I sent Mum a card and presents like I always do because I didn't see any reason not to. I also sent her a card and some lottery tickets from Dad... and the great thing was that she won $10 on the instant kiwi ticket... not enough money to think about retiring yet but as Dad would say "It's better than a kick in the Pants!" 

Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder

 

Isn't she lovely indeed! A week ago I made a quick trip up to Rotorua for a very special event... my Grandmother's birthday. What made it even more special was that it was her 90th birthday! Here she is carving up her decadent rich chocolate cake. I was also touched to see the necklace see was wearing, I had given it to her for her birthday fifteen years ago. I spotted it at the Christchurch Art Centre and had to buy it for her, it's made from mauve hand dyed silk twisted into balls. For something so fragile I'm amazed at how well it has lasted.

Anne-Marie was asking how my Mother was doing... well this photo tells the story. Here is Mum with Grannie at the birthday lunch. Mum is doing well but is still having a few difficulties adjusting to life without Dad. I know how she feels!

 

  Here I am with Grannie and my gorgeous cousin Julie. I'm wearing a jersey because it was a freezing cold day I wore this particular one because I knew that Grannie would be wearing her burgundy suit. There's nothing like being a co-ordinated family!

 

After the party I spent a couple of days with Mum at her place in Hamilton. On the way back I drove through the central plateau and here we have photo's of Lake Taupo, the Desert Road and Mount Ruapehu... covered in cloud. The weekend snow fall had melted but it was still a very cold and wet seven hour drive home.

 

Time for an update on the UNICEF "Unite for Mother's" Charity knitting project. Here we have my boss Karen and I presenting Sarah from UNICEF with all the blankets we knitted.

 

I promoted the project at my work (PSIS) and got several people at Head Office and in the branches knitting squares for the cause. I spent my lunch hours helping people with their knitting and sewing up the squares and used my train commute and evenings knitting squares, including a PSIS square for each blanket. The response was so overwhelming that we were able to present eleven blankets to UNICEF, my one, one from the Friday Night Sock Club, and nine from PSIS staff. It was the ultimate example of how kind and generous knitter's can be. The blankets have since been distributed to needy families in Papua New Guinea. On the left is the blanket of 25 individual squares I knitted. In the centre is a photo of all eleven blankets we were able to contribute. On the right is a closeup of one of the blankets with the PSIS square standing out.

Help - The Beatles

With winter on it's way (yesterday's delightful southerly was proof of that!) the season of charity knitting is upon us.

Yesterday I was contacted by Sarah who is the International Advocacy Manager for UNICEF NZ  and asked if I could help or participate in this great project...

 

It really couldn't be any easier to participate... all you have to do is knit or crochet a 20×20cm square and post or drop it in to UNICEF by Friday 1st May.  They require 1,400 squares.  1,400 represents the number of new HIV infections in children under 15 every day, mostly as a result of mother to child transmission.  The squares will be stitched into a giant ‘baby blanket’ which will be handed to MPs who are Mothers as a symbolic gesture this Mother’s Day. (Mother's Day is of course Sunday, May 10th this year... but I'm sure you all knew that already)

Following this the blanket will be separated into smaller baby blankets and will be sent to Papua New Guinea to babies and children who need them this Winter.

Please let Unicef know how many squares you plan to knit by emailing takeaction@unicef.org.nz  by phoning 0800 243 575 (NZ only) or (+64) (04) 496 9610.

Visit their web site http://unicef.org.nz/page/260/UniteforMothers.html to download the instructions on how to make your square (For knitter's it's easy, just use 6mm needles and double knit yarn, cast on 32 stitches and knit every row... yes that's right - garter stitch - you can do it with your eyes closed!) and where to post the squares to. For those of you in the Wairarapa you can drop any squares off at my place and I will take them into Wellington for you.

This is a great cause but with a very tight deadline. Please do what you can to help, even if it is justing knitting one square or donating some yarn from your stash to someone who can knit it up for you. Or how about this as an idea... phone your Mother and ask her to knit a square with you. It would be a perfect Mother/Child project to do together.

I have pledged to knit 25 squares (who needs sleep) myself which will be enough to make one of the mini blankets. I completed one square last night and have started on the second so I'm 5% of the way to my goal already... perhaps I will get some sleep in the next 10 days after all.

And don't forget to phone your Mother on Mother's Day... without her the world wouldn't a better place because of you being in it.

Survivor - Destiny's Child

Here is very brief story which made it onto the front page of Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper earlier this week...

SURVIVOR KNITS IN THE RUBBLE

An elderly Italian woman has told of knitting to pass the time as she waited 30 hours to be rescued from earthquake rubble.

The 98-year-old, who also did some crocheting, is one of at least three survivors found as the toll rose to 250.

 It just goes to show that a true knitter always has a project on hand no matter what the circumstances. I can certainly say that with all the train delays on the Wairarapa line recently I've managed to get more knitting done than expected and I can confirm that it's helping me get through the emotional rubble I've been stuck in for the past couple of months.

These Are The Days - Jamie Cullum

   

In the past week I've made some good progress on a pair of sock's I'm making for Malcolm, the husband of my sexy cousin Pauline. I'm using a casmere merino sock yarn from The Knittery and the colourway is called Earth which is a mix of brown, green and teal.. Malcolm has bad circulation in his feet so when Pauline asked me to knit him a pair of socks I went for the warmest looking yarn I had in the shop. The dye pattern has thrown up this amazing teal coloured lightning bolt and I'm liking it so much I may even knit myself a pair.

 

This weekend I decided to have another go at yarn dyeing. One of the sock competition categories advertised for this year's Knitters Weekend is a sock knitted in yarn you've dyed yourself. I had an idea in my mind of what I wanted to achieve and as usual what I ended up with was competely different... that's the great thing about being a novice dyer! I'm calling this colour "Fancy a drink" because I've dyed it using my favourite hot drinks... Blackcurrant, tea, milo and coffee (well I don't actually drink coffee but I thought it fitted in with the concept). After I finish malcolm's socks I'll make a start on knitting up this yarn into a pair of socks for myself.

 

This morning Ian came up to me with his hands behind his back and said he had something for me and to close my eyes and hold my hands out... sometimes this can be a rather exciting precursor to other things and other times it's something quite unexpected. Today he told me he was giving me a flower... it was rather sweet but what landed in my hands was... wait for it... a cauliflower from our garden. In a saving grace this 'gift' was quickly followed up by these roses and another treat from the garden, some silverbeet. It tasted fantastic with our dinner.

 

Speaking of treats my friend Anne Marie (from Philly) sent through a wonderful selection of buttons, collected by her and her knitting group,  for me to forward on to the Moriah school in Wellington. The school is collecting buttons to symbolise all the children who died in the holocaust... that means 1.5 million. This colourful collection will be very gratefully received. Also included in the package were some delicious chocolates... I would have shown a photo of them but they seem to have disappeared... OK so they haven't disappeared... Ian and I ate them all!

    

There was also another package of buttons in the package. These ones were made by a member of Anne Marie's knitting group, Regina. They are handcrafted from reclaimed and recycled clay and look amazing. Regina has a small business called Nature Buttons so check out her website... I'm sure you'll be tempted to make a purchase.

 

I'll leave you with this cute picture of Jazz in the shop... he thought that the sale bin of Opal was just the right spot to have a sleep this afternoon!