Onward To Ulverstone - 2015 Tour Part II

Hitting the streets of Ulverstone in search of yarny goodies with my sister-in-law and we needed look no further than.....

The staff were all hands on deck and ready and willing. So helpful and knowledgeable, we only had to show interest in a yarn and they were able to show us a knitted garment in the same. They had advice about needles, patterns and everything in between. 

Everything our hearts desired...

cotton, alpaca, merino, silk, polymides, sock yarns, slubby yarns, Noro, free patterns....

And that's not all!

Quilting, fabrics, embroidery...

All types of crafting supplies!

They also had a basket of lucky dips for $2 that went straight to the Cancer Council.

This added to the fun of the day and the girls really loved the idea and got some great bargains for their gold coin

Reels of cotton, patchwork squares, needles and more....

Cranberry Crafts were incredibly generous and donated six prizes for our lucky draws on the bus.

Have you had enough yarning yet?

Well here's one more...

Thank you Cranberry Crafts.

You guys were amazing!

xxx

The girls then shopped and made some discoveries in the gift shops and split up to enjoy lunch in one of the many cafes. My posse of three highly recommend Furners Hotel and their fabulous $10 lunch menu.

Time to board the bus and find out where Neil will take us next....

. 

Yarn Tour 2015 - Part I

All aboard with our driver Neil. The sun is shining, the morning is crisp and everyone is in high spirits.

Everyone boards with a bag containing their charity knit instructions, a ball of yarn, map of our destination and a lucky door ticket. We had lots of prizes along the way.

Our first stop on our tour this year was Deloraine.

We had morning tea beside the swift flowing Meander River before making away across the road to the Alpaca Shop.

The shop is run on a roster basis by the fleece producers and each yarn has provenance attached to it, they know which animal it has come from, by name.

There are many already spun yarns to choose from and they also carry a large range of dyes so you can custom dye your own fibre. If you are a spinner, then you have a large choice of fleece. 

Alpaca is so light compared to sheep fleece but also incredibly warm. The latest venture for the producers is blankets that are being woven for them at the famous Waverley Woollen Mill in Launceston. They also stock alpaca doonas and I think alpaca blankets are ideal for elderly and small children as they are so light. When my grandson sleeps here he has an alpaca doona and he sleeps snug and warm all night, and we have certainly had some freezing nights here lately!

So much to choose from but we are on a tight schedule. I noticed a few of the ladies opting for some dye kits but I chose a beautiful grey alpaca yarn for a vest for my grandson.

Back on the bus and time for some show and tell.

I just loved this scarf/necklace that Kylie made from yarn purchased at The Stash Cupboard on our trip last year. She made five long knitted strips of different widths using a knitting loom and then three small loops fastened in the front like yarn beads. It was a great way to showcase the yarn.

It looks striking on the black but it looked equally handsome on Kylie's fuchsia and purple outfit.

And onwards we travel....

Yarn Lovers Tour- Northern Tasmanian Trip

It's on again!

We had so much fun last year we are going on another knitting/crochet day tour (or quilting as the places we are visiting also cross-over with quilt shops too).

If you are local in and around the Launceston area or from the south and want to be introduced to the delights of the northern yarn lovers come join us.

We leave Launceston on Saturday

13th June 2015

at

9am

from the Brickfields Park, Canning St side

We'll be travelling to Deloraine first where we sill stop at the Alpaca Shop and have a talk with producers and spinners about the benefits of alpaca fibre. 

We will also have morning tea here.

Our lunch stop will be in beautiful Ulverstone where there are many cafe choices or you may decide to pack your own lunch and give yourself more time for shopping.

While in Ulverstone we will be visiting 

Cranberry Crafts

Sew and Wool

Under the Oak

  

for some hand spun and hand dyed yarns and a large range of commercial produced yarn as well.

Along the way we'll be having a charity knit-a-long to make a blanket and lucky door prizes.

We are not for profit. Just a bunch of ladies (most of us don't know each other) getting together with a shared passion and having a day out.

The cost is $30

This covers the hire of the coach and driver for the day and morning tea is provided. Lunch is buy or pack your own. We recommend you bring a bottle of water and a pair of needles or crochet hook suitable for 8ply eg: 4mm. Most of the ladies also bring along their current projects to work on during travel.

Send me an email if you would like to come. The more the merrier (and the plusher the coach!)

Here is our Facebook event page link

pattern and yarn notes

Wild Wool and Silks - Yarn Tour Part IV

You could be forgiven for mistaking this as a knitting blog but it does become a bit of a past time round here in the winter. So we bid Hobart a fond farewell and climbed back on the bus and travelled an hour north of Hobart along the Midlands Hwy to historic Oatlands, home of the (still working) flour mill (recently restored).

Oatlands is very much like Ross and remains mostly untouched by modern paraphernalia, maintaining it's original sandstone and clipped hedges streetscape. As you can see, our beautiful mild winters day morphed into an equally mild and cloudless sky afternoon. The day was picture perfect.

Opening especially for us was the "Lucky Ewe" shop, and again, a shop quite different to the previous shops at Ross and Hobart. 

Though it is probably smaller than my lounge room, it certainly is Aladdin's cave for yarn lovers, especially weavers, spinners, dyers and felters. Above is a selection of yarn dyes.

Colourful roving and hand spun. 

(and beautiful ancient floor boards)

Gorgeous silks among the woollier yarns.

I bought this silk mix for my mother. Rich vibrant golden colours.

and these sea greens for me! 

But what I was most excited to see was the "wild yarns". Hand spun merino with possum and wallaby fur, bound together with a fine silk thread. So soft and warm.

This is knitting up beautifully into a cowl for Craig when he is on the bike.

Pattern here on Ravelry

(The beautiful stitch markers were a thank you gift from one of the ladies on the bus. So beautiful)

And a hank of Jenmark Alpaca, a local alpaca fleece yarn grown just north of Hobart.

So soft and luxurious. I haven't got a project in mind yet but I just had to have it.

And more unique Tasmanian knitting needles from Tasmanian Forest Beads, made from Tas oak with Huon pine, myrtle and eucalypt burl. The larger ones look like horizontal scrub knobs.

Plenty of great gifts for knitters here!

Again we would like to thank Rowena for specially opening and for the goodies she gave us for our gift bags too. Such a unique little shop and if you can't get to Tasmania to visit it then check out her facebook page here or her site here

The tour was deemed great fun and we are planning to do another in autumn next year. This time we will travel the north west way probably late April early May. Vogue Knitting tours, eat your heart out!

The Stash Cupboard Hobart - Yarn Tour Part III

Seriously, the name says it all!

Eermahguurd!

(And PS check out that gorgeous original pressed tin ceiling of the street awning!)

We hit the Stash Cupboard in Hobart with full force. Thank you ladies for staying open and looking after such a crazy-for-yarn hoard.

I know y'all probably got a big ole yarn shop where you come from but we were just a pack of silly giggly campers when we walked in. I really thought I was prepared mentally with my projects and what yarn I was looking for but I was truly overwhelmed and just like a hunting hound dog I had to circle that whole place twice giving it a good sniff before I could settle in for some specific choices. Apparently I wasn't the only one. "Overwhelmed" was a phrase repeated by many describing their first foray into the shop.

Yarn was set out in fibre types and the white fixturing made the colours pop! Plenty of knitted display garments and quirky, energetic displays.

There is a space for social knitting and also a computer so you can look up Ravelry and even a print to print your patterns! They regularly have guest designers and knitting classes too.

Over by the door next to the register is a big yarn winder set up so you can convert your hanks/skeins easily to ball before you go home.

Seriously, yum,yum,yum. Oh and the pattern book range. 

I had just enough time for a comfort stop and a sandwich before it was back on the bus.

Thank you to Penni from the Stash Cupboard for our extra give aways and lucky dip fun.

It was here that we left our box of donated knits for the Women's Shelter too. 

The Stash Cupboard is right in the middle of Hobart at 159 Liverpool St and they have a great facebook page too.

It's 2pm and time to get back on that bus.....

Knitting/Crochet Tour 2014 Tas Midlands

I'm currently organising a Knitting/Crochet Bus Tour.

Our focus theme is yarn and we plan to leave Launceston by 9am Saturday 6th September returning by 5pm. Our first stop will be the Wool Centre in Ross where we will also have a quick morning tea before a tour of the wool museum and a chat about White Gum wool grown in the midlands right here in Tassie.

On the journey people can either work on their own projects or participate in a mystery knit/crochet.

I also hope people will take the opportunity to have some one on one coaching with each other and learn techniques like; sewing up garments, i-cord binding, heel turning and different casting methods.

Our next stop will be Hobart for a drool at the Stash Cupboard and some lunch

Then back on the bus and returning via historic Oatlands to visit Lucky Ewe fibre specialists. I'm particularly keen to see the Tasmanian merino blends with possum fur and wallaby hair. They also have alpaca, silk and supplies for spinners too.

After all that we should be almost at saturation point and looking forward to a night of dreaming of what we will do with our stash.

It's a not for profit trip and we are doing it on a budget, so there will be a lucky "door" prize but nothing in the kitty for goodie bags I'm afraid. We will also have a charity box on board for knits for the women's shelter in Hobart. I've hired a coach and the cost is $30 per person. I'll provide morning tea (with a little help from my friend Cindy) but lunch is byo. There are only five seats left and if you would like to secure a spot message me straight away for details.

Here is the link for the event 

(There has been much excitement and I am already planning the next trip in autumn 2015, a tour of the north west Tas yarn shops)