The Bicheno Jumper

This is the third version of this jumper I have made and it won't be the last.

My nephew has been visiting from QLD and on wet Campbell Town day we drove east for an hour to find a sunny coast and enjoy the BEST fish and chips at The Gulch in Bicheno.

The boys bought some bait and ties their hooks while I found a sheltered spot for me and my needles. The yarn reflected perfectly the land, sea, stone and sky of the area, so I have called this jumper "Bicheno"

I love the texture and lines rich from the patterning and the unique spin.

I did play a bit of yarn chicken with this one (again!) and I lost. The solid gold edging the collar testifies to the 7 or 8 metres I was short!

Julien has a strong personality and can pull it off though.

My Ravelry project notes are here

The pattern can be found here.

Wee Sheep Vest

When I'm not outside,

I'm in inside,

and mostly knitting.

The pattern is called 

Wee Sheep Vest and is available to purchase here

I loved this lovely hand dyed DK yarn though it turned my hands black.

It's a beautiful variegated green/steel/grey but apparently....

Master Four felt desperate for something like a rainbow.

The heart wants what the heart wants...

It's a good easy pattern and as you can see versatile with clear instructions and six different size options so I'll definitely get the value from the pattern.

I buy all my patterns through Ravelry now (and there are thousands available for free also) as I can purchase single patterns that I really want rather than a book full of ones I don't and it means they are always in my virtual library and available anywhere I'm knitting on the go.

May Days

May passed in a blur for me. Work was extremely hectic and I was getting things prepped for the Campbell Town Show. The highlight of May for me was Mother's Day which we spent at Clarendon. It was a superb day of exhibition, skill share and garden stalls etc. They are making it an annual event and I think I will too. We celebrated the day together and there was no cooking or washing up and all the ladies really appreciated that!

The leaf turning this year has been long and lustrous. The crab apple has done a full leaf drop this year so I am expecting a big blossom flush and lots of fruit. The leaves, though a nuisance for some, have been raked often and placed atop garden beds preparing for sleep through the winter. My folly, the Tahitian Lime, has been swaddled in frost cloth and we shall see how she fares in spring.

The quince thicket that provided shelter and cool relief in summer for the hens in the yard has fully leaf dropped and allows in the warming sunlight shafts of the lowered trajectory path of the winter sun. Our handsome black Australorp cockerel, acquired in late summer, is out of quarantine and in full health and minding his flock. He is very attentive to his ladies, finding tid-bits and sharing them and pointing them out. Keeping a watchful eye on their progress round the paddock and calls me raucously when I fail to come down early enough to spread the feed!

Autumn is also the time of rodents! The mice especially have been in large numbers this year, trying to move inside to the warmth. The crows, kookaburras and other prey eating birds have moved into the garden, watching and swooping. Rabbits have moved into the paddock too and we catch them from time to time. They are skun and popped into the freezer and we keep out eyes peeled for mushrooms down in the pine tree corner.

It is the time to safely light the bon-fire and clean up garden debris, young and old enjoying the cold at their back and the warmth on their faces. Jumpers and boots are our uniform now for the next several months while the snows cling to the mountains and the washing is permanently ranged around the heater. 

Great nights for knitting and here is one I've just finished for Julien.

It's a favourite pattern I use and is available 

here.

A lot of it is knit in the round and is quite quick with lot's of stimulating, yet uncomplicated, pattern changes. I use DK/8ply pure wool and 4mm needles. This was one of my entries in the show but it didn't place but I'll try again as Julien will need another one next year! You can view my project from last year on Ravelry here

Gift Planning

I know there is three months till Christmas (don't groan) but I am starting my planning now.

Handmade takes time so I have to line my projects up and have some sort of time frame in place.

This year we are excited to have our travellers returned after three years roaming so it will be a special time having all the family home.

I'm planning to do the knit projects now rather than later as I notoriously loose interest in knitting when the weather warms and I have a couple of sewing projects in mind for later.

This is something I'm working on for Ted and we'll have to keep it a secret. I spotted the yarn some months ago and knew straight away that they were her colours. It pays to have a vague plan for your gift box all through the year so when you spot things you can ferret them away for the right moment, saving anxiety, time and usually always money.

Now is also a good time to plan cuttings or sow seeds for garden gifts.  

Do share your ideas and plans here to inspire us.

Yarn Tour Tasmania 2016

Last Saturday I had the honour once again to crisscross Tasmania's Midlands with 35 yarn lovers. Some came from as far as Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria.

Picture This....

Two days before

The midlands was covered with snow, winds gusting up to 100km/hr and I was convinced I was going to die with tonsillitis.

The Mill - Oatlands

Happily this is the land of the great changeable weather and Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin so we had a sparkling Tasmanian winter day with only a light breeze and lots of sunny faces.

Our first stop was just a few kilometres outside Ross to see some sheep shearing at the historic property of Beaufront. 

It was a really special opportunity for people to see inside a very large, working and historic shearing shed. To experience the labyrinth of pens and ancient timbers greased by the lanolin of years of sheep.

The long rows of machinery overhead that drives each shearer's stand. The skill and infrastructure required and the complexity of sheep farming. Within the constraints of limited time they touched on animal welfare, stock value, the tight-rope walk of nutrition, pasture, lambing and final product. It's important for consumers to know that the end product they use is a result of a complex process requiring many hands, skill sets and months to accomplish - and that's BEFORE it even gets to the wool processing stage of cleaning spinning dyeing etc.

Time is fleeting and we must push on...

After the shed tour and shearing demo it was a "rustic" morning tea back at the bus with carrot cake, apricot and pumpkin seed cake, date slice and chocolate chip cookies.

A very special thank you to Julian and Annabell Von Bibra for their kind hospitality, their generous spirit and warm welcome at beautiful Beaufront.

Hobart street planters & Lucky Ewe yarns

We now head to Hobart to visit The Stash Cupboard and some of us even stop for lunch.

Stash Cupboard yarns

Along the way we had lots of games like, Greyhounds and Racehorses, Heads and Tails and lucky draws and raffles.

One of our prizes was a special commission piece of textile art made by the very talented Claire from Sweet Birdy Love

Lots of yarn goodness and fabulous embroidered hand towels, washers and other textiles kindly donated by my step-mother in Queensland. XXX And two gift vouchers for the yarn stores up for grabs!

Our next stop is a firm favourite with the tour adventurers, it's The Lucky Ewe in Oatlands. Nestled in this quaint historic Georgian sandstone village is a teeny tiny shop PACKED with all sorts of yarns and associated textile crafting. They stock 18.5 micron superfine merino wool, alpaca, angora, cashmere, silk, possum, wallaby....

She stocks dyes, kits, tools, roving, needles, hooks and miles of unique hand spun, hand dyed goodness. 

It is always exciting and a real treat. Everyone got a gift and Rowena gave us another two special gifts for prize draws on the way home as well.

There are so many people to thank and not the least of those is Jack's Coaches of Longford and our driver Neil on his third tour of duty, always obliging, and patiently waiting with a smile on his face.

I also need to thank the ladies themselves for the continued support, enthusiasm and friendship.

Especially my SIL Leeann and my friend Cindy who chip in at every opportunity and also contribute to our delicious home cooked morning teas.

Big love to Vanessa who takes all the photos and helps record our day in style (because we are all waaayy too busy shopping for anything else).

Having this much fun is seriously simple and requires only a little effort. The only trick is to get the right number to cover your cost. A day spent in camaraderie with like minded people is so good for the soul. Just do it! 

A Story From Scrap

This is a scrap blanket made by my paternal grandmother. As a knitter/crocheter of many years I know how yarn scraps retain memories for me of projects past and I so wish I could ask Grandma the individual stories of these squares.

If we look at it from an anthropological view point, the blanket does reveal a story of place, life and times, with a little help from my limited knowledge.

For a start, it's size. It measures 1m x 1,2m and is intended as a "knee rug". In QLD the winters are not bitter and certainly not long, the houses are built primarily for coolness in the longer hotter temperatures, Knee rugs were just the thing for a couple of months of the year sitting in the lounge room watching TV or reading and they were also handy for car travel before heaters were common place.

Although I have no doubt my grandmother acquired some scrap yarn, I can guarantee most of it came from previous projects. The range and amount of colours shows that she was a prolific knitter/crocheter as many had to be in order to clothe family and provide household necessities, like tea cosies and toys etc.

The yarns can be dated by their colours and say a lot about fashions in different decades. I suspect these yarns date from the 1930s to the 1950s. It also shows a consistency of ply and fibre commonly used in that era.

It speaks of an era that wasted nothing and used every scrap.

An era where many garments were home made right down to socks and singlets. Of fishing berets, baby layettes, trendy twin sets and smart toddler play clothes.

Of socks in all sizes and some for the boys at the war front.

It speaks of industriousness even in the down time of sitting. 

This blanket also tells a story of quality dyeing and wool spinning in Australia. The colours still beautiful and unique in every hue and shade, set in individual glory by pure black borders that have not faded with time either.

I'm guessing that the yarn is all 4ply in the old language and she would have used a 2,5mm hook.

When my 2 yr old grandson visits we often sit side by side on the couch under this rug and I tell him proudly of his great great grandma Murray who knit this blanket and I talk about the colours and how the blues of this square are like the beaches at the coast and that square of stormy greys are like clouds....

Stories upon stories.

Yarn Tour 2016

I love this pattern so much I'm going to make one in every size. It comes in a boy and a girl version and can be perused, purchased and downloaded here $6.50USD.

The body is knit in the round until the arms and then split and worked front and back with a sew at the shoulders. 

 

I was being very frugal and using up scrap so ran out of the lighter coloured wool for the sleeves. In the pattern the sleeves are in the same design as the body however I chose to go a bit plainer using up the wool I had and I don't mind this version at all. You can find my project notes here on Ravelry.

I'm getting the posse together again and we are doing another yarn tour Tasmania on 16th July. We will be touring from Launceston to Hobart with a stop at historical Ross on the way down and then into The Lucky Ewe in Oatlands on the way back. Everyone is welcome but we are limited to coach numbers so it's first in with payment to secure your booking. Please feel free to contact me via comments or email this page or our facebook events page in the link above.

You can find our event page here and keep up to date with the info and shenanigans. This year we have yarn enthusiasts joining us from QLD and Victoria! 

Knitted Silk

My mother is allergic to wool so for Christmas I have knitted her a scarf in silk. This should be very comfortable next to her skin and it has lovely drape. It could even be used as a table runner really.

The pattern is "Fern Lace Scarf" by Knitting Pixie and is available as a FREE download on Ravelry.

I've used a combination of two different hand dyed silks that I purchased from

The Lucky Ewe in Oatlands

The pattern is a very easy repeat over 12 rows. Admittedly, it was much easier if I put the knitting down at row 12 and I did have to unpick a couple of times because I forgot where I was at sometimes. My yarn was about sport weight so I used 4.5mm needles. It is not a very long scarf but certainly enough to knot in front. I am very happy with the end result and the pattern really showcases the yarns lovely textures and colour variations.

My Ravelry link here

One More Stop - Yarn Tour 2015 Part III

After lunch and a bit more shopping Neil drove us to Camp Clayton by the sea where luck would have it, the Handweavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild of Tasmania were holding a weekend retreat.

we walked into a hive of yarn crafting activity but unfortunately we were running out of steam on the photo taking front.

Outside there were several trestles set up with ladies dyeing using various methods with their pots and electric frypans set up and pots of colours. Very exciting, especially for the girls who had bought dye kits back in Deloraine.

There was also a felting workshop where they were hard at it with rollers and bubble wrap and towels, creating bags, jewellery, hats...

Inside lots and lots of spinners. Someone in the group commented on how they all seemed in a state of Zen. We had one man on the bus in our group and he was quite keen to try spinning.

The ladies were so very welcoming and sharing and we could have stayed much longer but if these tourers were going to have an ice cream before home we needed to hit the road again. The guild is very active and has lots of calender events, retreats and workshops in wonderful locations so do check the link above if you are interested. I know the wilderness fibre crafting weekend in February 2016 in Tullah captured the interest of some of our group.

Heading home we stopped at the famous chocolatier house of  D'anvers for some treats. I quite enjoyed my chilli chocolate ice cream.

By now we are on the home straight and everyone's needles are flashing as they try to finish their charity knit blanket squares. It has been decided that they will be sewn into cot blankets to go to the Sunshine Foundation orphanage in Nepal.

I would like to say a big thank you to Heather for organising the charity knit and to Margaret for helping with the delicious morning tea and thanks to Vanessa for taking some photos for me so I could be everywhere at once!

Thank you to Jack's Bus service for providing such a comfortable coach and obliging driver - We love you Neil! and a MASSIVE thank you to Cranberry Crafts and Art Viva for their prizes that they donated too. And finally to the dear ladies of the Guild for their open welcome and inspiring demonstrations.

Hmmm....I wonder what next year will bring?

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....

.