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.

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! 

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! 

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?

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.....