At last - some finished objects!

I didn't think that May had been any more productive than any other month but I do seem to have found time to finish some projects.

First up was the Green Leaves socks. The pattern was great but I stumbled over sewing up the toes. I don't find Kitchener stitch very intuitive - perhaps I need more practice?

Next was Clothilde. A very satisfying knit and - even better - used stashed yarn. Lush yarns merino / silk which is a lovely yarn to knit with.

Also finished - and blocked - is Alix's prayer shawl. Another satisfying knit and one which I think I would like to do again in a larger size and in heavier weight yarn. This also used some stashed yarn (Knitabulous merino sock) which had been knitted and frogged a couple of times.

There has been some stash acquisition. Some has been owned up to but there might have been a skein or two in addition to that acquired in Canberra. I start out with all good intentions of confessing my yarn acquisitions and even go so far as to photograph them but somehow never quite get around to publicly admitting to them. Yes - I am clearly in denial!

Canberra Capers

I flew down to Canberra on Friday evening to spend the weekend with R and, of course, to go to the very excellent Old Bus Depot Markets. This weekend was the Celebration of Wool.



We met up with some of the Sydney contingent on Saturday evening for dinner in Kingston. I wish I had got a photo of the sign in the restaurant forbidding us from standing on the tables, but I would have had to stand on a table to get it.....






Sunday was crisp and clear (at least in Kingston).

We had arranged to meet at 9.30 and here we are -

well, Margarita, Gemma, Catherine and me at any rate:





Randomknits had already tweeted that she and Knitabulous were by the mulled wine so we followed our noses

Pretty, pretty yarn! The stall looked great - very professional and really stood out amongst the others. I can't resist Ailsa's Fifty Fifty and so the aptly named "Vintage Lady" - a delicate pink -was purchased.




On the upper level, I came across another fantastic looking stall - Buttontree Lane and Fibrewebs.







I fell in love with the elephant print sack bags so one came home with me.

And some buttons from the button stall

There was so much lovely yarn and I looked, and fondled

but actually didn't buy much else.


I got a skein of Polwarth wool and
another of Polwarth wool & Silk from Tarndwarncoort . And some silk from Glenora which I forgot to photograph.

I trailed around after Margarita for a while and ran into a good friend which was an unexpected bonus. I caught up with Margarita and Tia before heading out to Lambert Vineyards for lunch and then the flight home to Sydney.

So I am feeling pretty good about the amount of yarn acquisition - I certainly came in well under budget. It was great to be amongst so many knitters and fibre enthusiasts. It was an inspiring morning seeing so many lovely projects on display on the stalls and on people at the markets. One advantage of the cooler Canberra climate is that it is perfect for shawls, scarves, cowls, mittens and hats!

A big weekend

It's been a great weekend but I am shattered!

Friday was a blur of activity as I repacked my suitcase after three days in Brisbane, fitted in a gym session, got my hair cut and headed off to the airport to fly to Melbourne. R flew down from Canberra and we met up for the trip to St Kilda. Friday evening we had dinner with his eldest son and his partner. Although we've been together for a while now, I hadn't met any of his children before now so this was fairly momentous and a little daunting for me. We had a lovely evening at Cicciolina. which was their choice but, serendipitously, one of my favourite restaurants.

On Saturday we had breakfast in St Kilda then caught the tram into the City for some shopping. In the evening it was the reason for our visit - the 60th birthday party of an ex-Navy colleague of R's. Several of his class mates and their partners were there and it was the first time I'd met any of them so again, a little daunting!

On Sunday we drove out to Croydon North to visit more long term friends of R. They have just moved there from Canberra and have taken on an enormous project to restore a beautiful but somewhat dilapidated early 1900's house and the Edna_Walling designed garden. I half expected to see Kevin_McCloud shaking his head over the folly of trying to restore such a property!

I've started so I'll finish.......one day

I haven't really felt very inspired by my knitting recently. I know that I am a resistant completer but I really do have too many projects sitting around waiting to be finished and perhaps this is impacting my ability to get excited and inspired by new projects. I seem to have the attention span of a gnat and am suffering from an inability to commit to a new project.



Skulking in the pending basket are:

• The Falling Leaves socks which are finished apart from one toe that needs to be Kitchener stitched.



• The two halves of All a Flutter need to be grafted together - but where are they?



• A Saroyan needing to be blocked and;



• Alix's Prayer Shawl - also needing blocking.

On the positive side, I did complete Lucy's Jacket - another Phazelia's Mitred Jacket.

I know that I just need to be disciplined and get on with it but instead I dither and delay and spent far too much time and money acquiring yet more yarn. Yarn that I hope will inspire me.....