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.....

Surely not!

I'm not sure when or how it happened but at some point in the last few months I seem to have crossed an invisible line. At first I thought it was a random happening but it now occurs on a regular basis. Somehow, I have become a person for whom people relinguish their seats on buses.

Now I don't wish to sound ungrateful and I am very pleased that there are so many well brought up people around but it is a little unnerving. How can the energetic, youthful person that I am inside look as though I need to sit down?

Postcard from New Zealand

We had a wonderful time in New Zealand, although it seems a long time ago now. But with limited access to the internet and limited time, I didn't manage to blog about the trip. So here is the potted version.

We flew into Wellington at the start of the trip. After picking up the car and grabbing a late lunch we headed for Karori. Just as we got there, a massive storm blew up and the temperature plummeted. Welcome to Windy Wellington indeed! My cousin's three children were pleased to see me and we had a lovely evening catching up on all the news. Actually - not sure whether the children were more interested in me or my iPhone but I was happy to see them again. The next day we visited Te_Papa , found a yarn shop for me and a tackle shop for R. And the weather improved although it was a still a little chilly. The youngest asked me to teach him to knit. I don't think he quite grasped it but he smiled his devastating smile at me and said that he was "finding it very relaxing"!

We then headed off to Martinborough. What a great little town - we loved it.

Fabulous wineries, good food and very friendly people. We visited a couple of wineries and Olivo where we bought some amazing olive oil. A wander through the Wairarapa and on to my aunt in Taupo.

My aunt is my mother's youngest sister and we were always very close when I was growing up. This visit there were no shocking family revelations and we had a good time catching up. I really like Taupo althought I'm not sure I would want to live there. We went to the Orakei Korako geothermal park and then for a spin (literally) on the Huka_Falls Jetboat.

After a detour via Tauranga we headed up to Whangapareo, just north of Auckland. Here we were looked after in fine style by an ex-Navy colleague of R's. They went fishing early Saturday morning and caught a few snapper which we had for supper. Our hosts prepared them in lemon juice with chopped onion, tomato and coconut milk - delicious!

On Sunday it was back to Auckland to have coffee with my other kiwi cousin, then on to the airport and home. And yes - there was some yarn acquisition!

Knitters in knots

Last Saturday saw us (as the erstwhile self-styled magic president would say) at the AGM of the NSW Knitters Guild. Now you wouldn't think that something as genteel as knitting would generate such heated debate and engender such deeply felt emotions. I guess that when you get a group of people together for whatever purpose, then divudes can open and the original common purpose get forgotten.

We were told not to talk about the AGM so I can't tell you about the grossly improper behaviours that occurred. Nor can I comment on the travesty of the "election" of the office bearers. I have since heard that there were even more improprieties during the nomination process than we understood. It seems that the President herself opened the nomination papers and, upon seeing who had nomonated for what position, then persuaded other people to also nominate for those positions. The Returning Officer was not allowed to fulfil her role of impartially overseeing the process and the Executive Committee later voted on the validity of the nominations despite the fact that there was a clear conflict of interest.

At the end of this debacle, we have a new committee and a new president who is committed to ensuring fair, equitable and accountable governance. It is a shame that they weren't permitted to go through the proper election process as I know that they would have got massive support from the ordinary members. The people who, after all, supposed to be what the Guild is all about.