October Tally

So, another month draws to a close and it's time to reconcile the yarn ledger.


Off the needles:
- 1 skein Needlefood Sock yarn Lollipop (Diagonal Lace Socks )
- 1 skein Knitabulous merino sock Hyacinth (Travellling Woman sort of off the needles)
- 1 skein Knitabulous Fifty - Fifty (Springtime Bandit)



Out (as a result of the inaugural stash reallocation) is a total of 45 skeins of yarn. I was going to itemise it all here but hey, that would be incredibly boring.



So that's all good news! Now the not-so-good news:






This is most of the inward yarn. There are one or two (OK, make that five) additional skeins that arrived courtesy of the Stash Reallocation, the first shipment of the Needlefood sock club and the Lush Yarns store update. Oh yes - and 10 balls of Morris and Sons Paddington - what can you do when there's a sale on?

However, I reckon I am still Yarn Neutral. Now I really must get on with knitting this wonderful haul!

Spring! Sprung!!

Over the last few days, I've felt that Spring is finally here. Daylight Savings has helped but the weather is also better and things just feel a bit more optimistic and full of possibilities. Of course, I was brought up with Spring happening at the other end of the year. I loved seeing the primroses and snowdrops appear but my favourite wild flowers were bluebells.

I bought a large bunch at the Orange Grove Markets the other day. When I was a child, you were still allowed to pick them and the woods near our home were carpeted in the most amazing blue blooms. I think that's why I like jacaranda trees so much - they remind me of my childhood.

I also finished and blocked Springtime Bandit - and didn't run out of yarn this time.

What a great pattern - I loved knitting it and the Knitabulous Fifty-fifty yarn was wonderful to knit with.

Of course, Spring means spring cleaning. So we had the inaugural Stash re-allocation last Saturday. It was a great afternoon with lots of lovely yarn to drool over, bubbles to drink, yummy food and knitting time with good friends. I have already been outed by Rosered as the owner of the suitcase (it was a small cabin bag, people) full of yarn. I did manage to come away Yarn Neutral from that exercise but can't guarantee that I will maintain that status for the rest of the month particularly as Morris_and_Sons have a big sale on.

Long Weekend

Last weekend we (in NSW) had a public holiday on the Monday. On Saturday afternoon, we (R & I) drove to Canberra as he has finally conceded that driving a bus is not the best use of his abilities and he is returning to his previous public service job whilst waiting for a transfer to Sydney.





On Sunday morning we had breakfast and then headed to the Old-Bus-Depot-Markets in Kingston. We had a lovely time browsing the stalls and bought some delicious cheese and bread, some fruit, handmade cards and vintage buttons:

Then we set off for Hall and lunch at the_Poacher's_Pantry. I had heard a lot about this place when I worked in Canberra but had never managed to get there so it was a real treat. Sadly, I forgot my camera so don't have any photos to remind me of the lovely lunch we enjoyed

On Monday we went to the Canberra Centre - a little retail therapy and a movie. Then a walk around the lake (to work off some of the indulgences of the day before) managing to get back before the rainstorm rolled in.

On the knitting front, I finished some Cranford fingerless mittens for a work colleague who had admired the pair I made for my daughter

and cast on Springtime_Bandit.

I'm using Knitabulous Fifty - Fifty and love how it's knitting up.

Yarn neutral stash

Did I mention I was on a strict yarn diet? As anyone with any experience of dieting knows, a reduction in size results when the output exceeds the input. If the input exceeds the output then the size increases. Should the input equal the output then the status quo is maintained or, as I like to think of it, we have a neutral position. So my personal yarn trading scheme means that so long as the output is equal to (or greater than) the input then I have a yarn neutral stash.




Input last month (after my return from overseas because obviously, holiday stash doesn't count):


1 skein Knitabulous Silken thread "Little Boy Blue

1 skein Lush yarn lace weight "Cider"




Output:


1 skein Knitabulous merino sock yarn (Travelling woman - now stalled)

2 part balls Grignasco Baby merino (Cranford mitts)

1 skein Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Winterberry (destashed)

1 skein Knittery 8 ply DK: Silk Merino Mountain Berry (destashed)

1 skein Liberty D Quixote Persephone (destashed)

4 balls Rowan Kid Silk Night Thunder (destashed)




With the first phase of the stash reallocation project scheduled for later this month, I am hopeful of maintaining a yarn neutral status - because I can resist everything except temptation!

Oops! I did it again......

Ran out of yarn, that is.

You will have observed that there has been a dearth of knitting activity since I got back from my trip. I decided that the Knitabulous Merino sock yarn that had been trying to become Boteh was, in fact, wanting to be a (ravlink) Travelling-Woman shawl. So I cast it on and all was going well. Until I came to cast off and, forty stitches short of the end of the row, I've run out of yarn.

I'm not sure that I'm all that enamoured of the shape as it seems rather shallow and wide, although I guess that blocking would improve it. I have a few options:

1. See if anyone has a few metres of the yarn to spare



2. Throw myself on Ailsa's mercy



3. Add a border in a contrasting colour (this has some appeal)



4. Frog it

If I were to knit this again I would increase the plain section and possibly knit it in a simple lacy stitch. And I think that it is probably better knit in a silkier yarn although it does show off the colours of this yarn quite beautifully.

Bobb's present

Whenever I go to the UK I visit Harrods. I can't stand the shop but it does have an excellent Pet Department and we always bring back a present (or two) for Bobb. Bobb is a Kelpie / Ridgeback cross with a smattering of German Shepherd. We got him from the RSPCA eleven years ago and he is a highly intelligent, much loved member of the family.

So last Saturday I took him some of his presents (the rest are being saved for Christmas so I can't mention them here).

It's from Sniffany's, of course.

He finally found the squeaky bit.

More yarn

I have to confess that there was some yarn acquisition on my recent trip in addition to that mentioned earlier. And here it is:

I paid a visit to the LYS close to where my daughter lives. Avicraft is tucked away in a row of shops some distance from the main town centre. The shops are generally individually owned and not the major shopping chains which gives the area a more local feel. I had a lovely time chatting to Sharon and browsing through the yarns. I bought some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK which was on sale and hard to resist. It will be a cardi for my daughter.

During the many shopping trips in the quest for the Mother of the Groom outfit, I found myself in various branches of JohnLewis. John Lewis is a great department store and I love the way the floors are set out. Each store has a good haberdashery - don't you love that word? - department with a wide range of Rowan, Noro, Debbie Bliss and Aracaunia yarns. There were probably others but they were the ones I noticed most. I bought some Rowan Silky Tweed and some Wendy Happy bamboo blend sock wool.

I also succumbed to the Posh yarn online sale frenzy and scored (from left to right) some Esme merino sock yarn, Diana silk & merino lace weight and Miranda alpaca, silk and cashmere cobweb laceweight.

And now I am on a strict yarn diet but relishing planning projects to utilise all this yarn!