Ding, ding, ding, we have a wiener! Kylie guessed it correctly, my new project is a Kim Hargreaves design. (It wasn’t that much of a stretch really, was it?)

I’m knitting Arielle. I know, I’m a lunatic. The weather has finally started to turn cold after an extended Summer and I’m knitting a summer top.
Lunatic.
In the last post I mentioned that I’d matched up my stash (well, most of it) to patterns and sorted through my Ravelry queue. So, when I cast off Water and Stone, I got David to pick a number between 1 and 46, and the number he picked was the item I cast on. That’s why I’m knitting a summer top just as the weather starts to turn.
The yarn I’m using is a backroom bargain from Bendigo Woollen Mills. It’s a 4ply 30/70 Wool/Cotton blend that I picked up when David and I visited Bendigo nearly two years ago. That’s my other reasoning for the new matchy-matchy system. I find the stuff I buy and stick in the stash sometimes never sees the light of day again. I’m hoping this way, it’ll all have it’s day on the needles!
But my head may have been turned by something new (already!)

I got a little Rowan delivery, courtesy of Cucumberpatch in the UK. It’s such a pity that the Rowan brand is so badly mishandled in Australia. The Rowan Studio books from Cucumberpatch cost me $9.50. RRP in Australia is ~$27. Ridiculous.
But I now have my grabby little hands on a skein of the new sock yarn, Fine Art in Raven, and a couple of balls of the new Softknit cotton. The softknit cotton is nice – it’s a chainette construction and feels quite squishy in the skein. It may hit the needles sooner rather than later…

Where have I been? Here and there. Doing this and that. It feels like my knitting production has bottomed out, but I think I’ve just been busy. With the sad, sad demise of Calico & Ivy, I’d been panic buying. Yarn, and fabric too, particularly Liberty. The only place in Sydney that I’m aware of that stocks it now is Tessuti, and they don’t have a huge range. (At last count at C& I, there were 248 bolts. Thats a lot of Liberty!)
Theres a lot of Liberty in my stash now. Maybe even too much. Nah, no such thing!
There’s also a *lot* of Rowan yarn. So I’ve been through the stash and through the queue and matched yarn up to projects, scanned patterns for the iPad, and I’m set. Probably for the next four years. Looking at the stash this way is kind of illuminating. I definitely don’t need any more yarn!
I finished the knitting on Water and Stone.

I’m pretty happy with it, although the last 30cm or so was a long, boring slog. It’s blocking now, and I think it’ll be a great garment this winter.
I’ve started something new. Any guesses?

And the other thing I’ve spent a lot of time on this week is finishing my mums quilt for Mothers Day.

Binding. It takes hours, and it’s boring. I get so easily distracted! I did the piecing months ago and sent it off to be quilted. It was with the quilter for a long time, and panic was beginning to set it in, but I got it back in time and I’m really pleased with the end result.


I haven’t given it to her yet, because she’s been away for the weekend, but I hope she likes it!
(I’m still not a Quilter though! 😉

So a couple of people asked about the yarn I must’ve accrued while travelling around a country that has 7 sheep for every person.
I’ll admit, I did bring home some yarn. The day we landed in Auckland, we checked into the hotel then went for a wander around the city. It was David that spotted the yarn store. How could I resist?
A ball of Opal sock yarn settled into my luggage.

I’m a huge fan of Opal sock yarn. My very first pair were Opal, and they’re still in great shape, years later. Besides, I couldn’t resist the colours.
The second day we were there, we went to visit the beautiful Jussi and her lovely family. She gifted me with another skein of gorgeousness.

Her own hand dyed Biba yarn in a perfect shade of pink.
And when we went to Agrodome, they had a little yarn shop there. I was actually a little disappointed in the offerings, but picked up some Naturally Waikiwi to knit some socks for David.

And… that’s it. That is the entire sum total of the yarn I got. My yarn purchases were not helped by the fact that I had just found out that Calico & Ivy at Balmain was closing, and we were losing our jobs. Sad. Apart from the obvious loss of income, I’m going to miss the store. I’ve really enjoyed working there, I really like my workmates and it’s been a wonderful environment. Surrounded by so many pretty things and being inspired by all the lovely yarn and fabric, and by all of the customers wonderful ideas and projects.
Not to mention the panic buying when I realised that my easy access to Rowan was about to be stopped cold.
I behaved. I made a list of all my intended projects, matched up my stash to what it wanted to be and took a good long look at all of my yarn. (And fabric, for that matter)
And so I was remarkably well behaved in New Zealand. I may be knitting with my Rowan stash for the next ten years, however!
And if you’re local and inclined to visit, we’ll be there until May 4!

Where do I start?
At the end of the last post? New Zealand is beautiful. Stunning. The weather sometimes left a little to be desired on one or two days, but in general, it was a wonderful holiday.
We drove up to Cape Reinga, the tip of New Zealand, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. (The seafoam you see is where the two crash into each other)

We went to the Bay of Islands, which was beautiful, but the cruise was a bit of a let down – we’d hoped to go out to the Hole In The Rock, and to see some dolphins, but the weather didn’t co operate.
We went to Hobbiton.

In front of Frodo’s house! I’m no LoTR geek, but Hobbiton was fun!
We saw thermal pools

And geysers

Beautiful carving everywhere

Sheep!!

I even got to feed a lamb!

And gorgeous scenery everywhere.

There are steps down to the bottom of Bridal Veil falls. Going down was great. There are viewing platforms
along the way and at the bottom, and it’s just stunning.
Coming back up proved how unfit I am.
If you want to see more photos, there’s an album on flickr.
The knitting? I worked on Bellevue while we were there, and finished it not long after we got back.

Love it.
Specs:
Pattern: Bellevue Cardigan (Fingering Weight) by Laura Chau
Yarn: BC Garn Silkbloom Fino in Fuchsia from Suzy Hausfrau (4 balls)
Needles: 3.25mm Dyakcraft Northern Lights
Mods: None. Well, none on purpose.
Above the lace border there should have been a garter row that I left out, because I apparently can’t read. I didn’t realise this until I did the sleeves, then there was no way I was ripping back!
The yarn? Gorgeous. Beautiful to knit with, beautiful stitch definition, the silk gives it a slight sheen, just stunning. Renae from Suzyhausfrau came along to one of our Guild meetings last year, and brought a bunch of stock to have a little stall at the back of the room. I need yarn like an eskimo needs a freezer, but I couldn’t resist this. There’ll be more in my future, I’m sure.
The pattern? Fab. It’s not the first time I’ve knit it, I knit the Worsted version a while back with Madtosh Worsted MCN, and wear it regularly. Can’t say I won’t knit it again, either.
But for now, it’s Wollmeise DK and Water and Stone.

Colors of Kauai sits behind me, still buttonless. This is partly because I’m still undecided, and partly because I’m lazy, as has been established many a time before.
I have solved the indecision of holiday knitting, however.

Bellevue in BCGarn Silkbloom from SuzyHausFrau.
Yum!
And just in case I finish that, (LOL!) I’ve packed some yarn for a Fractured Light hat and mitts.
Lets face it, what knitter doesn’t overestimate the knitting projects they’ll work on on holiday? This has been an awful, awful week, topped off by my credit card details being stolen. I desperately need this holiday. Long, long overdue!
And excitement – we’re going to Hobbiton! I wonder where I might find a certain Elf? 😉
In other news, I made a Sorbetto top.

What an awesome pattern – not quite sure why I haven’t made one of these before! I added the sleeve pattern available at Sew, Incidentally…
A great way to economically use some Liberty Tana Lawn! I made a size 4 and used 80cm, including the sleeves. I really love this print, it’s one of the new Seasonals, which just arrived at Calico & Ivy a couple of weeks ago.

See all the little critters hiding amongst the swirls? Love!
At first I didn’t add the trim or buttons, but I think the centre pleat got lost amongst the patterned fabric, so I added the bits. Much happier with it now! (And yes, I’ve packed it for the trip!)