She's officially a High

She's officially a High Schooler :)
The alarm went off this morning, and I awoke to the sound of the shower running. She actually woke up and got up before the alarm and was already in the shower. I'm thinking of taking bets on how long that'll last ;)
(My bet is that it'll happen again tomorrow, then never again)
So I've been home from school for 2 and a half hours, and the house is cleaner than it has been in weeks. The entire house has been vacuumed thoroughly, the washing is on the line, the kitchen is clean, and I've had 2 hot cups of coffee, and control of the remote control. Bliss.

In knitting news, Lisa asked the other day how ribby was going. Well, it all went splendidly, up to and including th eseaming. I'm very pleased with it!

But.
I can't find a blasted zipper. I have searched everywhere locally. Nothing that remotely matches. I'll probably have to order one online, but I hate trying to match colours online. Or perhaps I'll just leave it as is. I doubt that I'll ever zip it up, but I like the look of a zipper.
Nearly finished the back of Em's stockinette cardi, and am bored with it. No shaping, just a big stockinette square. Am considering what to knit next. :)

This is it. The day

This is it. The day is almost upon me.
Tomorrow my baby starts High School. I have been told that public displays of emotion are Forbidden. I must wait until I get home if I wish to get teary. How did this come around so quickly?
Little knitting done, I've been sewing, and the weather was abysmally hot yesterday.
High School. *Sigh*

I started making Em's Pink

I started making Em's Pink Beads Socks, and seeing as a few people had contacted me about knitting with beads, I decided to post how *I* knit with beads. Enjoy!

Step-by-Step Beading Tutorial
This is how I did my beaded sock. This is not the only way to knit with beads, but this is how I do it.
The yarn used in the demonstration is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, and the beads are size 8/0 Mill Hill beads.
First of all, stringing the beads.

I use a “jumper” thread. In this case I have used sturdy beading thread, but any thread, even ordinary sewing thread will work.
I fold the yarn in half, and fold the “jumper” in half, so that each has a “loop”, then I loop them together.

Holding the two ends of the “jumper” together, I thread the bead onto this finer thread, and down over the joined loops onto the yarn.

For the beaded socks, there were over 200 beads, so after I’d threaded them all on (no fast task!), I pushed them down out of the way, then commenced the sock.
Other people knit the cuff first, then break the yarn, and thread the beads. I don’t like to sew in ends, so I do it this way, pushing the beads further down the yarn as I knit the cuff.

Now I’m ready to begin knitting the beaded portion.
To prepare, I push a bead to the back of my knitting.

Then, I start to knit the stitch as normal, with the bead close to the knitting.

I wrap the yarn around the needle, with the bead sitting between the needles.

It is important that the bead is securely between the needles. Sometimes it needs to be pushed into place.
The pull the stitch through as you normally would.

My stitches look like this when I’m done.

Continue the first round in the same manner.
When you get to the second round, be careful of the beads in the stitches from the row before.

I insert the needle above the bead when preparing to knit the next stitch otherwise I find that the bead escapes to the back of my knitting. The stitch above keeps the bead in place.
Then I finish the stitch as outlined above.

At the end of the second row, this is how my knitting looks. The beads sit on the right hand “arm” of the stitch when completed, the next row of beads sit above. There is no need for a spacer row between each bead.
After all the rows are done, this is how my pattern came out.

This pattern is different from the first Pink Bead sock, as I didn’t have enough beads left for Em’s socks, so I just altered the beading pattern. It will make it easier to tell them apart, too :)

Well, someone beat me to

Well, someone beat me to the Peruvian in Mid Indigo Heather. Despite the fact that thanks to Susan, I was considering the Bendigo Aran, I think that perhaps I should take this as a sign that I don't need to make the Must Have Cardi.
There was 50+ balls when I last looked!!

Anyway, the latest costume is done.

Trust me, although you can't actually see them in this pic, there are 400+ rhinestones glued onto that costume. All around the neckline, all around the bottom of the bodice, and dotted all over the top layer of the skirt.

The headpiece. I hate headpieces! It always takes me forever to think of something I like. I'm pleased with this one though. It just seemed to take off when I started. I started with one row of beads, thought what if I do another? And another? Luckily, I then thought, "Okay, I'll stop now"

And I made the choker. First time I've made jewellery, and it was fun :) I made matching earrings too.

It will go out in a full circle when she actually has room to turn. Which she does a lot in this dance. Unfortunately, to turn in our tiny house requires extensive furniture rearranging.
So, one costume down, one more to go. For now.
Pass me my knitting! :)

Look what was in this

Look what was in this mornings mail!

How cute is this? The lovely Janette from STYK sent it to me :) It made my morning!

I think it is only right that I insert a Public Service Announcement here.
There are some Evil Enablers in the world. Watch, and Beware. If you are a lemming like I, and suffer from "Me Too!" syndrome, avoid the internet in it's entirety. If that is unavoidable, beware of people like Norma and Nathania. ;)
They're hosting a Knitalong for the "Must Have Cardi".
Funnily enough, I pulled this pattern out just a few days ago, and was contemplating it. When I first got the pattern, it was too small for me, so I stashed it away in the "If I ever lose weight" category.
Well, I lost weight and now it will fit me.
However, I do not have any suitable yarn in the Stash. And I'm trying to knit up the stash. So I shouldn't make it. I also have almost finished the ribby (Just the zipper now!), and have 2 more cardigans awaiting me in the stash. How many cardi's are too many?
But I haven't done any cables in a while, and none of the planned cardi's have cables. But worsted yarn is difficult to find in Australia, and I would have to order something from the 'net. I have no experience with Patons Classic Merino (never released here), and don't know what would be a good substitute. Cascade 220? Elann Peruvian Wool? (The Mid Indigo Heather is nice).
I'm making myself dizzy with all the to-ing and fro-ing.
I actually laid awake last night thinking about it. I'm a sad, sad case.

Okay, back to knitting :)

Okay, back to knitting :)
Or seaming, as the case may be. Ribby is dry, and ready for seaming. Now, I can sew, I usually enjoy sewing, but seaming up my knitted garments just doesn't seem to fall into that category! I did the front bands last night, so today I hope I can do all the side and sleeve seams, and get started on the collar. Still don't have a zipper, so that won't be done today.

I cast on for Em's cardigan, straight old stockinette crewneck cardigan with a dropped shoulder. Easy peasy.

When I looked at it, I couldn't believe how much I'd managed :) I said it the other day, but I really like this Nundle wool. Soft, knits up in a nice dense fabric. Recommended gauge is 22sts=4", but I'm knitting it at 20sts=4", and I can't imagine it knit any tighter.
I also need to glue 400 or so rhinestones on Em's new dance costume. So I'd better stop blogging, huh? ;)

Ribby is reclining on bath

Ribby is reclining on bath towels, blocking as I type :)
Perhaps tomorrow she will be dry and I can start finishing her. I'd better do something about finsing a zipper, hadn't I?
No real knitting news apart from that, but I did cast on for Emily's cardigan. I'm using the cone of pink wool from Nundle, and Ann Budd's "Handy Book of Sweater Patterns". It will just be a basic plain stockinette cardi, simialr to the Everyday Cardi.
So far, the Nundle wool is knitting up beautifully - it's nice and thick, full of Lanolin and vegetable matter. Nat had told me this, but I had to feel it myself :)
Nundle Woolen Mills has a website here.
The mailman didn't bring me anything knitty today, but look what he did bring me!

A Polar Bear cover for my mobile phone!!
Where would I be without eBay? ;)

Whenever I order or buy

Whenever I order or buy yarn for a spcific project, I always buy one more ball than the pattern calls for. I've had too many close calls.
Ribby in the 40/41 size calls for 12 balls of Peruvian wool. If you are doing it in 2 colours, the pattern says to get 1/3 in the sleeve colour and 2/3's in the body colour.
I overordered and got 9 balls of the body colour and 5 of the sleeve colour. And I am very glad I did.

That little bit of yarn is all that remains of the first 4 balls. I did make my sleeves an inch longer than the pattern said, but I still think 4 balls wouldn't have been enough considering that I haven't done the neckband yet, and I have 16 more rows on each sleeve.
However I have 2 full and 2 part balls of the main colour. I think that for the 40/41 size, if I made it again I would get 7 balls of the main colour and 5 of the second colour.
But then I wouldn't have anything to add to the stash afterwards ;)

Making excellent progress on my

Making excellent progress on my Ribby sleeves. I'm probably about to jinx myself, but I love this sweater. It is flying off the needles! It's a great pattern, and the Highland wool is gorgeous to knit.
Because a few people asked, here is how I prefer to knit sleeves. Or two fronts of a cardigan together.

I cast on for one sleeve, then before I turn and start to knit that sleeve, I cast on on the same needle for sleeve number 2. Then turn and knit the first row of sleeve 2, then the first row of sleeve 1, turn my work, knit the second row of sleeve 1, then the second row of sleeve 2, and so on. When I first started doing sleeves like this, I had problems remembering which sleeve I had just knit on if I stopped in the middle. I would be unsure if I was supposed to do a row on sleeve 2, or if I had just done a row on sleeve 2.
Then I picked up this tip from someone's blog. (I can't remember whose, but if I could I would give them full credit. They've made my knitting so much easier!) I pin the sleeves together with a small stitch holder. Then I can't stop in the middle!
It is so easy. All the increases are done at the same time, and all the decreases are done at the same time. It seems to go so much faster for me than knitting them one at a time. And I can see how my yarn is going and if I am going to run out or not. I wouldn't knit sleeves any other way now :)

Here's one of the outfits

Here's one of the outfits I made for Em this week.

Pic is clickable, but it's rather large. This is the pattern that I used.

And, as you can see, I had to use Em's favourite colours of the moment, Hot Pink and Lime. I am really enjoying these Lizzie McGuire patterns. Cute outfits, but not over the top tarty stuff. We'll see how many I can churn out before the sewing bug dies off :)
I started the ribby sleeves, knitting both at the same time. If I have to knit two things at once (sleeves or fronts), I usually do knit them both at the same time on a long circular needle. This way, I don't get second sleeveitis, and if I make an adjustment, I can adjust both at the same time. I have a bad habit of not writing adjustments down. Then when I get to the second front or sleeve, I think "What the hell did I do there??"
Confusion reigns supreme in this house :)
However, I have never felt the urge to do two socks at once. Or to use a circular to do socks. All of my socks are knit one at a time on DPNS. Preferably Crystal Palace bamboo DPNS in a size 0. I'm a creature of habit :)

Ribby fronts are done! Amazing

Ribby fronts are done!

Amazing what I can get done when I'm the only prson in the house for 12 hours a day. Mind you, Twinky feels I'm smothering her ;)
I've also been a virtual sewing magician. I cut things out, run them through the machine, and hey presto, new outfit for Em! I should have taken a pic this morning before she left, will take one when she gets home. She's wearing a very bright ensemble today that I whipped up from a Lizzie McGuire pattern.
I also picked up a pattern and some fabric for me. Spotlight has brought put a range of Retro Patterns, and I immediately wanted this jacket.

They also had their wool suiting on special for $6 a metre! So I grabbed enough for two jackets.

The lighter one is pinker than it appears here. I'm not quite sure where I'll wear these jackets, but I just liked the pattern so I grabbed the makings while they were on sale.
The sewing bug is back :)
Obviously I need to get rid of my family more often - loads of knitting and sewing, less housework. I even get to hold the remote!

I'm chugging along on the

I'm chugging along on the fronts of my Ribby :)

I'm ready to start the armhole shaping, so I should be done with these soon, I hope! My elann order arrived yesterday, so I have the yarn for the sleeves. I'm much happier with the eggplant than I was with the Dusky Purple. Of course now I have 5 balls of Dusky Purple seeking a purpose. Oh, and the sock yarn I ordered ;)
DH has a workmate whose wife had a baby yesterday. The baby was very early, (9 weeks early!). We haven't heard how they are doing yet, but yesterday I knitted up a little hat.

I'm not sure how small a 31 week baby is, but even though this hat is teeny, I think it might be too big. I hope all is well for them.
Some Lizzie McGuire patterns arrived from eBay today, so I don't know how much ribby I'll get done - I see sewing in my immediate future :)

My Ribby back is done!

My Ribby back is done!

Admittedly, not much housework or anything else has been done :)
I'm enjoying this knit, and I love the yarn, although I am a little concerned now that I know this yarn pills.
Being the fickle knitter that I am, I was barely halfway through the back when my mind turned to the cone of pink yarn that I picked up at Nundle. It wasn't enough to make something for me, but perhaps something for Em (As if she doesn't have enough pink clothes!)
My hands are itching to pick it up, but I will make myself work on Ribby first. Speaking of the Empress, she was out all day yesterday at a dance event. They must have worn her out. She got up briefly at 9.15am and said she was still tired, so I sent her back to bed. It's now 10.50am, and she's still not up.
She's my kid alright ;)

Clapotis is done! The colour

Clapotis is done!

The colour is really not photographing well. It is much brighter and prettier and there is much more blue in there than appears in the pics. I dyed the yarn on December 9 and 10 if anyone is interested, and those pictures show the colour of the yarn much better.
I made my Clapotis smaller, using 82 (I think) stitches across the middle rather than the 107 called for . The finished dimensions are 40cm x 150cm, or 16" x 60". I used an 8ply yarn I bought off eBay and handdyed with Landscapes dyes.
Seeing as we've been experiencing temperatures in the high 30's and low 40's the last few days, I haven't actually wrapped myself in it yet to see how I like it!

Now I'll jump on the Meme train :) Seen originally over at Nake-id Knits, and since then on many blogs!

Grooming Products:
* Shampoo - Garnier Fructis
* Moisturizer - Avon
* Cologne - Elizabeth Arden Red Door if I'm going out, otherwise none
* Razor - Wax, baby!
* Toothpaste - Macleans

Electronics

* Cell phone - Nokia 3100
* Computer - A mishmash my DH built me
* Television - Sanyo
* Stereo - something crappy, I usually listen to CD's through the computer

Home

* Sheets - years old
* Coffee Maker - nope
* Car - Mazda 121 - with nice new brakes!
* Stationary - nope

Beverages

* Bottled Water - H2Go
* Coffee - Instant (DH calls it Magic Dirt) or Gloria Jeans
* Vodka - Absolut, much more rarely than I used to
* Beer - No

Clothes

* Jeans - Whatever is cheap and fits
* T-Shirts - usually plain
* Briefcase or Tote - neither
* Sneakers - something cheap
* Watch - nope

Favorite Places

* Home

Necessary Extravagence

* Yarn, anything for Em, but looking above, I think it should be clothes for me.

I have a finished project

I have a finished project to show you all! :)

It's only Em's socks, but they're done. I used Elann's Sock it to Me yarn in Tiffany Roses (from the first batch they sold!) on Pony Pearl 2.25mm DPNS. The pattern is a mishmash of patterns. I knitted them toe-up, using Elann's toe style, Wendy's heel style, and a stitch pattern from the 365 Knitting Stitches a Year calendar. I told you she likes her socks short. I wanted to go a bit longer, but she insisted that these were long enough.
I also finished Clapotis, but she's blocking right now. Two finished projects in one day. Amazing what I can accomplish when I'm the only one home and I ignore the housework ;)
And what else?

I started the RIbby. It's not much, but it's started. :)

I'm having a nice mail

I'm having a nice mail week :)
On Tuesday, I received this from Celia.

Pencil roving so that I can practice spinning and get the hang of my wheel.
Then today, I got this from The Knitting Zone.

One of my Crystal Palace size 0 DPNS got broken while I was on holiday, and they are my favourite sock needles. So, while I was ordering them, I ordered some more beads so I could do Em's beaded socks, and when I saw the Regia Clown sock yarn, I just knew I had to have some of that too.
Yarn diet, my butt. See why I find it so hard to lose weight? I have no willpower.
And I did stay up to order some Highland Wool from Elann. I had Wisteria and Dusky Purple for my Ribby Cardi, but I wasn't happy with them together, I thought they needed more contrast. So last night I ordered eggplant for the sleeves, and I will stick with Wisteria for the body.

Hopefully, I shall finish Clapotis today, and swatch for Ribby. :)
It's going to be horrendously hot again, and Em is off to a pool party, so perhaps I shall just sit in front of the fan and suck down iceblocks.
We'll see :)

It's very, very hot today.

It's very, very hot today.
I had huge knitting plans, but I don't think it's going to happen.
I am done on the straight part of Clapotis, and am up to the decreasing rows, so I thought I might finish that today, but it's far too hot to have that in my lap.
Em's sock is a toe-up sock, and I'm up to turning the heel, so I might get that done, especially as she likes her socks short. Very short, barely peeking out of her shoes short. Kinda makes you wonder why you bother, doesn't it?
I have decided that the ribby cardi will be next. Elann is putting more Highland Wool up tomorrow (1am local time) so I think I will get a different colour for the sleeves, because I'm not happy with the colours I got, I really wanted a better contrast.
So I'm going to sit up very, very late and buy yarn. Woo-Hoo, party on!! :)

Well, guess what's going

Well, guess what's going on here today? After five years of asking, the Real Estate is finally doing something about the gigantic gum tree in the back yard. A bit of notice would have been nice, but you can't have everything. Emily came barrelling into my bed at 7.15am shouting "There's a bunch of men at the door and they tried to open the garage!!"
I must have been looking at her dumbly, because she said "Am I supposed to tell them to give you a minute?"
Of course, then I realised that there were men at the door, and I was supposed to get up and do something about it.
The tree loppers are here to chop down the tree. The neighbour will be happy, he's been complaining to me about it since the day I moved in. The gutters are constantly full of leaves, it creaks in the wind. We had a gigantic storm a few weeks back, and I fully expected it to come down on the house. Two trees went down in the empty block next door, and surely this one was next in line.
However, now it's coming down. It's noisy, messy and Twinkie is locked in and peeved.
Perfect day to knit! :)

The Empress' New Clothes

Em's pyjama's are done :)

I'm assuming she likes them - I finished them at around 2pm yesterday, she tried them on, and then didn't take them off for the rest of the day. :)
Here is the Lizzie McGuire pyjama pattern she wanted.

I don't think I did too badly - take *that* Lizzie McGuire ;)
I really need to move onto something different - I think we have enough pyjamas now :)
Still little knitting done. I'm around halfway through Clapotis. If anyone is interested, I reduced the width, simply because I knew I wouldn't wear it as bulky as it was. I'm working on 82 stitches, and it's around 35cm or 14 inches wide. It's also made in pure wool, so it had a bit of bulk too it. It also just doesn't get cold enough here to warrant the full width.
Still haven't decided what to start next. I think I'm in sewing mode right now - knitting inspiration isn't coming!
Here's Twinky hopping out of her bed :)

Hmm.. maybe she needs pyjamas ;)

Hardly any knitting done this

Hardly any knitting done this weekend - I'm still on the pyjama kick!
We went to Spotlight again yesterday so that the Empress would pick out a summer pyjama pattern. When we got there, it turned out that they had all of their sewing patterns on sale for half price, so I told Em to pick out a few patterns.
Simplicity has Lizzie McGuire patterns. Emily went mad, picking all sorts out. I restricted her to four or five, we went to the counter, stood in line for ages, got to the front.. you can see where this is going, can't you?
Lizzie McGuire patterns are not available outside the US. She was mightily disappointed to say the least. We went back to the Simplicity book, and sure enough, in tiny letters at the bottom of the page it says "Not available outside the US" Scumbuckets.
I hate that. In most of the pattern books it happens. The dress up costumes especially. So I came home, checked out eBay - the only Lizzie McGuire ones there are toddler sizes, scarves, or too big. (What's with an 8 1/2 being bigger than a size 12??)
I convinced her to pick another pyjama pattern, so I've cut it out, and I guess I'll sew that up today. I like to make her clothes - that way we can usually reach a compromise on the skirt lengths (not too short), where the pants sit (Not too low!), that sort of thing. Honestly, half the clothes in the shops will not be worn by my child. Not while I have a say in it, anyway!

My Pink Beads sock is

My Pink Beads sock is on the front page of the Yahoo group for the Six Sox Knitalong.
Yes, I'm easily thrilled ;)
So, right now I'm working on Clapotis and the second sock in a pair for Emily. However, I'm getting itchy fingers and hitting the "What should I do next?" phase.
Here is the current progress on Clapotis.

I have many projects in the wings, but the current frontrunners are the Ribby Cardi, or the pink star sweater from Vogue Teen Knits. The pink star sweater (for Em!) is made with Lion Brand Imagine, which I had not seen, so it was difficult to substitute, but I got some Imagine off eBay. In the book, there are metal studs in a star shape on the front, but I have some white Imagine, so I may do an Intarsia star instead.
Hmmmm... decisions, decisions!

I've decided to start writing

I've decided to start writing my blog entries in the morning, Sydney time. If I update in the evening, the server my blog is on chunks up, and it takes forever to upload pictures and the entry. We'll see how long it lasts, because it just doesn't feel right :)
I finished the Pink Bead Socks!

I'm pleased with them :) I also think I could've gotten them out of a single skein of Lorna's Laces. However, there are plenty of leftovers, and the Empress has decided she wants a pair too.
I also got all my sewing done. I have managed 4 pairs of pyjamas this week, and an additional pair of pants. I also made myself a new knitting bag.

Polar Bears!! I won an eBay auction for a polar bear cushion panel, and recieved this strip of fabric also. I couldn't quite decide what to do with it, then inspiration hit :) I modelled it after my absolute favourite knitting bag from Lisa G.
Heres a close up of the bears :)

I love it :)
Well, the uploading of pictures was way quicker this morning!

Today I took my Mum

Today I took my Mum out to our local Spotlight store. I think it's somewhat similar to Hobby Lobby or Jo-Anns in the US.
Every January, Spotlight tosses all the discontinued yarns into a sale rack for $2 a ball. We'd been out there on the weekend, and I noticed a lot of Mum's favourites were on sale. Now taking my Mum shopping is never an easy task. She's on a pension, and generally has cash flow problems. So I called her yesterday and asked "Wanna go to Spotlight?" and of course she says "Maybe later in the month, I'm a bit broke" Fine, but later in the month there'll be no yarn left in the sale bin. So I offer to loan her money, she says no. (No point offering to give her money, she'll refuse, so I just never call in the debt) Finally I convince her to come out just for a drive.
We get there, and they have Angora Supreme for $2 a ball. I paid $7 a ball less than six months ago for the damn stuff. I show her, and she says "I don't like that boring plain stuff!" and heads straight for the fun fur.
I convinced her to borrow ;) some money from me, and she finally left the store with a bag full of fluffy acrylicy scarfy stuff. Sigh. She's more than happy to knit fluffy scarves and little else, although she has branched out into fluffy baby sweaters and jackets. I gave her my stash of fluffy stuff a few months back, and she was in heaven, and couldn't believe I didn't want it. :) She's knitting these scarves to try to make some money, and to try to quit smoking. It makes her happy.
However, I carried around a bag of Angora Supreme the whole time, and then I put it back before we left the store. My guilt got the better of me. Here is my poor mother struggling to buy fluff, and I have enough yarn to outfit her forever, even if she doesn't want it! I played with my stash when I got home instead. I am in awe of what I have collected :)
I have yarn planned for 12 sweater projects, 3 scarves, 25 or so pairs of socks, 6 tanks, 3 pairs of gloves, 3 hats, 2 ponchos and 4 miscellaneous projects. I also have 23 lots of unallocated yarn.
I'm glad I put that yarn back.

I finished the first Pink

I finished the first Pink Beads sock very late last night and began the second one today.

The toe is different to any I've done before. It's a "star" style tow, with a pointed finish. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but now that it's done, I do like it. And no kitchener!
So I started sock number 2, and when I was half way through the beads, I realised that I had botched the bead pattern in sock number 1. I had wondered why I had so many beads left on the yarn!

See the circled bit? I was supposed to repeat that row, but somehow I didn't. I left out an entire row. Duh. It doesn't affect the fit, it doesn't look to me like the pattern is out of whack, and I'm pleased with it anyway, so it's staying the way it is. I've just left that row out on sock 2 as well.

Jen and La over at JenLa have done a "Knit Blogs Best of 2004" post, nominating their favourite blogs in a multitude of categories.
They awarded me "Knitting Wonder from Down Under"!
I am thrilled! I feel like I won an Oscar, ROTFL. What wonderful company to be keeping, too! Some seriously great blogs have been nominated. Thanks Jen and La! I may wear one of Em's tiaras around all day tomorrow ;)

Happy New Year! :) Cassie

Happy New Year! :)

Cassie asked in the comments yesterday why Australia has so many "big" things. I wasn't really sure myself, so I went all around the mighty 'net and searched out the answer. It appears that the Big Banana was the first one built. Coincidentally, it had it's 40th birthday the day before we visited. After people saw how popular it was (and how the tourists visited it, with money in hand!), they jumped on the bandwagon and started building them all over the country, although they seem to be found mostly along the NSW and Queensland North coasts. Where the tourists are ;)
The gallery of our holiday pics is up on my DH's site, and can be found here. There are a couple of sub albums in there, and there are 241 pics - you have been warned! :)

And here is the good stuff - my goodies from Nundle!

A cone of DK weight pure wool in pale pink. There is around 430g here, around 8 and a half balls. I grabbed it not knowing what I wanted to do with it, then later I remembered the cardigan in a previous issue of Creative Knitting that called for this yarn. But I need 12 balls for that. Damn. I'll have to go back ;)
Or I can use this for a sweater for Em, and go back and get something else for me! :)

Some roving for my spinning. I still wish I'd picked some up at the goat farm. Maybe I'll call him and order some. No maybe about it, who am I kidding?

My sweater kit! I loved it, but I hmmed and haaed about it before I bought it. I have so many sweaters waiting to be knitted. My DH looked at me, saw I was about to explode from indecision and said "Oh go on, get it!". I love that man :)

This is the sweater.
I also got a bag of half balls and mill ends for Em to play with, for only $10. I could easily have bought far more, but as I said yesterday, we arrived at 3.45pm, and the mill closed at 4. The lady was lovely, and she kept the shop open for us, but I just couldn't decide, and I felt like I was keeping her there. So DH said we may make a weekend of it later in the year. It's around 4 or 5 hours drive from here, but there's quite a bit to see and do there. There's goldmining and other historical stuff. You can have a tour of the wool mill with morning or afternoon tea included for a measly $AU5.
Yes, $5. I'll be back, and next time I'll plan ahead!

This is the mohair/wool blend I got from Wagtail Yarns. It's gorgeous! I want to go back there, too. No plans for this yarn yet, either.

This is as far as I've gotten so far on Clapotis. The colours are not photographing well at all. I'm ready to start the drop stitch section. Drop a stitch on purpose? I'm looking forward to that :)
Today I decided it was time to catch up on some of my sewing stash. I have enough fabric for 3 pairs of pyjamas for me, and a pair for Em, so I got it all out. Twinky wants to help. :)

I feel a little bad at my assorted riches when so many are in need around the world right now. Being on holiday, I didn't even know about the Tsunami until the day after it happened. My family's chosen charity is Oxfam International. I'd like to give a lot more money than I can, but every little bit helps!