We’re pretty chatty today as it’s been 3 weeks since our last podcast!! Note that ravelry links have been noted.
WIPs
Kylie has been working on the Calypso Cardigan test knit for Black Cat Knitting Company using Spincycle yarn from Loopine (Auckland, NZ) and the main colour is a fingering weight yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills (Australia).
Gill is also making a cardigan! She’s doing a Garter Marler Cardigan (Ravelry Link) by Stephen West using a strand of handspun and a strand of light cone yarn (From Anna Gratton, Little Woollie Co we think!!).
Gill has cast on a gorgeous striped triangular shawl using one stripe of her handspun (a spiral spun yarn from a Twisted Zisters batt) and a yellow dyed zebra yarn.
Gill finished a gorgeous pair of mitts which includes a few rows of daisy stitch, inspired by Stephen West’s new sock pattern. Yarn is ‘Army’ from Kiwiyarn-a.
We’ve both finished some gift knitting which we couldn’t show because they are gifted! Gill made a pair of socks for a friend.
Kylie made a baby cardigan for her niece who is due in June, using the Emma Asked pattern, as well as a matching beanie using the Classic Baby Hats pattern from Purl Soho. This beanie turned out way too big for our small headed babies, so she’s cast on a second beanie with the rest of the yarn. Yarn used is from Rainbows + Sprinkles.
Red Heart granny square yarn from Ribbon Rose – Kylie finished 15 squares of a red heart magic granny square – which is 1 more than the wrapper said it would make! She has found more of this yarn in a grab bag from Spotlight which is a huge surprise!!
Spinning
Gill finished more of her combo spin rolags and it looks completely fab as usual. She still has more to go, but is going to move on to something different for a bit before coming back to it.
Kylie showed more of her makes from Majacraft camp. She made a full skein of ‘finshnet yarn’, a mini skein of hemp and a blending folio guided by Suzy Brown. It was an amazing weekend
Aquisitions
Gill bought some cone yarn from Yarn on Cone and will be doing some shopping down in Wellington over the weekend at Capital Fibre Fest.
Kylie recieved a package from Stitchy Witches through her parents visiting. This yarn shop only ships inside Australia. She got 3 yarns. One is a german sock yarn from Rico, another from Parkour Kitties in Singapore and the last from Felt Fusion in UK.
We both recieved our Handmaiden fibre club for May which is a machine washable sock fibre in autumnal/candy corn colours. Thanks Amy!!
Today we are podcasting from the Hamiton Fibre festival “Fibretron” organised by Paula of Purple Sprouting. It was in a new location this year – Mystery Creek, which proved to be a much more enjoyable venue!
What we’re wearing
Kylie is wearing her Zwieg (ravelry link) Sweater by Boyland Knits made out of misti-alpaca. Gillian is wearing her Rift (ravelry link) sweater knit out of her gorgeous handspun
‘Spendigo’
We’ve both been to Melbourne last weekend! Gillian went out to Bendigo for the Australian Sheep and Wool Show – the biggest fibre festival in the southern hemisphere! Gillian shopped at:
Kylie couldn’t make it out to Bendigo so she shopped online at Stitchy Witches and got it delivered to her sister-in-law to bring to Melbourne for her!
Tour de Fleece
Kylie and Gillian have been participating in the Tour de Fleece this month! Gillian already spun and plied the Beersheba Farm fibre that she bought in Bendigo! She also spun a beautiful bag of Little Wool Co / Anna Gratton making a beautiful 200g skein. Gill also did a fractal spin using a braid from Fibre2go.
Kylie did a fractal spin using a pack from WeatherWools on her electric eel nano wheel and found that it was difficult to achieve a balanced ply, so next time she spins on her nano she will ply it on one of her wheels. Kylie finished a ‘turtle’ on her Turtle made 3D printed turkish spindle. Fibre is from Stitchpunk who is no longer in business.
Finished!
We talked about a couple of our FO’s today. Kylie finished the most recent mystery gnome from Imagined Landscapes “The more you gnome” (ravelry link, also available on the Imagined Landscapes website). Yarn was from Glaux Yarns. Kylie also made a Hipstamatic (Free Ravelry pattern) using some gorgeous Plump Spincycle Yarn from Loopine.
Gillian knit up some fingerless gloves using Vintage Purls SportStar to keep her hands warm at Bendigo. She also finished a Sweet Li’l Scarflette (Free Ravelry pattern) by Ambah O’Brian out of Malabrigo Mechita.
Fibretron Purchases
There were too many purchases to list, so i’ll just list the businesses we purchased from:
Today we are in Morrinsville at the Wallace Gallery for a weaving exhibition by the Professional Weavers Association of New Zealand. The exhibition is called “Ngahere: The Bush of Aotearoa” and is next on display in Napier in July before it finishes in Porirua in August
WIP’s
Kylie’s doing some vanilla socks with leftover Mrs Peacock Yarns in a great stripe that matches her boots – they will be scrappy socks with all leftover
Kylie has been MKALing with the latest mystery gnome from Imagined Landscape (ravelry, payhip)
Gillian’s handbag knitting is a pair of socks with yarn from Cruella’s in Nelson ‘Spritzer’ – such a cute microstriping effect!
Gillian has cast on a new shawl using two zauberballs from Eskdale Yarns – she is combining two patterns – the 3S shawl (free ravelry pattern) and Stephen West’s Knit ‘n Slide (ravelry, website)
Kylie has picked up her Westknits Slipstravaganza blanket (ravelry, website) which was barely started last winter! The yarn is some mystery Skeinz yarn and one ball of each of the Sockmatician colours.
Finished!
Gill finished the faded jersey she had started last podcast! The fade pattern is based on the La Pouf pattern by Hedgehog Yarns (free pattern! ravelry, website), the neckline is based on the Soldotna (ravelry, website) and the high/low hem is based on the Love Note (ravelry, website)
Kylie finished the Westknits Bubble Pup Sweater (ravelry, website) for her little doggie, Sammie. The yarns are mostly a DK mini set from Prosper Yarn and some leftover yarn by Knot N Tie.
#KiwiWhovianCAL
We are running a Craft-a-long for the next few months, with a Doctor Who theme! We’ve got a few sponsers who have offered up some patterns for us to giveaway – all Doctor Who themed of course! Please go and check them out as they are amazing! Our sponsors include:
CC Almon (ravelry, etsy, payhip) – CC has a lovely range of Doctor Who inspired sock patterns
Tesselation Knits (ravelry, website) – Tess has an awesome range of double knit patterns and is giving away a copy of her amazing Time of the Doctor Scarf (ravelry)
Allison Hoffman (ravelry, website) – Allison has an awesome range of crocheted amigurumi figures – and she has even published a book! She is giving away a winners choice pattern
KnitClick (ravelry, website) – Rebecca has over 1000 knitted patterns on ravelry – from egg & sweet covers to daleks!
Kylie is planning on finishing her Doctor Who scarf and knitting Doctor Ewe. Gillian is planning on doing a pair of CC’s Doctor Who socks and a woven Doctor Who scarf!
Aquisition’s
Gillian got a few sock yarns from a trade-me purchase – a home dyer who doesn’t have a website.
Kylie got the latest Glaux Yarn Vivaldi Club subscription – Winter! She also got to shop with Julie from Wool on Wheels on International Knit in Public Day where she got a skein of Roxy Fibres DK sock yarn as well as a skein of Dyestock Yarns.
Gillian did some shopping in Wellington at Minerva where she got a cute Embroidery stitch sampler and the Knit Strips book.
Both of us have been opening our Pride month packages from Knot N Tie which have been fantastic! Kylie is thinking about using hers for a Lace & Fade Boxy Sweater by Joji Locatelli (ravelry, website).
Gillian has finished her gorgeous Cherry sweater from Midori Hirosi (ravelry link. Also available on her website) using Purple Sprouting Yarn, holding Deluxe Sock and Suri Alpaca together. The ‘cherry’s’ are handspun from Fibre2Go.
Both Kylie and Gill have finished items which they couldn’t show as they were gifted. Kylie finished a Milo Vest (ravelry link, also available on the Tikki Knits Website) for a friend who just had a baby using Otaki Dye House (now Moonrise Yarn Co). It’s pictured below. Gillian finished a pair of socks for her mum for mothers day using a tube she knit on Kylie’s circular sock machine. The yarn was the yarn she purchased at a cute shop in Ngatea (A-Z Books & Crafts, facebook link) – Nako Boho yarn.
Gillian finished on her Around the Bend shawl by Nim Teasdale (ravelry link) using the 2022 advent mini’s from Purple Sprouting. She made two fades from the advent and striped them for a very cool effect!
WIPs
Kylie has a new cast on – a pair of Tinsel Mitts by Andrea Mowry (ravelry link. Also available the Andrea Mowry Website) in some gorgeous sparkly DK yarn from Knot n Tie.
Gillian’s got a new handbag knitting cast on too – a broken rib sock in Katia Tokyo self striping. No pattern, she’s just applied a broken rib pattern to a standard sock.
Another project Gillian is working on is a Child’s Flax Light. She’s striping a zauberball with some broadway yarn and it gives a handspun effect!
Gillian has also been working on a Gingham cowl using a pattern from pinterest. The yarns are from Strawberry Patches and Knot n Tie and it’s coming along so great!
Kylie has made great progress on her Comfort Fade Cardi by Andrea Mowry (ravelry link, also available on her shop). The yarn from top (purple) to bottom (pink) is Strawberry Patches, Purple Sprouting, Qing and Squiggle Yarn.
Spinning
Kylie has 3 handspun skeins spun this week, all spun on her Majacraft Rose Wheel. The first skein was two plies. One ply was a batt from Skein Yarn in Coffs Harbour, Australia and the other ply was some lovely soft alpaca from the alpaca pictured below! The other skein was a gradient batt which was chain plied to keep the gradient.
Gillian finished a gorgeous spin she started at the Morrinsville spin in. Two different colours & blends from Terry Berry – superfine Merino and Merino-Silk.
Gillian also started a tweed spin using tweed fibre from Anna Gratton (facebook link – you need to message her to order, she doesn’t have a traditional online shop).
Aquisitions
Gill stopped in at Yarn On in Hamilton and got some Tootsies and Katia sock yarn in gorgeous colours! She also got a sweater lot of Bio Shetland organic wool to make the Trouville sweater by Sophio Ochera (ravelry link, also available on Love Crafts).
Gillian finished her crocheted ‘Granny Top Socks‘ (ravelry link to her project page) in Lang Yarn Twin Sock.
Kylie finished a pair of machine knit socks in Opal sock yarn which are for her! They just need to have the second toe kitchener finished.
Gill also finished her Warp Vest by Sara Ottosson (Ravelry links) using Holst Garn. The woven effect is achieved by holding colours together and it looks awesome!
Kylie finished the handspun baby blanket (above) she has been working on, (pattern is inspired by this dishcloth recipe (ravelry link)), as well as her Tolkein inspired blanket! Yarn is from Giddy Yarns in Scotland, and there are 5 x 10g minis for each month of the yar in 2022, Q1 inspired by The Hobbit and Q2-4 inspired by each Lord of the Rings book.
Kylie has also finished her Sockhead Slouch Hat (ravelry link, also available on her blog but it doesn’t include all the sizes), The yarn is from Knot n Tie (a lovely local Auckland dyer) on her Twistie Toes base – a fun zebra type yarn and it’s giving a lovely pooling effect.
The last thing Kylie has finished is the first of the Stephen West Pup Sweaters – the Striped Pup Sweater (ravelry link). Yarn is by Squiggle Yarn Co in South Australia and Otaki Dye House (now Moonrise Yarn Co).
WIPs
Since Kylie had 65g of the Otaki Dye House (now Moonrise Yarn Co) yarn leftover from Sammie’s sweater, she cast on a Milo (ravelry link, also available on the Tikki Knits Website) vest for a friend who just had a baby. It’s been a lovely little knit, and great handbag knitting.
Kylies picked up her Comfort Fade Cardi by Andrea Mowry (ravelry link, also available on her shop). The yarn from top (purple) to bottom (pink) is Strawberry Patches, Purple Sprouting, Qing and Squiggle Yarn.
Gillian has cast on a Cherry sweater from Midori Hirosi (ravelry link. Also available on her website) using Purple Sprouting Yarn, holding Deluxe Sock and Suri Alpaca together. The ‘cherry’s’ are handspun.
Purchases
Strawberry Patches put up some new dyed yarns and Gill managed to grab a lovely skein of “She’s on Fire”. She also stopped at a cute shop in Ngatea to grab a skein of Nako Boho yarn on her way up to Auckland. The shop was called A-Z Books & Crafts (facebook link).
Kylie recieved a preorder of Laine books from Holland Raod Company which included:
52 weeks of socks Vol 2
Neon’s and Neutrals
Mouche & Friends
Gillian got a couple of books in the mail too. Yarn-i-tec-ture is a fabulous spinning resource book which Gill was borrowing again and again from the library. She also got a weaving book “The Weaving Explorer”. She also got a second hand Kaffe Fassett book at the shop in Ngatea!
Cross-Stitch
Kylie’s been doing some small cross-stitches which make great gifts! They are from Spruce Craft Co in Victoria, and part of her monthly subscription boxes. At the moment they are only available in Australia at the moment, but she’s doing a digital kit as well if you want to join in!
#KiwiSummerWIP
Thankyou for all the entries we had for our #KiwiSummerWIP competition, where we finished some of our WIP’s started before 2023! The prize is a skein donated from Purple Sprouting. Thanks Paula!! The winner was Michelle McDee on Instagram! Congrats – we hope you enjoy your prize!
Gill finished her Dayspring Sweater by Ainur Berkimbayeva, from the Spring 2021 issue of Pom Pom Magazine. The yarns are from Louie and Lola Yarns in Tasmania, Australia. It was blocking while we were podcasting so she’ll have to wear it next time!
Gill also finished her fabulous woven blanket! The project is Big Blanket, Little Loom from Ashford (blog link). Most of it is her handspun, and it looks fantastic!
Kylie has been continuing with her Sockhead Slouch Hat (ravelry link, also available on her blog but it doesn’t include all the sizes) as her handbag knitting. The yarn is from Knot n Tie (a lovely local Auckland dyer) on her Twistie Toes base – a fun zebra type yarn and it’s giving a lovely pooling effect.
Gill also cast on the Warp Vest by Sara Ottosson (Ravelry links) using Holst Garn. The woven effect is achieved by holding colours together and it looks awesome!
Kylie has cast on a baby blanket using her handspun. The pattern is inspired by this dishcloth recipe (ravelry link).
Gill has started some of the cutest little granny square socks! Inspired by an upcoming pattern that she just couldn’t wait for! The yarn is from Cruellas in Nelson – Lang Twin Sock.
Kylie’s done some work on the Ten Stitch Blanket by Frankie Brown (free on ravelry) she’s had hanging out for a while. This is a charity knit, and also a stashbuster – the yarn was too fabulous to not use!!
The last square of Kylie’s Tolkien crochet blanket has been finished! Just 4 more squares to add, and then a border! Yarn is from Giddy Yarns in Scotland, and there are 5 x 10g minis for each month of the yar in 2022, Q1 inspired by The Hobbit and Q2-4 inspired by each Lord of the Rings book.
Aquisitions
Kylie recieved the first of the Glaux Yarn Vivaldi Club which is the 4 seasons throughout 2023! The club came with a full skein of 4ply plus a collection of 5 matching mini’s. She’s already subscribed to the winter club as well!!
Please join us in finishing some of your WIP’s started before 2023! We have at least one prize to giveaway – a skein donated from Purple Sprouting. Thanks Paula!! To enter, dig out a WIP started before 2023 and finish it; then snap a shot and post it on Instagram with #kiwisummerwip in the description. If you don’t have access to Instagram, please drop us an email via the link in this blog.
We are extending the WIP along until the end of April since the year has gotten away from us!
Gill finished her Rib Lace Raglan (Ravelry Link) by James Watt. The yarn is BC Garn Bio Balance GOTS (wool/cotton blend) purchased from Loopine Wool. She’s decided she doesn’t like it – it doesn’t go ith anything in her wardrobe and the style just isn’t her, so it will get frogged.
Kylie finished her first dog sweater, “Pupography”. This isn’t a pattern, more of a recipe which Stephen West made for his pups during the “Shawlography” MKAL in 2021. So this was made using the leftovers from Kylie’s Shawlography shawl to match!
Gill participated in an instagram challenge to knit a pair of socks in a week, and she succeeded!! She’s knit a gorgeous pair of vanilla socks in some Opal Dragon sock yarn (with 1 strand of black through the yarn). Sock knit toe up with a fleegle heel.
Kylie has been very brave with her knitting machine and knit a huge pair of man socks for her husband – a full 90g of yarn with fully ribbed cuffs. The best part is that they match perfectly!! The yarn is also the Opal Dragon sock yarn in a different colourway to what Gill used.
WIP’s
Kylie has been continuing with her Sockhead Slouch Hat (ravelry link, also available on her blog but it doesn’t include all the sizes) as her handbag knitting. The yarn is from Knot n Tie (a lovely local Auckland dyer) on her Twistie Toes base – a fun zebra type yarn and it’s giving a lovely pooling effect.
Gill hasmade good progress on her Dayspring Sweater by Ainur Berkimbayeva, from the Spring 2021 issue of Pom Pom Magazine. The yarns are from Louie and Lola Yarns in Tasmania, Australia.
Kylie has been continuing with the DRK March to May KAL challenge with the Find Your Fade by Andrea Mowry started a while ago in the original Hedgehog Fibres fade colours in their Skinny Singles base. Now up to the 5th colourway of 7.
Gillian has been working on her Around the Bend shawl by Nim Teasdale (ravelry link) using the 2022 advent mini’s from Purple Sprouting.
Spinning
Kylie’s done lots of spinning, thanks to all the inspiration she got from the Majacraft Camp last fortnight.
The first spinning project Kylie finished was a +200g worsted weight yarn. The first ply is a hedgehog fibres club tweed mix spun from the fold. The second ply is some Gotland gradient fibre from Heavenly Wools purchased at New Plymoth Creative Fibre event last year.
The second spinning project Kylie finished was some sock yarn made on her Electric Eel Nano wheel using BFL/nylon/stellina fibre from Cat & Sparrow Fibre in Melbourne, Australia.
Weaving
Gill has started a weaving project using her handspun yarn. The project is Big Blanket, Little Loom from Ashford (blog link). It will be interesting to see how this ends up!!
Majacraft Camp
Kylie had an amazing time at Majacraft camp and talked about the 4 classes she attended. The first class was spinning linen from flax which was easier than Kylie had anticipated and super fun!
The second class was spinning tweed yarn using hand cards to make puni’s/rolags with wool layered with sari silk and neps. The puni’s look like hundred’s and thousands! Kylie’s super inspired to make tweed yarn with some plain fleece.
Spinning to the crimp was the third class taught by Pat Old which was more technical and involved a lot of sampling and a little bit of thought and planning. Kylie learnt a lot about her wheel and how to use the ratio’s to make the wheel work for you to get the yarn you want, and the yarn which suits the fleece best.
The last class was a very technical class by Janet Day (“My Spin on Things”) – how to make a large lot of cohesive yarn out of multiple fibre sources using the drumcarder to make identical batts. It also involved some spinning technique to try and get a different yarn finish from the same batt.
Aquisitions
Gill purchased a fabulous leather handbag from Joji & Co which will be a great weekend/project bag!
Kylie got some gorgeous batt’s from Twisted Zisters when she was at the Majacraft Camp, as well as a skein of yarn from Fibre2Go and some cotton fibre to have a go at spinning!
Kylie also recieved her Birds of the World shipment from Purple Sprouting. This shipment was “Kea” which is a native NZ Parrot. She also got a skein of Suri Could on sale. The last yarn ball she bought was a ball of Tootsies yarn from Michele Ann in Pukekohe, Auckland.
#KiwiSummerWIP
Please join us in finishing some of your WIP’s started before 2023! We have at least one prize to giveaway – a skein donated from Purple Sprouting. Thanks Paula!! To enter, dig out a WIP started before 2023 and finish it; then snap a shot and post it on Instagram with #kiwisummerwip in the description. If you don’t have access to Instagram, please drop us an email via the link in this blog.
We are extending the WIP along until the end of April since the year has gotten away from us!
Gill has started and finished a  Sockhead Slouch Hat (ravelry link, also available on her blog but it doesn’t include all the sizes) knit in Mrs Peacock Yarns Sonic base on the Rainforest colourway.
Kylie finished a pair of machine knit socks using some Spotlight yarn Moda Vera Not Just Socks. It was her first pair of socks on the 74 stitch cylinder, and the first pair made using the ribber attachment!
Kylie has finished a set of dishclothes using a ball of FibraNatura Cotton Royal Color Waves purchased at Michelle Ann Woolshop in Pukekohe, Auckland- she got 6 dishclothes out of one ball though the last one isn’t as large as the rest. Pattern used was Dishcloth Recipe by Robin Wiest (ravelry link).
Gill finished her pair of scrappy socks for a KAL hosted on Instagram by @every.thing.shapes.us – you can follow along the hashtag #easypeasyscrappysockskal2023. It’s a toe up knit with a fleegle heel after not enjoying it!
WIPs
Kylie has cast on a Sockhead Slouch Hat (ravelry link, also available on her blog but it doesn’t include all the sizes) as her new handbag knitting. The yarn is from Knot n Tie (a lovely local Auckland dyer) on her Twistie Toes base – a fun zebra type yarn and it’s giving a lovely pooling effect.
Kylie has been inspired by the DRK March to May KAL. She’s picked up her Find Your Fade by Andrea Mowry started a while ago in the original Hedgehog Fibres fade colours in their Skinny Singles base. The Piwakawaka pin Kylie has on her bag is from Lisafdesigns.
Gill is knitting Dalekanium by Dena Stelly using yarn from Rainy Day Yarn in the Striped Pajamas colourway. This pattern is a free pattern with an interesting star toe construction.
Gill has also cast on a new sweater – Dayspring by Ainur Berkimbayeva, from the Spring 2021 issue of Pom Pom Magazine. They yarns are from Louie and Lola Yarns in Tasmania, Australia.
The Tolkien crochet blanket has been getting lots of love – Kylie has finished joining 54 squares in a join as you go method. Yarn is from Giddy Yarns in Scotland, and there are 5 x 10g minis for each month of the yar in 2022, Q1 inspired by The Hobbit and Q2-4 inspired by each Lord of the Rings book.
Spinning
We both have spinning to share this week!
Kylie finished a batt from Twisted Zisters – it was 2 identical batts layed on top of each other then spun from one side to the other. Yarn is spun on a traditional Ashford wheel from the fold to create singles which were then fulled in hot water and thwacked.
Gill finished some Anna Gratton Corriedale fibre in the Passionfruit colourway. It’s been sitting on her wheel for a bit and she has made 470m over 200g in a sport/DK weight.
Aquisitions
Kylie has been very busy ‘rescuing’ yarn this fortnight! Holland Road Company has started a ‘re-loved’ section on their website where people can resell yarn they no longer want/need. Kylie got a 300g skein of Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Lace Garn which she will use as the main colourway for the Foxthoughts Pullover by Hiroko Payne / The Hare And The Crow
Kylie also rescued some Hedgehog Sock Yarn from a facebook based yarn page in colourways Hush, Fool’s Gold and Guppy.
Nana-Cindy has stopped dying, so Kylie visited the Knit Nook’s website and bought some Nana-Cindy yarn!
Pom Pom No. 43 and No. 44 arrived. No. 43 wasn’t really Kylie’s thing so it’s gone to Gill’s library!! The Spring edition is more for Kylie so she’s enjoying flicking through that one.
Kylie has expanded her Ridged Heddle with some accessories including a verident kit, a double heddle upgrade and a couple of weaving books.
Gillian recieved her Vintage Purls Quindecenium Hat kit – a hat to celebrate 15 years in business. She also got some super cute extras including some fun tags and a bookmark.
#KiwiSummerWIP
Please join us in finishing some of your WIP’s started before 2023! We have at least one prize to giveaway – a skein donated from Purple Sprouting. Thanks Paula!! To enter, dig out a WIP started before 2023 and finish it; then snap a shot and post it on Instagram with #kiwisummerwip in the description. If you don’t have access to Instagram, please drop us an email via the link in this blog.
We are extending the WIP along until the end of April since the year has gotten away from us!
Kylie finished her Recalibrate by Shana S. Cohen (Ravelry link – you can also find it on her website). The yarns are both merino linen blends, purple from Life in the Long Grass (purchased at Skein Sisters, Sydney) and green/blue ‘Splash’ from Yeah Yeah Yarn.
Kylie also put the finishing touches on her machine knit sweater she did last year – blocking it and applying a knitted rolled neckband. Yarn for this was also from Yeah Yeah Yarn. Here she is modelling it:
Gillian finished her Painting Honeycombs Cowl (ravelry link, also available on the WestKnits site) by Stephen West. Yarn is a Zauberball and a random unknown pink skein – may even be hand dyed by Gill herself but she can’t say for sure. Doesn’t it look awesome!!
Gill finished her testknit for The Passioknit Spinner – colourwork socks which look amazing! Yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners and Wollmeise.
WIP’s
Kylie has cast on a Sockhead Slouch Hat (ravelry link, also available on her blog but it doesn’t include all the sizes) as her new handbag knitting. The yarn is from Knot n Tie (a lovely local Auckland dyer) on her Twistie Toes base – a fun zebra type yarn and it’s giving a lovely pooling effect.
Gill had to cast on some new handbag knitting too! Sweet Li’l Scarfette by Ambah O’Brien (Ravelry link – also available on her website). Yarn is Malabrigo Mechita.
Gill’s made great progress on her pair of scrappy socks for a KAL hosted on Instagram by @every.thing.shapes.us – you can follow along the hashtag #easypeasyscrappysockskal2023. It’s a toe up knit and she tried to do a flap and gusset construction but went to a fleegle heel after not enjoying it!
Gillian has frogged her Ripple Crop and cast on a Rib Lace Raglan (Ravelry Link, also available on PayHip) by James N Watts. The yarn is BC Garn Bio Balance GOTS (wool/cotton blend) purchased from Loopine Wool.
Kylie’s been working on her Scrappy Stripy socks using Purple Sprouting‘s ‘Jupiter Crash’ and matching mini’s – pattern inspired by the recipe by the Crazy Sock Lady. She’s using Avocado Socks for the heel by Georgiana Russell-Head (ravelry link).
Gillian has started the Crochet Sea Glass Tee by Wool & Pine in lots of ‘sea colours’ – greens and turquoise. She’s learning lots of new techniques such as the invisible join and will be doing colourwork with crochet for the body!
Kylie has been working a little on her Aurora Cabin Shawl (ravelry link – also available on the WestKnits site) by Stephen West, using the gorgeous Moon base from Life in the Long Grass purchased at Skein Sisters in Sydney, Australia.
Spinning
Kylie finished some yarn!!! And it’s art yarn!! The first ply is corespun – a grey natural polworth yarn from Starcrest Farm in the South Island of NZ with rainbow beehive sections using fibre from Waione Wool Carding. The second ply is some silver/gold/mixed sewing thread.
Kylie also finished a bobbin of her handspun sock yarn which is a gradient half black and then a rainbow. The fibre is a BFL braid from Cat & Sparrow Fibres in Australia.
#LastSewistStanding
Kylie’s jumped into a new sewing challenge – the challenge is to use your sewing stash. In the spirit of the challenge, Kylie went looking through lots of old patterns and found a pattern to make for her daughter – a fully reversible twirly dress – the CrossOver Flounce Dress from Designs by Callajaire. It required some creativity to get 4 circles out of the fabric but it came off OK!
Aquisitions
Gillian shopped at the Yarn On Sale – she got some Katia Tokyo and Kremke Lazy Lion. She also shopped at Cruellas in Nelson and got some new sock yarn to try out – Lang Twin Sock. As well as that she got some Spritzer yarn in the “Taranaki Twilight” colourway – gorgeous!
Gill’s also ordered a new hat kit from Vintage Purls and a Pride pack from Knot n Tie – which Kylie will also be investigating!!
#KiwiSummerWIP
Please join us in finishing some of your WIP’s started before 2023! We have at least one prize to giveaway – a skein donated from Purple Sprouting. Thanks Paula!! To enter, dig out a WIP started before 2023 and finish it; then snap a shot and post it on Instagram with #kiwisummerwip in the description. If you don’t have access to Instagram, please drop us an email via the link in this blog.
Kylie’s following the 23 in 23 WIP projects alongside The Passioknit Spinner, which is to finish 23 textile projects that were started prior to 2023 – at the end of February she has 6 projects finished!!
We’ve both been doing a bit of sewing! Kylie has been sewing a Studio Tunic by Sew Liberated. It’s not quite finished, but it will be a great way to keep cotton and fleece off her clothes when she’s creating.
Gillian has picked up her Jennifer Pudney ‘Wind Dancer’ tapestry which she purchased at a craft store in Wellington during her travels a while ago.
WIPs
Gllian has started something new with her advent from Purple Sprouting – the pattern she chose is Around The Bend (ravelry link – also available on the WestKnits site) by Nim Teasdale.
Kylie finally cast on her Aurora Cabin Shawl (ravelry link – also available on the WestKnits site)Â by Stephen West, using the gorgeous Moon base from Life in the Long Grass purchased at Skein Sisters in Sydney, Australia. There is a lot of slipped stitches in the patterned section, so Kylie came up with the idea to slip these stitches onto a separate needle and secure with needle end stoppers (the gorgeous alpaca ones Kylie used were from Eskdale Yarns). Then the slipped stitches can just be ‘ignored’ over the multiple rows and picked up when they are needed to work in the cabled row – this even saves having to use a cable needle!
Gillian has made some really good progress on her Painting Honeycombs Cowl (ravelry link, also available on the WestKnits site) by Stephen West. Yarn is a Zauberball and a random unknown pink skein – may even be handdyed by Gill herself but she can’t say for sure.
Kylie is still plugging away at her Recalibrate (Ravelry link – you can also find it on her website). The yarns are both merino linen blends, purple from Life in the Long Grass (purchased at Skein Sisters, Sydney) and green/blue ‘Splash’ from Yeah Yeah Yarn.
Gill’s other active WIP is a testknit for The Passioknit Spinner – colourwork socks which look amazing! Yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners and Woolmeiser. On the horizon is a pair of scrappy socks for a KAL hosted on Instagram by @every.thing.shapes.us – you can follow along the hashtag #easypeasyscrappysockskal2023. Gill’s also been working through her heel-less socks, adding heels. Yarns include Katia Tokyo Sock and Urth Yarns Uneek Sock.
Kylie’s been working on her Scrappy Stripy socks using Purple Sprouting‘s ‘Jupiter Crash’ and matching mini’s – pattern inspired by the recipe by the Crazy Sock Lady. She’s decided to do a new to her heel using Avocado Socks by Georgiana Russell-Head (ravelry link).
The Tolkien crochet blanket has been getting lots of love – Kylie has finished joining 36 squares (halfway!!) in a join as you go method. Yarn is from Giddy Yarns in Scotland, and there are 5 x 10g minis for each month of the yar in 2022, Q1 inspired by The Hobbit and Q2-4 inspired by each Lord of the Rings book.
Finished!!
Kylie has finally finished her handspun ribbed socks using the DRK Everyday Sock pattern by Drea Renee Knits (available from Ravelry and the DRK website). The handspun fiber is from StitchPunk (unfortunately she doesn’t dye anymore).
Gillian has also finished her handspun socks! Pattern is The Impossible Girl Socks which is a free pattern available on Ravelry and the LoveCraft Website. Yarn was made from Man Made Fibre hand dyed Corriedale/Nylon fiber blend.
Kylie’s been cranking away on her sock machine. From one ball of Schachenmayr Regia Fluormania Color 4-fädig / 4-ply sock yarn she made a pair of socks for her daughter, a glasses case for hubby’s work glasses AND a newborn/premie beanie! Photo of glasses case below, since hubby had already taken it to work by the time we recorded!
Gillian put heels in her Skip Socks by Maggie Menzel – it was a labour of love and it’s done and looks great!
Kylie has finally finished her Misurina (ravelry link – also available on the Boyland Knits website) made with gorgeous yarns from fibre2go. It’s come out quite tight – tighter than she wanted and it fits her daughter unblocked, so she’s not sure if it will end up being for her or her daughter.
Another pair of socks finished by Gill are the Hermione’s Everyday Socks (ravelry link only) by Erica Lueder using yarn from Nana Cindy in the ‘Black Hole Spun’ colourway. Nana Cindy isn’t dying at the moment, but you can find some of her yarns at The Knit Nook.
Started AND finished since last podcast, Gill knit a pair of On the Vine (ravelry link – available from the Simply Knitting Magazine Supplement – Issue 225 – you can probably get this from your local library!) Socks by Jane Burns. Yarn used was from Harnie Hoolies – a gorgeous sparkly sock yarn from a Christmas club.
Last finished item for Kylie was some dishcloths. Kylie uses the Dishcloth Recipe by Robin Wiest (ravelry link). The yarn was purchased at Michelle Ann Woolshop in Pukekohe, Auckland – Fibra Natura Cotton Royal Colour Waves.
Acquisitions
On the same day Kylie visited Michelle Ann Woolshop in Pukekohe, Auckland, she also went to Spotlight and got some lovely mill ends bags which she intendes to turn into machine knit blankets for donation to the Middlemore Jammies in June drive this year.
Purple Sprouting is doing a mystery club this year called “Birds of the World”. The first one is the Northern Carmine Bee-eater and it’s a wonderful representation of the bird!
Gillian got a Pom Pom magazine from her local newsagent. Kylie has recently resubscribed to getting the next year of magazines delivered so she’s looking forward to getting them in the mail!
Spinning
Gillian finished some gorgeous yarn spun from some fibre2go fibre purchased at the Morrinsville Spin-in in January. She’s also been working on a 200g purple spin. Kylie has picked up her drop spindle to spin a little bit – it’s a slow process so there is nothing to show there!
#KiwiSummerWIP
Please join us in finishing some of your WIP’s started before 2023! We have at least one prize to giveaway – a skein donated from Purple Sprouting. Thanks Paula!! To enter, dig out a WIP started before 2023 and finish it; then snap a shot and post it on Instagram with #kiwisummerwip in the description. If you don’t have access to Instagram, please drop us an email via the link in this blog.
Kylie’s made some plans for 2023 involving her WIPs and yarn. She’s following the 23 in 23 WIP projects alongside The Passioknit Spinner, which is to finish 23 textile projects that were started prior to 2023. She’s already ticked 3 off!!
In terms of yarn, Kylie wants to use more than she purchases this year! The ‘math’ for this is that a skein/set of minis etc. is a +1 and when i use a skein it becomes a -1. At the end of the year, the aim is to be less than zero (a negative number). As of this episode she’s at +1.
Cup of Tea and a Yarn 