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) 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.
Kylie has been playing with her CSM and Regia yarns. When she was having some issues, she did some tension swatching to try and figure out issues. This is always a good idea when you are working with machines in general, and it’s a great trouble shooting exercise too!
Finished Items
Kylie has finished her first pre-2023 WIP cast on. It’s an amigurami Nibbler (a character from Futurama). This was started in 2015 for Comic-con! It’s a free pattern which you can view on a blog, or ravelry.
Gillian made a couple of baby beanies using the Heirloom Hat’s pattern from Purl Soho – also a free pattern available on the Purl Soho website or ravelry.
WIPs
Gillian has frogged her Ripple Crop and cast on a Rib Lace Raglan (Ravelry Link) by James Watt. The yarn is BC Garn Bio Balance GOTS (wool/cotton blend) purchased from Loopine Wool.
We’ve both been working on our handspun socks. Kylie is using the DRK Everyday Sock pattern by Drea Renee Knits (available from Ravelry and the DRK website). Gillian is knitting the Impossible Girl Socks which is a free pattern available on Ravelry and the LoveCraft Website.
Kylie also dug out her Misurina (ravelry link – also available on the Boyland Knits website) made with gorgeous yarns from fibre2go. It’s so close to being finished, so it’s top of the list for our Kiwi Summer WIP-along!
The Tolkien crochet blanket has been getting lots of love – Kylie has finished joining 24 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.
Gillian picked up her self-made gradient cakes to make a Knit ‘n Slide Shawl by Westknits (Pattern available on Ravelry and the Westknits Website). It’s so close to being finished so she should be able to get it done this weekend – it looks amazing!
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.
Last podcast we talked about the Doctor Who scarf – and that night Gillian jumped online and purchased the yarn from Ribbon Rose to make the original Tom Baker scarf (BBC pattern available here). She has cast it on, but didn’t bring it to show as it’s a big project with all the yarn!!
Aquisitions
Gillian had a lovey time at the Morrinsville Spin-In last weekend – Kylie couldn’t make it because she was working. While she was there she got some fibre2go fiber and started spinning it straight away! It was a nice quiet day with lots of chatting, spinning and browsing.
Loopine Wool got an awesome new branded measuring tape which Kylie just had to have so she put an order in – with NO YARN!!! Instead she got some bits and bobs for mending as well as a couple of books/magazines (Pom Pom Magazine and Rowan ‘Abstract’)
#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.
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 skine it becomes a -1. At the end of the year, the aim is to be less than zero (a negative number).
We haven’t been able to get together again due to a tropical cyclone hitting the North Island of NZ! You can watch our latest podcast here or below.
Finished!
Gillian cast on AND finished a top already this year!! The pattern is Tin Roof and she made it with yarn from Yeah Yeah Yarn. She made it cropped and enjoyed learning a new joining technique – Russian Crocheted Join – which meant that there was no sewing up!
This year Kylie has been making reusable crochet water balloons using chenille yarn donated from another member of her knit group.
Weaving Sticks caught Gill’s eye last year and she made a lovely long skinny scarf using them! She did the whole thing in a rainy day, and it looks great, especially out of her handspun!!
Giftalong 2022
Kylie finished a few things in the giftalong this year. In the ‘hands’ category, Ferny Mittens & Gloves out of leftover Noro Ginga yarn from previous giftalong projects – it’s a lovely soft bulky yarn which is lovely to work with and the cotton makes it lovely to wear! In the ‘head’ category, Kylie made 4 i-cord headbands for her daughter out of various.
In the ‘other’ category, Kylie knit 2 gnomes durng the giftalong. The December mystery gnome was Gnome Made Gifts which included lots of little accessories for the gnome! The yarns used were a lovely mini set dyed by Roxy Yarns and purchased at The Knit Nook.
Gillian nearly finished her Skip socks, but she has yet to finish the afterthought heels. The yarn used was Cruella’s Natural Fiber Boutique Spritzer – from Cruellas in Nelson (South Island NZ).
WIPs
Kylie tried to knit Recalibrate during the giftalong, but didn’t quite get there. She’ll get it done in January (hopefully!!). 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 had a falling out with a couple of projects she’s been working on. Her Ripple Crop Top Worsted holding 2 yarn’s together – BC Garn Bio Balance GOTS and some KiwiYarn-a. The other project she’s fallen out with is her advent project using her 12 day advent set from Purple Sprouting and the Shortest Day Shawl pattern.
The Tolkien crochet blanket has been getting some love this year – Kylie has finished the February set. 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 also dug out her Misurina made with gorgeous yarns from fibre2go. It’s so close to being finished, so it’s top of the list for our Kiwi Summer WIP-along!
#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.
Aquisitions
We talked a little bit about the yarns we got in December – specifically our advent calendars. Kylie’s was from Yeah Yeah Yarn and Gill’s was from Purple Sprouting. We both recieved gorgeous packages from Eskdale Yarns including the West Yorkshire Spinners Christmas 2022 sock yarn and lots of lovely bits and bobs.
Gill did a bit of shopping after we filmed our visit to Purple Sprouting, buying enough yarn to make the Cherry top combining some alpaca fluff and merino yarn – it will be gorgeous!
We’re back together! It’s been a busy couple of weeks so grab a cuppa before you watch our latest episode as it’s a long one, full of lots of yarny content!
Aquisitions
We started with acquisitions this episode because Gill had been to Loopine that morning to pick up her prize from the Socktober KAL! Thanks Alanna (of Black Cat Knitting Company!!) Gill chose a lovely skein of yarn dyed by Alanna herself! Gill also purchased a gorgeous Schoppelle Wolle Zauberball and some BC Garn Bio Balance in a beautiful purple.
We must have been both thinking about a purple summer yarn because when Kylie visited Skein Sisters in Sydney she got some Life in the Long Grass Linen Merino Singles to make a summer top! She also got a gorgeous set of 5 Life in the Long Grass skeins in their Moon base (Merino/Silk) to make the Aurora Cabin Shawl, which is the Westknits Hiberknitting shawl this year. The chosen colours are Power, Auger, Frosting, Oir and Podzolic. Super fun!
Next up in Kylie’s super fun awesome yarn crawl day was Morris and Sons in York Street where she got 3 balls of Arne & Carlos Regia – to make socks of course!!
Gill was in Christchurch for work so she got to visit Scorpio Books where she grabbed a copy of the new “52 weeks of shawls”, the latest in the Laine 52 weeks book range. This looks like a fantastic book with scarfs and shawls from lots of awesome designers.
Kylie got a lovely package from The Knit Nook which is a new shop in Napier full of gorgeous indie dyed yarn. A gorgeous set of minis from Roxy Fibres “Speckled Pastels”, a purple skein from Nana-Cindy, another purple skein from Dye Studio 54 and a fluffy skein from Yeah Yeah Yarn.
Advent calendars have started to arrive on our doorstep – Gillian got the Purple Sprouting yarn calendar and Kylie is expecting the Yeah Yeah Yarn advent. We’re both expecting one from Eskdale, and Gill is also expecting one from KiwiYarn-A
The last purchase was a copy of the new Shetland Wool Week book. There’s some gorgeous patterns in there including a lace cardigan, slippers, socks, dog coat and a poncho!
WIP’s
Kylie has picked up her Misurina sweater using Fibre2go Silk/Merino. The main colour is Light Hydrangea and the purple contrast yarn is Honesty. This is a lightweight spring/summer project so it got put away during winter, but now it’s become the perfect weather to wear it in so time to get it off the needles!!
The other thing Kylie has been working on is her DRK Everyday socks in her handspun. This has been a very long project as she hates knitting ribbing!! The sock are turning out fabulous though and she’s going to get a lot of wear out of them, so it will be worth it!
Gill has been busy with casting on lots of different projects!! Katia Tokyo yarn is working up super fun in a pair of socks which are matching really well! Another fun set of striping socks is with lefover zauberball and uneek socks.
Shawls that Gill is working on includes the Striped Esjen by Westknits using one of last year’s Christmas yarns from Harnie Hoolie’s in the Frankensense colourway; Raku from Hedgehog and some lovely alpaca fluff from Purple Sprouting. Another shawl is a mix of a few patterns, and a handmade gradient out of 12 x 20g minis. The patterns being used include The Everyday Shawl, Kallara by Ambah O’Brian, the Atiru shawl from Aroha Knits along with a 2 stitch i-cord cast on and edge from the Smash and Puny pattern.
Mittens are still being knit by Gill for her Wellington friends Christmas gifts. The bamboo field mittens are being knit in some lovely green BC Garn Loch Lomond Bio GOTS.
Gill has also been working away at a couple of long term blanket projects including a scrappy granny square crochet blanket as well as adding a few more squares of her mitred square blanket.
Finished Projects
Kylie has been doing some dishclothes for school teacher gifts. She’s been using some Sugar N Cream cotton yarn and a free dishcloth recipe.
The enormous Klementyna crochet shawl is done! It looks fantastic, wouldn’t you agree? It was made using a Scheepjes fingering weight cotton whirl in the Pistachi oh so nice colourway, purchased at Good Wool Hunting. Here’s a copy of the chart which is free on pinterest:
Gillian finished 2 pairs of mittens – the first using the Sock Hands pattern and some Miro Yarns BFL. The second pair using the Pioneer Gloves pattern and the most perfect yarn that she has ever knit with. The wool for the yarn comes from Starcrest Farm, which we bought some fibre off when we were in New Plymouth – the yarn is Wild Earth Yarns Aspen 4ply in the Hickory colourway.
And of course Gill has done some gorgeous spinning, using 2 Twisted Zisters batts combined together to make a gorgeous gradient handspun yarn.
Kylie shared her last 2 gnomes today. Choose Your Gnome Adventure was the most recent mystery gnome, allowing for the selection of the gnome size and yarn size. A Christmas gift gnome was made using the Never Not Gnoming pattern, which is a lovely go to basic gnome (and actually is the first of Imagined Landscapes’ many gnome patterns!)
Machine Knitting
Kylie has been busy on her sock knitting machine – playing with the new 72 needle cylinder and ribber. Gillian stayed after we podcasted and knit two sock blanks so watch this space to see them transform into wearable socks in the near future!
Giftalong 2022
This year is the 10th year of the Indie Design Gift-A-Long. @indiegiftalong on Instagram.; #giftalong2022 and #GAL2022 on socials.
What is Gift-A-Long? It’s a multi-designer promotion to help you kick your holiday gift-making into high gear!
The Indie Design Gift-A-Long is an almost 6 week long KAL/CAL of holiday gifts made from patterns designed by a rather extensive list of independent designers. From November 22nd, 2022 at 5:00 pm US Eastern time zone to December 31, 2022 at midnight US Eastern time zone there will be fun games, contests, and 8 KAL/CALs that will help you get your holiday knitting and crocheting done with companionship and fun! You can read all about the details in this post: click here, or on the FAQ page in our group pages.
Cup of Tea and a Yarn 