There are so many things I want to make at the moment.
There are gorgeous frocks and skirts that I want to try sewing, weaving ideas I want to do, spinning some alpaca that my sister just bought for me, and then to top it off I received this in the post with even more lovely things:
I am extremely aware of how lucky we are right now. I am so very grateful to still have my job, and even more so to have some spare $$s to spend on making. And of course lucky to be able to roam freely around the country without worrying about the virus.
And whilst the guilty thought of a few months off sounds tempting, it is just as rewarding to pop the lovely things to one side until the weekend when there is an opportunity for them to get added to the rest of the pile of WIPs.
After a weekend of full on geeking I reflected on how lucky we are in New Zealand to be able to go to events in person. We can hug old friends and new, and not have to worry about whether we are putting ourselves at risk of getting sick.
Saturday was a full fiber immersion at FibreTron2020. It was the first in person yarn event since lockdown and it was crazy busy in a good way.
A sample of my purchases
I helped out Julie from Wool on Wheels for the day. I feel like this meant that I got to see so many more people than if I’d been there as a customer. And of course I managed to squeeze a bit of time in to have a nice little shop, and a chat to some of my favourite New Zealand indie dyers and designers.
Talk about exhausted! As well as being on my feet helping all day it was a constant sensory overload and I loved it 🙂
Sunday’s in person geekfest was all about sci-fi, fantasy, pop-culture and cosplay at the Armageddon expo. A two day event that goes around all of the main centers in New Zealand. This year it was missing its overseas guests, though it made up for it by having them attend virtually on a really big screen. Luckily Sunday was quite a bit quieter than Saturday so it was easy to get around and have a really good look at what was there. And of course admire all of the people in their amazing costumes!
It’d be lovely to have a few days of rest now to recharge the batteries, however work awaits, (something else I’m incredibly grateful to still have), so resting will have to wait until next weekend :-).
Just when I think I’m getting past beginner knitter stage I learn another technique. It’s like knitting is the crafting rainbow, you think you’re getting closer to the pot of gold and it’s always just out of reach. 😁
It only took 4 goes to get it right… It probably didn’t help that the yarn is so beautifully silky and the needles are pretty big and both of those things are outside my comfort zone.
The yarn is a gorgeous 50 percent merino 50 percent silk from New Zealand indy dyer and designer Harnie Hoolie that I got at Unwind in Dunedin earlier in the year. And the cast on is the Ranunculus sweater (this link opens in Ravelry)
I’ve cast on as part of a small knit along I’ve joined. I’m unsure about the top, I have a feeling it might not suit me, but I hear its a really quick knit so I’m giving it a go.
Since we moved to Tauranga just over a week ago and are still unpacking I can’t really justify the 6 hour round trip this weekend to Kumeu to Fibre Fiesta to get a top up of fibre fabulousness, so I did a little bit of online shopping instead 🙂
Up until this purchase I have been pretty exclusive with my choice of New Zealand of indie dyers and fibres for spinning, so I don’t feel too guilty about buying merino from an international dyer, especially since I am supporting Cindy who is also a fab NZ indie dyer 🙂 I’m really looking forward to seeing how the Dye Candy spins (or more like – how well I can spin it!)
I also got 100 grams of different coloured Ashford corriedale from the Agridome in Rotorua a couple of weekends ago, watched some youtube videos, and on Sunday I made what might almost be artyarn.
I started with trying to wrap the fibre around a commercial yarn a technique called core spinning. I gave up pretty quickly though – it was so fiddly! I suppose my not being very practiced at drafting corriedale (I much prefer merino and alpaca) wouldn’t have helped!
I then went onto fat and thin spinning and trying to get some kind of a regular rhythm and pattern. This was a bit easier so I went with this for a while and then tried spiral plying it on to some silver glittery nylon that I got from spotlight. And the result is what you can see.
I think it’s okay for a first go, and It’s something I want to try more of, but I don’t like ‘wasting’ fibre (or yarn for that matter!) so I’m going to do it properly and I’ll be looking out for classes at the guild and at Creative Fibre so I can learn from a pro. And I really want to be able to do beehives, I spend way to long drooling over them pinterest 🙂
Cup of Tea and a Yarn 