The Lazy Weekend Sweater

Readers, the third in my series of weekend sweaters, all knitted from my (seemingly never decreasing!) stash.  This one is Nikhol Lohr's design, knitted from the remains of a value ball of Windermere Aran in tweedy, flecked cream.  It's a free pattern on Ravelry.

I love it, although it is more fitted than I anticipated, and I lengthened the sleeves and bottom by a few rows each, as I am tall.  I decided not to do the hood as I thought it wouldn't suit the fit, and it got it's first outing last weekend, with a dark denim skirt, black slip ons and subtle red lipstick, for a slightly vintage vibe.

So - the hoodie that I thought this would be remains yet to be done, although I am very happy with this result!

Yarn and Wool in the Blue Mountains, NSW

Readers, it was a celebratory weekend for me, so Mr Bromley Knits and I set out early on Saturday morning - destination Blue Mountains 

The Three Sisters

As well as the beautiful scenery, we had two knitting shops in the agenda.  The first was in the lovely town of Katoomba, a delightful mix of Art Deco, new age hippy and mountaineering.

The Granny Square, 55-57 Waratah St, Katoomba, is an offshoot of the Morris and Sons mini-chain of Australian yarn and wool stores.  Located in an olde-world shop, with whitewashed interior, it is filled with the Morris and Sons own yarn lines, as well as a good range of others - Noro, Patons, Debbie Bliss, for example.  

There are all the notions you could possibly need, as well as pattern leaflets, mags and books, including a pile of vintage leaflets for reference - something I loved.  I had been looking for some tweed for a current project, so purchased 3 skeins of their Morris Woollahra in the Mustard colourway.

The very knowledgable and helpful shop assistant helped me work out how much more I needed to purchase with Morris and Sons to get an AUD 50 voucher - it's definitely worth joining their mailing list/purchasing club.

Our next stop was a totally different experience 10 minutes up the road from Katoomba (or a stop or two further o the train if you are on public transport), in the quaint town of Blackheath.  The House of Wool is on Govett's Leap Rd, and is run by an indie dyer, with hand dyed yarn and fleece to die for - here are my purchases:

Located as one of the shops in an old house converted to retail, it's a lovely place to spend time.

There is also an excellent range of Australian merino available, and some unique accessories, like buttons, brooches, as well as a great pattern book range (one of only two places I've seen a copy of Alice Starmore's new edition of Tudor Roses, worldwide).  I will definitely be back!

Til next time - happy knitting!

Knits for Rainy Weekends

Readers, in the last few years I have relocated from the UK back to my home country of Australia, and to a different part of Australia at that. Mostly, it is warm and humid here, with mild, wet winters which are occasionally cold (we had sleet  one weekend in the depths of winter last year).  Because cold weather is only occasional, the houses are not particularly well heated or insulated, and I have found I need warm sleepwear and warm sweaters for nights and weekends here.

To this end, I have started a relaxed weekend sweater collection, of which the One Night Coat is part:

I am wearing this today, over jeans and a long sleeved Breton tee shirt.

My latest FO in this collection is the Jo Sharp Women's Sweater, Version 2, from the Contemporary Knits book, and knitted in some Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair I'd had in stash for years:

It is more cropped than the original pattern, and has bracelet length sleeves, but works fine with jeans and a tee underneath.  I wore it that way yesterday, and it was super comfortable, breathable, and I got a compliment - always nice.

This collection is a great way to use up the stash - I'm planning to do something with some cream Aran tweed next....

A Return to Handspinning

Readers, a much overdue post. Full time work and part time study are taking a toll on my crafting time, and on all thing crafty in my life, like blogging about crafting.

At the start of the year I promised myself I would restrict my crafting to knitting only, until my thesis is done.  Well, I have had a minor slip on that, for a few reasons.

One is that this is a recent purchase:

It's an Ashford Traditional, and I picked it up for a very reasonable price from a local-ish member of the New South Wales Handspinners and Weavers Guild.  Now, I have been "good" in the sense that I haven't got the wheel going, but, partly to keep up my drafting skills, partly because my sister gave me a bag of fibre from her own, and others' animals to spin (I have since taught her to drop spindle, so there may be less of that in the future!), and partly because I had a twingey back for a couple of weeks and was more comfortable standing, I picked up my newest drop spindle and the bag of BFL (Blue Faced Leicester) I bought with it, and started to spin it:

The BFL is only labelled with the colourway (Licorice and Lime), but no maker/grower. I bought it at the Masham Sheep Fair a few years ago, before we left Yorkshire.

Before long I had enough to pop onto a bobbin on the Ashford's Lazy Kate (the orange is the leader yarn):

I had hoped for a finer yarn, but it was still slubby and coming out a heavy sport or light dk. However, I continued. I am sure I will spin finer, and more even, yarn in time.

I plied it on the drop spindle - a first for me, after a bit of Internet and YouTube research. I was surprised how easy it was to do, and it did even out the yarn although made it even thicker (heavy dk to worsted weight), and I lost overall yardage of course.

So what to do with a small amount of BFL? Again, a bit of Internet research came up with the Twinkletete hat by Alex Tinsley from Dull Roar, via a handy Craftsy link on what do with your handspun.

And here it is:

The brim is the 2 ply handspun, and the remainder knitted in some stashed dk with no label...

It took a couple of evenings, and I love it! My back is better now, so I am back to sitting at my desk at the weekends, but this little, and slightly forbidden, foray into spindling and making, was a tonic.

Public Holiday Progress Update

Today is Australia Day, and rather like Thanksgiving in the US it does have some negative connotations for some members if the community.  It iis a national public holiday in Australia, and so I am at home today.  I will be writing my thesis on and off today, interspersed with a bit of light housework and home admin, a walk (in between the heavy rain showers - still waiting for a good enough break!), and, of course, knitting!

The body of the Featherweight (by Hannah Fettig) is complete:

I am using Morris and Sons Australian 2 ply Merino Laceweight, and this is creating a gossamer weight cardigan in the colour French Grey.

Last night, while watching the Australian Open, I knitted a bit on the Spice Trade Shawl by Apple Tree Knits:

This is taking a little patience and concentration, and I have had to rip and go back several times, but I am determined to finish it. The yarn is Yikexin Wool, from Xian, China and so the pattern is perfect, I love the lurid spice colour.

Hermione's socks are languishing in their owl sock project bag:

But....I have had a new year lapse and some lovely yarn is on its way to me right now, from different corners of the globe! One is for a commission (but still fun to receive), the others are just for me - very exciting indeed and a great lift. Expect a post when they all arrive, and in the meantime enjoy your 26th January, wherever you are in the world, and whatever it may mean to you.

Show Success!

Having just arrived back from our UK trip, I realised amid the whirlwind of returning to work that the annual Kiama Show was nearly upon us, and last year I had resolved to enter some of my knitted items. 

It was no easy feat to submit forms and entries for someone who works full time, but with a bit of help from Mr Bromley Knits, who has a bit more flexibility in his work schedule than I do, I managed four entries.

We spent this morning at the show, and I was delighted to find I had won a first prize for my recently completed London Shadows shawl:

And second prize for my One Night Coat:

My other two entries did not win anything - the Kolmarden Gilet, which I entered in the Vest section:

And an experimental arm knitted cowl, which I don't think I ever blogged, but still had, and so I entered it in the Creative section.

But I was super happy with my outcome!

Best in Show was a beautiful Shetland shawl:

And I loved this Highly Commended cushion:

I've already started planning my knits to enter next year (show regulations state that knits are to be completed in the 12 months prior to each show), and had a request to exhibit any blankets I have completed in an upcoming art installation! 

Happy days and lots of knitting mojo. If you've ever considered entering a local fair or show - do it!

New Year, New Knits

Or should I say Finished Knits.  Finishing UFOs is something I really like to do as New Years Eve approaches, and if we stay in, I quite like to knit on the eve itself.    Having just arrived in beautiful Scotland, we were jet lagged so skipped the big Hogmanay celebrations, and I finished up three knits on New Years Day:

Anise, by Sarah Hatton, in Rowan New Shapes. I have the book, but this is available as a free pattern on Ravelry.  This knit is designed for big wool, but I used the heavy worsted/light chunky handspun I picked up at an op shop in Nowra with my sister last February, knitting the medium size on 10mm needles to create a loose gauge in this stiff and course wool yarn.  I had tons of it and also used it for the Pickles' One Night Coat:

So I have two yellow cardigans! One for each location that I spend time in; Anise can stay in Scotland.  I bought some yellow-brown coconut shell buttons from John Lewis in Glasgow earlier this week, but haven't attached them yet.  I wore Anise over a long sleeved white thermal and with navy leggings and boots on New Years Day, and have also been pulling it on as a bed jacket when sitting up drinking tea and surfing the net in bed during the long, dark, and cold northern winter mornings, so already getting a lot of wear.

I started Anise in 2015, but the following knit dates from 2014 at least, and perhaps earlier.  It began life as a poncho, subsequently abandoned.  It then morphed into what I hoped what be a warm hoodie in damp and chilly Yorkshire, using Susan B Anderson's top down raglan KAL recipe.  A yarn shortage meant I couldn't do long sleeves or a hood - abandoned again.  It was shipped to Oz with the rest of our stuff, so I threw it in my bag and flew it back to the UK, where it has become a half sleeved sweater:

I wore this on Jan 2nd with jeans and ankle boots, and it was very cosy.

And finally, I knit the top border on London Shadows, in coordinating black sock yarn as I had run out of the Katia Darling used for the bottom border and body of the shawl. This is awaiting blocking but here is a shot showing off the colours and drape:

London Shadows was a MKAL by Wild Prairie Knits which started on my birthday in 2015.  I participated as a treat for myself during a very busy year, and am very glad I did - I love it and what it represents; self care, time to do things I love and that restore me.  I will create more opportunities for this in 2016.