Taking a blogging break

I need to step away from the blog for a while. There’s lots going on and not much crafting happening.

At this stage I’m planning to start blogging again in the new year.

Spinning

I’ve been playing with my spinning wheel. This was a batt dropping from Nunoco. I was so eager to start spinning that I forgot to take a picture until the batt was almost finished.

It had lovely pops of silk through it.

On the wheel.

Wound into a cake ready to ply.

I was seriously tempted to keep this as a single.

But in the end I plied it. This is pre-washing.

Gorgeous Girl has requested fingerless gloves from this. I only have 50 grams, but she has little hands, so I should be OK.

This was wonderful to spin.

In which Gorgeous Girl cooks

While we were in Australia Gorgeous Girl spotted a video recipe on my Facebook feed and decided to recreate it. She made some modifications and it was delicious.

The salmon was a real treat as we can only get frozen salmon at very expensive prices here in PNG. Asparagus runs to around $45 a kilo so that was a real treat as well. (We don’t eat salmon or asparagus while we are in PNG).

She also made potatoes, carrots and brocolini as sides. Gorgeous Man assisted with the wrapping of the salmon and asparagus in the foil but the rest was all Gorgeous Girl. I’m so glad that she is learning cooking skills now. I didn’t really start to cook until I was an adult.

Stash Acquisition

I went to KnitFest when I was in Australia. It was great to wander around an look at what people were making and connect with some indie dyers.

I bought some fibre and yarn and collected some business cards of vendors that I’d like to try when the stash has gone down a little. These gorgeous yarns and fibres came from Pickle and Co.

I can’t wait to play with these. The purple braid is 17 micron and is the softest merino fibre I’ve ever felt.

1. I also bought 400 grams of a merino/flax blend from The Art and Craft Cottage.

This looks like it’s going to be fun to spin as well.

Hand-spun socks

I got a bit obsessed by these socks while we were away. Knitted on them every car trip we made and in the evenings.

Spun from merino wool in a traditional three ply.

Frustratingly they are a little bit shorter than I would like in the leg. I do however, have more than enough left for another pair.

I really love the way this knitted up.

I’d forgotten how much I enjoy knitting socks. I need to make more of them.

 

Knitting for Charity

While we were in Australia I took the opportunity to drop a few hand-spun, hand-knitted items in the mail. I belong to a group on Ravelry called Aussies Knitting for War-affected Kids. Feel free to click on the link and join the group. We’re a friendly bunch and it’s not just Australians knitting. The items made are delivered to Syrian refugee children. Some toddler sized socks. Due to the risk of fire in the camps it has been requested that no acrylic yarn is used.

Some toddler sized socks in hand-spun yarn

Some scarves.

All items are from handspun yarn. I know it’s not much, but if I can help warm one person then I feel less helpless in the face of so much suffering.

 

A scarf

We had a lovely, but hectic visit to Australia. Lots of running around getting things organised. I got new glasses, still learning to love them; sourced goodies for the goodie bags for Kidlet’s birthday party in October; picked up birthday presents for Gorgeous Man (a bit later in the year) and caught up with friends and family.

There are a few finished objects and some fibre and yarn acquisitions to show you. First something I took right down to the wire. I knitted this scarf last year and then got stalled when it came to blocking. In my defense it was rainy season when I finished it and I knew it would have problems drying. I finally got it blocked and dried the day before we left so that I could gift it while we were in Australia.

It blocked out really well. I love the look of it puddled on the couch.

This went to live with my sister-in-law Rockmelon Recycled who as a maker herself (both of my sils are makers) appreciates the handknits. To keep this in the family, this yarn was given to me by my step-mother-in-law. When I saw that the colour was almost identical to the hat I had already knitted Rochelle I knew I needed to make a scarf to match.

Handspun socks

I have some travel coming up, so have cast on another easy project. I’m using this pattern and some yarn that I spun earlier in the year. Traditional three-ply sock yarn.

“Unfortunately” I’m so enthralled with how it’s knitting up that I’m almost at the heel of the first sock and I haven’t left home yet. Hopefully I won’t run out of knitting while I’m away. I’ve packed this, the lace shawl and the crochet bag.

Should give me something to do.

A Quick Knit

I haven’t knitted very much for charity lately and so have decided to move charity knitting back into regular rotation of projects.

I’m really happy with how this little cardigan turned out.

It used up some old Elle Escapade yarn. Pattern can be found here. It’s a very easy pattern that makes a good take along project as it doesn’t require much concentration.

Crochet Wednesday

My current Wednesday crochet project will also be doing double duty as my take-along project.  I’m making one of these bags.

Pictured is one of my new crochet hooks from the set that I bought earlier this year. I’m a big fan. I think I’m crocheting much faster with these hooks and they are easier on the hands.