Entrachat Citrus - almost finished

Happy Fibre Arts Friday! 

Sorry I have been slack in my posts, don't you hate it when the day job gets in the way of your fibre time? But then one could argue that if one is better organised one could... oh well, evidently this "one" is not that organised!

I have finally booked my flights to China in September, it's my mum's 70th birthday so I can't miss it. Unfortunately the first born has to do his work experience (the only window of opportunity left for him to do this - he's not that orgnaised either, guess who he takes after!) so he has to stay behind, and so hubby has to stay behind. At least I still have Elliot for company.

As such I am now in gift hunting-gathering mode, and I've been making some gifts too. Although it has been generally agreed that many Chinese people don't appreciate handmade stuff, my family is somewhat different in that respect... my uncle is an artist so he appreciate all arts and crafts, my aunts have requested my handknits in the past so they obvious appreciate the efforts, and so I've been busy making things...

This is a cute little bolero/cardi for my niece, the yarn I chose is much thicker than the pattern calls for so I followed instructions for size 2/3 to get a size 5/6. I think it worked :)

The pattern is Entrachat on Ravelry. My project page is here.  I still need to sew the button on and do the edges around the sleeves, but other than that it's done. This is a cute little pattern, it didn't take too long to knit, for me it took about a week of bedtime knitting. I've got another one on the go for my other niece, this time in pink.

I also wove a scarf from one of my early handspuns, it's a little shorter than planned but still a good length, so I am happy.

Oh, you might have gathered from my previous posts that I am a Game of Thrones fan, so is my business partner Sparrow. In keeping with our obsession of GoT we are hosting a Night's Watch SKAL (spin-knit-along), using the Night's Watch shawlette pattern by the talented Lara Smoot. The sign up for the SKAL is open, the kickoff date is 10th September and runs until 30th November. If you don't spin there is a knit only option. Details can be found on our Facebook page or in our Ravelry group, pattern code, prizes details, etc.

Night's Watch Batt:

Night's Watch Yarn:

That's all from me. Thanks for dropping by, please hop over to Andrea's at Wisdom Begins in Wonder for more fibre fun.

Oh Goodies :D

I really should be doing my travelogue updates for this week but I really want to show off my goodies so Fibre Arts Friday won out.

Last Sunday we met up with a very special friend - Vivian of Bits and Pieces. Vivian and I met on Ravelry a few years ago and we've become good friends even though we have never met face to face, but I felt like I'd known her for a long time. So when we were planning this trip I said to my husband that we had to find a way to meet Vivian and family. I'm so pleased we did. We spent a lovely day with Keys with them welcoming us to their home and showing us around Santa Cruz, we went to a wonderful bookshop, wandered through the flea market, had a lovely lunch then we split up in two groups: the boys went to the ocean front to play mini golf and the arcade and Vivian took me yarn shopping. But before I let you on to my loot I have to show you the presents I received from Vivian:

There are a whole box of them! There is a beautifully cabled scarf, a set of Signature sock needles, a skein of silk/sea cell yarn, silk and satin ribbons, silk hankies, Chinese tea. There's also a box of boutique chocolates but they didn't last until I got a chance to take photos, very yummy they were ;)

I am so spoilt, thank you Vivian!

Now my loot from the yarn tour:

Sorry about the photos, I should've taken them in daylight.... given the limited time we had managed two LYSs: The Golden Fleece and The Swift Stitch. The bottom three skeins are from The Golden Fleece, all are hand painted sock/fingering weight. The top ones are from The Swift Stitch, they have a good selection of Madelinetosh which you can't get easily in Australia. I could've easily bought more but I had to think about our luggage retrains (that's another story!)

I only wish we had more time with the Keys, everyone got on so well it's a shame we had to say farewell after such a short time! Here's a photo of myself and Vivian, one of friends said we look like sisters, I think so too :)

Now we have arrived in Seattle we are staying with my friend Elaine whom I knitted the Murano cardigan for, I'm glad to report that it fits! Elaine has been receiving packages for me in the weeks leading up to our arrival. One of the packages contained these beautiful Alpaca/merino roving from WonderWhyAlpacaFarm, I can't wait to try these out!

Another package contained a little Delight, yes it's a Turkish spindle from Jenkins. I must thank Rachael (a.k.a. Sparrow) for this :-)

Aren't I a lucky girl, thank you all my dear friends! xx

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party!

Prize Yarn, Handdyed Silk Hankies & a Handspun Dog!!

Hi! How are you this Friday? I'm in a happy mood today, the sun is shining, the sky blue, and I have just submitted my assignment, woohoo!

Sometime ago I entered a giveaway on Paula's blog, guess who was the lucky winner? Yep, it was yours truly! A packaged arrived this week and contained these gorgeous skeins:

The yarn is 100% certified organic merino and the colourway is English Lavender, you wouldn't believe how squishy and soft it is, and in my favourite colour! It is a fingering weight and about 396 yards, will need to find the perfect pattern worthy of this yummy yarn.

I didn't do much yarn crafts this week due to my assignment, just a little knitting and spinning but not much for showing. But I did have this stack of handdyed silk hankies to share with you:

I'm calling this Sunset, it was dyed with two packets of Orange KoolAid and dabs of Americolor Violet (food colour) cooked up in my crockpot. The colour came out surprisingly rich.

A lady from my spinning group brought in a dog made from handspun, I couldn't help but taking some photos. So please meet Bluey the red dog:

... here he is wearing a felted coat his owner Frances has made... that's Frances in the background in the photo above giving a demonstration in needle felting :)

I love fibre arts, don't you?

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party!