Stashalong - 3 months on

I survived 3 months on stashalong and have reduced my stash heaps, but still with a lot more to get through, I am going to sign up for another.....1 no 2, bugger it 3 months, that should see me through my stash. I wasn't going to, but I know I need to commit to this otherwise I would just go and mess up all the good I have done over the last 3 months. I am really liking how my stash isn't all over the floor now, it is just over 1/2 the floor..hahah. I need to get this house in some type of order and this is the only way to do it. I wonder if there are dusting, cleaning just plain housework alongs, I would definitely have to join it.

I am on my day off today, we work extra hours and can make up 2 days per month to take off, my plan is to thoroughly clean our bedroom top to botton and all in between, hem 4 new pairs of jeans, (3 for DH and 1 for me), wash my car (it hasn't been washed in months (alot of months), we are still in water restrictions and will be for a long time to come, get the clothes washing all done (which isn't much) and naturally do some knitting and hopefully finish the sleeves for the baby aran and then get onto the front, and all before 4pm as I have to pick DH up from work and take him to bike shop to pick up his bike (what a good wife), I even got up at 6.30am and drove him to work to save on messing around with vehicles this afternoon to pick up bike.

Flappers, yarn and good times

We went to our friends 50th Birthday party on Saturday night the theme was 1920's Flappers and Gangsters. We had a great time, she rolled up in a 1928 Ford, didn't she and hubby look the part as did the 60 or so guests all in fancy dress. Here is me and DH just be leaving home for the party.

Here below is the birthday girl and her hubby. Their daughter in-law and my hubby also got in the picture.

I have been waiting for a parcel from Amazon with two books, The Happy Hooker and One Skein Wonders, it has been over 4 weeks now, I am getting a bit anxious as the date they gave for delivery has past, so I am starting to worry they have gone astray, as the last lot from Amazon took about one and a half weeks to get to me, and I am having tomorrow (Friday) off work as accrued leave, so I would really love it if the books turned up now.

Last night I cleaned up the study/knitting/sewing room by putting alot of yarn into clip lock bags and then into large clear containers, I have 3 piled high, and the rest of the yarn is in the middle of the floor in cane baskets of all descriptions, it is still messy, but I had some nice surprises of yarn I had totally forgotten I had. There are some little odds and ends of balls of yarn, so I am thinking I will take them to Knitters Guild in a few weeks and give them to whowever wants them.

This Saturday Berry Spinners and Weavers are having their first annual show at Berry, so my plan is while DH is at work I will drive down to Berry to see the exhibits and I also want to go back to one of my favourite shops and get some tea towels I saw there a few weeks back that will go with my kitchen nicely.

Confessions of SEx

At the Annual Craft & Quilt Show in Sydney I did my one day a month (Stashalong) of Stash Enhancement eXpidetion. I did all my shopping from stall for Bendigo Mills in Victoria, they are working on a website, at the moment the only way of buying yarn or patterns is by visiting the mills or mail order with free postage and handling in Australia for orders over $35 (as told be a reliable source). I got six 200g skeins of 8ply cotton in Gumleaf (green), Wattle (yellow) and Flax (cream) colours, 2 skeins in each colour for $6 each skein, 2 skeins is enough to knit some summer tops for me, I also got for $10.70 a ball, 6 x 200g 8ply pure wool Classic range in Aztec colour (a nice deep blue) I am going to knit DH a jumper, but he doesn't know it yet. I also got some patters for the cotton tops and the jumper but have already put them in the cupboard so no pictures of them.


My confession is that when I went to my spinning lesson at Daisy Designs in Fairy Meadow with Kerry I did buy a ball of sock yarn for my One Skein Secret Pal, that was 4 days before my one day a month shopping day at the Craft Show. I know I can only buy yarn one day a month, and I have stuck to that for the previous two months, but I did need to send my pal a skein of yarn to keep within the rules of that KAL.

I am also thinking of doing another 3 months in the Stashalong, but will think about it over the next week that I have to go in the KAL as I did sign up for 3 months, and it has been wonderful and kept me on track for stash reducing.

See I have been knitting, this is the slow progress on the baby Aran jumper, I did manage to get just past the armholes last night.


This is my knitting for the Guardian Pharmacy Angel Program which will be going to Mongolia. A size 1 Baby jumper and a hat in progress, it is knitted with 4ply baby yarn and using double yarn, gotta love that for stash reduction.

2006 Craft & Quit Show continued

I have been busy knitting and will post pictures next time. I have more pictures of the Craft and Quilt show in Sydney last weekend.
The Knitters Guild of NSW is 20 years old this year and to celebrate you need a cake, this cake is just the best thing, doesn't melt, looks delicious the whole time on the plate and the best thing is....it doesn't have any THATS Zero Calories.


The summer section of the exhibition was great, you had your beach life saver, your family picnic set out including BBQ, even a bottle of wine and willow pattern cup and saucer, a bikin clad surfy chick.
Here are some more shots of the Autumn and a bit of the Winter section, the beautiful jumpers, the blue and white men's jumper was knitted by a younger male member of the guild (in his early 30's), he is so talented, he was at the exhibition with us on the saturday and was wearing another of his own knitted jumpers a lovely all over fair isle pattern, it looked so warm, he was knitting a baby shawl while sitting with the exhibition.
There is the elegant mum in beautiful lacy skirt and top, below are some lovely biscuits, can you see the Arnott's Ice Vovo's?

We had a great day, and with the area for the Knitters Guild being away from the smaller areas for exhibitors, you could sit and knit, go for a wander around, then come back and sit and knit a bit more then take in more of the exhibitors.

Rox would have loved it as they had the Annual Bead Show as well, I think it was the first time they had this, some of the beads and ideas were wonderful, I didn't see any stitch markers though, afterall it is the Craft and Quilt show not the Knitting and Fibre Show, wouldn't it be great to have a show just for that in Sydney, I don't know of any such event, well in the future it may turn out to be more knitting and fibre as people told me that a few years ago there was only one or two yarn stalls at this show, I think this year there were about 6 stalls, so it is increasing.

2006 Craft & Quilt Show Sydney Australia

We had a great day at the craft show, the Knitters Guild of NSW had a wonderful display, I did manage to get some photos, there was a strict NO Photos to be taken policy, but you could get the permission of the stall holder and as we were there for the Knitters Guild photos weren't a problem.
Bendigo Yarns (Victoria) did well from me and a lot of other keen knitters, I will tell and show more later.

The 50 Japanese Quilts were on display, they are something else. Fiberfish would have loved them. The Australia Quilt display was just as wonderful with so many different patterns, styles etc, some were hand quilted, some machine quilted.

It would have been wonderful to see more knitting stalls but I guess it is a Quilt and Craft Show and was originally the Quilt Show.

The following pictures are some blankets and the winter theme which the Kiama guild was a part of doing. It was amazing, everytime you looked at the exhibition you would find something you hadn't seen in it before when looking.






Isn't the knitted fire place in the background so just warm and cosy.

I think this post is photo heavy so I will post some more another time, including the knitted 20th Birthday Cake as the Guild is 20 years young this year.

More gifts done

Our god-daughters older sister turned 12 the other day and I knitted her a poncho and scarf, the poncho is in (I foget the name of it) a yarn with little bits of paper like things hanging out of it, the effect looks good, I just hope it washes alright, I would hate it to go like a mushy mess of wet tissue paper. The scarf is made out of a New Zealand yarn called Fibreworks??? it is a hand painted yarn that goes from thin to chuncky throughout. I love the colours, I was thinking of keeping it for myself, but I didn't. It is all wrapped ready to go for the next time we visit.

I am off to the Craft & Quilt Show at Darling Harbour Sydney tomorrow with the Knitters Guild of Kiama, the guild as most of you have read before are having an exhibition of the seasons at the show, I can't wait to see how it has all come together. I will try to remember the camera and get some shots of it.

The weather is a bit nippy lately, down to around 6 degrees over night and tops of up to 16 in the day (this is celsius) - check out my weather guys on the side bar for comparison between celsius and fahrenheit.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

Go on : Vote for the Fabulous Miss Knitabulous in The Amazing Lace competition. Go here to vote.

She is entrant #5 and the lone Australian competitor. So go on, GO NOW and vote for her.


Voting closes at midnight tonight Wednesday 14 June 2006.

Long weekend knitting or not

A great way to stash reduce is this pattern 4ply baby wool use double yarn, reduce stash by double for one garment, gotta love that. This is for the Guardian Pharmacy charity knitting which is going to Mongolia. It is a size 1 jumper.


I have picked up the Baby Aran Jumper which needs to be finished by August, my goal I think is 25 June, see how I go.

My MIL bought me this last week, isn't is just so cute! Just in case you haven't worked it out, it is a knitting bag. She did say she did not think of me as the black sheep of the family...yeah right...who is she trying to kid.

The Brain is Mush!

I have gone off track a bit this week, I have cast on and knitted about 10 rows past the band on the baby Aran Jumper, it is pattern intense so I cast on....Yes I cast on another item, this is a secret POM gift, I have 1/4 finished the project, and have had to rip back 3 times the second bit of it, so I lost interest again and cast on a 3rd item, stay with me, I know I don't usually do this, but it really isn't too bad I guess having more than one thing on the needles at a time, anyway I cast on another beanie for Just Enough Faith, I finished it last night and took pictures this morning, I just have to sew up the seam and put it in the post, I am really enjoying knitting for JEF, especially now it is getting so cold, I just wish I had more time to do more knitting for them this winter (that could be my portable projects to carry everywhere), but I do have knitting projects that I want to get done for me...like the Sunrise Circle Jacket.

Plan for knitting over next few weeks or so: Finish by Tuesday - POM gift and post; By 25 June finish baby Aran Jumper; then cast on MY Sunrise Circle Jacket. Before August make my One Skein project to send off. No more deviations, I need to stick to my list.

1st Day of Winter

It is winter now and we have had the last few days of rain and cold weather, it hasn't been bad as we desperately need the rain, we can only hope that it has been falling in the catchment areas, in the meantime the water restrictions continue, they have been going for so long now I think they will be a permanent thing in our lives.

I have finished the Aran jumper for the 1st birthday on Saturday. It is made out of a Cleckheaton 80% Wool 20% Viscose, it was an older yarn in my stash. The pattern makes it feel thick and very warm which will be great for winter.

I did start the next Aran baby jumper (different pattern) but was so tired last night that when it came time to do the bobble, I couldn't get my head around it, so I quickly ripped it back to nothing, then "lights are on" it came to me what I was supposed to be doing, in discussed with myself I packed it away and went to bed, which is where I should have gone before I started the bobble row, oh well, today is another day, I shall start it again tonight.