It's a Purl Thing...

Cranberries ... 8 January 2010

As a gesture to the recent Christmas season, let me present you with a couple of cranberries. Not just any cranberries, of course, these are a pair of Bendigo Woollen Mills 5 ply 200g cranberries. Ruby the rabbit, our resident expert on cranberries, says they are the biggest ones he's ever seen. (Take a look at the 8 Jan 2009 entry for a piccie of our resident expert on cranberries. You can see that he is definitely not red.,) The cranberry on the left is what was left in the ball after knitting halfway through the lattice pattern in Ruby Red. The cranberry on the right is a fresh, juicy, full-size and unknitted cranberry. Ruby the rabbit probably has dreams of sinking his teeth into a cranberry that size. He may be a dwarf rabbit, but he has some big dreams.

For the New Year, I have some new project photos for you. I have decided to bring some order to my sock drawer, so that we can all find things a little more quickly. Hopefully no more rummaging around for that special pair of socks!

It's Art, Wear It! ... 2 August 2009

This is my second year exhibiting at It's Art, Wear It! This year I am exhibiting my socks, a scarf, and (with some trepidation) the bags I made last year. This year, I have had a warmer reception with my bags. This year started with a gala fashion parade, which went amazingly well. How they are going to top it next year, I don't know, but I am sure they are going to.

I have some new sock photos to share with you, and even more socky creations still to photograph. You can also keep track of my progress on various projects on my blog.

The Postie has been ... 4 January, 2009

Between Christmas and New Year, the Postie came, bringing joy and peace, and parcels of wool. I was so excited, it was like Christmas all over again, but with better presents.

So excited, in fact, I decided to share.

The best thing was it came in two parts. (Because of deliveries being slowed over the Christmas period, I hasten to add.)

Day one brought the purple-and-gold wool. As you can see, I got stuck in and wound one ball straight away. There was also a second skein of the purple in the middle, but I didn't want to drag out and photograph everything.

It wasn't until the next day that I realised there might be a theme happening ...

... because Day two brought the parcel with the pink-and-gold wool. OK, and the single skein of green wool. I hadn't consciously been colour co-ordinating my orders, but obviously my unconscious must have been thinking along those lines.

Even Ruby hopped up to check out the new arrivals. No nibbling, Rubes!

For those of you who want all the gory details, Day One's order is: (in skeins from left to right) Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome Select in "Winterberry"; Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Blackberry"; and Arucania's Multi in "Toast". The hand-wound ball on top is Enchanted Knoll Farm's "Circe".

Day Two's order is: (on top) two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Flamingo"; (on the bottom from left to right) Arucania semi-solid in "Cactus"; Enchanted Knoll Farm's "Gold Dust Woman"; and Cherry Tree Hill's Sockittome Select in "Sugar Maple".

As you can see, the Wool Hoarde has increased.

All I want for Christmas is my own web page ... 25 December, 2008

Anyway, to kick things off, here is a photo of the current project. I finished the first of the pair this morning (Christmas morning).

For those of you who want the technical details, it is knitted in Arucania semi-solid, colour "Berry", sourced from The Loopy Ewe. The pattern is the Oak-ribbed sock from Nancy Bush's "Knitting Vintage Socks". This pattern is held on three needles, and knitted with a fourth. Usually I prefer to work with a full set of five needles (ie, holding the stiches on four needles and working with the fifth), but as the number of stitches in the pattern are more easily divisible by three than four, I am being adaptible.

I luuuuuuuurrrrrrrve the striping produced by the semi-solid colour, and so do some of my work colleagues. This pair is definitely one I am keeping for myself.