Crafty Weekends: Knitting, Cross-Stitch, and Tasmanian Delights

April 4, 2025 | Sonia Knits

I’ve got a lot to catch up on since I wrote last…

My Stripes! sweater by Andrea Mowry is complete! I’m really happy with it! The fit and drape vastly improved once it was blocked. I’m not sure why I was surprised by this, doesn’t blocking make everything better? It is a fun sweater and I’ve already worn it a couple of times. This is a relief to me, because I thought this would only be a very ‘occasional’ type sweater.

Everyone seems to love it. So my ‘February’ sweater is complete. My ‘March’ sweater (Wool & Honey) is a little behind schedule, due to a little distraction. More on that next time. And my ‘April’ sweater will need to be cast-on soon seeing as though we are in April. No spoilers 🙂

Since I’ve last blogged, I’ve been away on a crafty weekend in Daylesford with friends. During this weekend, I finished knitting my stripey socks and even did some cross-stitch (the photos of the patchwork, are not mine!).

Then this past weekend, we visited Tasmania. The main purpose of our visit was to see our Melbourne friends who were making delicious food in Tassie. We were not disappointed. Bruny Island oysters, yes please, as well as many other delicious delights Tasmania has to offer. Thank goodness they’ll be back in Melbourne this week, we’ve missed them and their food. Whilst in Tassie we also visited Mona, which was incredible. I haven’t visited Tassie in many years (maybe 20!), and Mona has been built since then. We’re already making plans to return one day, to spend more time because one day is not enough. And look I wore my Stripes! sweater to Mona.

Alpaca Road Trip, Crafty Weekend & Sock Knitting

October 20, 2024 | Sonia Knits

A couple of weeks ago, I took a Tuesday off from work and joined a ‘Road Trip’ organised by my local yarn store Sunspun to go to my favourite Alpaca Farm and Woollen Mill, Great Ocean Road Woollen Mill! Do not be fooled by the name, they are now known as GORWM since relocating inland to Burrumbeet (near Ballarat).

It was a lovely way to spend a day. Virginia, the owner of Sunspun had it all very well organised, and chatting to Nick and Isabel (from GORWM) is always a fun time, they’re so cool.

The highlight for me was meeting some of the Alpacas, they had just been shorn not too long ago. They are so cute. I bought some yarn, of course I bought some yarn! For a summer knit, hopefully once my Calm Down cardigan is finished.

Then last weekend, I headed to Rye for a crafty retreat with girlfriends, it was such a lovely relaxing time. None of us quite know how long we’ve been going away together for, but we might work it out one day!

I’ve just finished these ‘Canberra’ socks, in Halfbaked Hand-dyed’s DK sock. These are my favourite socks yet.

Now back to knitting my Calm Down cardigan before my weekend is over.

A weekend well spent

September 24, 2023 | Sonia Knits

The weekend before last, I went away once again with some of my crafty friends, formerly known as my quilting friends. Some of these old friends have turned their hands to knitting since we gathered last (about 6 months ago), and some have become obsessed with sock knitting. Of course, as you can imagine, I was pretty excited by this predicament! Whilst there still was quite a lot of patchworking going on, there was also equal amounts of knitting, and I got to talk a lot about how I knit my socks! So much fun.

Wouldn’t you know it, I only took one project to knit and it was not a pair of socks…

This is the back all wrapped up before heading home (bobbins ready for travel!)

I managed to knit 2 full repeats of the design, by my calculations (of looking at other people’s finished sweaters), I’m going to need 6 repeats of the pattern. I’m a third of the way there. Now I just need to work out how to carve out 3 day weekends which don’t involve me doing too much to get this front finished, that’s do-able right.

A Three Month Catch-up

October 21, 2022 | Sonia Knits

As I write today, it’s Saturday and it’s pouring with rain. I’m so thankful I don’t need to go anywhere today, and it’s a good time to take stock.

Warning! This is going to be a photo heavy blog post!

I thought I might start here. These 2 photos represent all that I’ve been spinning for the last 11 months as part of the Spinning Certificate I’m undertaking at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria. There is still some 3 classes of spinning to come, to add to this pile of yarn, then I’m somehow going to put it together into a folio of samples and notes. There’s also a major project to add to this body of work. Pretty impressive huh? Once I have all of this in a more presentable form, I’ll share with you some more of what is here. This is all handed in, in March 2023, so there may be a big update then.

In August, Damian and I went to Kyneton for about 10 days. It was a good opportunity to catch-up on some spinning (!) and to eat lots of delicious food, and to relax.

We also got down to Du Fermier in Trentham and shared a few laughs and good food with Annie Smithers.

In September, there was more spinning, making secret blanket squares for a friend’s wedding blanket, a visit to mum for her birthday (I visit her as often as I can now), I picked up my finished quilt from the long-arm quilter and I stayed in Hepburn for a long weekend with friends.

In October, I went to the Royal Melbourne Show (the first time in years!) with my sister and niece and nephew. I also went to Brisbane with Damian and had another lovely time there.

I begun the Stephen West Mystery KAL when I got home from Brisbane … and ‘I’m embracing my pace’. I think a lot of people are… not so many spoilers online this year, oh Stephen what have you done?!

Clue three has been released on Thursday night, and I’m still on the first clue, about half-way through… (more than what’s shown here)

Last weekend was a visit to mum’s and seeing her beautiful snowball blossoms, a trip to Murrumbeena for a friends’ quilt show. Our Weeping Cheals (Cherry) tree has begun to blossom this week.

This weekend I’ve got a catch-up at the guild tomorrow, I think we’re getting down to the business end of our course. So today will be spent working out what to take with me tomorrow, and hopefully knocking over more of clue one of this mystery shawl. And it continues to rain outside…

Birthday Month

May 1, 2019 | Sonia Knits

Wow, it’s been a month, my birthday month in fact. Yes, despite my advancing years, I still celebrate my birthdays for as long as I can get away with.

As part of Birthday month, I went to see the Harry Potter Cursed Child play. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope to see it again in another year or so, it was truly spectacular.

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I got treated to dinner by my loving husband.

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I got to celebrate my birthday with some of my adorable nephews and nieces. Can you spot the allergy free cake? Not as good as my usual Burch & Purchese birthday cake, but at least all the kids could partake in this creation by Tidbit Cakes.

Quite a bit of ‘alternative’ crafting happened this month.

I’m still working on the layout of my pinwheel quilt.

Have I even told you about this project? After a crafting weekend away with my quilting friends in March, the quilting bug finally bit.

I haven’t absolutely decided whether or not to put sashing between the blocks (which I would make a pale blue). I don’t think I could possibly make more than the 121 pinwheel blocks already in the works…

Last weekend I took a Polymer Clay class with The Polly Collective. It was a super fun day. Sheree is a great teacher.

This is my first ‘slab’ piece. Looks kind of like a pizza.

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Before squishing…

This is the slab after squishing…

And these are all my cut-outs. The fronts of future pairs of stud earrings. So much fun.

This ‘cane’ slab was my next sample. The pieces are cut from a ‘candy cane’ made up of different colours then laid over the top of a thin slab of clay.

This is the slab pre-squishing

Sheree described how her design process is like riding a train, and how you just have to stay on board even if you’re hating how it’s going (to the bitter end). i.e. a train wreck… but then there’s always foil and that makes anything look better. I kind of felt like that when I was making this ‘caned’ piece. I felt like I had taken my cane too far (the details got too small), but then I mixed it up with some of the original cane off-cuts and then it didn’t look quite as shite. I even got compliments!

The slab after squishing.

There were a few other techniques demonstrated in the afternoon, that I’m going to try at home. I got a few supplies and tools to take-away to have a play.

Oh ooo – a new craft…

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