Australian Sheep and Wool Show

‘Tis the season of fiddly knitting

| Sonia Knits

I love adorable handmade Christmas ornaments, but I don’t like finicky knitting. Here is my predicament. I have cast-on for my Knitting group’s Christmas Ornament swap, and I’m hoping it won’t take more than a few night’s worth of knitting hours. No spoilers here 🙂

If it’s super cute, I’d like to make one for me, and maybe one for my knitting niece… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I might absolutely hate knitting the next part, or I might love it. We shall see.

This weekend we celebrated my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday. We took her to Kyneton and spoilt her with fancy food. She loved it, and it was great fun.

Before I cast-on for my Christmas ornament, I cast on and began knitting my EXP sweater (by Sanna & co.) with a group of friends. Now that my Vintage Flannel is finished I can focus on this and try to catch up to the others.

I purchased a Louie and Lola kit from the Bendigo Sheep show a few years ago; so I was really happy when my new knitting friends (old friends who have suddenly become knitters) decided they all wanted to knit it. The light colour will fade into 4 colours in total. I am becoming obsessed with this stitch pattern. And it’s not Brioche!

I hope December treats you well, I’m doing my best not to be overwhelmed.

Another Month, another jumper cast-on

| Sonia Knits

We have begun the third month of the year, which means I’ve cast-on for yet another jumper! Both January and February jumpers are still incomplete, but I’m enjoying them both thoroughly.

I have reached the point in my painting bricks sweater (February), where I actually love it! I was having serious doubts about this one, up until this point. I’ve begun thinking about what I’ll wear it with, and what new additions to my wardrobe I’ll need to make this a super fun outfit.

My January sweater the Paul Klee sweater by Midori Hirose, is still needing the second sleeve, but with the long-weeknd here in Victoria, I’m hoping to find some time to finish it up. For those not in Victoria, the forecast for the next 3 days is going to be 37/38 degrees celsius. Which is terribly disappointing to me, I’m not sure how I’ll cope except to stay inside.

This is the yarn I’m using for my March cast-on, for the Pressed Flowers pullover by Amy Christophers. The Pressed Flowers series of patterns has been selected by my knitting group for our Bendigo Sheep Show sweater this year. I figured beginning it in March was probably wise, so that I didn’t leave it to the last minute and not finish it in time. The main coloured yarn is by Miss Click Clack, purchased a few years ago and it is absolutely gorgeous. The contrast gradient of colours is by My Creative Garage. I purchased the minis set at the Sheep Show last year, and I’ve added a couple extra minis from her advent 2 years ago, to ensure I have enough yardage.

I am enjoying knitting the pattern now that I’ve moved past the short rows, gosh they were a bit tricksy, I had to pay a lot of attention there. But I think it will be smooth sailing from here on in.

The Best Bendigo Show Ever!

| Sonia Knits

It has been a whirlwind few days and I’ve had the absolute best-est, fun-est time. I declare this years Bendigo Show the best ever! Of course… the show improves year upon year, but the nicest thing about Bendigo is getting together with friends who are passionate about the same things. And there’s not a lot of judgement… ok, maybe a little.

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The weekend began with a Fashion Show. It was a rather interesting one. This year they were celebrating May Gibbs’ anniversary, some hilarious clothing ensued.

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I attended the Women of Wool luncheon with 6 other Richmond Knitters. The speakers were very inspiring and had great heart-felt stories to tell. In its 7th year and only my second year of attendance, I think it’s an unmissable event of the show.

There was purchasing, the list was almost forgotten on the first day…

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I got back on track by the final day, to cross things off the shopping list (either the real or imagined list).

I bought something I never expected to…

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Beneath the wooden niddy noddy and darning mushroom (replacement because I can’t find my other one in my stash), is 2 metres of wool fabric!

Regular readers to the blog will know, I do not sew, I do not even own a sewing machine. In the yarn fumes of the Wool Craft shed, an spontaneous exchange between friends; may possibly mean that a pinafore dress will be sewn for me, in exchange I’ll be spinning a sweaters worth of yarn in trade. The details have not been ironed out, but certainly the excitement, the possibility and the amount of happiness (read:squealing) in the shed was an absolute highlight of the show. Even if it doesn’t happen (no pressure Chris), it was all worth it!

We sought out baby sheep, and we were not disappointed.

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The final night saw some of us having dinner at a fancy restaurant.

And this was the result of Deb telling a very funny story…

Tears of non-stop laughter, absolutely unforgettable.

Next year has a lot to live up to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On my Bendigo shopping list

| Sonia Knits

Nope it’s not a sheep! I wish…

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Now that I’ve made some room for incoming woolly purchases from the Sheep Show, my focus has turned to: What shall I buy?!

Because no one ‘needs’ to buy anymore yarn (especially me), I figure if at least I have some ideas about what I might need, rather than no idea at all, I perhaps will make some discerning choices.

So here’s what I’ll be stalking at the show:

Some glitz! I don’t have any glitz at all and I would like to try blending some into a batt on my new drum carder. Perhaps some other fancy fibres would be fun too.

Some 4 ply wool for Romi Hill’s ‘Happenstance’ Shawl.

A jumper’s worth of semi-solid wool for me. I’m not too fussed about the colour, I’ll know it when I see it. Perhaps I should have a pattern picked out before I go…

I would dearly love some attractive wooden sock blockers, but I don’t recall anyone stocking them from years past.

I don’t really need anything else. So the remainder of my shopping will be made up of things I simply could not leave behind, very dangerous I know. Wish me luck!

This was last years haul:

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Some of these things have been used already! Stop sniggering…

I wonder what I’ll come home with this year?

 

Bendigo 2015

| Sonia Knits

Wow! Just when I thought I had experienced everything that was to be experienced at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show, this year had a different flavour.

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I attended the Women of Wool luncheon with a couple of friends and we had an excellent time. Everything was great about it. The speakers, the food, the company, the other people seated at our table, the competition prize drawings (even though we didn’t win anything), it was a lot of fun.

Then we got down to the serious part of the show. Nicknamed ‘Spendigo’ for good reason… I exceeded my own expectations, surprising only me. If you really want to see it all, check out my recent stash acquisitions (fibre and yarn) on Ravelry.

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White Gum Wool played a large part in my purchasing. Nan Bray the owner of ‘White Gum Wool’ spoke at the luncheon, but I was a fan before that, after seeing this segment on Landline. The pink yarn above is White Gum Wool Boucle, specially hand-dyed by Kathy’s Fibres.

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I was given the task of buying some fibre to spin for my husband. So that I wouldn’t run short on his next ‘winter set’ (this time), I bought 500gms of Kathys Fibres merino dyed in ‘manly’ browns, blue and black.

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We also spent a fair amount of time with the sheep, searching out the babies, because, how cute?

Thank you to my partners in crime for making it such a great weekend. I can’t wait to do it all again next year.