Something warm

This year, on June 11, for the first time ever is International Yarnbombing Day. I mentioned this little factoid to a couple of friends, thinking it might be fun to cover a lamp post or two & then run giggling anonymously into the night. This little thing has suddenly become bigger than Ben Hur! We now have council approval, a government grant, & have appeared on both the local news (the feel-good story after the weather) & in the papers (most recently the front page of the Echo!!). I can't tell you exactly what we're planning as we're trying to keep some level of surprise, but just know that our target is large & high profile. We'll start on the installation in the wee hours of the morning, so even here in sunny northern NSW, it will be COLD. Hence the need for something warm.

Enter some fingerless mittens. Ideal for keeping hands warm whilst allowing the fingers free to do their thing. The pattern is Cairn by Ysolda Teague. It looks complex, but you only work with one colour per row & slip stitches to create the "brick" effect.

There is a matching hat, but I started with the fingerless mitts as a "tension swatch". It works! I was originally tossing up whether or not to use purple instead of navy blue for the "grout", but I think I like the blue. Now to get started on the hat for a groovy Yarnbombing set!!

Piccie for my beautiful daughter

Hiya sweetie - this one's just for you ... Remember these? (giggle) Gravel with measles!!

Birthday outing

It was my birthday a few weeks ago, & my gorgeous buddies D & E took me to the beautiful Crystal Castle for lunch. It's such a lovely place to visit - chock full of crystals of every imaginable sort (obviously) & serene gardens to wander around in. We found lots of really interesting things to look at too - unusual flowers, spotty gravel on the paths (honestly! The gravel looked like it had the measles!!) & plants doing things I'd never seen before. I'm not much of a gardener (& know next to nothing about plants) but check out this leaf! We decided to turn our expedition into a 3D5S excursion (3 Dimensions 5 Senses) inspired my by friend T & her group in Melbourne. (Now we just have to decide what we do next!) We were very lucky with the weather too - it had been spotting rain on our journey there, but the clouds cleared & the sun came out whilst we wandered around the gardens. When we decided it was time for lunch, no sooner had we sat down in the covered (thankfully) cafe than the clouds returned & the heavens opened. It poured! I was also surprised with the most thoughtful gifts. Miss E gave me this shirt with my name on the back! And Miss D enabled me (read "gift voucher") to go a bit purchase mad at my favorite yarn shop. (Actually, I went quite a bit purchase mad, but those pics will have to wait) Thanks girls! I had so much fun! (& Miss E's lemon poppy seed birthday muffins were divine)

Bunny Nuggets

How cute are these little guys? They're Bunny Nuggets! I changed the tail though - I don't like making pom-poms, so I made an "ear" & rolled it up tightly. Made from some handspun mini-balls from the stash. In the bottom picture from left to right: merino/cashmere blend (soooo soft!), merino/flax blend, and a fibre sandwich batt from the lovely Miss V. These will make a fantastic sugar-free alternative for chocolate Easter bunnies (I suspect they'll last longer too).

Fridays are for spinning

I quite like this "Fridays are for spinning" idea - I don't know why I think of it sooner ...
Not only has it seen the end of the endless white, but I have (so far, in about 3 weeks) another 400 grams of completed yarn to show for it. Mind you, I have no plans or projects in mind for this new yarn, it's just sitting there being pretty & petted occasionally.

However this may be the start of a new problem - the handspun stash is growing, without being used up ...
Maybe I need another "day" ... at this rate I'll have a "day" for everything!

Finally

Woohoo! The end of the endless white!!

(Looped through to stop them blowing away while they dry)

Eight skeins = one whole kilo of white with coloured flecks spun to be about a commercial 5-8ply. I have another 250 grams of this I spun a few years ago in the stash & I have no idea what I'm going to do with it now.

Once I finish my happy dance I'll go stash diving to see what pretty fibres are lurking there waiting to become yarn. I don't think I'll go for anything large for a while though (not another kilo lot!) as the endless white took me just 2 weeks short of a YEAR to finish.

Yarnbombing with lizards

Heeheehee!
Thanks Textile Tragic for the great idea, the unsuspecting "victim" was one of my favorite haunts: Evoke. (click the link for her blog entry)
I couldn't have asked for a better response!!