Dot is modeling the tunic for me today, this is the first one I knitted for Charlotte and think it is rather nice. It came out close to a 16 rather than the 14 I had aimed for but apart from that I think it is a lovely pattern and a really nice thing to knit, I just love circular knitting, no seams and I wish there were more designs available in this method.

Dissapointment is a reason to have another go

The lovely tunic top that I knitted for Charlotte does not fit her, she has lost weight as she now has a personal trainer and the tunic came out closer to a 16 than a 12 to 14. Never mind, back to the drawing board.
I have cast on straight from a cone of Grafton, (forgive me Ingrid if this is not the done thing) and am knitting the small size. This is a bit of an experiment as I have tweaked the pattern a little to suit my own thoughts about the front shaping and the way the garment falls. It could be that Grafton is a soft, light yarn so having it off the cone may prove to provide a bit more body while I am knitting it. Something I think this particular method of knitting may suit better.
I have two orders for this knit and as these are friends I am not charging them anything for the knitting just a little to cover the yarn cost. It is my chance to knit this again without feeling guilty that I am not making something to be worn and enjoyed. I also get to have a go at dyeing a finished garment which should be fun.
One is to be a deep grey and the other a deep red, yummo.
The first one I made for Charlotte and doesn't fit her is in mid grey and size 16 I shall offer it to anyone it may fit.
I will post some piccies soon, so stay tuned.

Dyeing to Dye

I have been wanting to get at all my fibre and the yarn I spun a week or so ago together and time out to dye it and have a bit of a play with colour.

Lots of reasons for not getting to it until today, boring things like finishing quilts for people, one that I had to totally unpick, gahhhhh. Anyway on to more fun things.
I finally got to dye this morning and what a session it proved to be, lol. I had some silk noil that I had purchased from Virginia farm woolworks and liked what I saw of their dyeing of it, a deep purple and it looked interesting to spin.
I had some very fine merino 250grams of it and had already finely spun a bobbin of it in its natural colour, it was difficult to maintain a twist on it so I reverted to dyeing this as well and intend to do a funky fibre with it and the very fine white yarn plied together, well that is my plan. Watch this space for further development.

The 5 skeins of bunny, mohair and silk blend that I spun up in Port Macquarie was my most difficult decision as it was so lovely as it was. But then I thought, I had access to lots of lovely white yarn at Yarn Workshop so why not bite the bullet and dye the lot?
I chose to do the paint method, glad wrap and microwave for better control of the colour blending. It was more hands on (my pretty pink fingers are testament to that), and more fiddly but I enjoyed the process and think I did pretty well for my first go at it.

Hope you agree.

The photos:

1. Boston, "What ya doing now Mum?" My constant companion
2. Soaking yarn after the microwave. My reflection in the water as I took the pic. LOL
3. Tubs of prepared dyes.
4. Supplies, coffee and oh yea, yarn.
5. Merino slivers, they took the dye beautifully and I can not wait for them to dry so I can spin.
6. Little parcels ready for the microwave
7. The merino drying on the line, nice sunny day today, lovely.
8. The silk noil, spread out and done in several colours. forground, Dogwood, middle, Paw Paw and back is Eucalypt

Spinning again

Mention spinning these days and everyone assumes your taking that bike class at gym.
No not this little black duck, spinning to me means relaxation.......................
It is total Zen, maybe even more so than knitting is. If you haven't tried spinning yarn I highly recommend it, it's not hard, in fact the best yarn is the beginners yarn because it always comes out lovely and uneven and very interesting.
The fibre I was spinning up in Port, Yes I took my spinning wheel. (It is the Ashford Traveller and fairly portable). Is the lovely Merino, silk blend from Ashford that I purchased from Virginia Farm with my added stash of gorgeous bunny fibre from Charlotte's New Zealand trip. I wish I could let you feel this spun yarn, it is so lovely. I have plyed it two strands together and have yet to work out the wpi's but will do soon. For my first endeavour back into spinning I am really pleased with the result.


The juxtaposition of the modern (stark) apartment with the olde worlde craft of spinning. And it was so much warmer up there than back here in Sydney.

And the tunic, going great guns, really loving knitting in this yarn, Grafton from Yarn Workshop, I am already thinking of another colour way and perhaps tweak the pattern a bit.

I have a little more length to add and then go back pick up the stitches on the arm holes and do a couple of rounds to finish these off. I am really loving the top down method of knitting these seamless garments, my pet hate is sewing up the seams. I found a book in Port on top down knitting but the patterns were so basic, bland and boring. I think this one has spoilt me a bit.

Cooking up a storm In Port Macquarie

A week at Port Macquarie, and what to do, well for starters I will be cooking something warm and yummy for Tony. Poor man, he has been without the benefit of home cooking for ages. And while he is not a bad cook himself, there really isn’t anything better than having a few meals put up in the freezer for those late nights after a hard day at work and he can just pull something from the freezer and heat it up.
Last week at work Ingrid made a fabulous soup, she is rather awesome at these soups and the bonus for me is that I not only get lunch made for me but they are Weight Watchers approved. Too good

So I am sharing here the process of this really delightfully good soup with a few of my own twists on it but not too much different from Ingrid’s and truth is I think it would work with many variations.
Capsicums are cheap at the moment so grab 2 or 3 of these, don’t think it matters what colour.
A large onion, garlic cloves, some peppers or paprika, a tin or two of chopped tomatoes, a tin of Cannaleni beans, and two Cherizo sausages. I got two from Coles for about $6.00 and this is the most expensive part but really adds flavour.

Slice up the sausage and pop into pan and fry up a little, chop onion and fry up with sausage, chop up the capsicum, peppers and garlic, chuck in and stir all together, throw in the tomatoes, and cannelenni beans, stir up, I added some water here but stock would be good too. I think the capsicum will break down a little too and add more fluid. Just check it every so often as it simmers and see if more fluid is needed, even a dash of white wine wouldn’t hurt. hahahahah

And the surroundings near the unit we are staying in are very pleasant.