The Australian Sheep and Wool Show

How do I write a blog post about something I've written about four times before?


How can I explain the feelings of excitement and love and passion that come up for me when I am surrounded by so much of what I love?

How can I describe in words that feeling of being overwhelmed with inspiration? Of so many plans and ideas and thoughts that start in my tummy and travel upwards until they makes me feel like I'm going to explode? Like I have to get started. Like I have to do all the things, all at once.

How on earth can I explain an event that is a tactile and aromatic and visual explosion?


How can I explain to you just how wonderful it feels to be surrounded by people who LOVE what you love and want to show you, and teach you, and talk to you about it for as long as you do?


How can I make you feel the wonderful feelings that go with bumping into friends who love what I love, friends who open up their bags to share their purchases and stoke mine adoringly, friends who admire my knitted shawl and show off their own, friends who invite me to spinning club and gorgeous friends who go home and send me a ravelry pattern because I said I loved it and had queued it.

How on earth can I get you to understand why there were cute little bags of horse hair for sale if I couldn't work it out for myself? Apparently people stuff mattresses with horse hair, but those sweet little bags....no idea.

How could I explain to you my surprise at unpacking farmer Bren's backpack at the end of the day to find everything I'd bought was navy blue or charcoal? How strange and not at all planned.

And how can I even remember to record all the different aspects of wool craft that I need to put on my to-do list from owning our own sheep all the way through to dyeing, spinning, weaving and knitting socks.

Apparently I can't. You can read my posts from the past few years here and here and here and here where for some reason I was more eloquent. Or, maybe, you could just close your eyes for a second and imagine yourself at a show that celebrates everything you love, in every detail, in all its glory.

What would that look like for you I wonder?


Go gently my friends, I hope your weekend is filled with your blessings.

Big love

xx

why i love craft

This is why I love craft.

These two slippers began as two balls of yarn. One ball, the purply one, I bought from two women at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool show two years ago. I didn't love the feel of it and I didn't love the colour of it, but I did love the concept. That ball of yarn was called WOOLI by Nikki Gabriel and was a recycled blend of factory fibre waste: wool, alpaca, silk, cashmere and possum.  I just had to try some out and see how it knitted up.

The second was given to me by my friend and local shop-keeper Merrilyn. A Debbie Bliss chunky tweed made from merino and angora. I did love the look and feel of this speckley, lumpy gorgeous bluey-greeny yarn but had no idea what it would eventually become.

Both balls have sat patiently in my wool cupboard for close to two years now for just the right time and just the right project. Over the years I've pulled them out and wondered and considered and stroked them but nothing has felt quite right. Until now.

Until the past few days as we have grown closer to winter, the temperatures have dropped and the icy polished concrete floor in our kitchen has become increasingly difficult to stand on in socks. There's really nothing worse than freezing cold feet and the way the chilly feeling travels up the body making it impossible to relax and warm up.

As the days past I found myself breaking the rules by wearing my boots inside the house and at the same time wondering about a solution that wouldn't cost the crazy price of five new pairs of slippers and wouldn't involve a special trip into Melbourne to purchase them.

And then last Friday I was reading lovely Sophie's blog and it was like she had answered my question before I had even asked it when she shared the link to this fabulous list of slipper patterns. I chose the top pair, scrounged around for some chunky yarn, found those two balls and some 5.5mm needles and cast on.

Apart from a couple of issues with the way it is written, this pattern is simple, quick and so much fun to knit up.

On Monday morning when I walked into the kitchen where my farmer boy was in the middle of relighting the stove fire, stirring the porridge and making our coffee, I found him with the biggest smile on his face. His new slippers were warm, comfy, cushioned and he loved them.

There is no better feeling in the whole wide world than that which is making something for someone you love that they love.

I now have orders for three more pairs plus some for me. And I don't feel so, so bad when I sleep a little late and he's gotten it all warm and toasty in the house before my feet hit the floor.

Craft makes me happy.

Stay warm and cozy lovely people, I hope you get the chance to love what you make and make what you love.

xx

all kinds of woolly wonderful...

On Sunday, which felt like it might have been the coldest day in my living memory, I darned in the ends of Miss Pepper's hottie cover.

Yesterday the high and the low in temperature were just one and a half degrees apart and the high lasted less than an hour before it began dropping from 3 back down to one and a half again. Yesterday we ventured outside to gather and feed for less than an hour and my fingers ached with cold so badly I feared I'd done permanent damage.

This morning Miss Pepper is home with a tummy ache snuggled up with her granny hottie on the couch and I am feeling like it was finished just in time. She says it's helping too.

At the Sheep and Wool Show I bought these three hanks of wool. 280 grams a piece.

The darkest one on the right was hand dyed with indigo and alkamet eco dyes. The one in the middle was hand dyed with indigo and tumeric eco dyes. And I might just dye the natural one myself with something from around here, beetroot or eucalyptus leaves I think.

I bought these buttons. I always buy wooden buttons when I see them.

I bought almost a kilo of this divine black sheep wool off farmer Sue French whose sheep grew it.

We chatted to Sue for ages about black sheep, about the fact that her wool is processed in Australia from start to finish and about shearers and wool co-ops.

I bought a kilo thinking I would finally knit my farmer boy that jumper he's been asking me for.

But then we found a lady selling old Tractor Jumpers made in Australia from Australian sheep's wool, so we bought two of them instead.

We were both quite excited by these two purchases, I don't know if there is even such a thing any more as Australian made knitwear made from Australian sheep. We felt like we'd discovered a real treasure. They look so great on my boy too, but that's beside the point.

I've been wanting to try an ergonomic crochet hook for ages now, so I bought the Clover one. But honestly, I'm not sure it feels any better in my hand than my good old metal one.

And I bought a bag of 50 eco-dyed, pre-knitted squares for $15. The stall holder lady was selling them off cheap because her business had changed direction. I have no idea why I bought them off her. Maybe because they were so crazy cheap, maybe because I love the thought of a blanket in those colours, or maybe because I still owe Miss Indi a blanket for her bed and this seems like a doable before the end of this winter plan. I know it's kinda cheating, but crocheting them together and then around them is still crafting...

And lastly, I bought a bag of these. For playing with and laying out and designing and admiring. And when we're finished, I think I'll string them into a garland. Love a bit of felt ball action.

So there you have it, that's me woolly sorted for a while. Or until I dream up a project in neon...

So what are you making, baking, growing, or writing?
I bet it's wonderful.

Bye for now

xx

Australian Sheep and Wool Show 2013

Oh my goodness, I LOVE WOOL!!!!!

And I love the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo. Love it!

Last Friday was my third visit to the show and each time I think I love it more. I think I understand it more and I think I am less overwhelmed and inspired by it more.

I love it all the way from the sheep, to the fleece, to the sheep and wool peeps. I love watching them judging, handling, admiring, wearing, spectating and socialising.

I love watching the spinners and weavers and felters and dyers and knitters and crocheters too. I love the passion they have for their craft. I love watching their fingers move, the smiles on their faces and the excited way they describe what they do. I feel like I'm one of them. It makes me happy.

I love watching the way the stalls are set up. Trestles and baskets and bowls and hooks and shelves of glorious woolly delightfulness.

And I love how the shoppers shop. According to their craft, their colour pallet, their yarn weight, their yarn type, their budget.

I love the weaving.

I love the felting.

I love the yarn bombing.

I love the buttons.

I love all the different types of needles and hooks.

And most of all, I adore the wool.

On my first trip to the show, four years ago, I was so new to the wool crafts and so overwhelmed that I went home empty handed. Not so much this time. Now I know that I love organic, Australian made, naturally dyed, and 8ply or chunkier.

I had such a great time. I Love that my farmer boy did too. Taking a day off farm-work to walk from stall to stall, to chit chat with the stall holders and to carry my bags.

I'm hoping that by next year's show we might have a few woolly friends of our own living here. I'm hoping that I'll be a spinner by then too.

Oh what fun!

I'll have to show and tell my purchases another day, I've run out of room.


Did you go to the show?
Did you have a great weekend?


Happy new week you guys.

xx

wool, wool, more wool & a pattern.

I guess a big part of the fun of any hobby, craft, passion or profession is putting together your kit. Researching, hunting down exactly what you want, building your stash and then maintaining it all so it is there for you any time you want or need it.

Like a cook and her ingredients, a musician and her instruments, a hunter and her knives, a runner and her shoes...like a knitter and her needles, patterns, buttons and wool.

As a knitter my idea of heaven is being able to knit whatever I am inspired to knit and having exactly what I need at hand to knit it. That means lots of needles of different sizes and lengths, wool in colours that we like to wear and enough metreage for anything from a hat right through to a women's cardigan.

I cannot believe it's been over a week and I still haven't shown you the delicious yarns I bought at the Australian Sheep and Wool show.

I loved every second of the shopping. The sheds full of stalls of colours, textures, and all sorts of wools. The different brands I'd heard of but never fondled. And the ideas and inspiration and loveliness. I found the most gorgeous 8ply merino wool at Yellow Cat (the grey and the blue above) and the Craft Circle (the green).

I bought all the wooden buttons I could find at the button stall. Gosh I adore wooden buttons. Now I just have to find the perfect patterns to show them off.

I bought Wooli, the recycled wool above, off some lovely women with a crafty shop in Brunswick street.

It's made in New Zealand using all the scraps off the factory floor; wool, alpaca, silk, cashmere, possum. It's deliciously soft and Indi has already claimed it for a loose knit cowl.

I also bought a few cheap one kilo bags of Pear Tree yarn. Gorgeous colours and just so terribly soft. But they are in their plastic bags and I don't want to take them out until it's time to cast on. And shiny plastic doesn't photograph all that well does it.

And lastly, we bought a couple of skeins of the most divine chunky sofTrope hand spun for farmer boy's beanies. 

My farmer boy wears a beanie every single day and is very particular about what he likes and what he doesn't. He spent a while choosing the colours, chatting with the spinner and then describing the pattern to me.

When we got home, I wound the first skein into a ball immediately. Then I found the largest circular needles I own (6.5) and casted on 64 stitches (the tram we used to catch from our childhood home into the city).

Then I knit, knit, knitted for a few hours and it was done. Speedy!! Gosh I love the chunky stuff.

In case you'd like to make your own Farmer Boy Beanie...

Cast on 64 stitches.
Join in the round.
Knit 2, purl 2 rib for about 20cm.

Decrease rounds.
1) Knit 2, purl 2 together. (48)
2) Knit 2, purl 1. (48)
3) Knit 2 together, purl 1. (32)
4) Knit 1, purl 1. (32)
5) Knit 2 together. (16)
6) Knit around. (16)
7) Knit 2 together. (8)
8) Thread the tail through all of the remaining 8 stitches.
Pull tight. Fasten off.
Darn in ends.

And please let me know if you make one, I'd love to see.

He loves it. He has barely taken it off since I cast off.

So that's me and my treasures.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend.
Are you?
Do you have anything exciting planned?
What are you making/baking/growing/going/reading?
Have you added to your stash lately?
Do you agree that the stash building can be just as much fun as the craft itself?

Bye! x

ps. I'm on The Country Style blog!!
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!!

All things wooly (& the winner).

Last Friday my farmer boy and I spent the day at the Australian Sheep and Wool show in Bendigo. We had the best time.

When we visited the show a few years ago I was still very new to woolycraft and was completely overwhelmed and went home empty handed. This time I felt like I had the opposite experience. I know what colours, yarns and plies I like to craft with, I know what wooly direction I am heading in next and I am just so happy to look, to admire and to ask lots of questions.

The wool show had so much of what I love, what I am passionate about and then more.

It had stalls and stalls of luscious yarns in every ply and in every colour of the rainbow.

It had needles,

and buttons,

and felt,

and all manner of haberdashery goodness.

It had activities for the kiddies.

It had fun, creative displays.

It had wool clothing and fashion parades and it had such fun crafty patterns and creations.

There was weaving and crochet and spinning and knitting and carding and felting and macrame and machine knitting.

And there were sheep and rams and lambs and wool comps and shearing comps and sheep dog comps and best breed comps.

And there was even comfy seating for those not all that interested.

There was just SO. MUCH. WOOL. 

And I LOVE wool, so I loved it.

And I'm guessing the sheep fanciers and farmers, the wool artists and crafters, the fashion peeps, those interested in cooking the sheep and lamb's meat, the families and the stall holders all loved it too. There seemed to be something in it for everyone. The farmers in their work boots, cowboy hats and blue vests all the way through to the lady standing next to me at one stage wearing a crocheted technicolour dream coat and knitting a cabled throw while making her yarn purchases.

But as soppy as it sounds, my favourite part of the entire show was that my farmer boy gave up a day of work to come with me. He walked through every stall and shed, he didn't make a face when I spent too much money, he helped me carry my three bags full of wool and chose a couple of skeins of chunky homespun for some beanies for himself. I even overheard him tell a woman that he can't get into knitting but spinning is a possibility!! Love him.

Such a great day.

And while we're on all things woolly, I must thank all those who entered the Tikki pattern giveaway. I think the beautiful comments made this giveaway my favourite to date.

And without further ado, I asked the random generator for a number between one and 201 and it gave me number 37 - Brave New Fiona!!

Congrats Fiona.
Email me your addy and the 5 Tikki patterns you choose and we'll get them to you asap.
Happy knitting!

And to everyone else, watch this space because I have another woolly giveaway coming up really soon.

So, tell me peeps, how was your weekend?
Did you get up to anything exciting?
Did you go to the wool show?
Have you been before or to one like it?
Would you like it?

Wishing you the most wonderful and happy week lovely peeps.
xx