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!!!!!

Jazzy's cap sleeved spring top.

I cast off the Cap Sleeved Spring Top this afternoon. Details here.

It was the first thing I have knitted in the round on circular needles and I loved it. Oh, except for the bit when I spent ages trying to work out how to do stockinette stitch in the round. Finally I asked Mr Google who told me that it means knit on one side, purl on the other. So on circular needles its knit/knit/knit.

It looks great on Pepper too but I can't get it off Jazzy to show you.

Oh and the skipping. It seems that when a girl in our house turns six and a half then she doesn't want to do anything that doesn't involve a rope and some jumping. She's obsessed. So much so that her feet ache but its not stopping her. And she told me today that when she grows up she wants to marry her skipping rope. Go Jazzy go!

And finally for the winner of Cath's Make book.

Drum roll please...........................

The winner is PUFFY INGAL!!

(aka Mel from From Little Things. Yay!)

Thanks for all the brilliant comments. You guys had me laughing so hard that in the end I had to explain to the littles what I kept laughing at. Silly names of course.

Oh and I think Bren's is the best of all.

My husband's silly/porn name is Shlemazel Shakespeare!

And sorry to all those who landed here from some x-rated/adult movie twitter site, I know its not quite what you had hoped for. (Love those google alerts!)

I hope you are having a fabulous weekend. XX