A Hat For You, A Hat For Me

I have good news! Connor and I both found our hats. Mine was at the bottom of a backpack I take to knit night and his was in a pocket of a coat he doesn't wear every often. Obviously our hats were too big for the gnomes. But Alicia asked a good question in the comments. What kind of knitter owns one hat? Well.... apparently me. But I'm working to fix that now. I had Connor dig around in the stash with me and we emerged with a skein of Crystal Palace Yarn's Sausalito in the Big Sur color way and Little Wool Co's 4-ply wool in the Chocolate color way.

Simultaneously, we looked at patterns and settled on Wei Siew's Slipped Hat. We both like the colors chosen and the pattern, so if one of us loses a hat again, we have a backup hat that both of us like.

So I had myself a little winding party yesterday. I have grand plans for all of this yarn. Socks, sweaters, cowls, you name it. I thought I would cast on all the things yesterday too!

But once I cast on for that hat, I just couldn't stop myself. So I knit and knit and knit. I just can't help but be a monogamous knitter. It feels like I finish things faster. I mean, I do finish things faster, but it feels faster too.

Hit The Ground Running - NZ Edition

It's been a busy time since I landed in New Zealand a week and a half ago. The first thing I did when reaching Auckland was replace my sim card. This turned out to be fortuitous, because when I walked over to the domestic terminal, I discovered that I had printed the wrong papers for my connecting flight. Luckily I was able to get into my email to get the right ones! (But not until after having trouble getting into my email... of course.)
After landing in Wellington, not 5 minutes after being in the car with Chris, he got a call asking for help to move furniture. I didn't mind. But it was tough work moving furniture for an hour after having travelled for 18 hours!
Later on in the day Chris' brother John joined us and we walked up Mt Kaukau. Doing this hike on the same day as landing in New Zealand seems to have turned into a tradition.

The next day I went hiking with Chris and his friend Rodger to check traps around one of the wildlife sanctuaries. They kill the mice, rats, stoats, and other nonnative species to help preserve the native birds. Before we went Chris told me how terrible it was to get a hedgehog because they get all mushy when they die. Sure enough, one of the traps had a hedgehog and Rodger said something to the effect that he hated getting hedgehogs because they get all mushy. Luckily this one was freshly dead and easily removed. I can now take "see hedgehog" off the bucket list, but add "see live hedgehog" to it. We climbed to the top of a rather steep trail and saw an enormous yellow bush called Golden Tainui.

A few days later I joined my friend kiwipurler for a day around Wellington. We went to a saturday craft market. Anna Gratton was there. I didn't buy any yarn, but I did take a picture of the yarn I was thinking about buying. Once I figure out the amounts I need, some of that yarn will be mine. (Note: it's 912 yds for $18NZ!)

The day was so lovely. We walked along the waterfront and talked about life stuff. It's always fun to catch up with a friend.

As it turns out, she had a surprise in store for me. The only problem I have is, which do I knit up first?

Let's Have A Yarn Day

I've been looking forward to today's adventure for quite some time. When I learned that I might be able to come to New Zealand, I let my blog friend, Wei Siew of Kiwiyarns Knits, know about it. So we planned to meet up. First thing on the list was to take pictures of the Southern Skies shawl (Due to be released in the next day or so). We stopped by the Dominion Observatory to see what kinds of photos we could get. Although this wasn't a final pick, I quite like the photo.

Next up was a trip to the Holland Road Yarn Company. I've had a burning desire to visit after reading Wei Siew's multiple blog posts about all the yarn she finds there. This shop is run by Tash, the granddaughter of Margret Stove. She is wearing a Rocky Coast Cardigan. 

I've been drooling over the Knitsch yarns for quite some time. Tash dyes them herself and I had a very difficult time making up my mind over what colors to buy. Of course in the end I went with my life's philosophy on yarn: When in doubt, buy it all.

Photo credit to Wei Siew.

You can really build up an appetite after looking for yarn, so we went to John's Fish Market for fish and chips. I'm pretty sure this is the best fish and chips I've ever had. Everything was fresh, the batter was crisp, and the seasoning was spot on. There may be another trip to it in the near future. Possibly tomorrow... I hope.

The fish market also happens to be across from the beach. So we took our lunch, sat on a bit of driftwood, and watched the seagulls fight amongst themselves over who would get first go at our food. One gull puffed himself up and ran at every other gull. (I think he is the second from the right in the photo.) The chips were too good to share, so I didn't.

Our next stop was a really special one. Wei Siew arranged for us to have a tour of Woolyarns. This is where the Zealana yarn is made. I'm quite a fan. In the past I've made the Druid Mittens and Fireside Sweater out of their yarns. Here we've got some raw possum. It's really soft. I know this because I was allowed to touch it.

Having worked at a mill, I really enjoyed seeing some of the equipment again. There were a few machines I never got to work with, but wish I had. The first neat one was a machine that automatically cut out knots in the yarn and spliced the two ends together. I didn't even know that was possible. But that would explain why I've yet to find a knot in my Zealana yarn. The other neat machine was the one that made yarn into center pull balls. I had always been curious about how that was possible. The height of the tubed area determines how the yarn ends up. There is a shorter tube for donut sized balls of yarn. 

After Woolyarns, we headed over to Wei Siew's for dinner. She even showed me her yarn stash. And as any knitter knows, the yarn stash is a sacred realm. Only the most worthy are allowed to enter. I must have entered into a holy order or something, because I was allowed to leave with some of her stash. A few bits of Royal Stansborough yarn and, get ready for this, a whole sweater's worth! Of Stansborough! This yarn is pretty tough to find. As in I bought the last 6 skeins at Holland Road Yarn Company.

Here is the official haul from yesterday. The top step were all gifts and the bottom step was damage I inflicted on myself. 

Top step L to R: Little Wool Co, 4ply in Lime; Flagstaff Alpaca, 8ply in North Isle on Marl; Little Wool Co, 8ply in Peat; 11 skeins of Stansborough Mythral in Takahe (Thanks Wei Siew!)

Bottom step L to R: Knitch 100% Merino, a pair of each in Looking Glass, Charlemagne, Yellow Brick Road, The William, and Odelay; Stansborough Mythral, first column is Manuka and Rata, second column are both Royal Kokako, third column is Kokako and Takahe.

So all in all, it was a great day. The only thing I forgot to do was get a picture with the both of us in it. Ah well. Now I have an excuse to visit my blogging buddy again.