A Very Kiwi Christmas

I might have missed my Christmas deadline with these socks... luckily Christmas comes around every year. I really enjoyed knitting this pair. The pattern, Geek Socks, by Wei Siew is completely potato chip knitting. I just had to have another round, another stripe, another another another. 

I did make an edit to the pattern: I knit heel flaps rather than an afterthought heel as recommended in the pattern. I have gotten reasonably good at getting my stripes to look nice in heel flaps, so I went for it. I only had to rip once because I decided I didn't want the red stripe surrounding the heel.

This pair is so cozy, too! I bought Stray Cat Sock's Essential Deluxe base, which is a 80/10/10 Merino/Cashmere/Nylon base. And I'm just in love with the Kiwi Christmas color way. It reminds me of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

I'm pleased to report that I was able to enable friends at knit night. When I had ordered all my yarn, I'd offered to tack on anyone else's order to help save on shipping from New Zealand. No one took me up on it. But after I started knitting these socks... well. I'm pretty sure Stray Cat won't be going out of business any time soon.

I'm not the only one to have finished up some knitting. Connor knit me a pair of Lambing Mitts out of Stansborough's Mithril (also a New Zealand yarn) in the Kokako color way. 

When he knit himself a pair, he left out the extra bit that can fold up over the hands. I insisted on having that part added.

Connor even joined me in watching Netflix while knitting. We watched Versailles while he knit the second mitt and it ended up too small! The plot was pretty stressful at times; he must have been knitting much tighter. Connor ripped it out and knit a third one and that one fit just fine.

So now I have warm hands and feet. It's been pretty cold, so I'm sure they are both going to get lots of use.

Newly Knitworthy

I'm sure many knitters have felt the strong urge to outfit loved ones in hand knits. It's a little hard to explain to a non knitter, but there is a tugging at the heart and an itchy feeling in the fingers to get the knits made. Many of my friends and family have hand knits, but to my disgrace, Connor was missing his.... until now.

It was a little difficult to figure out what should be knitted first, but we decided that a hat was needed. I used the Watch Cap pattern by Michele Rose Orne. This is the third time I've used this pattern and I still really like the look of this hat. The yarn is Mythral from Stansborough, but it is a prototype that they were working on when I bought in 2010. 

Connor is pleased and has been wearing the hat everywhere. He has proven himself knitworthy. I see a matching cowl in his future.

Has anyone else got a newly knitworthy person in their life?

Dating Profile - 5KCBWDAY2

Today's topic for Knit/ Crochet blog week is to write a dating profile for a past finished object. I decided to create a visual profile instead. Enjoy!

Stash Sisters

The last time I showed a sneak peek of this sweater was in February. When I knit the last one, it was made to fit the model. This time, it's going to fit me. I wasn't expecting to be so excited making this sweater again, but I am. I do wish for a few things though: I wish I was done knitting it and that The Book was out so that I could wear it. I also wish it was cold so that it would be possible to wear it for more than five minutes without overheating.

This version is made with Stansborough's Mythral in the color Takahe which Wei Siew so kindly gifted me. The yarn is glorious. For those who are use to only knitting with Merino wool, it might feel a little rough. But for me, it is perfect. Every time I wear the sweater, it will be a big, warm hug that reminds me that I have a yarn buddy who willingly gave up their favorite stash for me. You can't get any closer in the yarn world than that. It's like being blood brothers. Or in this case, stash sisters.

As for The Book, I have spent the last few days writing up the introduction, acknowledgments, and a few other non-pattern pages. It is so close to being done, yet it will still take over a month to get everything ready for the release. Even after The Book itself is finished, I'll still have to get my website updated, all the ravelry descriptions written, pictures resized for the different places they will be posted. It's funny how there are so many details tied up in a project like this. I sort of wish I could have several of me running around to get some of this done faster. But everything is still moving forward, even if it feels like it is at a snails pace. 

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.

Favoriting Oma

I was reading a bunch of blogs where the bloggers talked about how they have made so many friends while blogging. I started wondering where my blog friends where when it hit me: I am a big fat idiot. I have a bunch of blog friends who I care about and converse with on a fairly regular basis. But the actual friendships have crept up on me. I didn't even realize that I had made friends while blogging. Isn't that dumb? The ah-ha moment came when this package appeared at my door.

I am a big fan of Stansborough and kiwipurler was kind enough to take the time and effort to send me some samples. I felt so loved and appreciated when I opened up that package. I'll be hoarding the skeins until I can come up with a good design for them.

I just wanted to thank everyone who does chat with me! I appreciate all the kind words. And I love reading all your blogs too. I wish I could think of a better way to express my thanks. (Feel free to leave me suggestions.)

On a slightly separate note, the pictures of the Gnarled Oak Cardigan has gotten quite a bit of attention on my blog and ravelry ever since I added the pictures of my Oma wearing it. I wasn't expecting that at all. My favorite comment so far is this one.

We Have Landed

It took over 20 hours, but I've finally made it to Wellington. The flight from SFO to Auckland was made much more pleasant with the two glasses of wine my father and I drank during the flight. A twelve hour flight felt like a four hour one as we both passed out. I didn't even watch one in-flight movie. The flight from Auckland to Wellington was a quick hour journey.

After landing, our family friend Chris picked us up. Soon we went to his favorite cafe. The eggs benedict were excellent. There is no picture because they were that excellent. Afterwards we went to the best park in the world (which happens to be a two minute walk from the excellent eggs benedict) to swing on the flying fox. For those of you not in the know, a flying fox is a seat attached to a long wire. You hurl yourself off the platform to go swinging through the air until the wire runs out and the top bit bumps into tires.

Dad didn't want to go, but agreed to sit on the seat for a picture. Dear ole Dad.

Next we stopped by the Stansborough Mill. Unfortunately they stopped giving tours three days before we came. Fortunately, the lady who bred the Stansborough Grey sheep, the only kind in the world, gave us a quick, personal tour. She even had some test yarn for me to buy. That's right. This yarn isn't even on the market. Yarn nirvana.

We headed along the coast for a bit to take in the sights. Chris is known to choose routes based on cafes. We found one. Chocolate Dayz Cafe. Yes please.

I had a very yummy mocha. It had a little strawberry cream filled chocolate fish on the side.


After all the excitement, we headed back to Chris's place. This is the backyard. How cool is that?

I've still had time to knit a little. I've started in on my Tardis Socks. If only I had an episode of Dr. Who to watch while knitting.