New Day, New Year

Happy New Year!

It is a little late to round out the old year with a final posting so perhaps it's a good idea to start afresh this year.  Not that I have anything in particular to say.  I've just been on here giving things a little tweaking, bringing them up-to-date at last.  I'm not sure about adding images - you may, or may not, get any this time around.  If there aren't any you will know that I haven't ironed out the bugs of that one, yet!


Christmas, for us, was reasonably quiet.  For the first time since our children were tiny I didn't put up any decorations.  Not even a tree!  As we weren't going to have anyone here for any part of Christmas I didn't really see the point in putting in all that work (and let's face it, dragging out the decorations and putting up the tree is WORK!  Not to mention having to take it all down and put it all away again later) for just the three of us.  Scrooge's ba-humbug, indeed!  I must say that I did feel rather like that this Christmas, too, but that is another story and I would rather just forget about it, thank you, than re-live it all again.  So, no decorations apart from the Christmas cards that arrived.


This year we were to join our eldest son (T) and his wife and family for a Christmas bbq tea.  On the way we visited our youngest son, his new partner and his daughter as well as my sister and her partner, my father and my uncle.  A long list of rellies but in reality only two stops to make.  It all took time, though, and we were a little late getting up to T's.  No surprises there!  The kids were a bit hyper by that stage (as only 6 and 4 year olds should be - even the 9 month old was excited to see us) but that was to be expected.


The food was good, nothing particularly fancy but that is how we like it, and the company was pretty good, too.  The girls opened their little presents in between courses and seemed to like them.  If I can get the images to upload I'll try and find the photos on the camera of the bags I felted for them and show you next time I post.  I was quite pleased with how they turned out, considering I haven't done a lot of felting before.  I'm not sure that either of the girls (I didn't make one for the youngest) really appreciated them, though, nor did their parents.  If I did it again, I would wrap them differently, and separately, to try and show off their real worth, rather than to include them with the rest of the present.


After the evening was all wrapped up, and the girls dressed for bed, it was time for us to head for home.  I think it was about 10pm (late for the girls) when we finally left and never has that hour and a half drive home seemed so long!  I was glad that I wasn't the one driving.

Now, a week later, it is New Year's Day.  Last night we went to see the fireworks on Caroline Bay as we usually do every year.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to go this year, especially as it was a little showery but, as it was the Bay Carnival's 100th anniversary, I thought that it may be just a little bit special this year.  How special can fireworks get?  Yeah, they were pretty good.  They lasted about 20 minutes which isn't too bad.  Any longer and you can really start to get fidgety.  I'm sure they're not as loud as they used to be a few years back and that was what I really liked.  Those huge, big bangs that echoed off the surrounding cliffs!  The countdown?  What countdown?  That fell down even flatter than a pancake.  No singing of Auld Lang Syne and no tooting from any ships in the harbour, either.  Mind you, I didn't check to see if there were any in port last night.  So, some parts were good but the actual running of the whole show needs a real brush-up. 

After the fireworks were over it was a general melee to walk back across the Bay to get to the street entrance.  So many people wanting to go the same way.  Fortunately, most were well-behaved.  It really helps that there is a total alcohol ban on the Bay for the duration of the evening.  We were parked in a little side-street close by so across the main road we went (along with what seemed like another hundred or so other people) and back to the car.  Easy.  An easy road to go down to get back to the road home, too.  All this a far cry from years ago when we used to spend at least half an hour or more idling along in the car trying to get out of first the carpark, then to turn out of the side-road and onto the main road!  Diabolical.  Still a very late night for me so I'm tired again today.  So what's new.

(PS - the opening image, yes I got it to load, is an old one but I'm sure you will enjoy it better than nothing.  I preferred to watch last night, than take photos.)

I'll tell you a little about my latest knitting next time I post.  Until then, stay safe!

Hello again!

Well, it has been a while to say the least! Lots of things have been happening here the first being the rather successful South Canterbury Creative Fibre Festival way back in April. (Has it really been that long?)


Heather and I were responsible for the education, a fairly big part of any Festival. Early on, when word "got out" that there would be no formal classes this time, there was an initial outpouring of ill-feeling among a small number of CF members around the country. This caused us to pull our heads in for a while but it soon blew over as people thought a little more about things.


Now the Festival is over and folk have experienced how the education was set up this year with 45 minute lectures/demonstrations and plenty of time in between each one, we have had so many positive comments that all the negative ones way back at the beginning have been well and truly left in the past. Not that either of us would jump at the chance of doing it all again any time soon! I know I was so totally exhausted by the end of it all that it took me a good 5 or 6 days to start feeling normal again. It didn't help matters when I needed to go to the A & E department at the local hospital to get 6 stitches in my arm after cutting it on a metal door which caught on my sleeve. Ever the clutz!


The next important thing to happen was our son's marriage last month. Yes, they chose a winter wedding. On the plus side, the sun was shining by the afternoon so it was lovely for the photos outside even though it was really cold. It could have been worse. Much worse. Sorry, I don't have any photos to show you at this stage. I must have had the worst seat in the room for photos (up the front but to the side - all you got was side-on backs) and I don't have any other copies yet. Maybe one day. But it was quite a nice wedding at a local-to-us camp-site (the bride's family live down south and the bride and groom live further north) on the edge of native bush. (If it had been earlier in the year when the kowhai was blooming, the area would have been filled with the sound of the bellbirds) The hall is pretty average but a local lady drapes it with frost cloth making it really pretty inside. Instead of a bridesmaids/groomsmen they chose to have their two daughters (aged 5 and 3) and niece and nephew (aged 6 and around 2) as their wedding party. An interesting choice but the kids did look cute dressed in lavendar purple. Anyway, a good time was had by all. Other son tells us they are getting married in Feb 2010 - only 20 months away!

Knitting? Yes, there has been a little knitting going on, with the emphasis on a little. Finally, at last, the Wildflower Socks are finished, as you can see above, and off the needles. Just in time, too. Not too many days ago I started to pull on the socks I was going to wear that day and riiiipp! Aaaaahhh! A hole appeared in the very thin heel of the first pair of socks I knitted for myself 6 or 7 or even 8 years ago. Yes, I have worn them constantly all this time, throwing them in the washing machine and pegging them on the line to dry. A very sad day but I am really glad I have another pair to replace them as the weather has been rather cold and wet recently. I guess we can't expect much else in winter so I'm trying not to complain too much. I haven't noticed the cold as much this year, anyway, as the logfire has made the house so cosy warm.

My uncle and my father both turn/ed 84 this week (my uncle yesterday and my father on Wednesday). With a family dinner last night, I needed to think of a small present to give my uncle. As he rides a pushbike everywhere (has never driven a car) I thought a warm pair of fingerless mittens might be welcome so out came my needles and wool. I used Clara Parkes' Maine Morning Mitts pattern as it is simple to knit and quite smart for either men or women. I had some dark blue alpaca/merino yarn from the Milton millshop in my stash so was all set to go. I increased the stitch count by 6 stitches as the yarn was DK and I was knitting for a man (allbeit my uncle is a small man). I added 2 stitches in the thumb. My uncle tried the mitts on when he opened his parcel and didn't take them off all night. I think he liked them! I must say I rather liked them, too, as I needed to keep trying them on while they were in progress - nice and cosy!

My Braided Pullover is still making progress, slowly. The body has been completed up to the armhole and one sleeve is approximately 3/4 done. The other sleeve will be ripped out as I feel it will be too tight. The more I work on this jersey the less I think I like it. Maybe it will be different when I get it all together?

There has also been a little spinning going on. Earlier this year I gave a quick demonstration of plying a beaded yarn at our spinning group. I am intending on using this yarn, along with the rest of the unbeaded yarn, to make a slouchy beret-style hat. I will need to hurry with this as I would like it to be ready for display at our group's Open Day on September 17.

I also recently bought a kilo of Arapawa wool from a woman on Trade Me. It is always a tricky business to buy wool sight unseen and this was no exception. The wool has been carded and, I guess, is a good example of the breed. That being said, it is not really what I would call good wool. It has a short staple with a very high number of nepps, noils, call them what you will. Also a lot of VM. But then, all this is really to be expected from this breed. It is a largely feral breed and the wool reflects this. It does make for interesting spinning! It is very stretchy and fairly soft. The finished skein bloomed quite a bit in the washed but also shrunk in length a fair bit too. Not a good picture but the yarn is very tweedy, which is what I wanted. I'm not sure if I will make the rug/afghan I was going to use it for originally or whether it will become a comfy jersey yet. Time will tell.

Anyone care to join me in the frogpond?

Yes, here I am again after a short hiatus. Quite a lot has happened in the last three weeks or so since I have been here...

My sister's birthday - what there is of our reasonably local family celebrated by going out to dinner at an Indian restaurant. Not my favourite type of food (definitely not my daughter's!) but it was ok.

Granddaughter's first birthday! A big event in a little girl's life. We travelled up to Ashburton taking Dad with us. It wasn't quite her birthday but her "real" birthday fell on the Monday. D was already up there as he has been helping our son cut up trees that were felled in a strong wind last month so I had to drive. We had a lovely time there but I missed a little drama centred on my Dad when D drove me out to the farm to show me how the firewood was progressing. Dad was fine but didn't tell me what happened (he fell off his chair and narrowly missed going through a window giving everyone there a huge fright!). The drive back home was a bummer, though, with Dad being hypercritical about my driving - I was always doing something wrong in his opinion! (Just a note here, I believe my driving is very safe. I have often been complimented by friends when I taken them somewhere and have never had an accident - Dad has had several!) By the time we dropped him off I had had enough. If I didn't see Dad until next year it would have been too soon. No, I am not exaggerating but I have got over it. He did totally spoil what should have been a special day, though.

T's real birthday, 9 Feb, saw me in hospital for a scheduled eye operation. It wasn't a huge procedure (the excision of a pterygium and a conjunctival graft) but I have never been "under the knife" before. Apparently, patients having this operation usually have a general anaesthetic. My opthalmologist felt I was a good candidate for a local anaesthetic. Much better for a good recovery, but scary! I didn't even have a sedative. It was offered but, never even having had one of these before, I wasn't sure how it would affect me. Just call me brave!

Once I was settled in position on the operating table (how narrow are they!) my head was wrapped up and some sort of sticky stuff was put over my eye and a window peeled off. Anaesthetic drops were put in my eye and, once they had taken effect, an injection was inserted to numb the area around the eye. The surgeon then got to work taking off the growth and taking a graft from another part of my eye to cover the wound. I didn't bother to count how many minute stitches he made(after more drops were put in - I could feel the needle!) but it was quite a few. Dissolving ones, thank goodness. That was it! Not too bad after all and only took about 45 minutes. After half an hour or so (I was allowed something to eat then - yay! as I had not been allowed breakfast or even my cup of hot chocolate!) I was able to go home and recuperate.

All the material I had been given said that there was normally a fair bit of pain for which the doctor would prescribe painkillers. I took the paracetemol and ibuprofen as prescribed but, apart from a little prickling from the stitches and a sensitivity to light on the first day afterwards, I was fine. I saw the opthalmologist the day after the op and he, again, warned that I could expect to experience quite a bit of pain for some time as the eye healed. What can I say. I'm not normal! I did have a bit of a black eye for a while and the eye is a little red but otherwise I'm fine. I could even read without discomfort.

What DID hurt, though, was putting my back out the following day bending down to pick up something I had dropped on the floor! I think my back muscles had tensed up a lot on the operating table and bending down did them in. It has taken ages to come nearly right but it still hasn't settled down completely. I may need to seek treatment of some sort for my back as it often plays up if I do a lot of bending. I guess losing a bit of weight would help, too.

Coinciding with my eye operation came a radical change in the weather. I went in to the hospital that morning with the sun shining and the temperature, at 7.30 in the morning warm enough for me to be wearing a t-shirt. When I came out, just after lunchtime, a southerly had come through and the temperature had plummeted. Over three weeks later and it still hasn't been warm enough to do that outside since. Rain and cloudy skies have been the norm with the sun only making its appearance yesterday and today. It seems as if we have moved from a very warm Summer into Autumn overight, and February is supposed to be our hottest month. I feel cheated.

The plus side of the cooler weather is that I have once more got back into knitting. Well, after all the spinning I have been doing over the last few months, don't you agree that I needed to? Trouble is that I'm not working on using up the yarn I've been spinning. I am using yarn from my stash, though, so it isn't all bad!

I don't know if you recognise this but it is the beginning of Alina Khasanova's Braided Pullover from IK's Fall 08. The yarn I'm using is a merino/alpaca blend from the Milton millshop (Quality Yarns). A soft heathery brown (not grey - the camera lies) it is wonderfully soft and warm. But I have a problem. The pattern calls for a gauge of 20 sts to 4 ins, my gauge is 19 sts to 4 ins. So, not wanting to swim in my jersey, I went down a size. However, I have had a feeling something was wrong for a while. This morning I finally felt I had knit enough to carry out a measurement check. I put over half the stitches on another needle, spread my work out and applied the tape measure. What? Six inches too small? Try again. Same thing. I even tried it against a jersey that fits me comfortably. I was not mistaken. Unless I want the jersey to be stretched to its uttermost limits while it is on my body, I will have to start again.

I have no idea why this is so. Divide the measurement of the finished jersey by 4, multiple by the stitch gauge and I came to 209. Therefore I cast on 216, the closest number to 209. Before you ask, yes, I have checked and rechecked the number of stitches I cast on. It is correct. I really like this pattern so I will try again and see what happens. Sigh.

On a brighter note...did you notice the stitch markers in the photo above. No? Look here then -

Aren't they cute? I bought them on Trade Me for the princely sum of $1.50 plus $1 postage! I couldn't make them for that (considering I have never made any...yet!). Unfortunately the top ring is a little small for the 4mm needles I'm using so I use the larger ring instead. Still works for me, though.

Anyway, I guess I will have to face up to it and restart my jersey. If anyone wonders where I am I'm the one in the frogpond!

What have I been up to?

Five weeks since my last posting! Oh, my, sure has been a long time. But I'm back again. I have been so busy recently with one thing and another - a new granddaughter, D having an angioplasty, K leaving to go back to Britain for another nine months plus a myriad of other relatively normal happenings. My poor head has been spinning (unlike my hands, unfortunately - nil to show in that respect!)!


Little T is doing very well as are her Mum and Dad. She sleeps well (usually) and is putting on weight as any good little baby ought to. We have seen her several times but not really as much as I would like. Unfortunately, too much was happening in my life which I could not put off for me to go up there and help out. T's Dad doesn't go to work until mid-afternoon so he is able to help out a fair bit.


My husband, D, had an appointment at Christchurch hospital for an angioplasty (not his heart but the artery to his left leg). After waiting about 8 hours (he was REALLY hungry by then as he hadn't had anything to eat since the previous night) we were finally told that he would have to come back again the following week. (They fed him before we left, thank goodness!) Timaru hospital hadn't sent up his CT films and they weren't coming through by email (technology is not always what it is cracked up to be!). As he was able to go in first thing the following week, we stayed the night in a motel. Christchurch is about 2 1/2 hours away from where we live - to far to get there, and find a park, by 8 am! For whatever reason, he didn't get the procedure done until nearly lunchtime and then spent the next four hours lying completely still on his bed. An hour of sitting up followed this and then we were allowed to leave - but not to go home. No, we had to spend yet another night in Christchurch in case something happened. Nice motel this time, though!


Can you guess what I was doing all this time? Yep, knitting, of course! During the first visit I was knitting a little Tomten jacket to fit Taylor for her first winter. I was using some leftover yarn from a project a couple of years ago BUT did I have enough? I knitted the body and started the hood. Suspicious, I left the hood stitches on some waste yarn and took stock of what was left. No, definitely not enough to even complete the sleeves. I have looked in various yarn shops since then but I believe that Naturally are not making this yarn (Lollipop - a 10ply boucle - 95%merino 5 %nylon) any more. Sad, as it is really cuddly. But I may be able to turn this into a little sleeveless jacket so my time and effort won't be wasted.


During the second time in the hospital I knitted a good portion of a second Tomten jacket.

This time I am using a mauve-coloured yarn from Naturally - Buttons. Quite cute as it has a tweed look about it. I had a lot of trouble finding a solid yarn to use for the trim but I finally found a purple acrylic (yes, I don't like acrylic much, either, but needs must!) which looks quite good with it. I think I made a booboo in the hood, though, as it appears fairly short. I may unfo the grafted seam and reknit this before sewing the sleeve seams and picking up for the band. This will be a four-ridge garter band with buttonholes as I don't like sewing zips in knits.

Meanwhile, I have started a pair of fingerless mitts using a free pattern from Jody Pirrello - Natalya.

For these, I am using some lovely soft angora/merino yarn I bought from Quality Yarns in Milton, Otago. I think they will be gorgeously warm and soft for winter!

And speaking of Milton...we took a trip down to Dunedin a few weeks ago (don't ask me when, it was during the last month - who know's dates anymore!) where I met up with Stella of Knit,knit,frog fame. We had a lovely time over afternoon tea getting to know each other a little better (she even had a present for little T - a bright green bib, so cute!) and showing her some of my loot from Milton. Yes, I'm getting to Milton! As Dunedin is only about 50 minutes from Milton, D and I drove down there to visit the mill shop. Lots of lovely bally of yarn here for really low prices! Well worth the drive. I blush when I think of how much I spent there that day. My, how even low prices add up! But I did bring home quite a haul - 2 kg of perendale sliver, a couple of hanks of undyed 8 ply perendale yarn (for dyeing), some 8 ply 40% possum/60% wool yarn destined to be a jersey for D (one day!), some undyed 4 ply 20%angora/80%merino which I may dye and use for the grandgirls someday and also some silver 8 ply 100% wool which I may overdye for moi. But, I also bought 2 hanks of this...

...a lovely, soft 8 ply yarn which is a blend of 80% lambswool/20% hemp in a tweedy charcoal. I'm thinking of a sleeveless vest for me. Hopefully with a few cables or some textured stitches. Not sure yet. I told you there was quite a haul! On the way back to Dunedin we stopped off at Lake Waihola for some lunch. A lovely spot for a picnic.

The lake is fairly shallow all over I believe and quite a popular spot in the summer holidays. While we were there we watched a small microlite-type plane land on the water then take off and fly around for a bit before landing on the water again. Rather fun!

Since all this has been happening, we have been up to Christchurch yet again (told you I've been busy) - this time to take K to the airport for her trip back to Britain. She'll be overseas for about 9 months before coming home again - hopefully for good this time! Unfortunately her journey back to Britain was not terribly smooth this time around. She slipped in the tunnel leading to the plane to take her to Auckland and scraped her elbow badly. It turns out that Air New Zealand planes (even large 777's as this was) don't have a proper first aid kit! They could only find two little bandaids, one being a finger one!

She then had trouble with the flight to LA and was told it didn't exist. It seems that although it was techniquely an American Airlines flight, the plane was a Qantas one (great food, K says!) which normally flies through Brisbane but was going through Auckland this time. Confusing. Once in LAX, K freshened up and had a sleep on the floor before boarding her British Airways flight to London Heathrow. With her bag safely checked in she got on the plane and had quite a pleasant journey in a plane which had several empty seats. On arrival at Heathrow she waited for her bag. And waited, and waited and...no bag! About 20 other passengers were in the same plight some with connecting flights to worry about. BA have been very unhelpful and very unapologetic over the whole business. They gave K a few little toiletries (not fullsize) to help tide her over. Ha! Six days (and one canned interview because of not having suitable clothing) later and her bag still hasn't arrived! British Airways suck - but, from what I can gather from other people's experiences, so do most other airlines. Not good at all.

Anyway, that is some of what I have been up to recently. Told you I had been busy!

Introducing...

Finally, after a long and nail-biting wait, I would like to introduce Taylor Emily ---- born on Saturday, 9 February 2008 weighing in at 6lb 12oz.

The top photo is of Taylor when she was just a few hours old. The second one is of her safe in Daddy's arms the following day.

Her adoring Grandma thinks she is absolutely gorgeous!

As she was born by C-section her mum, R, will need a lot of care over the next 6 weeks. R's mother is taking 4 weeks off to help out and it seems like I will be helping (full-time live-in as they live 1 1/2 hours drive away) out the following two weeks so I will be getting to know this cute little one pretty well.

Waiting!

An air of expectancy has been hovering over our home during the past two weeks and is now gripping us all with its tenacious hold. Every time a cell phone announces an incoming text or call everyone looks up with questioning eyes. "Is it the time, yet?" And the disappointingly negative reply is met with sighs.

The reason for our fixation? Our youngest son and his partner are expecting our third grandchild who was supposed, according to modern technology, to have made an appearance two weeks ago! But, like all babies, this one has her own timetable. An induction was set for this morning, however all the midwives in the small local-to-them hospital are ill today. Another appointment for induction has been made for tomorrow at the city hospital an hour away (two and a half hours from us). At the examination this morning, R was 2 cm dilated and had a contraction, unfelt by her, while attached to the monitor so maybe today will be the day after all. Meanwhile, we all go through the motions of the day hoping to hear the good news at any time.

Knitting? Yes, I have two FOs to report as well as another started. Pictures? No time right now, next time.

Excitement in the Roselea Household!

Another finished pair of mitts - this time another pair of Fetching. A friend's birthday was coming up and I wanted to make something for her. We had agreed not to give each other Christmas presents (cost, etc) but she didn't say anything about a birthday present! I used a ball of wool I had already had in my stash for quite some time so I didn't think she would be able to complain too much!


As you can see the wool I used is an 80/20 blend on merino and possum fur in DK weight from Furlana. The colour is a dark aubergine not too different from the photo above (on my monitor!). It is so beautifully soft and very warm. My friend lives on a small farm and looks after the stock very diligently while her husband works. In winter she is often outside checking on the sheep as they are lambing, shifting the electric fence, feeding out etc. I would imagine her hands would get quite cold so I thought she might appreciate these mitts. Perhaps not very hardwearing but very warm.

You may notice that I extended the top of the mitts a little by putting in an extra cable. I also cast off normally instead of using the picot cast off as is written in the pattern. I wanted the top to be a little closer fitting. It was better, although still not perfect, but maybe they will fit my friend better than me as she has larger hands than I.

I have also been washing up some of the kilo of Hampshire Down fleece I bought recently.

This wool will be quite a challenge to me as the staple length is only about 5cm! I have been hand carding this, on my Ashford fine handcarders, into rolags which I will eventually spin woollen using the long-draw method. I have only played around spinning like this and, combined with the short staple, I have this feeling that no-one will want to be around when I try it out! Or maybe I won't want to try it when anyone else is around would be fairer to say. I have only spun cotton once and I'm not in a hurry to try it again. The one rolag of this wool that I played around with reminded me very much of that! I needed a lot of twist to keep the thread from breaking. I am used to not putting in a lot of twist. As I said before -a challenge!

But my biggest excitement this week is that my darling daughter is arriving home from Britain tomorrow morning!!! One year to the day that she left to go on her big OE. We will be leaving here reasonably early (7.30-8pm) to get up to Christchurch in time to see her plane land. I can't wait! She doesn't intend staying longer than about 6 weeks (sigh!) but it will be still be good to have her home again. To keep up her cash-flow she intends working while she is here so it won't be non-stop visiting but it will be enough. A family dinner is on the cards sometime too, the first time we will have all been together since Christmas 2006. Yes, I realise that this is not long by many family's standards but for me it is a looong time! So, all going well, there should be 11 adults and 3 children at our table soon. I think I'm crazy, I hate cooking food for a crowd!

But that is not all the excitement that is due this week. Oh, no, not by a long shot! Our third grandchild/grandgirl is due on Friday!!! Mmmm, I think my cup runneth over at the moment!

Time to Catch Up

Well, this year is already almost two weeks old and I am only just writing a post now. Bad blogger, indeed! I'm sure there are a lot more like me out there who may have the time to write but don't always have the inclination. So many times I have written a post in my head only to have it flee completely the moment I get in front of the keyboard. Never mind, I am here now.

So, what has been happening? Hot weather, that is what has been happening today! Even now, at well after 10pm it is sooo hot inside - over 24C. For me, that is really quite warm. It was a lot warmer than that today, too. Outside it has cooled down but inside is a different story. A really tough day for my eldest son, his partner and our two wee grandgirls to be driving home from holiday, but they did it. They called in here on their way home and picked up their Christmas presents. Too bad D wasn't here to see them, but it was the car/truck racing this weekend. He has been looking forward to this meeting for such a long time that he couldn't miss it. We'll see the girls in just over a week when we go to the airport to pick up our daughter who is coming home from England for a month or so. (I knew there was a reason I don't have the windows open with the lights on - I was just dive-bombed by a large moth! Not my most favourite experience!)

But you aren't here to read all this drivel - you want the lowdown on what I have been doing lately. First up:

Yes, I have finally finished spinning, and plying, the coloured sliver I've been working on for months! The photo shows almost all of the kilo of the yarn which I intend knitting into a jersey for me, someday. I am quite pleased with the way it turned out but I'm hoping that it isn't too busy when knitted. No, I haven't done a sample square, yet, but I do intend to some time as I will need to experiment a little. A closeup? Of course!

The yarn isn't shiny as it seems in the photo but I think the colours aren't too far off. I was pleased to see that the plying evened out fairly well. It is always wonderful to see how a wash improves the look of the skeins.

Now that that wool is out of the way I am back working my way through the Gotland fleece I bought quite a while ago from a young, local breeder - Hamish Black of Chocolate Wool NZ. I am spinning this one up for D - I think it is time I made him another jersey. Maybe it will be ready for his birthday near the end of the year?

As this is a lovely open fleece, I am separating the locks and combing them with a metal dog comb. That's right, I am not washing this fleece! Gasp, shock, horror! It is a method which has been used by countless spinsters over the years and if it is good enough for them... Really, there is something about working with a raw fleece. (No, not the odd thistle stuck in your finger! Although that has happened to me more than once, not in this fleece. It is a particularly clean, well-carded fleece.) I rather like the feel of the lanolin on my hands and seeing it shining in the sunlight. I even like the smell of the raw wool! Shoot me, I'm a country girl at heart!

I'm not sure if the photo shows it, but the butt end of the staples are a very pale grey which gives the spun yarn a bit of a tweedy look to it. There are a few guard hairs (?) in some of the locks but I usually pull these out before I comb the lock. I'm not being too anal about it, though, as this jersey will be for a guy and will be outer wear.

As you can see my spinning here is kind of rustic-looking (let's face it, none of my spinning would be mistaken for being commercially spun) but I that is what I want for the jersey. I want it to be more every-day wear than a fine jersey for best. As this fleece is spinning up fairly fine, I am 3-plying it to make the yarn a reasonable weight. It is about a fine DK weight, I guess, when washed. There isn't a lot of bounce to the yarn when it is spun. Gotland seems to be heavy and silky, almost like mohair.

But that isn't all I have done!

Ta da! A pair of Maine Morning Mitts from Clara Parkes' book "A Knitter's Book of Yarn". I happened to have a lovely skein of Noro Silk Garden in my stash and thought this may be just the place to use it. Don't they look nice? I had bought the yarn a while ago as I wanted to see how it was dyed. Noro is too expensive, here, for me to make anything substantial with it so these little mitts were just the thing! Now I'm waiting for winter to come to try them out!

Even though summer is going really strong this year, I have cast on for another pair of Fetching mittens. This time they are for a friend, K, who is having a birthday this month. No photo, yet, as I only finished the first mitten tonight, so be patient. I'm using a skein of aubergine Furlana (80% merino 20% possum fur) I had in my stash so they are rather warm to make even though they are small. why am I giving them to someone in the middle of summer? Because K lives on a small holding which she looks after while her husband goes to work. It can get pretty cold in winter when you are outside feeding out bales of hay, shifting the electric fence or checking on lambs etc, so I thought the possum mittens might just come in handy for her.

Well, I think that is about it for now. I'll try not to leave it so long until I post again - but you never know! So I'll leave you with a little bit of whimsy I found on Robin's blog:

What Kathy Means

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip. People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

It isn't all true but some is spot on! Strange, isn't it!

Twinkle, twinkle little star...

December already and tomorrow it will be only three weeks until Christmas! Am I in the festive mood? No, even though there has been a little Christmas activity going on here. Knitted Christmas decorations, no less.

At the top are three little twinkling stars knitted from this pattern. They are rather cute, only aobut 5 cm from point to point, and take so little time to knit. There are only five rows, knitted flat with a tiny seam to sew up. In my stash inherited from my late mother-in-law there was some white acrylic with a lurex thread plied with it - Sirdar's Super Prelude which has been long discontinued I would imagine. No way would I want to wear this, it being rather scratchy and just not me, but it was just what I needed for these stars. Knitting up as a 4 ply I have made these three dainty little stars so far. More may follow. I may adjust the pattern slightly and make one or two larger stars as well. Perhaps.

Why am I knitting stars? Not for our Christmas tree, although they may make an appearance on there as well, but for a tree our Spinners and Weavers group are entering in a local competition. Not because we think ours will be the best but to lift our profile a little. Every bit of publicity counts. A lot of decorations were made for our Open Day in May but I have since found out that some of these have been given away (!!!) even though members should have known about this competition. So, in case we are short of decorations, I have been busy.

The other two photos are of a simple kumihimo braid also destined for this tree. All members at the last meeting were given 7 lengths of yarn to make these braids to add a bit of cohesiveness (and traditional Christmas colour) to the tree. Kumihimo, I have decided, is not my favourite occupation but this braid was simple enough and made up fairly quickly. At least it is now done and not waiting for me to make it at the last possible minute as I usually do!

Last weekend was the local A & P (Agricultural and Pastoral) Show. Again to keep up our profile, the Spinners and Weavers had a very small display in one of the tents (a rather out-of-the-way tent, unfortunately). Three of our members, including myself, sat with the table throughout the day. Not a totally wasted day as this is what I accomplished while I was there. The best part, though, was meeting Stella and her two children! This is the second time I have had the pleasure of physically meeting someone I have got to know online - both lovely ladies.

Through the week I also finished knitting the pieces for the Cabled Baby Jacket. Back, sleeves and fronts are finished with the front bands now needing to be picked up and knitted on before sewing up.

You may notice that I have chosen to use a tubular cast on for the bottom bands. I am hoping this will look neater, and be a softer edging, than my usual longtail cast on. I used a provisional cast on for the fronts as the front band is picked up along the curve at the bottom. Of course, I didn't realise this at the beginning (does anyone else not read the entire pattern before launching into the knitting?) so maybe I now need to research into the best cast off to match the tubular cast on.

There were other events which occupied me over the last week - a family dinner to celebrate several birthdays, the Rose Festival and D's birthday as well as the end-of-year lunch with our Spinners and Weavers group. Tonight is another dinner out - with friends, this time. Another birthday celebration. There seem to be an extraordinary number of family-and-friend birthdays during November/December as it is our Grandgirl, L's, birthday on Thursday as well. She will be a whole two this time! We'll celebrate this one with a bbq in Ashb on Saturday. It looks as if the busy times will still be here for a while!

Procrastinating!

Mmmhmm, me all over! Putting off what I should be doing, writing minutes, re-hashing a newsletter and finishing off a pamphlet - not to mention the ever-present housework and grocery shopping! But it is chilly today with numerous, short, sharp southerly showers coming through. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I thought and thought and thought some more about the Cabled Baby Jacket, or, more correctly, the colours I originally chose, and finally invited the Frog in for a little party over the weekend. I will use the bright pink and the blue-violet for something else (or, more accurately, some things else) in the future.

Instead, I bought some pastel pink Cleckheaton Cocoon and have knitted up one sleeve and have started on the next. It is rather unusual for me to be using the yarn the pattern calls for, but that is what was available in the LYS I was in when I made the decision. It is quite a nice colour, maybe a little paler than the photo shows with a decidedly blue lean to it. The yarn is lovely and soft but not my first choice as it is 30% acrylic. Call me a yarn snob but I really do prefer natural fibres. Most of the time. But, whatever. It is what was there so what I bought.

I have finished a couple of small things since I last posted. First up was the pair of Pocketbook Slippers mentioned last time. (A totally horrid photo but what can one do when no-one else is around to help one take a photo?) I guess these are ok for what they are but I don't think I would make the adult size again unless I really wasn't sure of the size of the foot. These really only just fit me so will be just the same on K. Maybe they'll shrink a little with further washing?

The other items I knit, started and finished, since the last post was a pair of Fetching fingerless mittens from Knitty. These were also for K's parcel but, and I hang my head in shame here, I totally forgot to take a photo of them! But they were black so probably would not have photographed well anyway. I made these from some black, probably wool, yarn from my stash. No label so I have no idea what it was. They knitted up well and, apart from a little gaping at the cast off around the top, turned out quite nicely. A pattern I would probably knit again one day.

Speaking of my stash, I wonder how many others have one like it? Much of my yarn stash is made up, not of useful amounts of any one yarn, but mainly of odd balls left over from long-finished projects. Most is not originally mine. Some comes from my late mother when she gave up knitting after her eyesight began to fail. Most of the stash, however, belonged to my late mother-in-law who used to make a lot of crocheted rugs for charity. She must have used a lot of mohair or brushed acrylic-type yarn as well as there seems to be a preponderence of this type of yarn. Not my favourite and mostly not colours I would choose. But most of it could be useful at some stage and my Scottish heritage won't allow me to throw much of it away. (I've tried giving some away but that hasn't been entirely successful, either!) Quite a problem as I have two 60 litre tubs of it! So, I was quite pleased to use up one small ball on these mittens.

Another reason for my procrastination today is that I am a little annoyed with how things have been turning out for me lately. I had recently made careful plans to rid myself of three responsibilties which weighed a little heavily on me at times - mostly because they often seemed to all come at once. But the old saying about the best-laid plans of mice and men came true once again. One of these responsibilities I have finally managed to offload - but only after three months of frustration. The second, I have had to shoulder for one more year. This isn't too bad in itself and there is light at the end of the tunnel for this one. The third, due to be offloaded last night, was also frustrated! The person I understood to take over from me had elected to take on someone else's position. Fortunately, another came in to help but, at the moment, is only taking on part of the responsibilities leaving me with, perhaps, the more fiddly part. Patience. I must practise patience. This, too, will pass as they say.

But we did have a celebration in our family last week - our youngest son turned 21! Happy birthday, M, for last Thursday! He doesn't normally look quite so much like a skinhead but had recently shaved his hair for "Movember" (a charity fund-raiser), or some such thing. He has done this a couple of times in the past for CanTeen week, too. Fortunately his hair doesn't take long to grow back!

So that is me caught up with for now. Time for me to get something productive done before the day gets any older!

Some progress

I cast on something new again this weekend - a pair of Pocketbook Slippers for K. Winter is coming on there and I want to know that she has something warm and cosy to put on when she finishes work. The Christmas surface mail is due this coming Saturday hence the quick knit. There is still something more I want to add to her parcel but time will tell if I can get that done. Sorry about the lousy photo - the lighting was dreadful and I'm not searching for a better position at the moment. The actual yarn is a little less electric looking, but still rather bright! Medium blue, turquoise, magenta and purple variegated. Fine for slippers but not something I would wear in any larger amounts! It is actually a mohair boucle - so wasn't the easiest to knit with. The seams still need to be sewn and the buttons attached. When that has been done I will try and get a better photo if I have time.


I started another sample for the Baby Cabled Jacket this time doing a corrugated rib. I'm still not certain I like it - I guess that is why it is still sitting next to me on the computer table untouched for several days. This photo shows the colours really badly, too. The violet-blue shows here as much more denimy than it really is. The pink is also not as red as in this photo. I may try a third time (isn't three times meant to be the charm?) and cast on with the pink then go straight into the blue. Maybe that is all that will be needed. We are going to Ashb on Thursday for our son's 21st (yes my baby will be 21!!!) so I will take my efforts up there for their approval - or not. After all, it is their baby the jacket is for.

The weather here has finally packed up after quite a good run of nice, warm weather. It is supposed to rain for the next 3 days so maybe I will be able to get a little more knitting done without feeling guilty for not getting work done in the garden. Spinning is calling too - I really do want to get that coloured roving finished and out of the way.

What have I been up to?

Hmmm...Ravelry has been eating has been eating a reasonable portion of my time lately! Yes, I'm in and slowly getting to grips with the place. My name there is KathyR (what else?!) if you are interested in finding me.

But I have been busy knitting, too. I finished the sleeves of a baby singlet which I had started, well, a couple of years ago! It is Margaret Stove's pattern in a Heritage Collection leaflet. I used 3 ply baby wool so it should fit a baby up to about a year old. I have used this pattern before to make a smaller vest (I must have used 2 ply wool then) and ws really pleased with it. The pattern is really easy (I knitted it in the round) but quite cute. Lots of side ways stretch, too.



I also finished the Baby Surprise Jacket along with a tiny pair of Saartje's Bootees. These were made out of Cleckheaton Merino Bambino 4 ply. This is a really soft, machine washable woollen yarn but I did find it split quite often so I needed to be careful while knitting with it. I was really pleased with the results. I just hope the little ruffle around the neck isn't too reminiscent of a clown's collar! I wanted something that was more girly than a plain collar. I really love the little bootees, too. Both should fit an average newborn.

I have also cast on for a cabled jacket to fit a 3 month old. I was at a LYS looking for yarn to make a little cardigan from the Dale of Norway pattern book I bought a while back but I didn't find any in the colours I wanted. Also, this pattern book seems to call for really fine yarn - 2 ply, maybe - as all the garments are knitted with 2mm and 2.5mm. If I wanted anything other than white I would have to dye it first. So I kept on looking (as you do!) and noticed a Cleckheaton pattern book (# 951) with really cute baby patterns in it and bought it. All of these patterns called for 4 ply wool of which I had a small supply - don't you love using stash yarn? Of course I did need to supplement with another 2 balls, but that's ok! I wanted to make something a little brighter than the normal pale baby colours but the bright pink on its own was rather loud! I chose, instead, to make the jacket in a blue-violet with the bright pink for the ribbing. I'm not certain how much I like it though. Maybe I should have done corrugated ribbing using both colours. I'll think about it. It would be even better if I could get M and R's opinion on it. After all, it is for their baby!

In the meantime my DH, D, is still slowly getting through the tests to see if he has a blockage in the veins/arteries in his legs. More tests next week and an appointment with the specialist the following week. It is a real nark getting older and the body breaking down little by little.

The spinning year is coming to an end next month with our final meeting and then our Christmas outing at the end of November. Hard to think that the year is fast coming to an end but we have been quite busy this year for a change. Things are slowly coming together for the Festival in 2009, as well. More hard work to do next year for it. I have been spinning a little every now and again but progress there is slow. One day I may even get around to taking photos of the skeins already spun and post them here!

Dear Blog...

...Please accept my sincerest apologies for neglecting you for so long. I did not mean to, but things (real life) sometimes get in the way as they have this month. I mean, have you looked at my calendar lately? There has hardly been a day where I haven't needed to be somewhere, doing something, or at home, doing something else! In the future I will try to be a better blogger - but I will not promise.

Yours sincerely
Me

Yes, I have been a very bad blogger recently, but I have not been idle! Spinning, knitting and family life have figured greatly during the last few weeks. First up, knitting. No more progress has been made on Mermaid but I do have a FO! I have started, and finished (well, almost, maybe) an EZ Baby Surprise Jacket (as yet, unblocked) for our little grandgirl due in January. I made it out of 3 balls (75grams) of Cleckheaton Merino bambino 4 ply (yes, I know, Aussie wool. What can I say?). It is beautifully soft but only measures 35 cm (14") around the chest so will definitely be a newborn size. A pity, as January-February is not usually a cool time of year. I guess to make a larger size I would need to use DK weight yarn, not what I really like for a young baby.

Didn't I do well with the seam? Well, I'm pleased with it at any rate and, when it comes down to it, that is all that matters! I have never done mattress stitch before so that is what the fuss is all about. I still need to find some buttons as well as decide about the neckline. There is only a very little bit of yarn left from the 3 balls, probably not enough to make a little collar (picot edging, ruffle - I haven't decided yet). I don't mind buying another ball, though, as I could then make a little pair of booties or socks to match. I had considered making the neck edging in lavender or aqua to match but I don't think I will do that. Maybe if I had put in a stripe or two of it but I didn't as I had wanted to make one as the "pattern" reads. By the way, my thanks go to Dawn Adcock for her very helpful notes!

On the spinning front, I attended the first day of a very worthwhile silk spinning course tutored by Priscilla Lowry (no website to my knowledge). I have not had much experience at all at spinning silk and Priscilla very ably introduced us all to this fascinating fibre. We spun up small samples of both tussah and bombyx mori silk as well as degummed cocoons, yellow cocoon strippings, throwsters waste and mowata cap. No photos yet - I forgot! One interesting tip Priscilla told us was to NOT put on handcream just before spinning the silk! Apparently, once the silk yarn has been washed and knitted grey streaks will appear which will never come out.

We also were treated to having a close look at a number of garments which Priscilla has spun, designed and knitted. These garments were really beautiful. Again, I am sorry that I have no photos of these. I didn't think to take my camera to the course and I do regret that now.


For more of your viewing pleasure, I thought I would include a photo of a skein of yarn I spun quite a while ago. It comes from Hallblacks and is a blend of merino (or possibly halfbred, I'm not sure now) and silk which was gilled after carding. While not particularly well-spun it is nevertheless to-die-for soft! It will probably end up as a scarf but I may dye it as the colour is not one I can really wear near my face.

Familywise, we had the grandgirls to stay for a weekend again! Lots of fun, with a trip to the park to see the wallabies and play on the swings etc. D put up a small tent on the lawn for them to play in which they seemed to find exciting. All in all it was a delightful visit with them!

So that about fills in all I will talk about this time around. You can see that my lack of posting did not equate with a lack of progress craftwise!

Finished, at last!

Oooo, doesn't time fly! It is now over a week since the Grandgirls visited and I finally got photos of L's finished jersey. Not a good photo as the days have been nice and sunny lately (yay! Spring's here at last!) but you can sort of see what it ended up like. I am not very happy with some of the weaving in of colours but not unhappy enough to do anything more about it. Off the body, the neckline looks a little stretched at the edge but it goes over L's head really easily, which is what I wanted. Nothing makes kids hate jerseys quicker than one that they have to force their head through! I used a needle 2 or 3 sizes larger than the one I was ribbing with to cast off and used a stretchy cast off as well.

As you can see there is a little room for growth in the finished jersey. I was planning for this as there shouldn't be a lot more jersey-wearing days left in the season so I was hoping L would be able to wear it next year as well. It isn't a terribly good photo of L, or the jersey, as I had to take it quickly. When H, L's older sister, sees a camera she wants to be in the photo! Not easy to take one of L without H! It is amazing how quickly these little ones grow - it doesn't seem that long ago when she was crawling around. She definitely has her own little personality - she doesn't say many words yet but certainly understands everything we say to her!

Since finishing this jersey I have been working on Mermaid. The first front is finished and I am now partway across the back. Photos to come when I can find the right lighting for it (and time, of course). As it is a fairly fine knit (3mm circular needle) it is slow going but not too bad. I don't mind working in garter stitch as I mainly knit while watching tv at night. Not a good thing for me to try working a complicated pattern when I am tired. The knitting is straightforward but Hanne's pattern is a little challenging to decipher at times. Very clever, though.

Spinning has been progressing slowly with another skein plied and many more to go. I will probably take my wheel to our "weaving" day this week (originally the fifth Thursday in the month was set aside for the weavers but, now that there are not many willing to cart around their portable, but heavy, looms, the day has been opened to anyone) so may get some more accomplished then.

Stell, thanks for the suggestions for the boucle jersey. It is still sitting in a corner of the cupboard in disgrace - I will think some more about it another day, probably at Tara!

A month later!

Has it really been a whole month since my last post?!! What has happened since then, I wonder?

In knitting, I finished L's little slip-stitch jersey (yes, I haven't yet converted to americanisms, Stell!) and gave it to her last weekend. I haven't seen it on, yet, so no photos. Yes, bad blogger that I am I forgot to take one of it before we took it up to her. But, all going well, the two little girls will be with us for the weekend so just maybe I can get the camera out! The jersey is nowhere near perfect, but it will just have to do. I must learn to weave yarns in better as one or two show on the right side. Darn. But lesson learned, I will NOT use two or more colours at once in the round unless they go all the way around!

I tried going back to the circular, raglan-sleeved, v-necked, variegated boucle jersey I put away from me in disgust many moons ago but as I looked at it I didn't have the heart. I messed up the decreases in the raglans and need to rip it back. Not a problem but I also was fast running out of yarn and, no matter how fast I knit, there wouldn't be enough to finish it and I will not be able to get any more. Also, looking at it, I felt totally out-of-love with the whole thing! I put it away again until I can think of another approach. Probably will end up frogging the whole thing. Double damn!

So, being the good little knitter that I am (who do I think I am kidding here??) I pulled out yet another UFO - this time it was the Mermaid I started goodnessknowswhen. I had already done a little ripping on it and I was able to find my way back to where I was in the directions. I was only halfway through the first gusset so not very far through at all. I am now past the second gusset and halfway into the following striped section so a little bit of progress has been made. I am quite enjoying working on this at the moment as long as I have good lighting.

I even worked on a little spinning again this week - I plied up a bobbin of some coloured rovings (yes, there are two different ones I am plying together) which I don't seem to have a photo of. You will have to wait patiently for that too! More plying to go (I have four bobbins needing to be plied together).

On the work front, things are coming together. A replacement has been found and time will tell if he is reliable. Soon, I hope, I will be able to hand everything over to him. That will be very nice!

Our pellet fire is continuing to under-function despite a "technical expert" from the supplier coming to have a look at it and announce it was working perfectly! Why do we need to have the heat setting so high when others are perfectly warm with the fire set on low? I have tried to get the company to take the fire back and refund the cost as per the Consumer Guarantees Act but the amount they offered was laughable. I have therefore put in a claim to the Disputes Tribunal so we will see what happens in about a month's time.

That brings us more or less up-to-date with what is going on in my life at the moment. Maybe next time there will be pictures!

Did you miss me?

Ok, so it has been awhile - but I have been busy! A little with knitting but also with work and family. Our grandgirls stayed last weekend and that is always a busy time. Children of the tender ages of three and one are very active little people! Just keeping an eye on them so they don't get into mischief is enough to tire anyone out. Lovely spending time with them, though, but nice to take them back too.

Work, I won't get into but suffice it to say that I don't take well to stress and it has been stressful on this front recently. Bah!

Knitting - not much in recent days (we've had our son and his fiancee staying over the weekend) but I must get cracking on the hat. It needs to be finished before Thursday! It has been swimming in the frogpond several times in recent weeks! Maybe you can see where I went wrong -
In the centre the green part which looks like an H is the trunk of a tree. On each side are the feet and legs of alpacas (??). They are both supposed to be pointing towards the tree. One side is, but the other side? No. Hmmm...do I rip it out and rework it? Sigh! Yes, I did and not for the first time, either.

But out it came and my needles started clicking again. As you may see below I got it right this time. Yay! This time I have used more stitch markers. Why on earth did I not think of that in the first place? Duh!


I didn't have smaller needles to work the hem at the beginning so it was knitted in the same size needles I have been using for the body. I am hoping this doesn't make too much of a difference. Too bad if it does because I am not going to redo it all! I have got a little further than the photo below shows; about two-thirds of the way to the crown decreasing. Surely it will be plain-sailing now?

Plans are all in place for the Open Day - the speakers have accepted and a dyeing demonstrator has been arranged. All I need to do now is bake something for a couple of "plates" and make a pot of soup for lunch. Easy, peasy (yeah, right!). I will need to be up extra early on Thursday as we will be meeting at the venue at 8.30am to begin setting up for the visitors to arrive at 10am. I anticipate it being a rather long and busy day with me having to MC it as I am our local President. Yay - not something I am particularly comfortable with. I much prefer staying in the background. Maybe I will be able to do that at our next Open Day in another two years.

Before I forget, my thanks to those who have taken the time and effort to comment (not that easy on Blogger, I know!). I really appreciate hearing from you all. I am not an expert spinner by any means and definitely not an expert knitter - but I try!

There is a little time left this afternoon before I prepare tea so maybe I can get another couple of rows done after I have looked for a recipe. We were given two ducks yesterday (it is duck-hunting season here) and my son cut out the breasts for me to use. (He also sharpened my knives for me! They were long overdue and he is quite good at it, given that it is part of his job.) I wonder what we will end up with tonight?

Harvest Home Festival

This has been an interesting, if not trying, week. We had a really good weekend when we went to the Harvest Home festival at the Totara Estate a little south of Oamaru. This is where the first shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand was exported from. As the festival was advertised as having a bullock team from Motueka as well as horse-drawn ploughing demonstrations we decided that it would be interesting to go along. We weren't disappointed!

First up, we visited the handcraft tents. There were several ladies making bobbin lace as well as a local spinning group who were making a spinning and weaving a shawl from a fleece which was blade-shorn that day. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of these ladies (and one man) but I did get one of the lacemaker. I love the finished product (who wouldn't) but I'm sure that I would get not only confused with all the bobbins but also tired of the time it took to make even a small amount of the lace. These women certainly have lots of patience!

You can see a couple of the sheep waiting in the shed for the shearer to come back. They didn't seem to be worried about people standing there staring at them - in fact they seemed just as interested in us as we were in them!

Another sheep we saw was being lead around by (or rather, leading) some little children. This was "Shrek", who became famous when he was found after avoiding the musterers for a number of years. I have long wondered about the truth behind the story as, to me, he seems rather tame for having had no human contact for years. But, whatever, it makes a good story and there has been quite a lot of money raised for charity because of him.

Old-style woodcraft was also showcased at the festival. A woodworker was making a coracle out of willow branches and another was showing a little boy how to shave the wood. The little boy was not phased by the crowd watching and was talking to the woodworker ninety-to-the-dozen!

Another interesting procedure I had never seen before was the shoeing of a draught horse. Apparently the horse had been brought in every hour for a new shoe to be put on. We caught up with the proceedings for the last shoe. By then, the horse was getting rather annoyed and was not on its best behaviour. But, with some perseverance on the part of the blacksmith, the horse was finally lead away with its four brand new, specially made him, shoes.

There was also a team of four bullocks all the way from Motueka. I think these bullocks are part of the only working bullock team in the South Island. It was amazing to see these quiet animals (so quiet a couple of brave young boys were sitting on their backs at one stage) and realise that 150 or so years ago animals just like these brought settlers and all their meagre belongings across hundreds of kilometres of rough, untraveled terrain to begin their new lives on the land. Throughout the day many people, both adults and children, were able to have rides on the cart pulled by the bullocks. Towards the end of the day these bullocks must have been getting annoyed as we saw that the drovers, whips cracking and voices shouting, were having trouble keeping these animals going in the right direction. Not an easy task to steer four 1200 kg animals in a direction they don't want to go in!

We also took some time to watch the three teams of horses ploughing up the ground. Our favourite was the five-horse team of Morgans. I have read a little about these strong, versatile little horses and was quite impressed by them. Hard work ploughing this way, though.

At the end there was a small parade of sorts complete with pipe band. A man was zipping around on a penny farthing - how on earth people used to ride these things I don't know! More my style was the modern-style wagon pulled by two draught horses with spotted dalmation along for the ride. This outfit, along with several others, have recently completed a trip from Invercargill to Picton raising funds for the Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust along the way.

If you look hard at some of the photos you may also notice that a lot of the festival-goers were dressed in clothing reminiscent of 100 or more years ago. Some of these seemed quite authentic and it really did add something to the atmosphere of the festival.

This week also marked the arrival of two packages - one was the latest issue of Spin Off maagazine. The other package held two very pretty little stone spindles from One Planet. But more about these purchases next time!