Audrey in Unst gauge and stitch test.

On the drive to Charlestown for the great opening of Disability Care I knitted up with larger needles the stockinette and Unst Lace stitch. I eventually worked out the lace stitches, a few sudden dives for the iPad were required to check out stitch explanations. All I have to decide is which size needles to use as neither 3.75 or 4 give the swatch the right dimensions.

budgies

Winter solstice

For the longest night I lit some candles and baked my self a fruit crumble. I'll be in Melbourne in time for the 'Light in Winter' solstice event, for once my timing is right!

Light in Winter

Pictures from the exhibition have gone up on facebook, so I have 'stolen' a few...

Looking in to the gallery

Gallery shot of the Talia lamp (better than I could take)

Infinity 'plus' scarf

I don't why it hadn't clicked with me, about infinity scarves and cowls, but with that twist you do 'magically' crochet on both sides of the scarf...it's uncanny!

This was a really quick make with one skein of NORO. I let mine have more than one twist because I was having trouble not letting it do so. The resulting twists I quite like, it shows off the yarn blend well. The stitch is a single but crocheting into one side of the stitch rather than the whole as usual. The scarf wraps around twice, coming up reasonably close to the neck.

fadden pine plantation and park

Another successful geocache! The pines were very reminiscent for me of walks in pine forests in Germany when I was very small. Not exactly in the same scale though...(me nor the forest)

one of the paths through the plantation

Emergency smocking

Emergency smocking?
It all came about because I left my coat at home for a 3 day trip. I had packed a warm top for the drive (no heating), but it wasn't anything I wanted to be seen in outside of the vehicle. For some reason I had packed a shirt that the other half had recently discarded and I thought I liked the colour (turns out the shade is more sand than mustard..pity) so that could add some layering over my thin cardigan. Said shirt however was an XL in a mid-weight fabric. Incredibly unflattering (and I usually like men's shirts). One of my stops in Sydney (while D. was speaking at a conference) was Tapestry craft, to get some larger needles to hopefully solve my gauge swatch knitting problems, and whilst there I grabbed some rusty coloured wool, thread and cross stitch needles.

That evening in a hotel in Melbourne (whilst D. spoke at a school in Melton) I decided to solve my baggy shirt problems with some smocking and cross stitch.

The last time I did any smocking I was at high-school, so I thought I would 'google' smocking stitches. Alas the wifi in the hotel failed me and I had to rely on memory alone. This is the only stitch I could remember.

running stitches for the pleats

all gathered up

first few stitches

gathering stitches pulled out

Light In Winter 2013 at Kirra Galleries

Light in Winter at Kirra Galleries Opens tonight and goes until the 30 June. If you are in Melbourne, pop in and have a look. Don't forget that there is plenty going on in and around Federation square for the Light in Winter festival.

Preparations for 'Audrey in Unst'

Audrey in Unst PDF pattern, I ball of wool, assortment of needles and notes from the helpful woman at the Woolshed

In Sydney I know where to get knitting notions, but here in Canberra I wasn't so sure, especially as I am not so sure what I'm doing myself (apart from challenging myself).

I'm so glad I went to a specialist shop as I would have been at a complete loss in a chain store like Lincraft or Spotlight. So before the monthly Studio clean up at the Canberra Glassworks I stopped off at The Wool Shed in Manuka to buy my knitting needles. As the lady in the store carefully went through the instructions to see if I could merge any of the 6 different needle sets supplied, my confidence started to wither. I have REALLY set myself a challenge or one could call it jumping in at the deep end.

However the point IS to challenge my knitting habits;

I will have to concentrate,

follow the pattern,

take out mistakes,

follow the pattern,

learn new stitches, techniques AND follow the pattern!