It's a Sign

I've just returned from a family trip from the North Island of New Zealand for my husband's father's 90th birthday and his sister's 50th (it's a BIG family!). When this family decides to have a get-together, there are usually no less than 50 people in attendance! Coming from a small family, this is great fun for me.

On our way to Claire's 50th, we passed this sign located in a small town called Eltham. Just HAD to stop and snap a photo!

I completed two hats during the trip (photos coming soon!) and started a gift for a friends baby (also coming soon).

Flying back to Christchurch, here is a view of the Southern Alps of New Zealand, with a fresh dusting of snow. Winter is coming! I would swear this photo could pass for Antarctica.

  

Flying over the Nelson Lakes area of New Zealand, I looked down and spotted this lake, which looks disarmingly like the continent of Antarctica. I took this image from Google Earth.

I guess I'm thinking about Antarctica. Which is perfectly normal for someone who has spent most of the last 14 years there.

Knot my usual thing

I usually knit, but for this project, I used knots. The yarn I showed you from a couple of days ago seemed to lose its beauty when knitted as all the gorgeous stranded colors got jumbled up in the knitted stitches.

So I came up with this idea (well I'm sure I'm not the first person think this up) to create a knotted scarf which allows the yarn to be displayed in it's best light.

I cut 24 lengths of the yarn that were twice as long as I wanted the scarf to be. I divided the yarn into eight 3-strand sections. Then I rigged up something on the wall to make it easy to work on and it took me a couple of days to finish.

Here's a video that describes my process.

I'm thinking of a hat to match this scarf. Knit the main body of the hat in a neutral color and use this yarn as an accent around the brim and perhaps a tassle on the top. Would look amazing I think.

Bye-Bye Baba Black Sheep Yarns

Update: I just went to the Baba Black Sheep Yarns page on Etsy and there's a note saying they have closed indefinitely. I'm kind of sad about that, but sure glad I got some of their yarn!

Birthday Blog

It's my birthday and I plan on working with yarn today. Not necessarily knitting per se, since I am working on a new project that answers the intriguing question of 'what do I do with this yarn?'

It's a GORGEOUS 2-ply, handmade, hand-dyed yarn from 'Baba Black Sheep Yarns'  made from 75% Blue Faced Leicester Wool and 25% silk. I bought it online from Etsy (I think). It's so soft has a wonderful sheen thanks to the silk.

Oh it looks so gorgeous sitting there in a festive little ball don't you think? But I guess the problem is, it's not much use to anyone in it's current form. I tried knitting it with large needles and I thought it just lost so much of it's personality when it was knitted! I mean all the colors were there but it just didn't look as pretty to me. So I started thinking of a way to use this yarn that would preserve it's rich, stranded beauty. I think I finally came up with something, but will wait to reveal in another post (but you won't have to wait too long, promise).

The sun is out and my husband is scuttling about the kitchen making my birthday cake...a lemon and pistachio crunch 3-layer cake. I love watching this cooking drama unfold. Our own little version of Master Chef.

In other news, I finally finished the Ariosa Wrap Cardi from ages ago...last July. I was so happy to discover that before I had shelved the project, I had actually completed the second sleeve. Whew! I had to go 'offroad' on the pattern for the sleeves as they were too small when I followed the pattern exactly.

Here it is, happily blocking in the sunlight...

Ok, so there are some things that bug me about it, but hopefully after blocking, and maybe a couple of strategically placed buttons, it may be something I want to wear. One of the issues is the 4x4 ribbed band going all the way around. It pulls up on the bottom edge and so I've pinned it to try and block it into submission. Also the increases around the collar create a line that is quite visible to me, but hopefully the blocking has worked a little of that out. But yikes, I can still see it in the photo...so I guess it's something I'll have to live with.

It may need a belt too...I'll have to see about that. Something in a dense stitch, like linen stitch maybe.

I LOVE the color though...and the idea of a short-sleeved cardi. I'll work with it some more and see what I can do.