It's Been A While....

There's been a lot going on in my life in recent times - but very little of it has included knitting and even less blogging. I am the proud owner of 2 teenage boys so that kind of explains it all!! Everybody needs something done (yesterday) and by the time I am ready to sit & knit I look at the clock and realise it's almost tomorrow. Sleeping is such a waste of good knitting time, but as yet, I have not been able to come up with a way to avoid it.

A week or so back I did manage to sneak away from everyone to attend the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair at Darling Harbour in Sydney. It's a place normally bustling with locals and tourists enjoying the entertainment, food and sites of the city but on this particular day there were just the dedicated crafters fighting their way through the wind & rain to attend the show. But I hardly noticed the weather - my mission was, of course, Stash Enhancement!!

What a brilliant day. I had such a lovely time - wandering around the stalls, making a wish list and watching some talented crafters demonstrating their skills. After a short lunch break I set about shopping. I had been lusting after the Lucy Neatby Sock DVDs and (had intended to place an order over the net) so I was thrilled to find Sock Techniques 1 & her book Cool Socks Warm Feet at a gorgeous little stall. With purchase number one in my backpack off I went straight to Ecoyarns to get some of that Tofutsies yarn everybody on the net is talking about. It is sooooo soft and I bought the delicate blue & white Best Foot Forward colourway. Purchase number 2 taken care of.

I had jotted down a stall number where I had seen some Addi Turbo needles which I want to use to learn sock knitting on circulars (I'm currently a DPN gal). I arrived at the spot and then it happened - IT jumped out at ME!!!!! Jitterbug in the Mardi Gras colourway. OMG. The colours are spectacular. There's blue & pink & yellow & red in big rich colours. Obviously I had to take it home since it had literally called out my name.

The Craft & Quilt Fair purchases

After more purchases of yarn and a couple of books (they were all "On Sale" bargains) I rugged up against the weather and lugged my treasures back to the train station. I grabbed a coffee and popped into the newsagent (like I had nothing to read on my journey!!) to pick up the latest issue of Yarn magazine. I was gobsmacked. There it was on page 38 - the Swirly Girl sock pattern (by Deby Lake SWTC) written for Tofuties yarn using (wait for it) 2.25mm circular needles - just like the new Addis in my bag.

Aaaah yes. The perfect end to the perfect day...................

Gatherings

Aren't knitters a lovely bunch of people. Over the last year I have trawled knitting blogs and listened to various knitters' podcasts and all that time been envious of their tales of the wonderful knitting groups they attend. Projects are inspired by group members, problems are solved by group members and there seems to be never ending amounts of praise and/or sympathy when a project takes a surprising twist. As a "lone" knitter these were things I did not experience. I know very few other people who knit - even my mum is a stop-start-stop kind of gal.

A few months ago I joined an Australian Yahoo group called knit4charities after reading about the great work they do and then feeling quite selfish that all my projects since returning to the knitting fold had been for me!!! A few weeks after I joined I attended (nervously) a small meeting of Sydney members - a very pleasant way to spend a morning.

On my most favourite podcast, Sticks & String, David Reidy had been talking about World Wide Knit in Public day on the 9th of June. Despite appalling weather and an attack of nerves (the walking into a room full of strangers type) I decided to go. To my surprise (read as shock) my poor sweet husband decided to tag along. We arrived at the designated spot near the Sydney Opera House and OMG there were actually knitters there. Not just any old knitters either. I'm talking Knitting Celebs. Lots of these people were those whose blogs and websites I had been trawling through for months. I had a wonderful afternoon knitting away on my little sock project, listening to all the chatter and admiring the beautiful work these men & women were doing. Even my husband enjoyed his afternoon supplying me with coffee, chatting to the knitters and doing the odd bit of window shopping around Circular Quay.

Inspired by the Knit in Public day I decided to take the plunge and attend the Blue Mountains gathering of the NSW Knitters Guild this weekend. And I'm so glad I did! Not only did they have a lovely and talented lady (Wendy) as guest speaker (who showed us knitting and felting projects to die for) but I met up with knitters I had met previously at the other gatherings. Oh, did I mention they also had delicious home made goodies for afternoon tea?? What a friendly (and talented) group of people. Their show-and-tell session made me want to rush off and start more projects. (Note to self: get on with some UFOs). I even picked up some tips on holding my yarn for colour work - which is on my list of Things to Learn.


My theory that knitters are a lovely bunch of people has been absolutely proven 100% correct. If these 3 forays into the world of knitting groups is anything to go by - I'm in!!! Sure there will always be someone who doesn't get on with someone else but I've yet to experience that and it will take more than that to keep me away - particularly from that delicious carrot cake, chocolate roll and all those other goodies - not to mention the knitting!

The Very First

So I have finally taken the great leap into the blogosphere. I’m not really sure why since I’ve never had any great yearning to write anything of consequence (though my sister is a journo so maybe it’s genetic). It’s quite weird I suppose that someone who’s least favourite part of work is the report writing should spend their leisure time setting up a blog!!! I’m not a diary or a list person either – which might just become evident at a later date.

My initial idea for a blog was that it would be a “safe” place to keep records of my knitting projects, links to blogs and podcasts (to which I think I’m addicted) but most of all a place to list my UFOs. I’m hoping that the guilt of seeing these poor neglected items displayed for the world to see will make me want to rush off and finish everything immediately!!!

I’m one of those who have only “recently” returned to knitting – well a bit over a year ago now. I don’t recall actually learning to knit but I must have at some point in time. For many years I was right into tapestry and then cross stitch and still have an enormous stock of threads and canvas. Completely out of the blue, while holidaying on the coast, I decided I would teach myself to knit socks on DPNs (as one does who has obviously had too much sun). So off I went to a Spotlight store, bought 2 balls of 8ply (yes 8) and a set of 4mm needles. I got on the net and searched for lessons. And there it was….. a whole new world of knitting. What a discovery – the yarn suppliers, accessories, blogs, podcasts, the whole community that had been going on around me while I was completely oblivious to all of it. I was completely hooked. So off I went shopping and knitting and shopping. I’m now surrounded by beautiful yarn, wonderful books and …… UFOs.

I love reading knitting blogs especially those with sprinkles of other snippets of life thrown in. I’m constantly amazed by the talent people display in their choice of pattern or yarn or their photography techniques. I like hearing about current projects or knitting groups or local yarn stores. I’ve tried knitting while blog surfing but I always end up with the project sitting in my lap while I’m clicking and scrolling and jotting down notes.

Out of the blue I thought to myself “I’ll start a little blog to record my knitting bits & pieces – how difficult can it be?” OMG. What template to use, how do I display my photos (by the way - who’s taken the camera?), where do you get all those cool things other people use, which links to add – it’s all too much for my little brain to handle. Oh dear, WHAT CAN I WRITE ABOUT??? A few deep breaths and a few days later I am here rabbiting on about nothing – and I actually think I’ll be back.