OzKnitter: January 2007

Australia Day 2007

26 January 2007

Happy Australia Day! (See Google's special Australia Day logo)

In honour of the occasion, and since this is a knitting blog, I thought I'd share some Aussie knitting-related sites/products.

Yarns

The Knittery ~ online store with gorgeous handpainted yarns, Jo Sharp yarns and more

Live 2 Knit ~ online store with beautiful handpainted yarns as well as "blank" yarns you can dye yourself

That Spinning Place ~ handpainted yarns and roving

Rainbow Wools ~ range of dyed and undyed yarns

Nundle Woollen Mill ~ range of Aussie yarn (made in Nundle)

Andromeda Alpacas ~ yarns & fleece

Jo Sharp ~ luxury yarns and patterns

Patons ~ Australian yarn & patterns including Patonyle (sock yarn)

Cleckheaton ~ Aussie yarns & patterns

Ecoyarns ~ handdyed organic yarns

Wendy Dennis ~ Handspinning wool (polwarth wool)

Spin 'N' Knit Fibre Design ~ yarn, tops and fleeces

Knitting by Zen ~ hand dyed yarn and beaded stitch markers

Yarnivorous ~ handdyed yarns (free postage offer, until Jan 31)

Magazines

YARN Magazine ~ Australia's newest (and best, in my opinion) knitting magazine

Podcasts

Sticks & String ~ podcast by David Reidy, an Aussie knitter

Note: This is a selection of sites from my bookmarks. Some I've purchased from, some I haven't.

Labels: Aussie yarns, Australian, Yarn Magazine, yarns

26.1.07 :: 3 comments ::

OzKnitter :: permalink

A prize & STR pic

25 January 2007

Recently I won a prize in a contest kmkat was holding on her blog. I had a choice of prizes and chose...

A gorgeous skein of Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn in the "Handsome Park Ranger" colourway.

Thanks kmkat!

I know I'll knit socks, but for the moment I'm not sure what pattern/design I'll use. I'll know it when I see it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The other day I posted a pic of my STR socks. It was an overcast and rainy day and the photo was taken indoors, with a flash. I promised to take a "sunlight" one and here it is...

Yarn: Socks That Rock (STR) in "Seal Rock"
[Received from Karen in a swap]
Pattern: My own. Ribbed leg and eye of partridge heel flaps
Needles: 2.50mm Clover bamboo DPNs

Labels: FO, goodies, prizes, sock yarn, socks, STR

25.1.07 :: 2 comments ::

OzKnitter :: permalink

07/2 ~ STR Socks

21 January 2007

Yarn: Socks That Rock (STR) in "Seal Rock"
[Received from Karen in a swap]
Pattern: My own. Ribbed leg and eye of partridge heel flaps
Needles: 2.50mm Clover bamboo DPNs

Thoughts: STR is LOVELY to work with. It doesn't split at all and creates a lovely dense, yet very soft, fabric. I can definitely see why it's as popular as it is. I am now a fan.

Thanks again Karen!

*Apologies for the quality of the photograph. Due to the weather change we've had this week (the cooler weather and lots of rain has been most welcome!) the sun has been hiding behind all the clouds which means that this is an indoor shot, with flash. As soon as I can, I'll grab an outdoor, daylight shot.

Labels: FO, gift, goodies, KALs, socks, STR, swaps

21.1.07 :: 7 comments ::

OzKnitter :: permalink

Christmas Pressie :D

15 January 2007

A couple of my favourite people sent me a fabulous Christmas pressie, all the way from Fringe in the US of A.

TWO skeins of Pink Cottage Yarn (Exclusive Hand-Dyed yarn from Fringe), some yummy Tootsie Rolls and Ghiradelli chocolate.

TYVM J & S!

These ladies know me well :D

*Edit to add: It didn't just arrive today, I'm slow in blogging about it*

Labels: chocolate, christmas, gift, goodies, sock yarn

15.1.07 :: 4 comments ::

OzKnitter :: permalink

Winners

11 January 2007

Congratulations Natalie and Harriet! You've won first and second prize, respectively, in my blog contest.

Natalie's won ~
First prize:
~ A Steve Parish 2007 "Koalas and Kangaroos" calendar (approx 17.5cm x 19cm)
~ CHOICE of 2 balls of Patonyle sock yarn OR 3 skeins of Cleckheaton Country Silk
(winner gets to choose which yarn they'd like and what colour)
~ TimTams

Harriet's won ~
Second prize:
~ A Steve Parish 2007 "Discover Australia" calendar (approx 35.5cm x 24cm)
~ TimTams

Congratulations ladies, I'll be in touch.

A huge THANKS to everyone who offered suggestions. Through you I've "discovered" lots of wonderful new patterns.

Look for me to start knitting some of those yarns soon.

Labels: Contest, prizes, sock yarn

11.1.07 :: 1 comments ::

OzKnitter :: permalink

Socks ~ 2007's #1 & Contest reminder

09 January 2007

Here's my first finished pair for 2007. I cast on Dec 23 or 24 after I'd finished all my holiday knitting.

Yarn: Trekking XXL #109
Needles: Bamboo DPNs ~ 2.50mm for the legs & 2.25mm for the feet
Pattern: My standard sock pattern

Thoughts: I love the purple/navy/denim blue colour combination. Note to those who like to knit "identical twins" ~ it's not possible with this yarn (I suppose it would work if you bought 2 balls). It's the first time I've knit with Trekking and I don't think it will be the last (I have my eye on another, I think it's #78). It's a pretty soft fabric, compared to some others, but they haven't been worn (too hot here at the moment) or washed yet.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Contest reminder
There's about 24 hours left to enter. If you haven't yet, take a look here for the details. Good luck!

Labels: Contest, socks, Trekking

9.1.07 :: 3 comments ::

OzKnitter :: permalink

Oodles of goodies

08 January 2007

I took part in the recent "Hot Swap" on the "Townies" group. My partner was a lovely lady, Karen, who lives in the USA. Last week a HUGE box arrived for me.

It was immediately clear that Karen had put lots of work into finding just the right items to send, wrapping them and attaching little notes to each item. As a result it felt like she was in the room with me, or on the phone, whilst I was opening everything.

The box was filled with ALL of these gorgeous goodies...

This one had "open me first" written on it... so of course I did ;o)

STR! STR! STR! *picture me doing the happy dance* lol
Socks That Rock in the "Seal Rock" colourway. I've been lusting after STR for nearly a year and finally I've had the chance to see and feel it in person (you can't buy it here, unless you order from the USA). It's gorgeous and I love the colour combination!

Perchance To Knit sock yarn in the ultra-gorgeous "Seaweed" colourway. I love it more and more each time I look at it. It's so pretty and comes with a coordinated stitchmarker!

Some Burt's Bees hand salve which has a lovely, subtle lavender scent and it's working wonders on the 'rough' spots on my hands.

3 different sizes of snagless hair elastics which make wonderful stitch markers. The tiny ones are great for when you're making socks.

A Clover chibi! It comes with 3 needles and the small one is perfect for "kitchenering" toes on socks.

One of the super-cute mini sockblockers! (There was more happy dancing when this was revealed)

A Schaefer Yarn pattern "#206 Anne Honeycomb Socks". It uses slip stitches and I'm looking forward to knitting it.

The notepad is just the right size to pop in my knitting bag. The elastic closure's a great idea, as I'm forever bending the pages as I shove a notepad into a bag.

A mug for hot chocolate, 2 types of hot chocolate (I'm saving these until the weather cools down ~ it's summer here right now) and cinnamon sticks to stir.

A chocolate cooking magazine (man o man are there some gorgeous recipes in here!!!) some Christmas "sprinkles" and a packet of blueberry sour cream scones (yum!)

Some pumpkin pie caramels (I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious they are.

The yummy chocolate wedges have already disappeared *grin* and I'm using the pretty tin to hold all my stitchmarkers.

Last, but not least, some chocolate and chocolate biscuits. I haven't yet sampled these. They look and smell delicious so I'm looking forward to them.

Thanks a million Karen!

Labels: chocolate, goodies, sock yarn, swaps

8.1.07 :: 4 comments ::

OzKnitter :: permalink

Contest

03 January 2007

I need to start knitting some of the gorgeous sock yarn I have and I need some pattern ideas.

Here are the yarns...

1. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Lakeview

2. Mountain Colors Bearfoot ~ Wild Raspberry

3. Fleece Artist Merino ~ "Raspberry" (FA don't name their colours)

4. Pink Cottage Yarn (Exclusive Hand-Dyed yarn from Fringe)
[The colours are a little more subtle than in this pic. Lovely "Autumny/Fall" colours]

Contest: Suggest a pattern for one of the above yarns (there's no right or wrong answer, I'm just looking for ideas).

PRIZES: TWO WINNERS will be randomly selected.

First prize:
~ A Steve Parish 2007 "Koalas and Kangaroos" calendar (approx 17.5cm x 19cm)
~ CHOICE of 2 balls of Patonyle sock yarn OR 3 skeins of Cleckheaton Country Silk
(winner gets to choose which yarn they'd like and what colour)
~ TimTams

Second prize:
~ A Steve Parish 2007 "Discover Australia" calendar (approx 35.5cm x 24cm)
~ TimTams

Rules: Please make suggestions by posting them on my blog. ONE SUGGESTION PER POST (this will make it easier to randomly pick the winners). Have a question? Please ask it.

Closing Date: midnight (AEDST) Wednesday January 10th

Labels: Contest, patterns, sock yarn, socks, stash

3.1.07 :: 20 comments ::

OzKnitter :: permalink

HNY, #100, SIP & Contest

01 January 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Hope that it's a happy, healthy, prosperous and safe one for you, your family and friends.

As this is my 100th post, and to celebrate Australia Day (January 26th) I thought I'd have a contest. I'll announce the details tomorrow, so pop back, with your thinking caps on.

All the Christmas knitting's completed. (YAY) So in honour of this I joined knit 'n lit's