World Wide Knit in Public Day

And what a fabulous day it was.

I left WonderBoy in Pete's excellent care and headed up to Sydney in one of CityRail's 'finest' trains, ready to meet faces, marvels over projects and NOT spend more money on yarn.

I followed Brenda Dayne's advice to plan, choose and work on a 'train project', and brought with me the pink/cream/green soy+wool hat I'd started, as well as a big ball of my handspun that I was thinking of using to start a scarf with cables. Didn't get to that one, but I got lots done on the hat, to and from Sydney later that day.

The timing and location of the World Wide Kit in Public day itself worked out beautifully, as the Sydney Quilt and Craft Fair was being held right next door, in the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour. Always good. I'm personally not too interested in taking up any more new crafts, as I'm finding it hard enough to knit and spin as much as I'd like to; so I was able to pinpoint the yarn and knitting stands and get myself straight to each one, saving myself extra time for touching, holding, sniffing and generally pining over some of the gorgeous yarns on offer.

Hilarious scenes ensued at the Bendigo Woollen Mills stand, where grown women were bent double into baskets and crates of yarn, grabbing armfuls and armfuls... I don't know what kind of sudden sale had been called, but it looked like the Boxing Day sales had started well early. I stayed back. Way back... Mostly cause I already know just how fantastically inexpensive their wonderful Australian yarn is, and it's so readily available over the internet.

I did end up making two purchases, however: a set of Addi Turbo dpns so I could start the crown of the hat on my way home (so it was a necessity!), and a wee sock kit from Sarah Durrant, comprising a skein of Colinette Jitterbug in the colourway "Dusk"... as modelled here by young Luna), with a set of Addi Turbo circulars, and a pattern to make said sock on said circs. I figured I wanted to learn this technique anyway, and since it came with the needles, well... I couldn't argue with the price tag ($28)!
The turnout for WWKIP was stunning. Last I checked on Ravelry, we had fifty-three proud knitters, all confusing the locals. I met several lovely crafters, whom I have since 'friended' on Ravelry, and I'm hoping I'll see them again soon. It was also great to put a few faces to names, so to speak - my only big gripe is that I could only stay to knit for just over an hour. :( I'd already missed the train that I'd planned to take home, so I had to pull the plug at some point, sadly.

Stay tuned; I will be posting the most recent finished objects!

Oh, this is pathetic!

Crikey, Moses. I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last post - this is very, very slack behaviour on my part, and there really is no excuse for it!

There is so much going on right now. I've been stashing like mad, having procured a couple of lovely skeins of merino-cashmere that I've got earmarked for my very own 'Clapotis'; a couple of basic balls of a blue/brown 8ply 100% wool I picked up at my local chain craft store for a hat for WonderBoy, and three balls of a really nice cream-pink-green soy/wool spun into sorta chunky singles, bought at the same time as the WonderBoy yarn. And then there's the enormous ball of handspun I managed to get washed and dried nicely. The soy/wool has been cast on for another hat for myself, an I'm thinking of a cabled scarf (maybe a matching hat?) for the handspun.

It's amazing with the handspun, actually - even after several washes and dries (drys?), I found that the spun and plied yarn was dropping a fair bit of dust as I wound it into a ball! Grrr. Maybe several more washes and dries?

I actually finished the hat I planned for Wonderboy and was a bit annoyed with a) the pattern, and b) myself for just continuing with said pattern. I measured WonderBoy's (somewhat enormous) melon, and worked to the measurements stated in the pattern, and although the hat fits him around his head, it's just a wee bit shallow. Damn! Ah, well. It was less than one ball, and I can always knit another when this one is way too small. It'll fit Wonderboy for a little while at least. Can't win 'em all! I can always send it to the next friend who has a little boy...

The drape cardigan and I are having a trial separation at the moment. I've completed the back without any issues, and I've got halfway through the left front now twice and had to frog it twice when I've come to an numbers issue with the pattern - I'm always ending up with way too many stitches! I even took it to Mum, and she's got no idea, either. So I've put it, in all it's half-completed glory, into the bag with the yarn and it's going to spend some time in the stash cupboard while I busy myself with hats and scarves for awhile - a few easy, instant gratification pieces. I'll get back to the cardie... at some point!

In other news, I have my spinning group meeting (or 'Mummy's Playgroup', as we term it) on Friday, which I'm looking forward to, and then I'm taking myself up to Darling Harbour, Sydney on Saturday for World Wide Knit in Public Day. I have some fabulous Ravelry buttons I ordered a couple of weeks ago, ready to wear on the day, and I'm hoping to feature my new hat, as well. Should be a good day; I'm looking forward to knitblogging the whole thing!

Another pathetic thing about this post is that I am not going to be bothered with adding photos today. I know, what a stellar lack of effort... Hopefully, I'll get myself organised once Wonderboy's hat is washed tomorrow and whack some photos up before Saturday's festivities.

I blame the long weekend for my laziness!