Damn thing, been hanging round for years -

I knit like the wind, put it down for a few weeks and forgot the pattern. Have never been bothered to learn it again.















I sort of plan to give it to a friend once it's done. If it gets done. She likes pink.

Mum -

You can just see Mum's hands at the bottom of the photo. My hands are all soft and indoorsy, Mum's hands are those of some one who does things. Some one who gardens and worms horses and fixes fences and shears sheep and shifts horse troughs and rides and bird watches and paints and takes pictures and generally is one tough, handy laydee.



















The hat so kindly modelled is for my brother. He wanted something that had ear flaps, I've been thinking about keeping bees.

Another potential -
Heere be Dragones.

I have the pattern. I have loads of lace weight waiting to become something.

Oh yeah, no time.

Ripped and restarted -

I mucked up the lace and stopped dead on this. My solution? Rip it and do the top section (I changed it to top down) without lace.















Now it is trucking along.

Spring, and my thoughts turn to planting and stitching -

I have been stitching on these damn birds for a good long while now. I am ashamed to admit the year in which it was begun, but it started with a 2 and ended with a 2.

I have done little pieces in between times, but this has been my albatross.



















How much longer can these damn birds take?

O Blog! work your shame-me-into-finishing-some-things magic and make me concentrate on this thing this summer.

Plus, when I finish, I get to start this one:



















Though, now I think of it, it may bring the same kind of trouble.

Blow, Bugle, blow

THE splendour falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story:
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O hark, O hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying:
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river:
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow for ever and for ever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

Alfred Tennyson, Lord Tennyson. 1809–1892

Shops outside Melbourne -

Warrnambool Uniform and Wool Centre, 221 Lava St Warrnambool VIC 3280 ph: (03) 5562 9599. Bloody good shop with nearly everything, from Opal to cross stitch kits, love love love, amazing.

Wendy Dennis, Tarndwarncoort, 50 Roseneath Road, Warncoort, Victoria 3243. Words can not express how much I love this yarn. I even contemplated a day trip down there this weekend, just to get some more of her sweet sweet Polwarth.

Wool Cottage at Jarob Farm, 1075 Pyrenees Highway, Amphitheatre, 3468. I have some of the loveliest Corriedale from here. I am just waiting to find the perfect project for it. I dropped one of my 2mm addi bamboo dpns here. They have all the Fibertrends patterns, I just found their ebay store.

Bellarine Cross Stitch and Craft, Belmont, 35 Watson Avenue, (03) 5244 0997. Amazing range of cross stitch, lots of good Australian stuff, can order online.

Mansfield Craft Den, Mansfield, 21 High Street, (03) 5222 1571. Lots of different crafts, don’t think you can order online.

Warrnambool Needlecrafts, 39 Johnstones Lane Grasmere -5564445

Woollen Mills -

Bendigo Woollen Mills, Lansell St, Bendigo, 3550. ph (03) 54424600. – brilliant range, great price, call for a shade card and 10% off your first order. Rustic is good for felting. Harmony feels delicious. The alpaca has a lovely drape. Finally, they have a website!!

Waverly Woollen Mills, yarn feels a little scratchy, might be good for felting.

Nundle Woollen Mills, - apparently great colours

Beads -

The Bead Company Victoria, 336 Smith St, Collingwood, "Probably one of the better beading shops is near the corner of Smith St and Johnston St in Collingwood. It has been there for a long, long time and has a wide selection of beads that range from expensive through to quite cheap. I think it is a bit better than bizare beads in its selection." [me - oh I love this shop, just set yourself a budget before you walk through the door and try not to go too much over it]

Maria George 179 Flinders Lane Melbourne 3000 Australia Telephone 61 03 9650 1151
"While it is primarily for wholesalers and people buying up bigtime (it's not unusual to see brides purchasing the beads for dresses etc with their dressmaker), i think they're fine with the great unwashed checking them out too. i never buy, i just drool..." [me - I, too, drool (and sometimes buy) - this was where I got the beads for the Mystery Stole 3]

Shops in Melbourne -

I have been collecting this info in a Word document for a long time. Bits of it are copied and pasted from the Melbourne stitch and bitch Yahoo list. I didn't keep the names of the people who said stuff...
Clegs, 60 Elizabeth Street, near Flinders Station and the City Basement Secondhand Bookshop.

Handweavers and Spinners Guild, Have moved to 655 Nicholson Street Carlton North Victoria 3054. They have an area to sell the handspun yarn made by members of the guild. (Plus lots of spinning stuff... a bit dangerous, actually)

Sunspun, 185 Canterbury Rd Canterbury VIC 3126, ph: (03) 9830 1609. I love this place, and if only it were closer, I'd go there all the time... maybe it is just as well it is not closer. They have addis and lots of delicious yarn. Because I am running short of space for stash and can't buy quantity, I have been enjoying coming here and buying little bits of quality. They also have those great Glorafilia tapestries and material for quilting.

AK "is a knitting/felting shop at 528 Malvern Road near the corner of Williams Rd in Hawksburn. They also now have a shop a few doors down where they teach quilting and sell a few cool fabrics/fleece stuff. They are the home of the AK doll." I am quoting someone from a long time ago. I am BUSTING to go to this shop. I don't know why I haven't yet.

Marta's Yarns, 33 Waverley Rd Malvern East 3145, ph: (03) 9572 0319) - lots of amazing stuff, lots of colours, totally wow - Marta passed away recently and I am not sure about opening hours and things, site says Thurs, Fri, Sat.

Wool Baa, 124 Bridport St, Albert Park 3206, ph: (03) 9690 6633. They have a nice space, a lovely range of yarns and needles and really friendly staff.

Lincraft, City Shop 320, Australia on Collins, 303 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic.

Spotlight, 415 Sydney Road, Brunswick.

Brighton Button Shop, 405 Bay St Brighton VIC 3186, ph: (03) 9596 2308 Knitting Wool & Accessories—Retail. Apparently quite good, with a variety of crafting supplies.

Craftee Cottage Shp 5/52 Atherton Rd Oakleigh VIC 3166 ph: (03) 9568 3606 "is in Oakleigh, about 10 very slow minutes walk from the station for those who are on PT. It is a GORGEOUS shop that you MUST check out!!! And I remember a couple of months ago being asked if her Heirloom and Shepherd yarns are really under $5.00 a ball - yes they are! Most are around $4 if I remember correctly." more quoting, again a while back.

Stitchery Blue 95a Ferguson Street, Williamstown, VIC 3016, Australia, (03) 9397 2005
"is really nice. They have a range of yarn (rowan, debbie bliss, jo sharp and various other australian yarns) and plenty of patterns. It is only small but they have some knitted items on display, a lot of swatches, books and patterns and it is always nice to wander around Willy afterwards." Quoting, a while ago.

Wondoflex Yarn Craft Centre, 1353 Malvern Rd Malvern VIC 3144, ph: (03) 9822 6231. HUGE place with loads of stuff, but it gives me the wiggins.

Calico and Chintz, 99 Auburn Rd, Hawthorn - They had brittany birch needles, Artyarns and nice things, they also had loads of quilting fabric and Amy Butler which was beautiful. I've only been the once, though. The staff were so snooty on the day that I went in, that it's never seemed worth the effort to trek back over there.

Knit and Purl, 179 Lonsdale St Dandenong VIC 3175, ph: (03) 9793 3530. "There is a very good yarnshop in Dandenong with the ever helpful and pleasant Linda. Shop is in Lonsdale St (main street) with parking just outside (service lane)." - haven't been here, I'm quoting someone else, from a few years ago.

[Edit, chocolatetrudi just let me know: "There's also The Wool Shop, with two stores - Moorabin and Surrey Hills."]

[and from Jill:

1. The Yarn Barn in Reynolds Rd, Coburg - pretty weird setup, but good wool by the cone or by the ball. Have a good range of laceweight, and superb colour range.
2. The Wool Village, Brandon Park Shopping Centre, Brandon Park. Run by the indomitable Rachel, who can seem a bit scary at first, but is quite a delight if she knows you're serious about your knitting. Without question the largest amount of wool I have ever seen jammed into one regular size shop. Brilliant range, but not a place for browsing.]

[and from spinaddict:

there is also a great little knitting shop in Mooroolbark. It’s called Mooroolbark Wools and Haberdashery - 8 Brice Ave. Mooroolbark. Phone- 9726-7291. Good supplies of wool, pattern books, and more importantly, Knit Pros! Both DPN’s and straights.

Batwing II -















This is the second time I have made this shawl. Its real name is not Batwing, but Irish Diamond Shawl.




















The last rows of garter stitch and the binding off were not as crazy-making as the first one, so maybe I have learned something about pacing myself. Or maybe it was all that Gilmore Girls.