A slow weekend..

This weekend has been slow.. and calming.. and yet at the same time - exhausting? Go figure. Warning! Pic heavy post ahead!

I spent this weekend with Mandie from Ewe Give Me The Knits doing spinning demonstrations at the Bendigo Alpaca Colourbration Show. Saturday afternoon Big Mac and kids arrived, so Master Mayhem could see the 'Alpacas! Alpacas!' he had been so excited about for a week, and there was patting done, and squealing heard. No pics of that sadly, as my kids move FAST and I am not so quick at whipping out the camera.

Sunday was much slower and I got the chance to snap quite a few shots :) We were seated next to the people from Petlyn Park Alpacas and spinning tools. Listening to them talk about their products and their animals made for a great learning experience. A couple of weeks ago I bought one of their fabulous spindles, and have been spinning away on it since. I took this photo at their stall so you can see what their spindles look like:

Because they are an all metal construction they are fabulous to just throw in a handbag. You can drop them on the floor, bang 'em around and they still look, and spin as good as new. I also got a shot of their Wool Picker in action, picking through some Suri Alpaca that Mandie dyed, fluffing it into these beautiful softer - than - you - ever - imagined clouds. It does look like there was a clown scalping though.

Also - Whats an Alpaca Show without a picture of one of the gorgeous creatures? I love their little 'meh! meh!' sounds they make, just adorable. This is Sapphire, one of Petlyn's alpacas. She's a Huacaya alpaca, a young female and she has attitude. Check out the evil eye she's giving me!

~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, there was much spinning done where we were sitting. I snapped this pic of Miss Mandie's bobbin in progress - you can see some of the clown scalp.. err.. red suri in this progress pic. So pretty and colourful!

And I was gifted with something very special and very, very, tres cool. A Mandie - spun Collier, spun this morning. It reminds me of a coral reef, and look - it has bells in it!

I love, love love it so much! (I also enjoy jingling while I walk, for some odd reason)

~~~~~~~~~~

For my own part I delved into my stash and got a fair bit of spinning done myself. It's a running joke that I am a straight spinner who almost never gets funky and branches out into artyarns. Evidently spinning next to the gorgeousness shown above had me feeling inspired, as last night I churned this out on the wheel:

As far as art yarns go, it's not terribly outside the square. But for someone like me, it's actually quite the step outside the comfort zone.

I also managed two finish two skeins of my usual style yarns :) This is 'Lola' Polwarth, handspun into a 2ply construction. Fibre originally dyed by EGMTK.

Also originally dyed by EGMTK (yes I DO have quite the stash of EGMTK fibre, why do you ask?) this is a single spun yarn of Blue Faced Leicester and Silk.

Both of these yarns will be available at the next shop update, which will take place this Friday night the 28th of August, at 8pm.

~~~~~~~~~~

And that is the weekend that was here at Casa Del Mayhem and Chaos. I know it is currently only early Sunday evening, but I am hoping the remainder of Sunday evening will involve nothing more exciting than a long hot bath, and an early bedtime! (for EVERYONE)

~~~~~~~~~~

Too cute.

When at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show I stopped by the lovely Wooldancer's stall, and grabbed a braid of hand dyed organic merino. It was not my usual colours, but I liked it anyways, cause I am a fan of yellow, and this one was particularly citrusy and sunshiney.

I didn't wait very long before whacking it on the wheel - in fact I think I started spinning it on the Sunday evening? At any rate, with the tour de fleece continuing it wasn't long before it was done and looked like this:

I bought some Bendigo Woolen Mills 'Luxury' 8 ply to match in a similar sunshiney yellow, choose a pattern and off I went. I also 'made up' a shrug / bolero pattern to match when I was done, to make the most of the handspun, and to give her something else for an extra layer of warmth, because the days are still a bit chilly here. Now, Miss Chaos has a new outfit for spring :

She sure doesn't look like the chaos creator she is.

~~~~~~~~~~

Long time no blog...

again.

Instead of apologies, on with the show. Much has happenned since the last blog post.

There was, of course, the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show, and the Ravelry events at the same time. They went off with a bang, thankfully, thats metaphorical terms, and not my head exploding but it was a close call for a while there. Fun was had, yarn and fibre were purchased, and most importantly a good time with beautiful friends was had. Including one fantabulous brunch that a bunch o sneaky people threw, and it was Awesome. That's right. With a capital A.

There was also the opening of the new Mayhem and Chaos shop. I decided I needed my own domain a while ago, but it took me a while to get off my butt and do something about it. I finally did it, and launched it a few weeks ago. There's a shiny new link on the right hand side bar to the shop, though there is not much left right now!! There's a new update in the works. If not this Friday night, then next Friday night, dependent on drying times.

I decided a few weeks ago now that there was no time like the present to learn to play the fiddle, something I had wanted to do for ages. I found a fabulous teacher, and when my tax return came in I went and bought myself a second hand violin. I'm loving lessons and am really happy that I made the decision.

And finally there has been a bit of spinning and knitting going on.

Spin wise, there's this: 'Visca' merino / seacell from ewe give me the knits. Spun up to about a sport or 5 ply weight and very purdy:

And while there has been more spinning and knitting done I'll leave you with one other thing because I don't want the post to be too pic heavy.

At the sheep and wool show I bought 3 100g skeins of 4 ply baby alpaca from Donyale at Yarncakes. It looked like this:

Thats 1300 metres or thereabouts of 4 ply yarn. What on earth does that knit up like? Well one month of constant knitting later, it looks like this:

The Icarus Shawl. Over 7 foot wide and big enough to wrap myself up in. Soft, drapey and 100% gorgeous. I am mighty pleased with it!

~~~~~~~~~~

Knit / spin / shop - pic heavy

Long time no blog! Apologies, I've had some health issues recently. I still haven't sorted them but have gotten to the stage where I have to suck it up and carry on regardless.

Whats been happenning? Well, planning for Ravelry events at Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show has taken up alot of my time. Organisation actually takes freaking ages, and loads of effort. Would be easier if everyone else operated to my schedule, but living in the real world means that expecting that is just rampantly stupid. 

There has been spinning, and knitting, and plenty of both really. 

First, Fibre! I can flash both of these recent purchases now, as it isn't spoiling anything. The most recent fibre club arrived this morning and as much as I adore it and love it, I can't post pics because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. However I have pics of last months, so I can share them. 

Last months fibre flub is a bamboo / polwarth blend, colourway 'Canopy'. It's goorgeous, deep and dark and so soft. I am a huge fan of Polwarth anything, it would have to be my favourite fibre to spin with. 

This one is machine washable merino in the colourway 'Sugar Candy'. It's not my usual style I know, but I had such fun spinning the stuff below and loved the resulting yarn so much I thought I would break out and get something with ~gasp~ PINK in it. It's very smooshy.

This is a spin I don't have the pics of the fibre. Given to me as a gift around christmas time, it's a merino fibre, an old one from when Mandie at EGMTK first started dyeing. It spun up into a worsted weight type yarn, with plenty of barber poling and was unbelievably bouncy and squishy.

I can't lay claim to being the knitter who knit it up into this cute hat, that was my friend Helen, but I can lay claim to spinning the yarn and producing the gorgeous one modeling (and keeping) the beanie :)

Last spin for this blog update is called 'Desert Moon'. It's a Navajo 4 - ply with one of the plies being a variegated rayon thread flowing from deep gold to chocolate brown. It's quite fine, and really deep in colour. The fibre I started with:

A Blue Faced Leicester fibre, also one of my faves.

And the resulting spun. 15 WPI, 3 ply or light fingering weight, and 218 metres.

And now, the knitting.

From top to bottom: 

*A pair of little fingerless mitts for Miss Chaos, made from some left over Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn. So cute.

*A pair of 8 ply / DK weight socks for the Big Mac, knit from the new Bendigo Woollen Mills 'Luxury' yarn. I love this yarn. Machine washable, very soft, and doesn't pill anywhere near as much as I thought it would.

*And lastly a 'Hurricane Hat' beanie for my sister in laws mum, a lovely lady. It is knit from the 8 ply 'Luxury' as well, with some Moda Vera 'Picchio' merino / silk in there too.

Currently I am working on - a matching scarf for the hat in the Moda Vera Picchio, and a 'Wicked' jumper for myself in the 10 ply 'Luxury' yarn. Both are coming along nicely! I would say I am perhaps 3/4 of the way through the jumper, and halfway through the scarf.

That's all for now, proper update with actual life content soon, I promise. For now it's a sunny day, great for hanging washing out, so I had best go and do exactly that!

The wheels on the bus go...

Long time no blog! Have not really had much to be blogging about, or rather not much I felt like sharing, for a little while now. 

Bare with me while I find feet again. 

Since last blog, there's been birthdays galore. I turned 29, and the big Mac turned 35. I think we are both feeling a little older than our actual years at the moment though. 

There's been a little spinning, a little knitting, and a little shopping along the way there. 

Spin wise, here is a little 'Good Day Sunshine' for your Monday evening:

She is a 2 ply, Polwarth / Mulberry Silk blend that comes in at roughly a 5 ply or sport weight. 

Yummy!

Knit wise there was a little lace, and a little girl. 

Forest Canopy, in The Knittery's Merino Slim Sock, 'Bloody Mary' colourway. This is going to a swap partner over in the west. I do hope she likes it!

(Modelled by me, don't worry, I've lost weight since this pic, not quite so ala porkess now)

Also, a nice grey snuggly cowl, from the 'Precious' yarn from spotlight. 

And lastly a cute wee cotton dress for my girly girl. 

Not all that much in the way of shopping really. There's been fibre club, but I don't really share that on the blog, because I never know who is reading and who has theirs and who doesn't.  I will however share the hand dyed baby alpaca that arrived in the mail the other week, from Ewe Give Me the Knits. It's the 'Luka' colourway.

I love love love it and I'd like to sleep with it, if only it wouldn't felt if I did. 

So there's the eye candy. There's more quilts in the works too. I'm currently test knitting a little something for a friend, and scouting out quilting fabric. I need to make Mr Mayhem a little something for his bed - leaning towards a green batik and Jungle theme at the moment. And for my Little Miss Chaos I will also be making one to coincide with the graduation into a 'big bed'. ~sniff~

I'd like them both to be tiny babies again, no doubt about it, but given they've both shot up numerous inches in the past few weeks, that is NOT going to happen. 

We've made good progress with the toilet training with the boy who is now nappy free except for night times, and very happy about it too. Shows off his 'dundies' to everyone who cares to enquire. He also started three year old kinder one afternoon a week a couple of weeks ago, and now the fridge is filled with paintings and glue-ing galore. Picture display spots are at a premium around here now, dontcha know?

That will have to do for the current catch up - I need to go finish compiling the list of what I will do with this weeks tatslotto winnings. ('cause I'm winning - oh yes, I am. positivethinkingpositivethinkingpositivethinking)

The one where a new year begins.

Shock! Horror! This will be a blog update sans photos. This is basically because since my last update there has been very little done by way of spinning, knitting or sewing. I've managed to spin a little bit of some Ixchel merino angora, but not enough really to make photo's worth while. And I sewed a pencil roll or two, but did not take photo's before I gave them away as gifts. As for knitting, I currently have one the needles another Forest Canopy Shawl, this time in The Knittery's Merino slim sock, 'Bloody Mary' colourway. I'm a little under halfway done. I also have a very very boring sock for the Big Mac. It's grey. And it's in ribbing. It is also sapping my will to live with it's plain boringness. Every stitch strips me of a little shred of sanity. The things we do for the ones we love, eh?

Most of my time since the last update has been taken up by preparations for christmas, as is the case with many of us. I made far less of a production of christmas this year and am all the more happy for it. I went with simple this year - simple pleasures, and cut down on the amount of drama involved wherever I could. Santa brought Mayhem and Chaos some lovely things, a swing set for the backyard, some colouring pencils and books, for Miss Chaos a Tinkerbell doll, for Mister Mayhem a Thomas train set. Santa also got into the swing of encouraging music this year. A junior drum kit and a ukelele were found under the tree. Plenty have said Santa must have some sort of brain malfunction when told about the drum kit, but it's actually ok. Both kids have the beat, and both of them enjoy having a bash at it. I'd prefer the noise of a drum kit over the noise of flat out whinging and it has thus far proved to be quite the outlet for frustration.

We made it up to Wangaratta for the briefest of times away - 2 nights and 3 days to be exact, so big mac could help his parents with the building of their house. While there I dropped into a little yarn shop, and we headed off to Milawa to the cheese factory there, and also dropped into Gapsted Winery too. We came home with a few souvenirs, a wooden shawl pin and a bottle of lime pressed olive oil, some Milawa cheese, and a bottle of tawny port. Tasty. 

We also made it through another 29th of December. Thanks to everyone who sent me emails or texts to let me know you were thinking of me on that day. It was a sad day, but we were home for it, and that made it a little easier. 

And now, here we are on the very first day of a brand new year. Time to pick myself up, get all those ducks lined up in a row and approach it with energy and fervour. As always I wonder exactly how much I can pack in to a stretch of 365 days? We're about to find out. 

5...4...3...2...1...GO!

The Jolly Fat Man cometh...

Long time, no post, I know. 

I'm not sure exactly where to begin to try and play catch ups, so I am considering bypassing any and all catch up attempts. But I will at least, share pics of recent handspun and hand knit efforts. I've been just a little busy. 

First out of the gate here is Mossy, a merino angora blend of fibre I bought from Charly at Ixchel. Beautiful spin and a beautiful resulting yarn. I finally managed to get another of her braids onto the wheel last night, which is super cause I have been drooling over it for a while - it's been sitting here a month!

Next was 'Honey and Mint'. A BFL / Soy blend I bought from Mandie at EGMTK at the Bendigo Show. It's original name was 'Nymagee' but it's gorgeous honey colour begged a name change once it was spun. It now lives with a swap partner of mine on Ravelry, who now gets to pat it instead of me :) That's ok though - I like giving handspun new homes, and new leases on life. 

Here is some masham in a choc berry colourway, also from Mandie. I am not entirely sure what I will do with this one. It's not really suited for next to the skin wear, but the colours on it are just so darn pretty. 

That's it for skeins of handspun - I'm not showing off everything I have knit or spun since the last update or I would be here for hours, so I am just flashing a selection. 

Remember the handspun skein of 'Imperial Reign' Merino / Angora from the last update I did those months ago? (Feel free to scroll down. Go on, you know you want to. I'll wait.)

Well that became this:

A glorious cowl with amazing colours for me to wear when the weather gets cold. I love cowls. LOVE THEM. 

And finally, there was a triumph squeezed in since the last update - a triumph over lace. Which may now, even as I type, be launching itself into a full blown obsession. I said I would never knit lace. It was just too hard. But as is often the case, when something is too hard in my head, it becomes a challenge. So I present my own source of pride, my Forest Canopy Blues.

Although - I shouldn't call it mine given it was posted off to my sister last week. It's yet to arrive though so in the interim while it is floating around the countryside, it's still mine. Knit from Bendigo Woollen Mills 4ply baby wool, then dip dyed and sponged to give it it's colour, it's beautiful and I do love it. Alot. 

I may or may not also be sitting here patting some other laceweight, and the 'parcel dude' may have just bought more. But it's not an obsession. No intervention required. Really. 

-------------------------

Anyways. On with the update, of things I really wanted to say. Of cabbages and kings. 

There's been a fair amount of sickness in our household this past fortnight.  Luckily, I was hit first - a touch of a sore throat that lasted a couple of days. It didn't worry me too much, but it heralded what was coming, expecially for Master Mayhem who seems seriously prone to throat infections. Sure enough a day or two later, it hit him, rather suddenly. All of a sudden it was all we could do to try and keep his fever down, and keep his fluids up. When that kid gets hit by something like that he gets hit, HARD. That lasted about 3 days, and then-Miss Chaos copped it. She wasn't too bad, it only really hit her for a day. But as of last night Big Mac informs me he has a sore throat also. It's certainly doing the rounds!

We now find ourselves almost half way through THAT MONTH of the year. You know the one. The one where the Jolly Fat Man visits. 

Now, normally, I do my best to keep the blog upbeat and happy with just that slight touch of smartass, but bear with me here. We are taking a turn for the serious. 

I've always loved christmas. I love the colours, I love the lights, I love the carols. I love the smell of fresh christmas trees. I love the food, dear lord how I love the food. Christmas in Australia is something completely different to Christmas in the states, or in Europe. While they have snow we have blistering heat. They pull on their hats, mitts, thick socks, winter coats and boots. All the while we are peeling off layers of clothing pulling on the sandals or thongs and going for a dip in the wading pool with the kids. When I was a kid we used to go camping on holidays after christmas, and I would like to start that tradition again this year, but it may not happen. I may have to wait until next year because I have left my run so very late. No matter. I've always felt it strange that so many Australians still insist on a hot roast lunch at christmas despite the fact it is generally a hot christmas day. That said no one had better stand between me and my slice of plum pudding, or there will be a forking. 

Since I grew up though, Christmas became hard. For me, ecspecially hard. I go into every Christmas season with the best of intentions, to make the christmas the best one yet for the kids, to really enjoy myself. And every year ever so slowly and surely, that gets harder and harder to maintain. Some 5 years ago now (good lord. 5 years?) round this time of year, I was a big round bellied individual with a lot of hope and dreams. But in the three days leading up to christmas they were shatterred. Modern medicine can provide a picture of whats going on inside a big round firm belly, and we found out first hand how it feels when that picture is not the story book you had hoped - or just assumed - it would be. We went through that Christmas with that knowledge, and the knowledge of what was to come. On the 29th of December that year, our first child, a little girl was born. Born far too soon, and far too ill equipped for life in this world. Every christmas since, I do my best to enjoy the season with the beautiful bright young siblings that came after her, while also doing my best to remember her, and to think about all she could of been. I don't want to forget. It seems wrong, to forget. But it's a very fine line, and one I frequently have trouble maintaining. 

Then, there are the other things that wear you down. The rudeness of some people, their entitlement. Going shopping at this time of year is always a hazard but some people make it more difficult for everyone else than others. I'll never understand why some people seem to think they are in more of a hurry than everyone else - more entitled to that parking space - and more hard done by than others. With every catalogue that falls through the mail box, with every commercial shown on TV, with every implication in the media and society at large that christmas should be BUY! BUY! BUY! and MORE! MORE! MORE! the whole point of christmas, the thing I've always loved about it is lost. 

To me, the whole point about Christmas is that it is the PERFECT excuse. For just about everything that you wanted to do or needed to do throughout the year but just couldn't justify because it took up too much of your time, it is the perfect excuse.  You can hang around with friends and family.. take your time, have a few laughs share some food. There really is nowhere else to be, nothing else you should be doing. It's christmas. Enjoy the company. Hang out on the floor with your kids, play with play dough, make monsters and aliens. It's kinda the whole point. Why be a grown up? It's christmas! Christmas is ecspecially important for children, so be a child. Remember what it was like through their eyes. Hang out on the couch on christmas eve, watch the carols on TV, knit something, sing along. It's christmas! Just be yourself. Screw the responsibilities, screw work, screw all the people who tell you that if your kid doesn't have the latest playstation / new bike / nintendo DS / portable dvd player they will be scarred for life. They won't be. The whole point is that they get to spend time with you, with family, with people they love and that love them. It's not the about WHAT they love, or WHAT they want, it's about what they love DOING, what they want to DO and who wants to do it WITH THEM. 

When I think back to the fact that I have a small girl named Brannwen who *would* of been nearly 5 years old this christmas, and I look at my cheecky and mischevious 2 and 3 year old, I realise the most precious gift any of us have, for our children, for our families, for our partners and for ourselves, is time. This christmas, give them your time. Give yourself your time. After all, you are worthy of a gift too!