Gratuitous gorgeous baby post

Over at Never not Knitting, there are some super duper adorable baby pics that nearly made me pee my pants.

Cute overload.

Go have a look!

Spinning a Yarn

Jessicah of Spinning a Yarn totally blew me out of the water with her awesome swap...gorgeous fibre for me to finally have a play on my spinning wheel, tim tams, and hot chocolate - yum!
The printed fabric it's all sitting on is from In My Backyard - you can find her on felt, it is the cutest wee fabric print i've seen in ages.

I also had a great time meeting people on Saturday on the Frank Kitts market. It was wonderful to have real conversations with lovely knitters and crafters. I splurged on more fibre to play with - I just need to schedule in a day soon to sit down with the wheel and have a go. There are a few spinners around that seem ready to be talked into doing a central wellington spinning group, so let's see if there is time to squeeze that into the schedule too.

Now i'm off to bed with my knitting - i've got the lurgy. Today should be a dyeing day but getting better is slightly higher on the priority list...have a great day!

xx

Knitting with kitties

Thanks to Megan for the pic of her kitty with Silver Lining. Boy, that looks snuggly!

Flying to Diagon Alley

Another Yarn Club - oriented post - but oh, how much I love this yarn club. If perhaps I was feeling a little jaded from market preparations and wholesale orders over the past couple of months, this yarn club has got me way inspired.

Like, crazy inspired. Is it too much to say that I *love* all the people in the yarn club? The emails, the Rav board discussions, the feedback - just makes me all warm and fuzzy. And in return I just want to go even further, wow their socks off, give them my yarny heart and soul.

And how lucky is it that Alice is designing our patterns? (with a little help from yours truly this month)

As pretty much everyone, as far as I can tell, has now got their parcels of goodness, I just had to share pics of my first Diagon Alley mitt in Peacock in the Parlour (a yarn club exclusive).

Notice how the knitting is on the bias? *swoon* Once the second mitt is done, there's some Mystery Machine destined for the same fate. The pattern is designed with variegates in mind, so a bit of green and purple should be just the ticket.

Funny for Friday

had to be shared...

Yours truly at Ignite Wellington

Have you ever been to a 60 minute talk and lamented that there was only five minutes of content? Imagine if you could hear only that five minutes... that's Ignite!

Come along to this free event to be inspired, amused, educated and amazed by an array of Wellington speakers.

Ignite talks are jam-packed with inspiration and information. Speakers are given just 5 minutes and have to display 20 slides for 15 seconds each. Every 15 seconds the slide will advance, whether they are ready or not.


The next Ignite is on the 3rd of August, and i'll be there! Speaking about knitting as rebellion, alongside some pretty damn amazing people, like the guy who started Ponoko. eeek!

Cutest Stitch Marker Ever

The Yarn Clubbers all received a set of stitch markers in their first installment, thanks to the amazing Sue of Supervery.

They are, quite simply, awesomesauce.

I'm pretty damn excited that we'll be the exclusive online sellers of The Best Stitch Markers Ever. Keep an eye on the online shop this week and they'll be up shortly.

Hooray! (that's the Owls in the background - slowly quickly getting there..

Pretty Knitty!

oooh, has everyone check out the new Knitty yet?

I think Winnow needs to get on my needles (after i've finished Haruni, Owls, and the Yarn Club pattern)

The yarn specified for Winnow is rathermightyexactlythesame as Knitsch, so it's a perfect match :D

Actually, i'm curious - what's on your needles right now?

Unconventional Knitting no.2

The lovely Sue of Supervery sent me this link today, after the knitted knickers post.

Awesome. I love sculpture, the way it can be textural and strong and soft all at once. Much like knitting, really.

When I finished secondary school I planned on being a fashion designer, so started a Bachelor of Design at Massey. While writing and analysis clearly emerged as a stronger skill than drawing, I learnt heaps and met some amazing people.

I didn't meet Ming Wei Li, but he was in the same year and I remember going to the 2005 graduate fashion show to support friends and being blown away by the dimension of his knitted work.



And here is a man who could make the hard appear soft. Canova is my Favourite (with a capital F) sculptor.
Somehow he manages to capture a gaze, a hand on flesh, a movement, in stone.

And then there's those that cover hard things with knitted things, like the ever fabulous Jacqueline Greenbank...

(h/t to the The Physics Room)

Knit graffiti got me very curious about the concept of art vs craft, and I love that more crafters and artists are challenging this incredibly old argument. Once upon a time artists were paid for their works according to the cost of the materials, not for the artistic merit. Craft is still judged on the terms of material costs, but with people like Greenbank making acknowledged art from traditionally defined 'craft' processes is hopefully going some way towards changing that perception.

Art interlude over (for now, at least...)

Markets, book launches, other awesomely fun things

Huzzah!


Knitsch is going to be making appearances at a few places in the next two weeks:


Saturday, 17 July, 10am - 4pm
Wonders of Wool
Frank Kitts Underground Carpark (underground = dry. yay!)
I'll be there along with lots of other lovely yarny types, with Knitsch yarns - lots of limited editions, the new 12 ply, and stitch markers from the wonderful Supervery.


Sunday 18 July, 2.30 - 4.30 pm
Blendy Knits Socks book launch
Alleluyah Cafe, St Kevin's Arcade, Auckland
Belinda is behind the Blendy Yarn Sampler, among other things. Her latest adventure is a book! Of socks! And she uses Knitsch! Hooray! If you're in Auckland, go say hello. Belinda will have a pile Knitsch, a pile of books, and a pile of other indie hand-dyed yarns just perfect for chilly winter days.

(image thanks to Belinda)

Saturday 24 July, 11am - 3pm

Auckland Art & Craft Fair

Auckland Art Gallery
Again, Belinda will be selling Knitsch Yarns - this time in packs with her books, alongside other indie yarn dyers.

So there are plenty of opportunities on these cold winter days to fondle yarn, say hello and go home with something snuggly. 


xx Tash

Knitted Knickers...

Thanks to here for the vintage knickers

and thanks to here for the nordic knickers by NZ's own Stolen Girlfriends Club

Holy frick it is cold! Get thee some knitted knickers, stat!

I'm actually really tempted to knit some. With a frilly bottom. I've been meaning to blog about these since I picked up the Winter Fashion Quarterly about 6 weeks ago. Ah, best of intentions. A bit odd, perhaps. 

Not sure about these ones from Knitty ... although the model does look very happy to be wearing them

                                         

Oh my goodness, if you have Ravelry, go check these ruffled babies out!

Hrrmmm can't seem to find the pattern I was really after...never mind. Have you knitted knickers? Would you be keen for a knit along? Anyone?

Keep cosy xx

Crazy La-la

It is truly crazy-la-la land here at the moment. Busy busy busy!

So I though i'd share some photos from the amaaaaazing lunch I had in Sydney, at, of course, Cafe Sydney. It was stunning - well worth every delicious penny.

No, we didn't eat dessert first, but it certainly was a major highlight. As was the awesome views of the Sydney harbour bridge on stunning Sydney day. It really was like a mini summer holiday. Of course I bought yarn. But i'll save that for another post.

xx Tash

Workshops! Hooray!

Craft2.0 is hosting some splendiferous workshops.

However, best place to find out about it is over at the Craft2.0 blog.

Yours truly is hosting a series of 'How to Knit Socks' workshops, complete with stash bag, yarn, needles, pattern, and all the fun things you need.

However Yours Truly is also running late, so pop over to Craft2.0 to check out the details.

Hooray!