Petting zoo

This weekend was the annual sheepshearing festival at Gore Place, a historic house in the suburbs. It was a gorgeous day, and I met up with some friends from knitting to wander around the stalls of craft vendors and to eat fair food and to just enjoy the sunshine. But I got there a little early, as I'm like a four year old when it comes to being around animals, so I spent some time communing with furry friends.

Here's a sheep being sheared.



And some before and afters in the pen nearby.



A little lamb.



This alpaca was humming loudly at me.



A stern looking bearded goat.



A lovely miniature horse.



I so want an English Lop rabbit. So soft! He felt just like the stuffed animal bunny on my bed.



Massive bundles of yarn outside one of the tents.



And the colonial militia marching across the hill.



It was a great day. I'm sorry it only comes around once a year!

Hop to it

Early last week a friend of mine in London was lamenting the Lindt chocolate bunny that had appeared on her desk. "That thing's worth 24 Weight Watchers points, and I only get 18 in a day!" With that kind of opening, and having seen this pattern going around the web, there was no way I could resist making her a point-free and calorie-free chocolate bunny.



Pattern: Chocolate Bunny, from Blah, Blah, Blahhhg
Yarn: Red Heart Classic in brown, on US 6 needles
Notes: Fast, fun, and adorable!

In an odd coincidence, at work yesterday I was listening to the Jonathan Ross show on BBC Radio 2 from this past weekend (so taped a few days after my friend had talked about chocolate bunnies), hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate. And, at one point, David and a caller were talking about the 24 points in a Lindt chocolate bunny! The strange ways in which the parts of my life intersect...

waves of color

Want to see a project that is totally my colors?



Pattern: Easy Drop Stitch Scarf, from Frazzled Knits
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Silkie in Seastone (1 skein), on size 5 needles
Notes: Just as easy as the title says!



I love how the colors work with pattern, making waves. And these vibrant purpley blues and greens and yellows are very much my colors. I'm really pleased with this scarf.

cross that one off of the list

Lesson learned today: a dangerous place to be is in a yarn shop the day they receive their shipment of Koigu. Oy, was that temptation. I managed to resist, somehow, but there was a lot of pretty there that did not come home with me.

So, that recent case of start-itis resulted in a completely unplanned project. I happened to see a pattern in a book Irene brought to Knitsmiths, remembered that I had this random skein yarn that I had gotten from Thea at a Knitsmiths swap, and a few days later, I had another scarf.



Pattern: Cross Stitch Scarf, from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders
Yarn: Danette Taylor Handpainted (one skein) on US11 needles



I don't even know who it's for, it almost feels like it made itself. But that's another random ball from the stash accounted for!

pretty progress

Haven't disappeared, really. Other than a project that was a gift, I've actually been having a case of knitting start-itis. I've cast on three or four projects in the last couple of weeks and haven't worked that much on any one of them before going on to the next. But a few things have gotten done, somehow, including finishing that knitted gift.



Pattern: Koigu Lace Shawl, from Kaleidoscope Yarns
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in watercolor (2 skeins), on US6 needles
Notes: Instead of the five different colors called for, I just did the whole thing in one colorway. Fairly simple lace pattern.



It was a friend of mine's birthday this past week, and I thought she needed something pretty this year, so this shawl came into being.



I'm really pleased with it, and I hope that she likes it, too!