Who'd have thought...?

...that Orange NSW could be such a beautiful place? And I'm in no way casting nasturtiums on Orange, but I had never been there before. Even the road trip had its highlights.. great coffee in Cowra, with the Anzac Day brass band in the distance. Once we were there, lots of wine was drunk (do you KNOW how many wineries there are around Orange?), lots of food was eaten and lots of laughs were had. On Saturday night at Lolli Redini , while the omnivores selected from the menu, the chef concocted a fabulous vegetarian meal just pour moi.

During the day, there was also much walking around town admiring the parks and the architecture...

And perhaps there was a purchase (or five) of some lovely knitting patterns from Lady Steptoe.

Between wine tastings, we had a picnic in the park at desolate Borenore.

Some people got a little silly.And the trip home was lovely too. How beautiful are the Cowra Japanese Gardens...We had a quick afternoon tea at Boorowa (thanks to a recommendation from Taph), and a peek in the window at Boorowool meant that I will be planning a trip back there soon, maybe via Young to take up Bells' suggestion.

We drove home through Sunday's storm, and I thought... not much knitting, but a good time was had by all.

It's confirmed

I really am Queen of the UFOs. Something's gone wrong with my BSJ. I have ten fewer stitches than I should have. This is what it looks like now.

This is what it will look like soon.

I'll try again later.

In the meantime, I am soothing myself Undulating Rib Socks in Maizy Neptune colourway - another gift from the lovely Rhonrhon from her last trip to the States.

Just wondering...

I was just wondering ... if I were to take a bit of a road trip from Canberra to Orange, some time soon, and if that the trip were to take me via Boorowa and Cowra... I was just wondering if there might be any lovely little yarn stores, op shops or antiques places that local knitters and thrifters might recommend? Anyone?

Some re-fashioning

Too long ago, way, way back in May last year, I visited my sister in the States (hello, Favourite Sister!). We had many lovely adventures, including visiting several of her favourite thrift stores and vintage stores in Los Angeles, and finding a fabulous vintage store in New York, (definitely-must-return-to-next-time) Cheap Jack's.

Much to my annoyance, I can't remember on which side of the country I found this little lovely. Perhaps Favourite Sister will remember. Pretty, isn't it? But it was never going to fit me.It is gorgeous cotton, just perfect for refashioning, with some ric rac to top the pockets, and some stash fabric for the reverse.

Some knitting

Daughter2 would be the first to tell you that ma minette, The Gorgeous One, has seen very few hand-knitted items, mostly because I have a very bad, hard-to-shake dose of never-quite-finishing-anything-much-itis. I really don't want to count the number of UFOs I have in the cupboard for the wee one. So...now I am attempting yet another project for her. This time it's the EZ baby surprise jacket. Rhonrhon has joined me in our own private knitalong, so that we might try to interpret it together, as we go. Knowing my friend as I do, she is bound to finish it long before I do. I am using Bendi 4ply baby wool, in the lovely Jnr Navy colourway, with an occasional stripe in Flame colourway. Let's see if ma minette gets to wear it this winter.

(In my defence, she was actually wearing a hand-knitted beanie before she was 24 hours old (Debbie Bliss cashmerino - perfect for wee ones). But she's seen very little in the hand-knitting dept in the eight months since then. Ahh, but didn't she look sweet.)

Bargain Saturday (again)

Don't you just love Saturdays.

At the luckily-for-me-not-very-well-publicised garage sale this afternoon at the Players Shed, I snapped up these gorgeous retro fabrics. This lot cost me about $10.50. Yep, about 15 metres of new fabric for $10.50. Including, but not shown here, a bag of velvet and corduroy scraps. Not sure what I'll use them for, but they are mighty lovely. Oh, I hear my sewing machine calling...

Knitting at Nettie's

On Sunday, four lovely friends came over for a Ladies Lunch, where there was much eating, talking, laughing, and some knitting.

Firstly, we were on a mission for buttons. Rhonrhon has been in a dilemma over the correct button choice for the gorgeous cardi she knitted for her friend (and when I say gorgeous, I do mean gorgeous - it's soft and drapey and squishy). She brought over her button options...we tried a few from my collection...we hummed and hahhed. I think that, with our combined wisdom, we advised well. This image does not show the final selection, so you might have to wait till she shows you.

Then we sat outside in the glorious Canberra autumn sun, and ate lunch and talked about books. I baked a Hummingbird Cake for the birthday girl. I think she liked it.

My birthday gift to her was a handmade shopping bag. Sounds ordinary? It's not really. It's rather nice, if I do say so myself. (The one on the left is Rhonda's.)

I followed this tutorial that I arrived at via Hashi's blog.

And, while it was a Knitting at Nettie's day, some knitting was done, but no photos were taken.

And, while I'm talking about birthdays, Happy Birthday to my favourite sister. Love you.