On the move...

Check out my new blog at http://www.southerncrossfibre.com/wp/

My Mojo Returneth!

My first Australian summer in four year has been absolute torture and it has been a long time since I've done any knitting. The weather has improved a little over the last week and my long-lost mojo has returned with a vengeance! Now I have a severe case of project-startitis. I now have three pairs of socks on the go, one lace shawl and a vest.

Last July, I ordered some custom fibre from Hello Yarn to complement some of Adrian's gorgeous handpainted Shetland. This was purchased with a view to making a brooklyntweed-style Striped Vest.

It sat in my stash until December - a week and a half at home with my parents gave me ample opportunity to get it all done.

Finally, I have a swatch, a gauge, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' Knitting in the Old Way and I'm all set to go!

Spin, Spin, Spin!

I've been busy spinning. Spinning, spinning and more spinning. What else is there to do when it is 40°C (104°F) out but stay inside and close to the air conditioner?

First up, a new-to-me blend from Spunky Eclectic - 60% Wool/40% Linen with a drape to die for. Custom dyed by Boogie.

Next... some of my Polwarth from Southern Cross Fibre in "Vigilance"

And a couple of club spins - "Champange" Wool Blend - Spunky Eclectic Fibre Club - December 2008

Last, but certainly not least, "Night Sky" Superwash BFL - Hello Yarn Fibre Club - January 2009

Southern Cross Fibre Club

Southern Cross Fibre will be launching a fibre club in February. Each month you’ll receive 3 - 4 oz of fibre, carefully selected just for you!

Each club member will sent a questionnaire via email when they sign up for the club. The questionnaire will be made up of questions relating to colour likes and dislikes. Every month, I’ll be preparing two exclusive never-to-be-repeated colourways. The colourway you receive each month will be selected by me to better suit your tastes and preferences.

The fibre choices each month will vary and no blend will be repeated within a six month period. The fibre preparations may be top, roving, batts or a combination of any of these. Please note that this is not a luxury fibre club. The selections may contain fibre that is not generally accepted as next-to-skin soft.

With two colourways, you’ll get one or the other depending on which one I think suits you best. This does not mean you’ll never get a colour you don’t like. If you love blue and green and hate yellow and one of the colourways has blue, green and yellow, you’d probably get that one.

A double-dose subscription will also be available so you can have one of each colourway or two of the same (chosen by me) based on your questionnaire.

Club members only will be able to purchase more club fibre for bigger projects if they wish. Club fibre will not be made available to anyone else.

The questionnaire will also contain a section on allergies, so if you’re allergic to fibres such as alpaca, mohair or angora, these fibres will be omitted from your club fibre. For example, if the batts for a particular month are merino/alpaca/silk and you’re allergic to alpaca, then it will be left out of your batts. It will not be substituted for another fibre, but you’ll still get the full weight of fibre for that month.

Another question will relate to the use of sparkles. My blending style isn’t super-sparkly, but some people just don’t like them and they’re easy enough to leave out of your batts if you’re not fond of them.

You can update your questionnaire at any time by sending me a new set of answers. However, your new answers will not take effect until the following month.

Pricing

Australia/New Zealand:

• Single Fibre - AUD $25 per month
• Double Fibre - AUD $45 per month

USA

• Single Fibre - USD $24 per month
• Double Fibre - USD $44 per month

Canada

• Single Fibre - CAD $25.50 per month
• Double Fibre - CAD $46 per month

United Kingdom

• Single Fibre - £13.50 per month
• Double Fibre - £25.00 per month

Europe

• Single Fibre - 17.00 € per month
• Double Fibre - 32.00 € per month

Rest of World (Prices in Australian Dollars):

• Single Fibre - AUD $29 per month
• Double Fibre - AUD $55 per month

All prices include shipping and pricing will be reviewed every six months to keep up with exchange rates.

The first club shipment will be sent out at the end of February.

PS - Come play with us in the new Southern Cross Fibre group on Ravelry. The group has a Fibre Club information page with details on how to sign up!

Farewell 2008!

2008 will be a year I look back on fondly as a year where I "met" and made friends with so many wonderful people thanks to the wonder of Ravelry. Some of whom I met in person when I visited the USA for Rhinebeck in October.

A thread in the Posh Knitters group on Ravelry asked everyone to list their knitting output for the year. I thought my output must be pretty sucky until curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go through my projects and stash on Ravelry.

Here is what I came up with:

• 4 Lace Shawls
• 6 Pairs of Socks
• 5 Scarves (woven)
• 2 Scarves (knitted)
• 2 Dog Coats
• 2 Hats
• 1 Sweater
• 1 Baby Jacket
• 1 Blanket
• 1 Pair of Mittens

According to my Ravelry stash, I spun 14344 metres (15687 yards) of yarn in the last year!

Best wishes to you and your family for a safe and happy 2009!

Brushed Yarn

The themes for this month's Spinner Central Spin-a-Long are Goat, Brushed Yarn and/or Cool Colours. As part of my "catch up on all clubs by the end of the year" goal, I decided to work on my Spunky Eclectic Club Fibre from June 2008 - "Flowering Weeds" - 70% Merino/30% Mohair.

I've never made a brushed yarn before, so I decided to give it a go. I rigged up the following hardware:

The brush is an everyday stiff-bristled laundry brush. I set it up so the yarn was just being tickled by the brush as I wound it. Here is what I did to get the height just right - I used the wooden block from my Majacraft wool combs and a piece of cardboard :-)

Here it is after I wound and re-wound it three times:

After 5 times:

I didn't expect it to get much fuzzier than this (since the yarn is only 30% mohair) so I decided to call it quits and skein it off.

Duets

Quite often I find myself wishing I had fibre in a solid or semi-solid that would match and bring out the wonderful colours in handpainted fibre.

Sometimes it would be nice to have a solid yarn to use in conjunction with a handpainted yarn.

Sometimes it would be nice to have a solid single to ply with a handpainted single.

After a few months of mulling this over, I've decided to introduce what I'm calling "Duets" into my Etsy shop.

There is no hiding the fact that I love heathered yarns - lots of colours all smooshed together to create a rich and interesting yarn. Mix this in with a little handpainted beauty and voilà!

Introducing "Duets" from Southern Cross Fibre...