Pop Smear

Knitting In The City

Looking for something to do on a Tuesday night in downtown Auckland? For a while now, we Knit Rangers (see our group on Ravelry) have been having an irregular winos session (so named for the it's random scheduling and location, and beverage consumption). While KIPing at the World Wide Knit In Public Day event at the museum on May 13 , some of us decided to make it a more regular occurrence, and share the love. So, if you want to come knit/crochet at the Northern Steamship (or at the very least, hang out with some knitters/crocheters), come along!

Auckland Central SnB (or regular irregular winos!!) will meet 1st Tuesday of each month at the Northern Steamship pub on Quay Street from 5.30pm - 7.30pm. Anyone is welcome (sticks, hooks or fingers!)

Hopefully Tues is an easy time for more people, the NSS is central and close to all public transport so everyone can knit, yarn, drink or eat. And we've set a time so people don't feel kinky about going home to feed the family, put the cat to bed or watch good reality TV!

2009 Dates: July 7th, August 4th, September 1st, Oct 6th, November 3rd, Dec 1st

So, if you're in the city and want to meet up with some fellow crafters, why not come along to the next session? We had people from a couple of regular knitting groups at the first, and it'd  be great to meet some more new people.

Of course, if you're a random weirdo, be warned that these chicks will be armed with pointy sticks...

Lots of Projects

It has been ages since I really blogged my knitting (or any other aspect of my life), but that doesn't mean I've been unproductive (even if I haven't brough This Chick back to life). Amongst work, two knitting groups, spinning, movies, reading, a cat who is licking his way to bald, family issues, a good friend moving away, and watching my vege garden grow, I've managed to produce quite a few projects and yarns. Most of the details are already in my Ravelry projects, so there's no need to repeat them here, but here are some pretty pictures (and no, this is not everything you've missed if you haven't been checking me out on Ravelry)!

Finished: Coraline

Coraline Cardi,
originally uploaded by shessassy.

I've been working on this cardigan for a couple of months now (after buying the pattern as soon as it was released in October! It's not quite done - I need to find some buttons, but it's close enough to call!

It was a bit of a mission to get through the stocking stitch, and on to the interesting smocking section. And that seemed to take me forever! All the details can be found in my Ravelry project.

Reading About Crafting

Shibori Knits: The Art of Exquisite Felted Knits

Gina Wilde

After a relatively long break from crafting, I'm back into it. Well, kind of. I've been spinning again, plodding away on a few knitted and crocheted works-in-progress, and have gotten back into the swing of attending my spinning and knitting groups. It feels good. I'm not necessary being productive, but I"m taking the time.

AlterKnits Felt: Imaginative Projects for Knitting & Felting

Leigh Radford

Another craft-related activity filling my time has been reading. In amongst crime novels (J.A. Jance's J.P. Beaumont series at the moment), and smart romance (Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Rachel Gibson), I've been checking out the library system's stash of knitting books. And requesting that they purchase more!

Anyway, two of the newest books I've checked out are Shibori Knits and Alterknits Felt. There are some really interesting projects in these books, and I'm sure that I'll be inspired to try my hand at felting some more. I'm definitely impressed with the AlterKnits Felt book; much more inspiring than the original AlterKnits book, I think. I spotted the book on Ravelry, after coming across the Pleated Cloche pattern it contains. I definitely want to try that one out!

A Quiet Spot

A Quiet Spot,
originally uploaded by shessassy.

That Maddy chose to make my table, strewn with barely started or otherwise abandoned craft projects, may give you an idea of how many craft projects I've finished recently. The lack of updates here and on Ravelry should be another clue!

Crafting With Crochet

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting (or spinning) lately, but I have found myself wanting a project to work on in quiet moments. Crochet is ideal, as it is, in most cases, very simple to pick up and put down, improvise with, and it grows fast!

In addition to a scarf I'm slowly working up with a shell stiltch pattern (using my handpainted and spun polwarth yarn), I've also completed a hippo (for a sister's birthday), a toilet roll holder (yes, as tacky as it sounds), and some cute little coin purses! 

Right now I'm working on a bright red purse/bag in a cotton bamboo yarn. 

Brown Rice & Quinoa Sushi

Sushi Rolls

I have made sushi a couple of times in the last few weeks - and having largely eliminated white rice from my diet lately, I went searching for an alternative for sushi. While looking for brown rice recipes, I came across this one for brown rice and quinoa rolls. The perfect thing to use up that quinoa sitting unused in the cupboard.

And, I'm pleased to report, it was fantastic! I cooked the quinoa and medium grain brown rice together (1 cup of rice, half a cup of quinoa and and about two and a half cups of water), using the absorption method. 

This yielded two cups of rice and quinoa (which makes a bunch of sushi - each roll used between half and three quarters of a cup). With the addition of a packaged sushi powder and a little exrtra rice wine vinegar, this was a suitably sticky and tasty mix to roll.

My sushi is laden with capsicum, cucumber, an omlette, avocado and alternately smoked salmon and shredded chicken. Delicous! Full of colour, and the extra fibre and protein from the non-white rice! 

Hurry Up!

Snaily Back Ride

Rather Productive

I had this feeling it had been months since I'd updated my knitting projects here, but looking back I see it has been just over a month since the last substantive update. Why did I think it had been so long? Quite frankly, because I've finished so many things!

Recently Finished Knitting

That's two pairs of bed socks (pattern from Mel Clark's blog Slip Slip Knit), two Leisl cardigans and a boucle Urchin (patterns by Ysolda), one handspun (mine and my Mum's) draught stopper (requested by a sister), a pink cardigan (made for me, but gifted to Mum as a better fit), one cotton baby hat from LMKG) and a tiny cotton bunny (for my latest great-niece), a handspun potholder (an exercise in stash reduction), and most recently a grey cap-sleeved cardi (from Drops Design), and a cabled hood (adapted from a "harf" pattern in Intertwined).

There's plenty more detail on all of these projects in my Ravelry Notebook, if you're curious! And if you're not a member of Ravelry (and you care at all about kntitting, crochet, etc.), why the heck not?!

Cotton Heart

Right now I'm waiting for some paint to dry, and it's actually a little exciting. I've painted some giant iceblock sticks - from the craft shop - to serve as hangers for a mobile I'm making. With little knitted cotton hearts in two shades of pink, this is another gift for my newest family member, Emily Jasmine. Just some sewing, stuffing and asssembly, and it'll be ready to send off to Perth.

Next on the agenda are a cardigan for Dad, a couple of cardigans for me, and a bag for a swap. I hope to make some progress on those before August 8! Not because that's my birthday (it is), but because with the kick off for the Olympics, I'm beginning an event in the Ravelympics, a KAL (that's a knit-a-long for the uninitiated) wherein I shall attempt to complete a challenging project in 17 days. I'm pretty sure the longline sweater dress I've chosen to knit in mohair will be a challenge, and so will require a lot of focus...

For now though, I'm off to swatch for my Dad's cardigan. It's a horrible day (there are weather warnings and alerts all over the place) and so inside knitting is the place to be. And should the power go out, I can always knit by candlelight.

Bored With Winter

Sleepy Maddy

Maddy and I are so over this dreary, rainy, windy and generally horrible weather. But knitting, and knitted things, do help!