I am BACK!!!

Whoa, I can't believe it has been almost 3 months since I last blogged! Although I do have good reasons, it's still been too long...  anyhow, what are these good reasons I speak off??

I turned 40!

Saké is located at The Rocks in Sydney and I had wanted to try this place for a long time now. It was Mother's Day so the restaurant was quite crowded by the staff were all very attentive and knowledgeable too. So I started with a green tea martini (it was so yummy!). Then seared salmon, snapper & scallop sashimi with truffle ponzu dressing, followed by scallops and kingfish double crunch (inside & out) maki's then finally onsen tamago 12 hour braised pork belly with daikon radish & 64°c hens egg in truffle oil scallions...

We were so full, we couldn't fit in any dessert which I must say not usually my style :)

After dinner, as we walked back to the car, we noticed the street was almost deserted, what a great opportunity to snap a pic with the Sydney Harbour Bridge as our back drop!

Then we started our almost 5 weeks birthday celebration trip!

This was our itinerary but I will cover all off the places over a 4 blog posts (hopefully most of them uploaded today), plus one to recap all the yarny adventures!

Date	Depart	Arrive
15/05/2014	Sydney	Singapore
15/05/2014	Singapore	Copenhagen (Kastrup)
17/05/2014	Copenhagen (Kastrup)	Faroe Islands (Vagar)
22/05/2014	Faroe Islands (Vagar)	Copenhagen (Kastrup)
22/05/2014	Copenhagen (Kastrup)	London (Heathrow)
22/05/2014	London (Heathrow)	Santa Pod
27/05/2014	London (Heathrow)	Edinburgh
27/05/2014	Scotland
10/06/2014	Edinburgh	London (Heathrow)
14/06/2014	London (Heathrow)	Singapore
15/06/2014	Singapore	Sydney

Something I started in October 2012!

I am so excited that I finished the Haruni shawl!!!!!!!

Only taken me 18 months but it's done!!! AND it's in time for Mother's Day!

 

Here are some stats:
Yarn: Fibernymph Dye Works in the Sunshine base
Colourway: The roof is on fire gradient (448m/ 490 yards) & Crimson (90m/ 98 yards)

I love this yarn, it's hand dyed by Lisa of Fibernymph Dye Works and the colours are so vibrant. This is what the gradient looked like when it first arrived.

I ran out of yarn with 6 more rows (over 600 stitches) to go! I then wrote to Lisa and she was ever so helpful and dyed up a skein of the red colour (crimson) just for me. Lisa did offer to make a half skein but I love this yarn so much, I am sure I will use it one way or another.

I must say I was starting to think that I could never finish it... The pattern is not difficult, in fact, it's easy to follow and very thorough.

As it got bigger, each row took longer and more to remember.

With Terry away this long weekend, I was determined to make some serious progress on this but I didn't expect to finish it. SO HAPPY!

I have to thank hours of recorded TV... The edging alone took almost 3 episodes of Scandal!!

Cause I am just a little proud :)

I can't wait until it is dry and hopefully take some photos of it on mum.

Off to start another project now :) Stitch with love!

A beanie for me!

Check it out! I made a beanie for me :)

I talked about the Minno Hat in a blog the other week and it is now done! I am so happy with it. It's squishy and very warm.

The pattern is very clear and super easy to follow, well worth the $5. 

 

The stranded colourwork is very simple and not too many ends to weave in although it looks messy.

See, all the ends are weaved in, nice & tidy!

Here are some stats:

Yarn: Luxury 8 ply by Bendigo Woollen Mills
Colourway from the bottom up: Slate (0307), Tangerine (0347), Koala (0353), Aquarium (0324), Baby Pink (0318), Baby Mint (0317)
Needles: Knit Picks 80cm circular 3.5mm & 4mm

Modifications... yes I did that. It appears that I have a big head! just around not the height. I knitted the large size but started decreasing early, after 7th round from the last row of colourwork. Then I worked 8 pairs of decrease every other round before decrease every round.

It's slightly sloughy but I like how it sits on my head.

How about the details!

So I am going to be warm this winter :)

Stitch with love...

The Knitting in Public Meetup group

Happy Easter!

And happy long weekend.... really I would be lying if I wasn't excited about having a few days off work too... been so hectic.

It has been a rather productive weekend so far! I almost finished the March quarter BAS for Terry, cleaned the house, did all the laundry, did more holiday planning and the funnest thing of all.... drum rolls please! I went to my first knitting group gathering! Yes I did and it was so much fun!!!

The Meetup group is Knitting in Public - Sydney which I joined last October and I am so glad I did. For one reason or another I had not been able to attend any events until now.

This particularly event was held at the cafe in the Art Gallery NSW and what a perfect location. Check out the beautiful Sydney autumn day...

I was there for more than 3 hours, chatting, sharing crafty and other stories with a group of wonderful kind people. If it wasn't for some errands I had to do in the city, I would have stayed longer.

Only managed to get two good photos but you get the idea... I finished a beanie there too (blog shortly), made progress on the Binic baby pullover and did another row on the Haruni shawl. I think I knit quicker when I am chatting with other people!

Until the next meeting... stitch with love!

Rainbow Bluedog

Meet Rainbow Bluedog, a relative of Bluedog VII!

I used 3/4 of the fat quarter by Wild Cotton Fabric I picked up at the Stitches & Craft Show this year.

Rainbow here has his own amigurumi bone which he will never let it out of his sight.

The eyes are 100% wool felt in bright aqua colour.

He is a special request by the owner of Bluedog VII for her little nephew''s upcoming birthday and I can't wait until he receives him!

Stitch with love xx