more goodies... and a give-away

I totally forgot to mention that there are more cute project bags at GingerKnits.com (specs at the bottom of the post)

You will find them under Knitting Accessories :)

Edited to add - These cute cotton bags are all handmade by me and my trusty sewing machine.

I also missed my second blogiversary - but I am coming up to my 300th post - so leave a comment before my 300th post (not telling when that will be) and will can go in the draw to win a special edition knitting themed project bag full of some goodies from GingerKnits.com

Pure Cotton Project Bag

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Fully lined, pure cotton project bag - perfect for keeping small works-in-progress in.

Choose from a variety of cute and fun prints to keep your projects together when you are going from place to place. Each bag is handmade, with a plain calico lining. Finished with silver rivets to ensure the drawsting won't snag when you close it.


Approx 20(h)x15(w)x15(d) cm. Will hold up to 200gm of yarn and circular or DPN needles while still closing.

jewels for knitters...

fun new stuff in the store...

Recycled knitting needle bangles:

Stitchmarker charm bracelets:

Knitting themed charms:

check 'em out here

Textile Tuesday

This week brought to us by the loverly Purls Palace in Daylesford... the LYS that, like the rest of Daylesford, is cosy and classy. While I wandered around fondling yarns and fabrics, and flicked through books, The Man and Pupster sat on the comfortable couch and read through the Age (because, like the rest of Daylesford, Purl's Palace is Dog Friendly* and caters for partners)The Man bought these goodies for me as an extra birthday present when we had our dirty romantic weekend away back in March. 
These are the shots where I pay a homage to Brooklyn Tweed and his amazing yarn portraits. Above - Noro Iro, and below, Noro Kocharon.
These beauties have been turned into an incredibly warm beret/tam that gets lots of comments at Markets. I really should take some piccies of it!

*Of course, when we turned up on the doorstep of Purl's Palace The Man, Pupster and I were all wearing hand-knit sweaters. You'd have to be an idiot to turn away that sort of clientelle!

Store Update...

Just some of the beauties I have uploaded to the store tonight - shawl pins and chunky necklaces can be found in accessories, and the tubs of lip balm under pampering products!

Read the post I wrote earlier today for details on discounts, free shipping and the competition...

Good Kharma Sale

A great big thank-you for everyone who is out looking for Pop's marbles... At the moment we have marbles flying in from all corners of the country, and it looks like we have saved Pop's wind chime production. 

In the interest of spreading Good Kharma, I have a couple of announcements to make. 

First of all - everyone who has found some marbles in will be entered into a competition to win one of the recycled cutlery wind chimes. I'll take a couple of pictures at the market on Sunday so you can see how they look.

Secondly - as a thank you to everyone hunting down the toy aisle in search of the elusive 35mm marbles I am having a sale at GingerKnits.com : use the code LOSTMYMARBLES (all uppercase) at checkout to get free shipping and a 10% discount. Don't forget that every shopping in May will be entered into the draw for a $10 voucher as well. 

Thank you again - My Pop says a big thank you!

Textile Tuesday

A special order I got on the weekend - 

a customer liked the hat I had on my stall, and really liked "Crazy skein" - a yarn I had dyed and spun (shown right).

24 hours of project monogamy and this is the result..

The wool fibre was dyed prior to spinning. There were six colours, and I spun singles randomly selecting the colour order. I then andean-plyed, creating a 2-ply yarn, and then I andean plyed that, creating a crepe/cable yarn. The end result was this great striping effect. 

It is now sitting in the living room waiting to be picked up by its new owner. I hope she likes it!

Can you help?

Bit of a request from my Pop (previously blogged about here, here, here, here and here)- if you're a raveller you may have seen this already (I rather naughtily posted this non knitting request to the Aussie Knitters ISO board)....

I am trying to hunt down some 35mm (1 3/8”) marbles for my Pop- he uses them in his recycled cutlery wind chimes. He was buying them from the supermarket (see pic below) - but they are out of stock and unable to get more in. I have tried contacting the company but have not got a response.

I will reward handsomely anyone who either has some 35mm marbles they no longer need, or is willing to check out their local shops (stockist include Kmart and Safeway - in the toy aisle) and purchase these marbles on my behalf. The marbles come in packs of 3 (again see pic) and are clearly labeled as 35mm. Preferably my Pop would like a variety of colours, but us beggars won’t be choosers.

If you can help my Pop and me out please email me: info@gingerknits.com :) As I said, we will reward handsomely.

More Pupsters!

Something to help with any mondayitis you may be suffering -

some cute dog pics that I have had on my computer for a few weeks...

This is Pierre sitting in the boot of the car while I was packing up after the Drysdale Market last week. His front paws are resting on the Garment rack I use to display stock.

Yes, my car is a mobile mess. 
Easter Saturday Market at Point Lonsdale - These fellow papillions were visiting from South Australia (Adelaide, I think).  I see that Pierre's camera hogging abilities are a trait of his breed.

This teddy-like pomeranian puppy belongs to another Meg - daughter of the stall holder next to us at the Easter Saturday market...
Pierre was happy to meet so many other dogs his own size!

And this is my first media campaign for the stock in my store- postcards! The colours on this are funky because the file needed to be in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and key/black)for the printers, and computer screens show RGB(red, green and blue).

spoilt!

Me - well and truly! 

Thanks to everyone who sent comments, emails, messages or texts wishing me a Happy Birthday on Friday - I had a fantastic day weekend!

On Friday arvo the Man, Pierre and I departed for Daylesford. The Man had booked a pet-friendly B&B - hence P came along. We arrived just before sunset - so after finding our accommodation we took the pupster for a wander down the main drag.

When we strolled passed Frangos & Frangos it became apparent we were rather peckish -and they were rather dog-friendly, so we stopped for dinner. Well... The Man and I had dinner - poor Pierre didn't get any of our cuisine...

Due to the fact it was early in the evening, the staff weren't too busy, so I nabbed the waiter to take a pic of us when he brought out our mains - 
(The Man had lamb, black lentil jus and mash while I had canestroni with roast pumpkin, ricotta and mustard fruits - see, it wasn't mere food, but cuisine)

And there wasn't a birthday cake, but we shared this - 

Blood Plum and Rum Trifle topped with gold leaf - so good we had to taste it before we got the camera out...
Oh - and P loved being out to dinner with us!

After dinner we went back to the Double Nut Chalet (appropriate seeing as it was gingernut and Mr gingernut!) where there was champagne sparkly, choccies and a spa bath awaiting for us.

The view from the front door of our 'Chalet'
See those high ceilings? The only thing that went wrong during the whole weekend was that at about 2am the smoke alarm battery decided it was going flat... and was giving out persistent chirps every few minutes and the smoke alarm was riiiight up the top of the wall! The Man had to climb on the table to reach it to shut the thing up!
Funky cosy living (even port supplied for that nightcap)
And cosy heating (and aircon if you need), a good supply of movies, and electric blankets if its your thang (we prefer to snuggle under an extra woollen blanket thou)

MMM... Spa!

After our lingering breakfast on Saturday, we found Purls Palace (more on this in another post!), the Convent Gallery and had lunch (well, I had Devonshire tea coffee) at Rhubarb Cafe and stopped at the bookstore before heading back to Geelong to catch up with The Man's family for dinner. (All dog-friendly... except the 'Bad Habits cafe' at the Convent Gallery, as it doesn't have al fresco dining)

At the Queenscliff Market on Sunday I tracked down  the "Tea with Alice Cupcakes" stall and bought this goigious lime-iced vanilla as a birthday cake treat for myself.

(Well - to keep with the theme, Sunday was actually an UNbirthday for me, but I am sure the Dormouse and Mad Hatter would have approved!)

seven simple joys

Caffeine Faery tagged me for 'seven things' and I thought I would take Taph's idea for a ride - so without further ado, seven simple joys:-

1. Surviving a long weekend without having to put fuel in your tank until the Tuesday... 

2. Hearing Alex Lloyd's Amazing on the radio - I find that song so uplifting... I remember when it first came out in 2001 I would drive the hour home from work at 1-2am flicking through radio stations hoping to hear it play.

3. Having discussions with The Man about 'our' future.

4. The pupster jumping all over me the minute I walk through the front door. When I sit down he gives me a thorough face-washing with his tongue. 

5. When people (okay, older women) at the market comment that they wish they had grandkids to buy my products for. 

6. Having a housemate who wants to watch all your Buffy and Angel DVDs... in order... and doesn't think that doing so is overkill.

7. The Man waking me up in the morning with a coffee... and grabbing his laptop so he can work checking his emails in bed and spend more time with me before he dashes off in the morning :)

Earning my keep

And here we return to a bit a knitting content!

Those of you who visit the blog, may have notice that ol' Winston has been bumped down a little bit in the sidebar - I have added a couple of new self-promoting segments to the sidebar (after all... a girl needs to eat)

One is my Market Diary. As of this weekend I will no longer be spending my Sundays lolling around in bed until noon. I will be bright eyed and bushy tailed and trailing the markets down on the peninsula - the next one is at Queenscliff, and it appears that the weather will be playing the game. I'll be there from about 8 til 2, socialising, knitting and spindling - so if your inclined come down and say 'hello' to me. Feel free to bring your knitting and show it off! No pressure to buy, but I will have some yummy handspun yarn and kitchsy stitchmarkers available.

The other is my class timetable - I will be teaching a 3 hour class on a Tuesday evening at the LYS here in Geelong (Stitchery Blue for those in the know!) The class will be on sock techniques and will cost you $27 for the the evening... What does that $27 get you, apart from my wonderful company and expertise? Well, we will also provide you with a light supper, and you will leave having made a complete (albeit tiny) sock! The sock you make will teach you all the techniques needed to make comfortable, cuff-down, handknit socks - and I will be sending you home with a pattern for adult socks. If you're at all interested, call Stitchery Blue to sign-up...

No, really, please do!

I need a minimum number of students to run the class or else it will be postponed til next autumn. If you have ever wanted to learn how to knit socks, or just interested in perfecting techniques come along. I promise we will have fun (and besides - it will be in a yarn store after hours... that in itself it worth tuition fee!)

Here are a few pictures of the sample sock I have made (that you will make in 3 hours) - it makes the perfect mobile-phone cover, or alternatively - make two and give an infant you know happy feet!

Rockin’ socks..

Beware – there is a spoiler below for the most recent delivery of the rockin’ sock club – if you haven’t got yours yet, and you don’t want details yet... don’t scroll down too far!

Yarngasm!

I got my latest fix from blue moon today, and thought it was about time I reviewed what I had managed so far with this club…

#1 First and foremost – the Monsoon Inside-out sock, AKA the penis sock...

As you can see, I haven’t gotten far. This is because the cable has made the ankle too tight, and I can’t get it over my heel :( I think I may have to frog this sock and consider a different pattern (truth be told, I wasn’t incredibly keen on the ribbed sole anyway…)

#2 – the silkie walkin’ on the wild tide grasshoppers.

Well, these got put off while I wanted for the extra skein to be delivered so I could make the knee-highs.

#3 – the firebird solstice slip.

I made quite a bit of progress with these. And as they are toe-up and I have past the heel, these technically pass as a pair of socks. Very short anklet socks, but socks nonetheless. Hmmm... I really should finish these!

#4 – the newbies :)

This is my favourite out of the lot, so far. Purdy colours, and purdy lace :) Hopefully I’ll finish these before summer… And how cool are the temporary tattoos!

Rather ironically, the only pair of socks that rock that I have finished were made from an extra skein I ordered with my silkie. The little monkey foo foo socks…

So if I haven’t been knitting my rockin’ sock club socks … what have I been doing?

Making up some noodle knit kits for the markets! This is the prototype, but the plan is to have complete kits with needles, yarn and pattern for sale. Yeah, a tad bit gimmicky, but I am hoping to sucker in some beginners :)

And because it has been a while, a puppy pic… poor abandoned Pierre!

handspun yarn pr0n

Not a lot of knitting is happening round here – but I been spending heaps of time at the wheel…

Just a bit of what I have created thus far...and these are my lucky jitterbug socks that got me the gig at stitchery blue (yes, it is the LYS in Geelong) - colourway mardi gras... And this little fellow all dressed up for the mardi gras was some secret knitting I sent to Lara...Bazza the Ram (complete with tail still attached)