Knitting by Zen

I’ve just gotten back from a long trip away in Sydney

and wow was it fun and kind of sad. One of my aunts has been quite ill for most of last year and I took the chance to visit with her which was bittersweet - she looks so much older than she was the last time I saw her, and she looked frail and ill… but underneath was still that fiesty woman I love and take after.

In preparation for going away, I dyed yarn and got the bug back!! so keep an eye out for more of my yarn around the place. I also painted a shawl that I bought off a friend (yes, Mel again!) and wow it is gorgeous:

I wore the shawl to the formal dinner we attended during the two weeks away, and it went with this dress:

(Sadly no shots of it on me in all of its glory - will have to steal someone else’s shot of it!)

Some of my yarn has recently been turned into secret socks (not yet released but damn fine on my toes thankyou very much!) by Mel at Stranded in Oz:

I can’t post any more photos as the detail is all Mel’s but let me just say that this pattern is fabulous for my feet, and probably very easy to knit. It has an amazing toe and fantastic detail and the yarn is a Custom Dye, only available as a kit. Keep an eye out on her site for the kit and others that I’ve been custom dyeing yarn for - 99% her work of course!

I am knitting some socks out of Tofutsies at the moment and they are GORGEOUS and lovely and I am enjoying knitting:

The yarn is Tofutsies, which is stocked here in Adelaide by Mel at Stranded in Oz (her business name cracks me up every time - a lovely outspoken knitwear designer has to have something unique and interesting and descriptive, yes?!!). The yarn is soft and squidgy and gorgeous in the ball, but when you knit it up the white part of the yarn seems to receed and the rich colours come to the fore. The yarn is available from Mel only in Adelaide at $24.95 a ball, which is a bargain given that that ball is 100g and goes a long way! The colour range is amazing and the yarn is environmentally friendly. Have a look at her Sock Club for a bi-monthly fix of yarn!

By the way - if you’re after any kind of yarn other than wool, Mel is the person to see. She dyes an interesting range of wool and other yarns (bamboo, banana leaves, silk, soy etc) and they’re so pretty! But my yarn diet continues so I won’t fall into any of them just yet!!

I also bought amazing Happy Boots:

and caught up with my Mad Aunt. You might notice that our glasses in this post are similar… nay, *the same*. That’s right - we live 1500km apart and didn’t even mention new glasses but lo! we have the same ones! I swear sometimes I was born to the wrong sister .

  (click here for a bigger image)