Simone Quentin de Manson

I went in on some gorgeous carded merino with a friend and my mum (mum by the way has a blog in the works..) I was a bit woosey to start dying by myself so Jessicah offered for us to have a dye day at her house. The results is some blue yarn for me (I have yet to spin it..maybe tonight) some lovely mauvey yarn for Jess and a tutorial for you! Go Jess! She has already spun hers and seriously… its beautiful.

Also here are some photos I took of Jess’s rainbow yarn, she has been experimenting with colour in her “year of fibre”

I have recently developed a website for a local Apaca Farm, I got this job because my mum saw an alpaca farm sign on a main road outside of christchurch saying “Styx River Farm, Alpacas and Alpaca Products” so she took me along with her to investigate. We found a fabulous couple, had a cuppa tea and left with some bags of carded fleece for us to start spinning with (we had just started together, since then i am still spinning my first batch and mum has gotten on to her 5th I think?) and a website job.

When I went to their place again to finalise some website bits n bobs I asked to see their alpacas and new babies. Here are some of those!

Alpaca Yarn is so soft and and wonderful to knit and spin. The next planned project is to dye some merino (managed to pick up about 1kg for only $25!) out of this I want to get some white alpaca and start dying that and seeing how I go combining it. Here are some links that have inspired my spinning, dying and knitting.

Apaca with a Twist

Craft Sanity Podcast interview with the pluckfluff creator Lexi Boeger

HOW exciting.

I SO want to buy this pattern, but ya see, I am now leaving my credit card at home cause I am SAVING. Sigh. I am a really good impulse buyer. I take away the impulse part by leaving the card in a pain in the ass place to access. They are designed by Julie Weisenberger.

I finished knitting a nice wee vest awhile back and Ravlery are now using my photos to represent the pattern (granted no-one else has knitted it yet) I am still happy. Loving the vest too.

All throughout knitting this I looked at the pieces and thought; “its looking big….?” Then convinced myself it was the style of the jacket and carried on knitting. Now its washed and sewn together I realise its HUGE and its officially become my first knitting disaster. So its rip, rip RIP! I must salvage the lovely yarn and knit something else with it. I have a few ideas thanks to ravelry….

Daylight from the Rowan Kasbah Collection. (If i go with it, I better find the pattern book.)

But what I have borrowed is this book:

Which has a few i think would be nice.