For the dinosaur enthusiasts...

...a great place to visit is the Ti Point Reptile Park. We met some friends there during the last few days of the holidays and had a lovely family day out exploring the Matakana area.

The park itself is about an hr north of Auckland and 20min from Warkworth. We were very pleasantly surprised by the range of animals the park takes care of - from skinks and geckos, to tortoises and turtles, alligators and lizards and tuataras. It's set in gorgeous bush with views out to the coast with enclosures spread out all over the park.

I think my favourite were the chameleons. This one was on a branch right next to the glass which meant I got a couple of good photos up close. Their eyes are totally creepy- they can independently rotate so potentially the chameleon has a 360 degree view. And such bright skins, so fascinating!















The park has a range of tortoises (land based) and turtles (water based). I never realized how much variation in size and colour there were between species.



















This doesn't really capture his size very well, but this enclosure houses a Galapagos Tortoise. He is HUGE. Like a giant slow moving rock. Very cool.

















Afterward we drove down to the Goat Island Marine Reserve which was another stunning piece of NZ coastline. We easily could have spent a week there exploring. DH couldn't stop talking about the massive snapper swimming around in the glass-like water.

















The kids played in the sand and the rock pool area while our friends went snorkelling. Next time we visit we will have to take a ride in the glass bottom boat that does trips around the island.

















We packed so much fun into our holidays, I was quite sad when they (too quickly) came to an end. Now we're heading into term 4 already - where has the year gone!

11 shawls in 2011!!

If you've been reading here, you will know I have been on a bit of shawl kick this year. I never really thought I would ever knit shawls - they always appeared too difficult, too fiddly, too time consuming, but I have really enjoyed my foray into shawl knitting this year.

I think part of the appeal is the lack of finishing. Sew in your ends, give it a good block and that's it. There's no sewing on buttons or zips, dreaded seaming, or having to worry about sizing.

They're also perfect for that one skein of special yarn - no worrying about having enough yardage, matching dyelots etc.

I will confess that while I might be a keen shawl knitter, I am not always as enthusiastic about wearing them. I have made a few for gifts this year, some I kept for myself. Some I wear tons, some I will probably never wear, one is going to be kept for special occasions.

However, I am a firm believer that sometimes the knitting is about the process rather than the product. Back in 2009 I made good progress on knitting a whole bunch of sweaters for myself - and I don't wear most of those very often either. I think knitting so many shawls this year has definitely helped me work out what I'm likely to wear, and what I'm likely to just keep to admire, or simply knit for the experience and challenge.

My 11 shawls in 2011 was definitely about challenging my skills, and trying new techniques and constructions. I learnt so much, and it was a good opportunity to knit some things for myself, and to knit a few gifts too.


So 11 shawls! Here they are:


Favourite? Easily the Rock Island. It is just so lovely. It was a great challenge for my knitting skills and I learnt so much. The yarn and pattern were a match made in heaven and I can't wait to wear this somewhere special one day. I really wanted to knit at least one lace weight shawl this year and I'm so pleased with how this turned out.

Most worn? My hitchhiker. Made in super soft bamboo from Tri'Coterie it is so lovely to wear and is a great length to wear scarf style. I also really enjoy the knitting of this pattern, and made a second one to gift to my sister for Christmas.

I wanted to try a few different construction techniques - Hitchhiker is knit on the bias, Pettine is knit side-ways, Rock Island is bottom up, Eiki is top down and the Xi shawl makes use of short rows to give a construction that is really unique. I also had a go at stripes with the Sencillo shawl and the Pix shawl.

I also designed a shawlette. Faultline was released in September, in remembrance of the earthquakes in Christchurch.

Two of the shawls - Rock Island and the Pix shawl - are over 500m. The others are mainly one skein of sock yarn shawls (so from 320m to about 400m). I got to sample a great range of yarns too - including merino/cashmere/nylon (MCN), merino/silk, bamboo, organic cotton, sparkle lace weight silk/merino, and tightly plied merino.

I have to do a plug here for yarns. Firstly, Tri'Coterie of course. Not just because I'm an honorary staff member/helper but because the range of yarns are just so lovely and luxurious. I'm lucky to have had a chance to sample so many decadent bases this year. The Rock Island, Xi, Elena, both Hitchhikers and my orange Faultline are all Tri'Coterie yarns. Maylin has a great eye for colour and offers some fairly labour intensive colourway options (gradients, stripes etc) that are usually fairly hard to get a hold of from indie dyers. We have a group on Ravelry if you want to come see what's on offer this month. And also, my favourite NZ yarn - Fibre Alive from JOY. I used the Merino Mania (4ply) three times in this challenge, including using it for my own design. The colours are rich and deep, and the tightly plied merino looks especially nice in garter stitch in my opinion.

The Elena shawl, the Xi, and Pix were all test knits, and it was fun to knit something "new", helping out others and learning what works for my own pattern writing.

All in all my 11 shawls have taught me so much about yarns, colours, techniques and pattern writing. I'm really proud of myself for completing 11. It may seem strange to have such an ambitious goal in a year which has included major disruption and stress and heartache, (and a move to the other end of the country), but I think having some external goals has kept me motivated. Busy hands and busy mind - doesn't leave much room for wallowing ;)

Will I be up for the challenge in 2012? Hmmm....

(Mosaic made here.)

Holidays

Holidays in our favourite spot in Golden Bay. Beautiful weather, such a nice change from the wind and rain that has greeted us since we have been home again.

















Quite a bit further to travel now, but so worth it. Family, friends and lots of fun. Shopping, beaching, partying, lazing about, knitting and bbqs.
















I *almost* met up with Miss Smith - maybe next time!

















I am already looking forward to next year's trip.

FO: Rock Island

Rock Island was one of those patterns where I saw it, loved it, then decided there was no way I could knit that. The mere thought of knitting a laceweight shawl from the bottom up was just too intimidating. But you know what? I did knit it.
And I love it.




















I will admit that the knitting was reasonably challenging. My first time using lace weight yarn. My first time knitting lace where there are no rest rows - concentration plus! My first time deciding that perhaps this lifeline business is worth investigating, I tried it, needed it, and will definitely use it again if I am ever crazy enough to knit another one of these. Despite the step up in difficulty, it was a fun challenge to do a brand- new-to-me construction.

















The yarn is total luxury. Merino with silk and just a hint of sparkle. It is warm and airy at the same time, reasonably bulky for a lace weight, but still gives a FO that is lightweight and dreamy.
This is a new base for Tri'Coterie and one I volunteered to test knit as I had lined up a Rock Island as a special knit for myself after a year of stress and other awful things and this yarn seemed like a perfect match (it so was!). The colourway is "purple rain" and is available as part of October's offering at Tri'Coterie. I keep exclaiming at how warm and airy this shawl is and now my thoughts keep returning to laceweight cardigans in this yarn...


















I used a little over 500m of laceweight. Enough to make a huge shawl, one of my biggest this year, and enough to complete my 11 shawls in 2011 challenge. Yep. I've knit 11 shawls this year (a post on that later in the week). It doesn't seem that many!
















This one gets my "most proud of" award. So much learnt, and the FO is simply gorgeous. My crappy camera does not do this yarn or this colour justice. It really is just lovely and so soft and warm to wear. I am really quite thrilled with it and keep picking it up to admire.

Is there anything that makes a knitter more happy than a yarn and pattern match made in heaven?

Not for the faint hearted

I knit some socks! I'm immensely proud of these. Not only did I make a PAIR (yes TWO socks) but I also managed to make an "extra spicy" pattern with a nonstandard construction.

These are the double heelix pattern by Jeny Staiman from the Deep Fall 2011 knitty. When I first saw the pattern I thought they were very cool, but way too difficult for a not very experienced sock knitter like myself.
















Then the other week at my knitting group the shop had a big box of knitsch yarns just begging for me to have a look through. When I saw the purple (colourway - supernova) and the yellow (yellow brick road) together I was reminded of the socks one of my Ravelry friends made: thegoodwitch made hers in yellow + mulberry and that was that. The colours are bright and bold and a lot braver than I normally choose but they look so great, I think I'll have to try and step outside my colour comfort zone more often. I intended to stash these for awhile while I finished off some more urgent things but... you know how it happens.


















The socks are knit heel out. You start my working a Judy's Magic Cast on and then cleverly work a spiral by switching colours and working JMCO increases at the edges. It's reasonably complicated and I suggest doing this step when the children are in bed. There is an accompanying video to help you cast on and get through the first couple of cycles though. Once the heel is complete there is a PCO and then very easy knitting for the foot and cuff. They are like the perfect combination of learning something new/concentrating hard and then easy peasy knitting. A thoroughly enjoyable knit (which should be obvious from the lack of second sock syndrome)!

I've some other Knitsch (New Zealand hand dyed merino sock yarn) colours stashed but this is my first time knitting it. I love the brightness of the colours and the lovely even dye job. Its a tightly plied merino so does have a tendency to wind back on itself which is not so helpful when you are working with 4 live strands but other than that the yarn was a lovely knit. In 50g skeins it is also a perfect choice for this pattern.

DH says they are my "southland" socks but I don't listen to him - to me, they're my "I'm going to knit that pattern again one day" socks!

Books for August

I'm on a bit of a steampunk binge at the moment. During August I read the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. So far there are 4 books - with another due for release in early 2012.

The series is described as: "comedies of manners set in Victorian London: full of vampires, dirigibles, and tea. They are Jane Austen doing urban fantasy meets PG Wodehouse doing steampunk."

They are hilarious. Funny and light with truly witty dialogue. The main character Alexia Tarrabotti is a woman facing some serious problems - she is without a husband, her social standing is affected by her wayward Italian father, and she is soulless, a secret she must keep from her family and friends. When she accidentally kills a vampire, Queen Victoria sends her trusted advisor, Lord Maccon (werewolf and rather charming alpha male), to investigate. And that's when things get interesting.

I will admit to finding the first third of the first book a bit pedestrian, but once I got further along, I couldn't put it down and read all four books in about a week. I am not normally a fan of the Victorian era but find myself captivated by steampunk at the moment - the retro-futuristic (isn't that a great term?) alternate histories are just so fascinating. The steampunk-ness of these books is on the light end of the spectrum, as is the explicitness of the romance scenes. It's all very light and fun - the sort of the books you could enjoy for some no-thinking required summer reading.



The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook is also steampunk. It's not witty or light or frivolous like the parasol books. There is also no paranormal - just a sinister, dark alternate history of Britain where the people have been secretly infected by nanoagent automatons. "The Horde" rules over most of the world with their radio based technology which allows them to control the masses via the machines they have infected them with. It's pretty grim, and the author does a great job of creating a dark and smoke ridden London with the most unpleasant of histories. The Iron Duke - enigma, a pirate turned local hero who was successful in liberating the country from Horde rule, and Mina, a woman struggling against gender and class discrimination team up to solve a crime that threatens to affect the lives of everyone in Britain. The book has plenty of action, lots of steampunkish automatons and a definitely unique alternative universe. I cared less for the "love"storyline which has some questionable aspects, but overall a wonderfully sinister steampunk novel.

At the moment I am reading, yes another steampunk novel, The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia. This one is different again - the main character, Mattie, is an intelligent automaton. Literally a clockwork girl who has trained as an alchemist and who is about to get caught up in conflict between the Mechanics (including Mattie's creator), the Alchemists and the mysterious gargoyles. The writing is superb, and the atmosphere is almost fairytale-like. So far, a lovely haunting read.

If you've got any steampunk recommendations for me I'd love to hear them!

I'm at 70/100 and 2 books ahead :) You can find all my books on www.goodreads.com

FAULTLINE - a new pattern

Today is the one year anniversary since a 7.1 earthquake rocked Canterbury out of the blue. Wellington is the earthquake risk in New Zealand - not Christchurch - the quake was met with disbelief and shock that it happened on the Canterbury Plains.

When the September quake happened DH was away in Queenstown and I was home alone with our 3 kids. I remember waking up thinking a truck was driving through the house - so much noise (the roaring of the quake itself but also breaking glass and the sound of the bookcase outside my room toppling over) and of course violent rocking. It took me a few moments to realise what it was! The power went out instantly and I spent the next few minutes trying to find a torch, calming our 2 smallest children, trying to get all of my books that had been thrown all over the hallway off the heater before they caught on fire, making sure our daughter at the other end of the house got to me safely - while the house was rocked by more aftershocks.

It seems like another lifetime ago when I think about how unprepared we were.

We thought we were so lucky. Months passed and the after shocks subsided. No one was killed and it even got to the point where they were publishing books full of photographs and stories - a testament to how well we did, how fortunate we were.

Then February 22 happened. It was a smaller quake, but shallower, closer to the city. It killed over 180 people, made hundreds homeless, wrecked havoc on homes, businesses, infrastructure...families. It seems we weren't so lucky after all.

Today Christchurch is still rebuilding. It isn't "over" even though it may not make the news on a daily basis anymore. People are still living in limbo while they wait to find out if their homes can be fixed, they still live with daily shakes - 8500+ since September - and the fear and worry that goes with that. The red zone is still closed to the public - pretty much the entire central business district - while demolition work continues. Entire suburbs have been declared 'red' also - owners have to leave their homes and move away.

It's hard to believe 12 months have passed since that first event. How much has changed for all of us affected since then.

Today my thoughts were with everyone living in Canterbury.

And in remembrance of friends and family living in Christchurch, today I released my very first pay pattern: Faultline.

25% of proceeds (for the forseeable future) will be donated to the Red Cross NZ in recognition of aid they have provided to families (including mine) over the past 12 months.



Faultline combines all my favourite elements in a shawl :- squishy garter stitch, knit sideways, a shallow shawlette shape that wraps enough so you can wear it as a scarf, and an easy to memorize lace.

It is also fully reversible for maximum versatility.



I knit my sample in Fibre Alive Merino Mania which you can buy online from www.joyofyarn.co.nz This is my favourite NZ yarn at the moment and James the owner generously offered yarn support for a couple of my test knitters. At just 320m/100g it also means this is a very quick knit but one that is perfect for showing off those special hand-dyed yarns.



I had a fabulous team of testers. I really wanted this ready to go in time for today, and they all did a stellar job getting their samples knitted and feedback to me. I appreciate their help very much - so many many thanks to Jill, knitapotamus, Knittemptress, Khai, Helen, Jackie and Sam.

The pattern includes instructions for a shawlette, but also how to adapt it as a scarf and a triangle shawl. I knit a shawl sample using some gorgeous autumn coloured gold sparkle sock yarn from Tri'Coterie. A special thank you to Maylin for the yarn, for her encouragement and support, and for knitting her own sample of the pattern.



Faultline costs $4US and is available as a Ravelry download.


Ravelry pattern page: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/faultline