Home of big clear skies

Handsome buildings, so different from the heavy squatness of Melbourne bluestone.  Adelaide is also home to Haigh’s chocolates since 1915, the favoured chocolates of fictional Melbourne detective Phyrne Fisher and the elegant Regent Arcade. Just off Rundle Mall, Regent Arcade where you will find Have You Met Charlie? a shop selling Adelaidian handmade jewellery,  homewares and skincare products such as Shanghai Lil and the Scarlet Fez.

This is St Kilda adventure playground near Salisbury with its giant slides, fort and pirate ship actually built into the shoreline.

On our way to Bellair, I visited The Drapery. It is the only fabric shop I have ever visited that specifically caters to the new home sewist.  The owners stock heaps of indie sewing patterns, a huge collection of linen and have curated an extraordinary collection of wondrous printed fabrics.  They make lots of the patterns they stock and document the outcome on their blog.  You can see real women, wearing real clothes they have made and advice on making the pattern yourself. You can buy online without worry as the lovely owners will talk you through fabric drape and finish and send you pics or even samples. You can follow on Instagram (@thedrapery) to see the new fabric arrivals. I bought some patterns. The one for leggings is reviewed here.

Past The Drapery is the tunnel warren at Bellair National Park.  There are heaps of walks here, the old Government House and lots and lots of beautiful stonework.

The nine hour drive to Adelaide was perfect for some good solid knitting.

I also got to catch up with Aisha from Needleworks Collective who has just moved to Adelaide.  Look what she made me…pocket hankies from an old quilt.

Aisha is running a GiveWrap workshop in November in Adelaide if you are a local.  The details will appear on the Needleworks website very soon.

And don’t forget to hop over to block-a-day on Monday to read Lily’s blog hop.