One of the most useful cardigans I ever knitted was this one here. Knit from yarn I found at an op (charity) shop it served me well for six years, so well, I wore it down. I darned and redarned the elbows but eventually there was little left to work with and so I decided […]
Tag: Fairfield Finns
As I write, the house is filled with boxes and empty shelves as we are getting ready to move into our new home in Ballarat. We will have a proper garden again, there’s a little greenhouse, room for chickens and over a dozen established fruit and nut trees in the back and front garden. There’s […]
Bullengarook is a little place an hour north of Melbourne, just near Bacchus Marsh. It is rolling, lush country, perfect for sheep. It is where Maureen Shepherd raises her prize winning Finnsheep at Fairfield Finns. I love the fleeces produced here and have spun many projects from them including Lowtide Lowfi, Yoke of Endurance, Bendigo Enchanted and […]
Shearing in Victoria seems to start in mid October and run through December. Some farms run open days where you can pick out the fleeces you want, others send out fleeces by the kilo in the post and others take orders prior to shearing. I’ve had a special fleece on order for months and months. During […]
The Spinning Certificate I have been undertaking every month for the past 15 months is drawing to a close. The course is run by the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria and coordinated by the exceptionally experienced Carmel Hanna. As part of our assessment, we are required to produce a final project that demonstrates our […]
I participated in Spinzilla last week for the first time. Spinzilla is a week long, international competition organised by the National NeedleArts Association, a US industry group which promotes knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving and various kinds of needlework. For one week, as part of a team (usually a fibre shop or publishing group) or by […]
As promised, some show and tell. This wee Kowhai and Fern Beanie went to the Australian Sheep and Wool Show this year. I have wanted to knit this little cap ever since I saw it, in the 2013 Summer edition of Spin-Off. It seemed so suited to some Finnsheep fleece I had left over from a […]
This is a post full of questions. Perhaps you have some thoughts also? Until quite recently, it was clear to me that the yarns that were local to me were from sheep grown, processed and spun in Victoria. And buying local is good right? With the decline of processing and spinning in Victoria and Australia […]
First finished thing for 2015…Yipppppppeeeeeee! Oh glory, oh goodness, I am so very, very happy with this sweater. It was a pleasure to plan, to spin, to knit and to wear…despite the heat, despite the humidity. I revel in its glorious splendiferousness. This is Enchanted Bendigo, my version of Enchanted Mesa by the wildly genius […]
Last Saturday, our family made the annual pilgrimage to Bendigo for the Australian Sheep and Wool Show. It was a fine winter day, chill but sunny. Bendigo was looking majestic and festively woolly. The Wool Show was here. It looks a little bleak doesn’t it but rest assured, there were lots more folks inside! The […]
