Worldwide Knit in Public Day

yeah - I'm a bit slow in posting this but have lost my access at work so resorted to the slow home internet - you will probably notice a difference in the posts from now on! 

A great day as reported by a whole load of Auckland bloggers and ravelry-ites. I was amazed how many people turned up on the day - and knitting just fabulous stuff.

I spent my time chatting with Catherynne and Sarah and meeting a few other knitters. And getting some more of the DK Smoothie cardi done (which, BTW,  I have frogged the left front for the 2nd time two nights ago!!! grrrrr)

I hadn't been in the new Atrium entrance to the Auckland Museum - what an amazing job they have done with the wooden bulb (I don't know what the appropriate name for it is - onion bulb, beehive??).

The afternoon made us realise just how many knitters are out there, and how cool it was doing stuff together. So we decided to make our irregular wino nights regular and sent a big invite out on Ravelry - Auckland Central SnB, first Tuesday of each month at the  Northern Steamship.

yah for knitting, yah for yarn. Right back to that left front ....

Meme virgin no more!

Freshtea tagged me for a meme - and I'm gonna do it!

What is your obsession?

Finishing my DK Smoothie Cardi!!! Oh, and peanut M&Ms.

What is your weirdest obsession?

Groping in clothes stores - I CANNOT go through a shop without feeling the fabrics of all the clothes!

What are you wearing today?

A Country Road dark blue-black trouser suit and patent black high heels.

What's for dinner?

Chilli Beans, brown rice and rocket.

What did you eat for your last meal?

Tom Yum Soup - from a Trident packet and it was way too full of MSG.

What was the last thing you bought?

Yates Garden Guide - first published in 1895!!!!!

What are you listening to right now?

I was listening to MOS 2004 Annual Anthems while running tonight.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

I'm torn between: 

a) a small, dark Parisian cafe, eating simple beef stew and drinking a busty, bottle of Burgundy red (maybe not the whole bottle in the hour!); or 

b) a wee, churros con chocolate stand in Barcelona early morning, standing around with all the workman eating hot, greasy donuts and drinking thick hot chocolate!!

What language do you want to learn?

Italian - then I could have figured out what ALL those desserts were.

What do you love most about where you currently live?

Seeing the long, big ridge of the Waitakere Ranges everyday.

What is your favourite colour?

Mustard, grey and purple right now. but it could change tomorrow. 

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your wardrobe?

My Nine West spotty cape, my high-waisted black Moochie pants and my Friday Market floral apron skirt with deer pockets.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Running the Domestic Violence and CYPF teams in one of the Family Courts.

Describe your personal style?

It's a multiple personality - I can go from a Suit, to Sporty-Spice, to a boho chic, to gumboots and trackies in a flash.

If you had $100, what would you spend it on?

A piece of ceramic art - something kooky for this small space above some french doors I look at each night.

What are you going to do after this?

A few rows of the cardi of course. and maybe raid the pantry for something sweet.

What are your favourite films?

I could never answer this quickly - I love films - but if I try hard - Little Miss Sunshine, Shawshank Redemption, Pretty Woman, Momento and Dirty Dancing have lifetime memberships.

What inspires you?

texture, pattern, form, images - visual stimulation!

What are your favourite books?

The Yates Garden Guide. And this Portuguese cookbook that just had to come home as well.

Do you collect anything?

Matchboxes, fabrics, cookbooks, shoes, handbags....

What makes you follow a blog?

Actually knowing the person or great photos.

What's the most enjoyable thing you did today?

Ran home from the gym tonight non-stop, after an Abs class without any back pain. so far.

What new skill would you like to learn?

Concreting.

And since I don't usually follow the rules I won't tag anyone but if you want to, why not answer one of the questions in the comments. 

Rosettes

Freebies with my baby beanie sales ... I went through a phase of knitting little rosettes out of my stash for my stalls. Easy to knit and I made way more than necessary so I like to put them in a Toggle beanie sales as a surprise for the buyer.

A quiet weekend on the crafting front, just picking up odd WIPs lying - a hat for Charlie, my DK Smoothie cardi - even the blanket got a couple of rows in. I'm off to Knit Rangers shortly - might get a bit more done there!

KM and MA dropped in today with some old knitting patterns - I love the zany old styles and especially the text - "The Cool Look of Summer", "Delicious as Cream". I seem to find the old crochet patterns look cooler at the moment - mmmm - maybe I should learn to crochet more than granny squares. 

We've had such great weather in Auckland the last week and I took full advantage yesterday with a huge walk around Oratia. I'm not a big walking person but I'm trying to get out more on the local tracks. Not so keen on tramping the forest paths alone sometimes Suburban Tramping is called for. Having walking goals aside from the obvious general health benefits is very important so half-time "carrot" at the Oratia Farmers Market yesterday was key - coffee, caramel croissants and manuka-smoked sausages. More than enough to keep the legs moving!

Auckland Central SnB

Just in case you are reading from Auckland, a bunch of irregular winos from Knit Rangers, are on the bran and making things regular. So an Auckland Central SnB will start meeting the first Tuesday of each month in the Northern Steamship pub on the Quay from 5.30pm. Come along!

Cardi's and Cheese's

I started a jumper last year in DK Smoothie ... BUT it sucked the big FAT kumara ... so I frogged it. And I was nearly finished too - just the sewing up to go - a small skip and a jump away from finishing my first adult project.

But nope, I changed my mind and started a new one ... which I like much better! Here's the back (currently in the second  phase of frogging - that neckline is tricky!!). 

It took me a while to get the gauge for this pattern - a long time in fact until I figured out I was bringing the yarn over and forward - not just forward. Anyway got myself sorted and this is my second lace pattern (the feather and fan scarf for Lara being the first).

And while I would tell you a tale of Worldwide Knit in Public day from Auckland - my camera is not downloading the cheery pictures - so I'll talk about cheese instead! I stopped off in Putaruru a month ago and picked up the award-winning Over the Moon Dairy's Galactic Gold washed rind cheese. Smells like pongy cauliflower and dare I say it - old sleeping bags (yeah yeah don't loose the day job Jazo - food writer I am not)! But hell it tasted sooo good with some tasty crackers. 

The cheesemaker was working away on a Sunday afternoon, making her fab cheeses. Look out for the black wrapping with white writing - I've seen it around in the Auckland upmarket stores.

Better still look out for the fresh mozzarella she is doing soon - a new herd of buffalos has "appeared" in Karaka I think and she's got first dibs on the milky stuff!!

It's a lovely store and you can get a coffee too making it a great pit-stop.

Go Putaruru - something pretty great to get you on the map. Hey the other good thing about Putaruru - it has a dedicated craft store - Dales's Country Wool's & Patchwork! It was shut when I went past - but good to know another spot when you're on the road.

Kuala Lumpur

How can you go past Nasi Goreng in Malaysia - although it was the 'posh' version, it was tasty enough to satisfy my traveller tummy!! (Under the egg is the rice and it was THE best fried chicken/prawns and chilli sauce BTW.)

A quick trip to KL last week for a work thing (meaning 99% of the time was spent in the same 4 walls of a conference room) but I scored out a little time for sight-seeing: of giant shopping malls ...

and knitting shops! I was wondering around the hotel neighbourhood and happen to see this LYS - although they were only selling bags of nasty acrylic yarns and pretty plastic ribbons.

And although I don't put pictures of myself on this blog I had to put this one up - same old conference room, same old people - not talking shop though. I'm the one in the floral, 1974 Hawaii pant-suit with 3 feet flares -in case you couldn't guess - "sch-wing"!

(apologies to the others for showing their faces - I'm guessing you ain't knitters so won't find this blog - but no apologies for Sista J taking the best female costume award - "bam-schicka-wah-waa"!)