I posted this photo on Facebook and someone asked if it was a new pet. Sorry, no, cute as she is, Chandra is not ours. She belongs to Monika. I only visited. To learn how to make soap. 🙂


Yes, it doesn’t look like much but it is soap. Made from scratch by Monika using lye (dangerous stuff, kids!), hibuscus tea, palm oil, coconut oil and olive oil. I only added drops of tea tree and eucalyptus oils and some oat meal. It was fun and Monika gave me some lye so that I can make soap when I’m ready.

And I had a go on her Kromsky wheel! Wheee! Actually, Stephani and Shyma did too but no photos, sorry. It was daunting. Lots of coordination to keep in mind between your feet on the treadles, your hands on the fiber and the direction the wheel is spinning. It was pretty cool though once I got it going, which wasn’t long but it was cool. I said that already.

Yesterday was Amiras Day – yay! I was late arriving because we went and saw that robot movie. It was enjoyable and Patrick had a blast. I brought some newly dyed yarns and some of them already hopped into bags to go and live in other people’s homes. This is Mel’s haul, she loves turquiosy colours so I was not surprised that she would go for the Kingfisher Squishy.

Lots of beautiful finished garments! Here is a sneak peek at Jackie’s gorgeous Lauriel cardigan. She knitted this out of Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend and used about 3.5 skeins. If you’re on Ravelry, you can find more photos and details on Jackie’s project page.

Monika surprised us by coming a little later in the day all the way from Abu Dhabi. She brought her knitting and this one amused us all. It’s a huge sock, yes, but it is meant to be felted so it will shrink into a fuzzy, cushy footie. I’m tempted to dig out some feltable merino and try this one day.

We were all admiring Melissa’s red ring, which matched her WIP perfectly! She is knitting a wristband for a friend in a rich solid red yarn. We haven’t seen her in ages so it’s great to catch up and see her knitting.

Jackie also started a new project using a 2-year old skein of sock yarn she bought from Socktopus. It’s Dream in Colour Smooshy in Giant Peach and she is knitting toe-up socks from Wendy Johnson’s first book. Here is a photo of her toe; she used Judy’s Magic Cast On and we were all having a laugh at the silly Cat Bordhi video on YouTube with the vines and the birds and the tick-tocking clock. *shakes head*  And that pile of yarn in the background?  Jackie’s haul from my little travelling shop – thanks!

One final photo from yesterday, which I hope Mel would forgive me for. Blame Melissa, she pointed out to me how you were concentrating so hard on the fingers of Liam’s Knucks so I snatched my camera and took this. It paid off because you managed to join the fingers together, yay! Enjoy your holiday in Oz and see you after the summer!