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I mentioned last month that I was signed up for another hat swap - this time it was a "slouchy hat" to be swapped.

Well, my partner and I have now exchanged our hats (in fact, they both arrived today). The pattern I used for Lisa's hat was the Slouchy Star Crossed Beret - a cabled beret pattern by Natalie Larson.

I used almost one full skein of Naturally Sensation - a semi-felted single yarn, merino and angora blend, in a lovely mauve/lavender shade! You can see it here before and after washing/blocking. 

I followed the pattern as written, except for some needle changes - I started with 5mm needles for the brim, and gradually increased to 8mm around the point of the increase row, and then back to 5mm for the final decreases at the crown. It worked really well, I think.

I'm not sure what pattern Lisa used for my hat, but it is knit in an Elsebeth Lavold yarn (Chunky AL - wool and alpaca) - and by some fluke, the burgundy shade is a near perfect match for one of my favourite winter scarves! 

So, that's my hat swapping over for a while (I'm a bit hatted out with all the beanies I've been knitting). Next up is the tea cosy swap - got my partner assignment today. :-)

I've been a pretty busy knitter, and am now working on my 23rd beanie for KidsCan! When I've finished this one, I'll have one for every hour of the telethon - I'm pretty darn happy with that!

And I've not been the only busy one - I've collected another 22 beanies from friends and family, and know that there are more being knit around NZ. Every beanie means one more warm head, which is great!

Since taking this photo I've finished the yellow (with assorted stranded stitches) beanie, and so I now have 11 finished beanies! 

If I get my act together (after a day of laundry, tidying and finishing up a few other projects) and knit another beanie tonight, I should be on track for my "one beanie a day" goal. :-)

And I've collected five beanies from ladies at spinning (and expect a few more) so it is all good!

If, like me, you enjoy listening to a good audiobook - and happen to enjoy contemporary romantic comedies with heart - then I thoroughly recommend Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Match Me If You Can, and Natural Born Charmers. These a great books, and the audio versions are even better! It's a rare and happy occasion that a narrator can make a good book even more enjoyable (often they have annoying accents, strange emphasis, and other distracting quirks), but Anna Fields/Kate Fleming was one such performer. Sadly, she passed away in 2006, which is a loss to SEP and her audibook fans - I've already seen less than stellar reviews to the two latest books by the new narrator. That's a shame! 

Given that so many people buy Nora Roberts' books, I was kind of suprpised that I didn't enjoy High Noon, which I finished listening to yesterday. The story of a female hostage negotiator, with family and work place drama, a stalker, and a romance intermingling, it should have been the type of suspenseful mix of crime that I enjoy. Not so! The book (and the reading) was rather disjointed, with flashback, and drawn out. By disc 3, I was really only listening because I had yet to collect any more books from the library. By the end of the set of CDs, I was over it. So, I wouldn't recommend this one at all! If I run out of other books to listen to, I may check out some more by Nora Roberts, but I won't be rushing to do so!

If you have any audiobook recommendations, let me know! The same is true for "regular" books - I read a lot, so am always looking for new authors. My latest favourite is Louise Penny, with her Three Pines mystery series - intelligent detective novels set in a small town filled with interesting characters, with great themes and unusual deaths. I'm patiently waiting for the latest book in the series, due in October. I wonder if the others availabe on audio?

When I first moved to Devonport, almost three years ago, I was excited to see that I was within walking distance of the Community House. Walking distances are important when you don't drive, you see, and I was keen to get involved in some activities. Well, due to another committment, it was only three month ago that I started the Life Drawing class at DCH.

I say it's a class, but our tutor Suza, is happy to let us do our own thing, serving more as organiser than teacher. I love it! We've had a variety of models, and the group itself is also varied - all ages, skill level, and styles. It's a very social gathering, and a lot of fun. 

It had been a long time since I'd really drawn anything - I did art at high school, and oil painting with the art society before that. But, despite buyng supplies now and then, I really stopped painting and drawing when I started university. And given I was studing for near on 10 years, it was a long break! And I guess when I came out the other side, I was more "crafty" than "arty", making things more than statements.

Not that I'm making statements with my art now, but I am having fun. I've discovered a passion for soft pastels and pastel pencils, colour and shading, and love the no-pressure environment a lot. I'm glad I finally got around to going. Community Education is a bit in limbo in terms of funding, but to be honest, I don't expect the governemnt to subsidise my life drawing! I'd happily pay more than I do - thoguh I certainly understand the opinions of those running/attendng more vocational type courses. 

For a while, my "arty" moments were left for dabbling in amateur photography, but these days I'm more likely to be photographing yarn and knitted objects than anything else.

One thing I still miss about Christchurch is my proximity to lovely trees, interesting light, clouds, and sites. So, when I headed up to the museum a couple of months back (for World Wide Knit In Public Day, of all things), I took my camera and took a stroll through the domain on my way. Not quite the majestic oaks of Hagley Park, but good enough!.

As I mentioned in m previous post, I'm knitting beanies for KidsCan, and want to see how many I can knit up until the end of the Big Night In telethon - a big knit in? 

I'm shooting for one a day, so I should have at least 23 by the 9th of August. That's one for every hour of the telethon - many more than if I restricted myself to just knitting nonstop on the night/day (and I'm sure my knitting will be better than if I were sleep deprived)! So far, I'm on track!

If you have some spare yarn and time, do join in! I've put out the word on Ravelry, and to my spinning group and a Creative Fibre mailing list, as well as a few friends. It's early days, but a few lovely people have already indicated they will be able to knit some beanies as well - not necessarily 23 each, but even another one is another warm head. :-)

If you are going to join in, let me know - post a comment here (you'll have to register for Vox, but it's free and easy), PM me on Ravelry or contact me on Facebook - my username is 'shessassy' in both places (on Twitter, too, though you'll need to send a request to follow me there). Otherwise, you can email me at sarah@this-chick.com . 

If you visited a Knit World store last year, you may have seen growing piles of kids beanies, donated during their promotion for the KidsCan StandTall Charitable Trust. Well, that campaign is long over and over 15,000 hats were donated  (only the two to the right were mine), but with the upcoming Big Night In telethon on TV3 for the charity, I thought I'd contact KidsCan to see if they are still accepting beanies - I figured it would be something to do while watching the event on TV!* I emailed one of their execs, and she replied:

Thanks for your email - we would LOVE some more beanies thank you! We have just had a request come through for some smaller ones for the younger kids and we had run out, so the more the merrier absolutely.

I know there are lots of other charity knitting things going on right now, but if you have some spare time on your hands and would like to help keep school-aged NZ kids warm as they trundle off to learn, how about using up some of your stash too? :-) 

The original pattern provided by Knit World & Shepherd is linked on Ravelry - Beanies for Kidscan Charity - but any kids hat pattern is fine. If you're not on Ravelry (you really should join), you can download the PDF directly from the Shepherd Yarns website here (that's a direct link, you'll need Acrobat Reader). For a .doc download for the pattern, see the Knit World Knitters Weekend website.  That pattern is knit flat and seamed, but can be easily adapted to be knit in the round if you prefer - or just use whatever pattern and yarn you have handy.

The postal address for KidsCan, and other contact details can be found on their site. Anyone I see in real life, if you want to join in, I'm happy to take care of getting any beanies to KidsCan if you want to pass them to me. If knitting is not your thing, there are plenty of ways you can give to KidsCan and help out NZ kids.

*

I've since realised that the telethon coincides with my birthday, so I hope I won't be at home watching TV all night. My aim is to knit as many beanies as I can before the end of that weekend.

I've almost finished the first one I started last night  in some Patons Merino Totem DK, with a simple slip stitch pattern, and will try to update here with my progress. Let me know if you're joining in!

UPDATE: Beanie #1 is done, and I've cast on for number two!

For the knitters - the finished hat ways 54 grams, so just over 1 ball of the Patons Merino Totem DK, around 95 metres.

I cast on 100 stitches, knit in the round, and then otherwise followed the instructions from the original pattern for length and shaping for the smallest size (adding in the slip -stitch colourwork).  I think it could stand to be a little smaller, so I've cast on 94 stitches for the second beanie. :-)

While it's certainly not the only project I am actively working on, the One Button Cabled Jacket I'm knitting in Patons Inca is the defintely the one I've made the most progress on in the shortest period of time. I cast on on Saturday, and am now about half done. Not too bad!

I will admit to buying the yarn on an impulse - nothing unsual about that, I suppose. Inca is a blend of wool, alpaca and acrylic, warm and thick, but not too heavy. I did have in mind a cabled jumper, but after rifling through pattern books, came across this Sirdar pattern which just about exactly matches the amount of yarn I have.

I am slightly worried that I might be knitting slightly too small a size, but I have my fingers crossed - other things I've knitted with this yarn have been quite stretchy. We shall see soon enough!

Another new project is a repeat of one from last year - little baby booties for Middlemore's neonatal unit. Last year I made twelve pairs, and I hope to at least equal that before the end of winter - so far, I have one bootie...

If you're interested in contributing baby items to Kidz First as well, you can find some patterns and more info on the Creative Fibre Auckland area website who have made knitting for Kidz First a project for this year. Creative Fibre is a national organisation for spinners/weavers and other fibre arts, in case you were wondering. The more the merrier, I am sure. Don't worry if you're not a member of Creative Fibre like me - you don't need to belong to get in on the project (last year I simply posted my donation directly to the hospital). But, if you're looking for a crafty group of people to join, do check them out - I love the "old ladies" (some of the funniest, most hardworking and generous people I know) who go to my spinning group.

It had been a while since I had participated in a swap on Ravelry - the last one was a bag swap, I think. So, when I spotted a new group for swapping hats, with a quick turnaround (we had a month), I jumped on in! (There are a lot of Ravelry bound links in this post - if you don't belong yet, join! It's free, and a wonderful resource for any knitter or crocheter.)

To the right is the hat I made for my swap partner, Kathleen (IrishKPF on Ravelry). The pattern I used is Kaura Hat, by Mari Muinonen. I'd bought the pattern (and one for matching mitts) a while ago and had them queued up for a future project. When Kathleen mentioned she liked cables, I thought immediately of this pattern.

It was a really enoyable knit, with something interesting on every row, between the cables and bobbles and the alternating panels. The decreases in the pattern (which is charted) are very clever, worked in to the cables and the other panels. I absolutely intend to make another one for myself very soon!

The yarn is Treliske Organic Merino 8ply in the natural cream - I think it's nice to send something uniquely NZ overseas. The merino wool is lovely to knit with, and the hat took  less than one and a half balls (I did do one less repeat as as not to have a slouchy hat). I included in the package a skein of Naturally Yarns Angora/Merino in a deep purple, and would have included a cute little kniting sheep NZ souviner magnet (they made me take it out of the package at the post office - who know you can't post magnets?)!

Cables featured in the hat Kathleen made for me, too. The pattern she used in the Irish Moss Toque, which she knit in Rowan Pure Wool DK. The different cables and moss stitch panels are fab, and the colour is perfect! She included in her package a skein of handdyed yarn in soft teals and purples which I'm sure will become something lovely.

I've signed up for another swap in the same group - this time it will be a slouchy hat I exchange. I don't have my partner assignment yet, but already I'm looking through my patterns and stash wondering at the possibilities.

I like the idea of a trading a hat - it's not a huge time commitment, or expenisve in terms of materials and postage, but there are so many possibilities. And for me, it's the perfect time of year to be getting hats (there is a summer swap going on too, but not for me)!

In the same vein, I've also signed up for a tea cosy swap, which is bound to be fun! Between these swaps and the travelling scarf group, and my other projects, I'm a busy knitter!

Looking for something to do on a Tuesday night in downtown Auckland? For a while now, we Knit Rangers (see our group on Ravelry) have been having an irregular winos session (so named for the it's random scheduling and location, and beverage consumption). While KIPing at the World Wide Knit In Public Day event at the museum on May 13 , some of us decided to make it a more regular occurrence, and share the love. So, if you want to come knit/crochet at the Northern Steamship (or at the very least, hang out with some knitters/crocheters), come along!

Auckland Central SnB (or regular irregular winos!!) will meet 1st Tuesday of each month at the Northern Steamship pub on Quay Street from 5.30pm - 7.30pm. Anyone is welcome (sticks, hooks or fingers!)

Hopefully Tues is an easy time for more people, the NSS is central and close to all public transport so everyone can knit, yarn, drink or eat. And we've set a time so people don't feel kinky about going home to feed the family, put the cat to bed or watch good reality TV!

2009 Dates: July 7th, August 4th, September 1st, Oct 6th, November 3rd, Dec 1st

So, if you're in the city and want to meet up with some fellow crafters, why not come along to the next session? We had people from a couple of regular knitting groups at the first, and it'd  be great to meet some more new people.

Of course, if you're a random weirdo, be warned that these chicks will be armed with pointy sticks...