blocked now awaiting borders

I knitted a blanket (afghan) in chained diagonal squares. I bought the yarn unlabelled in Wangaratta in 2008 and believed it to be acrylic; after all I only paid $20.00 a kilo for it. While seaming I realised it must have some natural fibre content (probably wool, though possibly mohair) because it kept falling apart as I tried to stitch with it. It's a boucle yarn which means there's an over-spun yarn (probably acrylic) wrapped around an under-spun yarn (natural fibre?). This is fine while knitting or sewing in ends that are attached but means the yarn disintegrates when cut for sewing.

Anyway, after sewing the chains of diagonal squares together the whole thing looked lumpy and I was disappointed as there is a deadline on the finished blanket and the yarn, like mohair, is very difficult to rip. Working on the basis that there must be some natural fibre (almost certainly mohair) involved, I decided to block it - what harm could it do? If it were 100% acrylic it would dry quickly and then shrink back to its original size (and lumpiness). If there were, by chance, natural fibres involved, it should block easily. Judge for yourself: natural fibres?

A wonderful thing about the magic of blocking (apart from getting rid of the awful lumpiness) is that it has grown considerably meaning that it only needs borders along the length to make it a little wider. I’m glad I had trouble with the two knitted on borders I made and went to the trouble of ripping them off – the new borders will be much more narrow!

I did have some help with pin removal – Tom was involved in a cat fight last night: through the window! He scrabbled around on the blanket and several pins were removed in the process (Please note: no animal was harmed in the making of this blanket!)

Now to remove the pins and see what happens…

I lost a little over an inch (3cm) from the width and slightly less from the length; I’m happy with that. What I thought would be 31.5 inches by 63 inches has turned into 33 inches by 70 inches. The side borders will therefore need to be 3 ½ inches wide.

Yay for the magic of blocking!

travel blog Day 2

Today was cold and wet in Wangaratta. DD has a very bad head cold and didn't get out of bed till mid-morning so we had a slow day; which was okay after yesterday's lengthy drive.

After lunch we went to Australian Country Spinners' Mill Shop. My first feeling was excitement. After about five minutes, I was so overwhelmed by choice and variety I wanted to run away!! Choice? How about acrylic yarn at $12.00 a kilogram. The cheapest I can get it at any retail outlet [we're talking Panda yarns here, not $2 shop yarn] is $19.90 a kilogram [$1.99 per 100g skein] at Lincraft! That's a saving of 40%. Since I know some of the yarn was Carnival acrylic [exclusive to Big W] which retails at $2.68 a skein [or $26.80 per kilo] that's less than half price! And a lot of what I knit is done in acrylic because that's what some charities ask for! And, speaking of acrylic, Patons Powder Puff was $10.00 a kilogram; that's a saving of $39.95 over the price at Spotlight! Sure they had some pretty awful colours - but kids love bright orange and red! And still on the acrylic theme? How about mixing it with Tencel to make Zhivago for $1.38 a ball? That's $27.50 per kilogram. Not all the stuff is labeeld, in fact, most isn't; so it pays to know your products and prices before heading in there!

Don't like acrylic? How about wool or wool blends at $27.50 a kilogram? That's Patons Inca or Jet at the equivalent of $1.38 for a 50g ball! Prefer mohair? How about Cleckheaton Studio Mohair at $65.00 a kilogram? Sounds expensive? A kilogram at Spotlight would be $119.90!

Jealous yet?!? We didn't end up buying anything! But before you start worrying about my sanity...we're going back tomorrow! Now we know what's there, we'll have time to think about what we really want and not rush into anything or, worse still, miss out on the bargains! Don't forget, we still have a trip to Bendigo - both the mill shop and the Wool Show, so let's not be hasty! Or greedy! Roll on tomorrow!!

we interrupt the knitting to bring you... a travel-blog

That's right - today's Day 1 of our trip "down south".

We left home at 8.30. First stop - at 11.00 - was a tiny town called Gunning. The population according to one sign is 1,000; according to the welcome sign - 560! DD was impressed by the historical architecture, like the original Catholic church [which has since been replaced] and the old hut which is now a museum.
More amazingly, sites at the caravan park were free [maximum stay two nights!], as was entry to the swimming pool [too cold to swim today - maximum 17*C, which was warm for this time of year]. We had morning tea in Barbour Park with this view.




Lunch was in Gundagai. We didn't see the Dog on the Tucker Box; with all the roadworks I missed it. We ate lunch in a park near the Tourist Information Centre. Filled up with fuel - 169.9c per litre [about $AUS7.00 a gallon!] then we were on the road again.

We stopped for a 'rest stop' in the town of Holbrook. There we saw the most amazing site today: can you guess what this is? Yes, that's right - a real submarine! On dry land! Far from the coast! Does that make it a subterranean? You can read about it here.



Finally, after nearly 700km [approx . 440 miles] we arrived. Yes, we're here: Wangaratta - the home of Australian Country Spinners - suppliers of Patons, Cleckheaton and Panda yarns. Tomorrow, we hit the mill shop!

going south for a week of winter

In Australia, the last thing one who hates the cold would want to do is to go south for the winter; unless one had a very good reason, that is!

DD and I are off to the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo next week, staying three nights in Wangaratta and three nights in Bendigo. Apart from the obvious [the mills in both towns] is there anything else a knitaholic shouldn't miss while in that part of the world?