Trying not to do a depressing post....

Due to the last 6-7 weeks, much of what I have written here has been tainted with misfortune.  And I don't mean it to be, truly!  BUt I guess when the focus of your world becomes someone else's health, well you can't really help it.
The day after Shane was diagnosed with the Tumour, I had to make phone calls to ask for help.  As we were in the middle of reno's and the lino had been laid on the Friday, I was really stuck as I had no oven, washing machine, shower, bath, vanity, fridge, laundry tub in place.  Luckily we had the toilet, the kitchen sink and the dishwasher.
And the next problem I faced is that Shane is exactly the sort of person I needed to call!  Handy, capable and able to tackle most jobs.  Luckily we have a friend who is a plumber, and he came over on the Sunday to do all sorts of things for us, while his wife watched the kids.  Another friend came over on the Saturday and put back the fridge and washing machine.  But the oven was still tricky.  Shane had unwired it, and I really couldn't trust his wiring, so I knew I had to get a sparky in.

The person I called was Paul McLeod - the head of technology at Cambridge High School.  I did a practicum at CHS when I did my teacher training 2 years ago, and really enjoyed being in the tech department.  Such a lovely group of men, and had I not got the job where I did, I would have worked as a relief teacher at CHS until I was able to be squeezed in somewhere.  Such a lovely team.  After my prac finished, I saw an advertisement for a workshop technician for 2 hrs per week, and Shane approached them for the job.  He's been there since, and has really enjoyed his 2 hours in the man cave each week - fixing lathes and sharpening chisels, and he is able to use the facilities whenever he needs to out of hours for small welding jobs etc.  They love him too as it frees up the teachers time as they can leave the repair jobs for him in the weekend.

Paul was a great help when I called.  He gave me numbers to call, and over the next few weeks called a few times to check on progress.  He was understanding when Shane couldn't get in there, and even more understanding when Shane and I started doing his 2 hrs a week together over the last few weeks as I can't trust him to be in a workshop alone with his seizures and the like.

Sadly Paul took his own life on Sunday after what sounds like a long battle with depression.  He is survived by his wife of 42 years and his 3 daughters.  Today was the funeral, and I was holding it together pretty well until the daughters took the stage and the grief poured through them.

I'll miss him.  He was a bloody good colleague, a mentor, and an all round funny nice bloke.  I don't understand why it happened, why he all of a sudden didn't feel like he could reach out and ask for help.  I mean - I asked him for help 6-7 weeks ago, and he delivered.  Didn't he realise there were people who would do the same for him?

So - trying not to be a depressing post, but there it is.

On the lighter side of things, I have done some dyeing today, and I am getting my giveaway together!  Hopefully it will be ready in a week or so in time for Christmas!

Sock Yarn Swapsies - TNN

It swap time again in the TNN halls of residence!



I received this today - its just lovely! I am going to cast on with it immediately:


Not sure who it is from, I am OK with these things staying a secret usually. I'm not sure why, I guess I just used to get so excited about finding out what things were, I sort of wore myself out.

So there is 100g of sock wool (we specified a good quality mix this time around), a lovely little felted ball which I can't decide what to do with - definitely not for the kids.... and a pattern for socks - Peacock Tail Socks.

My swapper has done a lovely job, the colours are rich and vibrant, and with it being her first semi solid, I think she has done a cracker job.

So - to my Sock fairy in Christchurch (if your return address is genuine....) - THANKS!!!

Calling all customs!

I had a query about customs - whether I am up for them at the moment.

Yes I am!

In a week I will be on school holidays, so that's 2 weeks of being at home - bliss!

I am interested in doing a dye up or two, so if you want to contact me for a custom - fjwolff at ihug dot co dot nz

At the moment I have the following in stock:
4 ply machine wash 100%
4 ply machine wash sock wool (70/30)
8 ply machine wash 100%
and 200g each of 2 and 3 ply lace wool.

I am interested in jumper lots - so if you were thinking of a larger dye job, let me know.

Roll on last week of term ;)

YSV3

Yarn Swap Version 3.

This was sent to Sheryl in Taranaki. She has let me know she received it, and she knew it was from me, so here is a shot.



Its Bendigo Rustic 8ply, and the theme is honey.

I originally dyed this up to make another rainbow dress, but I ended up liking it so much, and it fit with a theme so nicely, so I decided to send it to Sheryl instead. She is on a campaign to knit a sweater a month at the mo, so I doubt socks will make on her needle until she gets through her February and March jumpers ;)

Going live soon at Craft Fetish

This is my latest idea to sell through my online store Yarn-A-Du at Craft Fetish.

The Rainbow Dress by the lovely Tikki is a very popular item to knit in NZ. After the great comments on my last dresses on both Ravelry and TNN, I decided to dye up kits for people who want a similar sort of effect. Tikki thinks its a great idea too ;) - Thanks Georgie!



Rainbow kits, using a superwash NZ made DK/8 ply wool, come with two colours. The main colour is a variegated wool dyed with different repeats that will pool in unique ways on the skirt. Included in the kit is matching semi-solid, kettle dyed wool designed to be used for the bodice.


The approximate breakdowns are 50g and 150g, but there are small, medium and large kits.

I anticipate that there will plenty of wool to make one rainbow dress, and possibly a matching dolls dress, or maybe a beanie for your little girl.



Of course - there is nothing to say you have to use them for rainbow dresses - maybe for a special boys item of your choosing.

Going live Wednesday 21st Jan at 7pm. 7 kits available at this stage - more to follow!

Rainbow Dress

I got to make a rainbow dress!!! YAYAY! I have always wanted to make one, but dont really know anyone to make one for, as it seems a bit strange to force knitted items on people with girls ;)



A few days ago someone on TNN asked if there was anyone who would make a rainbow dress for them, as they are a non-knitter. I jumped at the chance!

I scoured my stash trying to decide what I was going to use, as there was nor real colour specification. Finally I cracked into my shop stash (Yarnadu at Craft Fetish) and decided to use this 10ply rainbow and another ball that was sitting in a very tangled skein that I had put months ago in the too hard basket.



What a result! I used every single scrap of the yarn - so all up about 180g of 10ply, and knitted the pattern as a 12m size with 4mm needles - hoping that it would come out the right size for a 2-3yo.

I absolutely love this dress, I love the colour repeats, and the combination. I am so proud that I dyed both the yarns, and they make me feel very "competant" as a dyer. Not quite enough to throw my job out the window and dye wool, but all the same enough to get the creative juices going to do some dyeing in the next week. I haven't done any dyeing for a few months now - been busy and all that, but you know, I should do some more as I am pretty good at it!



So now that one rainbow dress is done, I am trying to decide if I want to do anymore. I think that if I do, I will need to ensure that I have a cool colour change to look forward to, as it was this factor that made me charge ahead and knit it in silly heat for a whole day!



Well done Tikki - a great design, and I think a lovely result.

A jumper lot!!!!

At my first market, only a month ago, I was asked to do a custom dye job of enough for a 7yo boys jumper.
EEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!


I really wasn't sure I could get it to be consistent enough, so I said yes (silly me...) and then found some wool, and then I did a trial run, got the OK from the customer, and went ahead and dyed it!

So here it is.



I'm very happy with it, it was a bit of fiddling around, but I reckon it will look really good knitted up. All up about 600g, which I am really proud of.

The markets are going OK. I have a big one this weekend - she was very very happy to fit me in, and this market often has a waiting list, so from the feedback I have been getting, all will be well!

I dyed up about 500g of rainbow as well today - this is by far my best seller, it just disappears as quick as its available!

If anyone is after any custom dyes - please let me know, I am happy to oblige :)

By the way, the spunky bag that the wool is in - its actually the package from the sheets I bought last week. Doesn't it look fantastic for 12 balls of wool????




OK - its not coming up on blogger, sometimes this program bloody hates me!!
I'll try and add them later.

More dyeing

This is my second batch of dyed wool. I'm happy with most of it. Its hard when some is great, and some is poxy, and then a couple of them are somewhere in the middle.



I just hope it sells!!!

Ahh - thats better!

Dont they look nicer rewound?

Still a couple on the line, but at lease these look better than they did all hangy and stringy and messy.

Dyeing Day

I finally found all my dyeing things from the move, and I've committed to selling wool and maybe (hopefully) cushions at a market at the end of Jan.
So these are my efforts for today.







Seems like such a lot of hard work, for not that much in the form of results!

But at least its about 1kg of wool dyed. I'm happy with some of it - but not so happy with the large skein of 8ply. Its felted a bit which is disappointing. I have another 2x 200g hanks, and I will have to break them up into 100g lots. 200g is too much to dye on my pot.

But a couple of them are awesome!!! Love about 4 of them. I'm having trouble getting a limey yellow, and pinks. So a couple of them have been dyed over.

In amongst this is some Treliske that I received in a swap. It was dyed bright red and blue, and was just never really my thing, so I over dyed it, and while I'm still not all that happy with it, I wil at least use it in its current form.

I have about another 1.5kg of wool left to dye, so I will probably try and do that next week sometime, and definitly aim for some subtle colours. These are very colourful!!!!!