Friday round up

Bubblegum pink and lime green wool on anodised purple needles...I think I am in need of a Lara fix...phew lucky she is coming to Auckland today!

Working on a soaker (pilch) pattern for new knitters, gotta make them eyecatching!

things I love about moving back to Auckland #1

the walk from our local cafe and shopping precinct to the carpark is through native bush, not recently planted shrubs but acres of old growth bush.

Bad; when the pool workings have not suffered any maintainence over the past 5 years or so, and the Pool man tells you that the spa heater is the type that Insurance companies have listed as "you are not covered if your house burns down because of this spa heater"

Good; when the Pool man quickly, quietly and very reasonably replaces all of the problem components, co-ordinates various tradesmen, and gives you peace of mind (and a solar heater which finally works) for half what you thought it was going to cost.

I am returning to paid employment part-time, my previous employer has made me an offer which I would be silly to refuse, it will be nice to spend a couple of hours a day with my old colleagues, I worked with the best people, plus the job is "all care, no responsibility" and just for a three month contract.

Finally there is Knitting group progress, the cafe I had organised for us to meet in was bought out by Burgerfuel (who do make the best burgers on the planet) but I was still bummed because it was a nice cafe and the owners were very supportive.

I had a chat with Jo from the Packing shed cafe, who would love us to meet there, Jo's Mum was a Singer knitting machine tutor, and is trying to get Jo and her sister knitting for preemies for the hospital, she is digging patterns out for us in case anyone else wants to help out.

The Packing shed is exactly what it sounds, an old orchard packing shed in Oratia, the cafe is full of artworks for sale, comfy tables, chairs and sofas, seating under the trees outside, and plenty of parking.

First meeting Sunday 1 April(not joking!) between 2pm and 4pm, partners and kids are welcome, there is a great curios store next door, and Artisan winery cellar door on the same property, which should keep husbands occupied for hours. I'll be the one knitting, probably towards the back of the cafe where the larger tables are.Click this link for the address and map. Do not be shy, just come along with any knitting, pull up a chair and have a coffee.

Isn't this beautiful? I bought it from the Craft shop/newsagent down the road from me...the Russian owners bought the newsagent a year ago, and are slowly turning it into a craft shop, they are passionate about carft work, and make felt sculptures themselves. This pony and some other dolls and toys are sold on behalf of the makers in Tajikistan, it is nice that NZ dollars are appreciated somewhere!

Have a good friday!

Extra! extra! we're in the news!

hey look at that cute baby in the Herald's small business section!

Many happy returns

It's the first day of spring in England

we love you Mama / Nana

Happy Birthday

I owe you some socks

Selling ourselves short

Knitting has often provided extra income to families with few other choices, we all know the stories of children having to knit a certain number of rows before dinner, of knitters walking to market and knitting stockings on the way, of shepherds knitting while watching their sheep.

Knitting provided an income to genteel Victorian women who had fallen upon hard times, and in pioneer New Zealand sometimes the women provided the only income, when the weather was bad and the crops failed. Woollen clothes were necessary in the damp, cold climate and a good knitter could earn enough to keep her family.

In the 60's and 70's when cheap clothes started flooding our markets, and knitting was no longer a vital part of the household economy, it passed from necessity to pastime, and the value diminished.Grandma knitted for babies and children because she had the time, over time became a caricature.

Now, the world is so fast, we are all always busy, but yearning for a simpler life, a connection with others, with the land, with the past. We try to lessen our impact on the planet, recycle, try to grow something - even if it just herbs on the kitchen window sill, or a hydroponic lettuce in a jar of water, if we can afford it we buy organic food, hybrid cars and environmentally sound homes. When we craft, it is for pleasure, to relax, to connect and socialise, we use the best quality materials available to us - to make the experience as rich as possible, we know that buying a Kim Hargreaves kit will cost us more than a ready made cardi from the High street, but by buying the kit we get the pleasure of making and then wearing a well designed garment, and maybe even adjusting it slightly to our own bodies. We expect to pay a decent price for Rowan, Artyarns, Colinette because we know that they are well made yarns which will pay a good dividend in return for the time we invest.

People sometimes ask my why I charge so much for my knits, and the answer is simple - because that's what they are worth. I use the best quality yarn I can find, sometimes I pay wholesale, sometimes the seller doesn't need to wholesale as their product is in high demand, so I pay full price, I also pay in NZ dollars which are worth about 70c US, so I have to use more of them. I use only the best quality notions, trims and fastenings that I can find, in order to ensure that the garment lasts to be passed down through numerous babies. My designs are original, I have to work out the patterns and scale them, I use time consuming detailing to try to differentiate my garments from mass-produced products. I work out the cost of production, and then add my time, but not my time as I used to charge for it when I was employed, but basically a third of that, I pay myself less than I would be willing to pay an employee, despite what that employee thought their time was worth. Enough people are willing to pay this price for the garments, I know they are not for everyone, and I am not complaining at all, I am enjoying my work immensely, and feel privileged.

The crux of this post lies here: yesterday Flash and I visited a favourite local cafe which has a couple of seperate little shops attached to it (the items I saw were not in the Packing shed itself) one of which sold rock art at highish prices ($125 for a smaller item)we went inside, and found a number of handknitted baby items - bonnets, lacy matinee jackets, all reasonably well made, and wrapped in clear plastic. What blew me away was the pricing, $8.00 for a lace bonnet and $17.00 for a matinee jacket. I swiftly calculated...even if the yarn was absolute bargain basement acrylic it would have cost at least $2.00, it looked like wool, so let's say $5.00, it was fine - 3 ply, so would have taken even the fastest knitter at least a full day to knit and sew up, even if we give this superhuman the benefit of the doubt and say they made it in 6 hours - that is still an hourly rate of $2.00 max an hour - assuming the shop doesn't take a cut - yeah...right. Does this person expect to make a living from her knitting - um no, I am going along with the stereotype here...but if someone asked me I would say - Nana, retired, enjoys knitting for pleasure, process knitter, sells them because she makes them instead of "makes to sell" probably uses stash yarn, so feels she has no production costs.

The only problem I have is that she has undervalued herself, and thereby adds to the continuing undervaluing of all of us who "make" for a living, her garments could have been doubled in price and still be reasonable, a mass-produced acrylic cardi from China often costs more than $17.00. I try to make it clear that the only sweatshop labourer in my business is me! I am not interested in outsourcing to China or India, despite the many emails I receive from manufacturers suggesting that I go that way. I am interested in a self-sustaining, people friendly, honest business, where everyone along the chain is valued.

My customers value my products enough to buy them, some even sending me photos of their beloved babies and Grand babies wearing their Just Jussi knits. I know it sounds "new-agey" but in this post-industrial society people crave the solid and the real, and we have to be prepared to not only pay for it - but to charge for it.

To push the point a little further - my friend built her own house, we all helped with concrete laying, or drywalling, painting - whatever we could do, but she worked her guts out, learnt how to build from scratch. The house cost her around $16 thousand dollars to build, and she lived in a housetruck for over a year, until her wee cottage was finished, she had paid $40 thousand for the land, and was desperate not to have a mortgage.If she wanted to sell that property today, should she ask less than someone who had paid someone else to build the house? is the house worth less because she built it in her "spare" time? No - the house is worth what the market says the house is worth, and worth more to the market because of the beautiful finishing touches, the stained glass windows, the hand carved fretwork, the mosaics and garden.

The other outcome that I have noticed from this tendency to undervalue our work is that others in the same business as me, pay knitters to handknit for them, the knitters once again receiveing far less than the minimum wage. I do not understand how a business owner can convince the bank to lend them money based on such a flawed model, it may be ok in the beginning to have your Great Uncle Bert, or Aunty Mary knitting for you, but eventually you are going to need more knitters, and you are going to have to pay them properly. If would be laughed at if I suggested to my GP that he should charge me less because he works out of his home office 1 day a week, or that my accountant should reduce his fees because he is over 65 and drawing supperannuation, everyone deserves to be paid what they are worth when they engage in the money economy.

So what do you think? If you make softies, handpaint yarn, embroider ipod cosies and sell them - do you ask what they are worth, or do you think they are somehow "lesser" for being handmade? Do you respect the workmanship in the crafts you see in shops or do you just say "oh I could do that!" Would you happily hand over $200 for a drawing, but baulk at $50.00 for handknitted socks? I am not writing this so much for me - I have found a little niche, I will keep working happily, but I feel it is so important, particularly for Mothers, who tend to undervalue themselves anyway- to realise that what you do is worth valuing.

Friday round up

In which your blogger fills up a post with miscellaneous musings that wouldn't fit anywhere else.

Item 1: I love my friends - Ailsa, Donna, Donni and Sharon banded together for my birthday and bought me the contents of my Amazon wishlist - sneaky chickies! It was all knitting of course, and I was blown away. ( I was also very nervous when I saw the Post Office lady bringing out the Amazon boxes - I tried hard to remember an online buying frenzy, for a moment I thought I had Amazon amnesia) Now I am knitting socks on 2 circs and nodding in agreement as I read the Opinionated knitter - thank you.

Item 2: This landed in our living room, it is very big, 10 cm long (that's Charlotte's hand) it is a NZ giant bush dragonfly, and I have never seen one before in my life...didn't even know they existed. After the obligatory rescue from the cats and placing on the table for a photo, it was put in a tree where it remained for a few hours before moving on. I emailed a photo to Flash at work - his PA reads all emails first - I wonder what her response was!

Item 3: Tippett's nursey 134-136 Williamson Ave,Grey Lynn, Auckland, Phone 09-376 4756has a few Curry Plants for sale (Murraya Konigii) these are the green curry leaves, also known as Kari Patta, and essential to my favourite Chicken Kohlapuri recipe. Every other nursery I have visited have said "no, no, no - they don't grow in NZ" they do...but short of stalking Indian people, they are very difficult to get hold of. (I mention this here as anyone who knows me well, knows the depth of my passion for these aromatic leaves) I am trying to grow some from curry leaf stems purchased from the Avondale market, but it's not looking good, so I am the proud owner of two little curry trees from Tippetts. note: Frasier has realised how much the curry trees mean to me - he has made it his mission to seek and destroy, he has been banished from the upstairs deck.

item 4: wonderful surprise arrival of yarn from Tai Tapu, this is a thickish (5 ply weight) superwash merino in natural cream, not certified organic, but raised according to organic principles. Look at the lustre in this swatch - yummy!

Item 5: Flash is away (I'm in Hong Kong buying you a new camera - in the teenage WOW, metafilter etc lingo...don't ask) so the girls and I went shopping last night, I know that I had said that I wasn't buying myself anything this year - apart from the absolutely necessary...well yesterday morning I awoke to find that Flannelette pjs and a warm dressing gown and slippers were very necessary indeed. We are all set for a friday night in with pizza and movies!

the view from here

There are cats, and then there are Bengals...I had been told this, I believed it, I had met some adult Bengals and some teeny weeny baby Bengals, and they were everything our family wanted in a cat - talkative, intelligent, different, just like our kids.

As a child I showed my cat "Mitzi" she was a stunning Silver Tabby British shorthair, her cage was always covered with ribbons, and I made good pocket money out of the sweepstakes, the judges loved her pliant good nature, she was the smartest cat we ever had. My family has always had cats, except for our stay in Oz (where I had to cuddle the cats on my walks) so I have had plenty of feline experience.

Frasier has rocked my world, he is demanding, and unrelenting - he is the cat version of a toddler, he cries when someone leaves the house, has very clear ideas (which clash with mine) about what he is going to eat, loves his toys...and Layla's toys, and Jussi's toys...(read my green chibi holder - not the pink or the white, only the green, and my photolink cable)

Frasier walking off with my chibi again

and my cable...

and climbing my leg when I take them away...my view looking down

This happens a few times a day,we are getting better at anticipating his next move, just like a toddler he gives you clues, he vocalises to himself and paces when he is about to do something "naughty", so we have warning. He learns new "words" everyday, and chats with us constantly - "where are you?, where are you going?, what's that?, can I eat it?, no I want meat - I said meat not biscuits!" oh and he definitely has a word for "no"

Having teenagers has made it a lot easier to train Frasier though, everyone in the family helps - if he jumps onto the table everyone responds the same way, by saying "down" and placing him on the floor, so even though he is full on, he isn't being spoilt too much.

I am so glad that we decided to keep Layla, if I had known that Bengals really need another cat around I would have bought two. He is busy all day long and Layla helps to relieve him of some of his boundless energy by chasing him relentlessly, she has taken on some of his behaviour too, they both follow me throughout the day, and she has learnt his words as well. Unfortuantely I have had to seperate them at mealtimes, Frasier vomited 2 mornings in a row, I called the vet and had a chat, and we worked out what was happening, Frasier vacums his meat and then vacums Layla's, then of course the inevitable happens and it all comes back up. Yuk.

In other news, I have a FO that I can show you for a change, a simple garter st scarf for Blaise, long and skinny (30 sts on 3.5 mm needles until the skein of Koigu ran out)

and finally a word about Lichen.

A couple of eco-nazis, sorry, concerned citizens have emailed me anonomously (chickens) to advise me of my evil ways, apparently Lichen is endangered in some places and my suggestion that people use it dye wool is abhorrent, and I should be pilloried for the suggestion.

I would like to make a couple of comments in my defence.

1. I live in New Zealand - little country in the South Pacific, not part of Australia, lot's of sheep.

2. In NZ we are quite good at conserving flora and fauna, ok we aren't great, but we're up there, our government has just spent 10 million dollars to save some snails.

3. The upshot of this is that we don't have the huge populations, acid rain and deforestation issues that North America and Europe have, so our local lichen population is very healthy, thank you. I agree that dyers should act responsibly when gathering plantstuffs, and should be aware of their local environment. In my local environment I was able to gather a small pot of lichen from pruned branches and windfall, this is more than enough to dye 2 kilos of wool, and will last a year or two if stored correctly.

I would suggest that if anyone wants to use plant dyes ensures that the plant is not endangered locally, gathers a small amount, or grows plants for their own use.

Elemental

I'm working on different shapes this season, organic, unusual, unexpected shapes, trying to move away from the traditional school of "back, fronts, sleeves" and focus on fluidity and clothes that move with the body.

Clothes that fit those round little bundles, avoid gaps at tummys and backs, and swaddle in comfort.

I'm playing with sideways knitting, holding stitches, and deeply rippling necklines which evolve into sleeves with just a hint of shoulder shaping, exploring shapes which provide freedom of movement and cocoon the body.

A day in the life...

secret knitting, so here is Frasier's typical day: Love bites on Jussi's foot "help" with the knitting "help" Layla with her tailEnsure the wheels on Flash's briefcase are spinning freely
keep Flash warm

All around the houses

I have had a couple of emails from people who for whatever reason cannot read .pdfs, so here is the Natural dyeing tutorial, but before I start with that, this weekend whilst making Yoga (Pilates) socks for my Mama, (2 on 2 circs, took me a bit to figure out, but now I'm rip roaring along) I had a realisation, the Yoga Socks pattern can be simplified to almost nothing, thus:

Knit sock from top down using any pattern you like (but one that includes a couple of inches of rib would be best), when you get to the heel shaping cast off the number of sts the pattern wants you to use for the heel, work the round until you get to the place you cast off, cast on the same number of sts and work across them, continue until the foot portion is the length you want (some rib is good here too) then cast off. Simple.(slaps head)

I have started a Webring for knit blogging parents of teenagers, if you have teenagers and a sense of humour please sign up, we need to band together! Click on the "join" button on the ring in my sidebar.


Dyeing wool with organic material
(And no harmful chemicals!)

Dyeing is just magic! You take ordinary household ingredients, some bits of plants, boil them together and “hey presto!” you have colour. Get your kids to join in, just make the tasks age appropriate, and they will have a story to tell their friends, a doozy of a “show and tell” and warm fuzzies about wool and nature.

This tutorial is basically teaching you how to test dye with plant materials, it will give you the skills to go on and experiment with plants from your local area.

I am a knitwear designer and manufacturer, currently I make 2 clothing ranges for babies, basically one is organic the other is not, the organic range is made from certified organic, undyed cream merino wool, beautiful in itself, but I felt the need for an injection of colour. I spoke to the yarn manufacturers, who explained to me that it is very difficult to find commercial organic dyes, and the metals used to mordant the wool are poisonous, so at the moment they choose not to dye, which is understandable. I didn’t want to use food type dyes (drink mixes, food colouring etc) because I figured that the parents who are buying organic don’t want food colouring inside their kids and wouldn’t want artificial colouring on their kids clothes.

I remembered back 15 years when I played at dyeing yarn with plant material, I grew madder (the plant, not a state of mind!) coreopsis and woad, I gathered lichen and boiled it up to release lovely apricots and tans, I didn’t keep any details of these exploits, but I remembered enough to get started.

A few of the trees on our new property are dripping with a lichen called “Old Man’s Beard”, it is green and hairy, and comes of the tree easily, chopped finely and boiled it releases a tan dye with no need for mordants, the bright oranges it gives up help us to understand that our ancestors did not live a black and white existence, that they had a need for colour, and found I in the most unusual places.
There is another common lichen here, which grows in frilly circles; it often has a black covering on the back which helps to make the dye a darker shade.

I also picked up some plant materials from a craft shop, Rose Madder (ground), Cutch (a type of resin), Cochineal (the famed bug) and Brazil wood sawdust.
Next came the testing, skeins of 10metres worth of wool were wound, and each was tied differently, so that I could remember which mordant I used for each skein e.g. 3 ties, 4 ties, ties with 1, 2 or more knots. I suppose we should go into tutorial mode now, so here are the instructions step by step.

1) Gather together your equipment, I use a couple of old saucepans from the op shop, both have lids and both are clearly labeled “Mum’s dyeing” which never fails to illicit gales of laughter from the kids. You will also need a sieve, at least 4 small bowls, 2 larger bowls for rinsing and soaking, a wooden spoon or two, plenty of rags for wiping up spills, an apron and something to protect your kitchen from splashes ( plastic tablecloth). If you have the space, consider using a gas burner and doing your dyeing in a garage or in the back garden, cooking up that plant material can pong a bit! You will also need pen and paper to keep a record of your experiments.

2) Make sure you have your plant material in a usable state, chop leaves or lichen finely, have dry spoons to measure out your dry materials (make sure that everything you use for dyeing remains for dyeing – these dyes aren’t poisonous, but it is just good practice when dyeing) Assemble your mordants (these are chemicals which help the colour “bite” into the yarn – I am only using non-poisonous mordants in this tutorial) you could use Table salt, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda, citric acid or vinegar – all of these should be available from the supermarket – try the baking section.

3) Skein your yarn (use non-superwash wool only, as superwash is hard to dye evenly, these dyes only work with wool) you will need a skein for each plant you wish to use, and for each mordant you are planning to use with each plant. E.g. say you want to dye with Cochineal, you want to try citric acid, vinegar and cream of tartar as mordants, you also want to try one skein without any mordant, so you make up 4 trial skeins, and tie each one differently – as I mentioned before I use 4 plain ties for skeins with no mordant, 3 ties for skeins using cream of tartar, 4 ties with 2 knots for bicarb of soda – come up with your own method, then WRITE it down! In the heat of the moment you will not remember – ask me how I know!

4) Place the number of skeins you will be using in a bowl of warm water and leave at least an hour, now you can make the dye.

5) Place the dye material in a saucepan with the water, I started with 1 teaspoon of dry material to 1 litre water, with lichen I use 20grams to 1 litre, and with leaves I would use at least a cup of fresh chopped leaves to a litre. Bring to a boil (watch carefully to ensure no boil overs) then simmer for at least ½ an hour, strain through a muslin (or teatowel) lined sieve, and pour the resultant liquid dye into separate bowls for each mordant (or not) that you are using.

6) Pour 1 bowl of dye back into the (now rinsed) dyepot, add the skein and the mordant (try a ¼ teaspoon to start, add a little more if you wish) and add a little water if it is too low, simmer for at least 10 minutes. If you were dyeing a larger quantity of yarn I would recommend simmering until the water is almost clear, but that is unlikely to happen with these test skeins.

7) Remove the yarn and place in a bowl of clean, warm water, rinse until the water is clear, squeeze out excess water and place on a towel to dry a bit. Repeat the process until you have used all of your skeins, if you find a particularly nice colour you may wish to dip dye one of your earlier skeins, just place part of the skein in the dye pot and let the rest sit on the handle or side of the dye pot (careful not to let it near the element) leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
Finally hang your skeins in the shade to dry, make notes of any that bleed colour or fade upon drying. I hang my test skeins half in- half out of a shoe box in the sun for a couple of weeks, using some commercial yarn as a control, then I can ascertain whether a dye is going to fade too quickly to make it useful.


8) You will notice that your skeins may be very different shades or even different colours, this is the action of the mordants, and using your notes you can now go on and dye larger amounts of yarn, varying the amounts of mordant and dyestuff to suit. Keep detailed notes of all aspects of your experiments, especially when using fresh materials – was it spring or winter when you collected them? Which part of the plant did you use? This way you may be able to get repeatable shades.

Here are my results:
Madder, mordants from bottom to top: vinegar, citric acid, baking soda, baking soda plus cream of tartar.


Cochineal beetles, mordants from left to right:
Salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, citric acid, no mordant.



Cutch, mordants from bottom to top: baking soda, vinegar, citric acid, cream of tartar.

Lichen (Old mans beard)
From bottom to top:
No mordant, no mordant, citric acid (brighter orange)

Brazil wood, dyed skeins first with no mordant (apricot colour), then removed skeins and added 1 tsp baking soda to the pot, purple colour emerged!, dip dyed skeins.



The internet and library have loads of resources, books of dye plants, and more involved dyeing instructions, this is just a simple tutorial to introduce you to natural dyes without the drama of using harsher mordants, if you don’t have little kids around you may want to pursue the metal mordants and chase the really exciting colours that they provide.

Websites you might like:
White Dragon – article about historical dyes
Pioneer Thinking – good list of plants to consider
Florilegium – wonderful plant list and resource

the question

Why aren't the Chinese buying my gorgeous baby clothes?

answer: (thanks to Kris) justjussi.com, justjussi.co.nz and justjussi.com.au are banned in China!

poor little Chinese babies.

The adventures of Flash part 5

Flash mentioned recently, that perhaps you - gentle reader, were missing reading about his exploits, his faults, foibles and cockamamie schemes. I replied - yeah, probably NOT, but then recalled that he had actually received a bit of fan mail in the past, so agreed to a couple, over a few posts.

This post is about "the car", better known as "the beast"
see the car, see it's aerodynamic styling, see it's sporty black beauty, see all the bits that hang off the bottom of it and force my husband to take 2 hours to cross a speed bump becuase he has like...an inch clearance.

see the driveway, it is steep and a bit bumpy

see the road, also steep, narrow and with crappy tarmac that peels off as soon as he puts his foot down - no traction.

see the nice sensible LandRover parked at the top of the drive, it loves the narrow, steep, windy roads, it thinks The Car is a wimp and teases it mercilessly.

see my dumbass husband's car parked on the grass because he can't get it up the darned driveway.

Flash and I chose our cars soon after arriving home, we knew what our driveway looked like, we were under no illusions as to it's steepness, I bought a LandRover (but that's another post) and Flash bought a Holden Club sport blah blah, he raved on about how no two are the same...cars...blah blah...I kinda stopped listening around the time he said "car", and then I saw it...and realised that it was not made for a driveway like ours. I may have made a few comments, read him his horoscope, impugned his family tree, but it made no impact - the man loves The Car, his friends love The Car, his staff love The Car (surprisingly the girls in this house do not love The Car)

The Car would not go up the driveway, not forwards, backwards, angled, no matter what the car would not go up the driveway.
Flash concreted a little ramp onto the corner of the driveway, so that he could park on the grass verge - good idea, park on the grass verge in Waitakere - West Auckland - Hoon heaven, that car would be boosted before you could say "bogan".
But Flash was onto it, the solution was easy apparently...we just had to remove the letterbox (it is behind me in the picture), then he could swing onto the verge, then back up the driveway - simple really...yep.

And that is what he did, now every morning after he leave I replace the letterbox so that essential services, friends and family can find us, and every evening I remove the letterbox so that he can park. This weekend darling you know what you are doing - repositioning the letterbox!

Natural dyes tutorial

Go see it, do it, do it now!

my dyeing wool with natural dyes tutorial is available free in .pdf form from the Just Jussi site, click here

see, my time has not been completely wasted.

all tied up

well this has taken a while - no? when did we leave Oz?...January 3, we applied for Broadband around January 14...advised them we were moving in January 30...and joy of joys today, this minute I am finally sitting at my own desk, on my own laptop connected to the interknit.

I don't know where to start, it has been so long since I could surf with abandon, I need to check in, see where people have been, what they have been up to, what's hot right now, what's not.

In the meantime, the business is ticking over despite the lack of internet, a photographer came today for a photo for the Herald business section - a lovely (knitter) journalist came and interviewed me for her story on the Made from NZ campaign even though I warned her I'm really a teeny-tiny business (with big plans) but she said that was fine, and trekked out to Titirangi, and met Frasier, who promptly fell asleep in her lap endearing himself forever.

The Knit-Rangers are ready for a meetup, just have to decide...everything! time/day/venue, but we have a couple of members via Meetup, and a couple of locals who have expressed an interest, so now I am "back" I can organise that.

I have also been playing with Organic dyes, a tutorial is literally only hours away.

Fate

Sometimes fate seems non-existant, I decide what happens to me, I plan my day, life trundles on...good things happen, bad things happen, it's life.

Othertimes fate holds a gun to my head and frogmarches me straight into the path of destiny, there is often a collision, it is usually messy, but it is always positive.

Today was one of those days.I pottered around this morning, drove in Christchurch to visit an antique shop I saw yesterday, Flash has a hankering after some genuine old signs for our BBQ area, and I had seen some in their window.

First I went to the huge Sally Army shop, and picked up a vintage chenille bedspread and a milk bottle carrier (complete with 4 glass milk bottles) for $5, then to the secondhand bookshop with the largest pile of "Stitchcraft" magazines I have ever seen! they didn't have many knitting books, but the number of vintage magazines and leaflets of knitting patterns was astounding, I picked up a delightful 1950's "Dressed stuffed toys" complete with templates, a bed jacket pattern book with pattern names like "femme fatale" and "gondola" (the imagination reels!) a gorgeous "Practical knitting illustrated" which "Daddy and Jayne" gave to "Dear Mummy, with the dearest love" in 1946, which makes this intriguing book even more special, it contains patterns for everything - the whole family, the house, even toys.In 1954 "Bruce" sent "Shirley" "Les Tresors de la Broderies" (embroidered treasures) and it is stunning, even in black and white (although there are a couple of colour plates) I can't wait to study it further, and I wonder whatever became of Bruce and Shirley...his message read "Christmas 1954, I send this little spoonful of the wealth of Europe, wishing I could send it all!"10 vintage knitting magazines completed that purchase.

The antique shop was closed (until tomorrow...) but the bric-a-brac shop next door was not...10 metres of 1970s braid for $1 and a vintage wooden Lichfield sign from the mens department of Ballentynes department store.

I turned the car in the direction of Akaroa, my destination for the day, and drove for maybe 5 minutes until I remebered directions from the "Crafty Girls" book, ah! there's a knitting factory shop around here somewhere...well it had closed down - but there was another huge thrift shop in it's place...2 more chenille blankets and 2 vintage pinnies for Blaise...ok, back on the road!

20 minutes later, in the gorgeous bleached blonde Canterbury countryside, I pass a plastered block building on the side of the road "Yarn" it says in big letters..."Tai Tapu wool carders and spinners"...in a split second I toss up turning the car around, or checking it out on my way back from Akaroa, I turn the car around, Fate does a victory lap.

Inside the small shop are shelves and rack of spun yarn, all different plies and wools, hanks of fine coloured wool are hanging on a wall, flax baskets on the floor are overflowing with carded roving, there are posters of sheep breeds, a couple of spinning wheels, and an almighty racket coming from out the back, I poke my head around the door and behold a huge machine carding yarn, obviously it also spins and plies and puts yarn onto cones, but don't ask me to explain it.

I catch the eye of the man operating the machinery, he comes around, past bags labelled with names and fibre types, one with cashmere locks spilling out, another with chocolate wool trying to escape.I am afraid that I did not get his name, I did not take photographs, I did talk a lot, and listen a lot, and almost swoon when I realised that here were people who could spin yarn for me! who would sell me small amounts of undyed merino on cones! (when I say small amounts, I mean up to 10 kgs...the other spinners I have spoken to are not interested in small fry like me) I did remember to leave my contact details, and to take his.

For those in Canterbury who didn't know about them - here are their details:

Tai Tapu Wool Carders

P O Box 56, Tai Tapu, CanterburyPhone 03 329 6859 Fax 03 329 6889

Various/mixedFine, medium, strongWhite, Black and coloured, DyedAll processed fleece. Custom carding Carded B&C wool. Carded dyed wool. Wool/mohair, wool/alpaca blends.Weaving singles. Hand knitting yarn. Agents for Majacraft products.

Not in the roadtrip book, but should be on your list.

The charming wool man gave me a part cone of a cable spun merino to play with, they also had felted merino yarn, we had a great chat about yarn and sheep and organics, pollution, you name it...but once again i found my words failing me...I know a lot about fibre, knitwear production, yarn counts, tex, wet processes etc, but you think it sounds like I know anything at all when I talk to other knitters/yarn people? no it bloody doesn't.

Magical realism is the genre I invoke when I think about my problems communicating with others...I am an intelligent woman, but unless you are a close friend or family member you will think I am either intensely shy or slightly thick."Years ago a man took her words from her, to this day she is still re-gathering them"

Enough of that.Elated I continued my journey to Akaroa, a French settlement on Banks Peninsula,outside of Christchurch, I drove windy roads up and down steep hillsides, the roadsides strewn with lupins, yarrow, evening primrose, heliotrope and vipers bugloss, I stood at the crest of a hill to take photos and marvelled at the way the european herbs have become part of the landscape, huge comfrey plants nestled at my feet, mullein and ladies mantle were tucked under a nearby apple tree, weighed down with a heavy crop - this is a NZ heritage tree, like so many by the roadside it is the legacy of an apple core tossed from a car window during an interminable car journey to the seaside many years ago.

I passed golden fields full of dirty sheep, irrigated emerald fields full of fluffy white pompoms of sheep, sheep on the road, sheep in trucks, under trees, lined up against fences to catch the shade.

I passed a sign which read " cheap lawnmowers, low maintenance, self propelled" then I realised they were selling sheep!

I drove through swarms of white butterflies, while the sun shone hot on my arm, and the sky sweated a brilliant singing blue, past fields of broccoli which smelt like cabbage soup as they slowly steamed in the intense heat, to Birdlings Flat a beach with wild turquoise seas (no photo - I couldn't do the colour justice) and dunes of flat grey pebbles - a wild and desolate place, the link goes to a jewellery company who manufacture unique jewellery from the stones and NZ paua shell (scroll down). I will return in winter, I can imagine the desolation to be more powerful when it is isolated.

I arrived at my destination - 2 words - "twee" and "cloying" the village of colonial wooden cottages and newer plaster buildings nestled at the feet of rolling hills, next to a tidal estuary, is as it is always described - pretty cottage gardens, sympathetic town planning, french street names and shop signs, and maybe if I was with a companion I may have enjoyed it more, but a quick wander down the street convinced me that the journey was indeed more important than the destination, the shops offered the same tat as the giftshops in the mall at home, the 2 galleries did not inspire me to purchase, a visit to the Wool gallery saw me leave town empty handed.

15 minutes later in "Little River" I perked up, the craft shop there was full of local products, the coffee refreshing, I bought a turquoise bowl to remind me of the colour of the sea in this wild place, had a chat with the proprietress about Holly's course, and the state of the ozone layer, and left feeling recharged.

Now I am back in the motel, my daughter had a long day at Uni, and is passed out on the bed with a book, I should drag her into town for a good meal before I return home tomorrow, but she looks settled, maybe we'll order Thai...I have enjoyed the opportunity to blog daily that this trip has afforded me, hopefully not too much time will pass until our internet is connected at home, as I have things to tell you!

trail mix?

today I returned to Hands Ashford - and this time I could purchase whatever I wanted, no quarantine this time! The little bags in the picture above are neither spices nor trail mix ingredients (I was teasing Holly) but madder, brazil wood, cutch and cochineal (beetles-shhhh) I have had enough of not being able to source coloured organic merino, so have decided to have a go myself. Years ago when I lived on Waiheke I dyed yarn with eucalyptus leaves and lichen, using baking soda, and copper and iron cooking pots as mordants instead of metal salts, I ended up with ranges of pinks, apricots and purples, some of which I still have in baby garments knitted back then - and they are still colourfast. In later years I grew rose madder for pinks, yarrow and coreopsis, and used alum - in tiny quantities, to fix yellows from the coreopsis and yarrow. I am going to experiment with my purchases, as well as walnut shells and onion skins - hopefully I'll end up with a range of subtle elegant, colourfast shades, which I know to be safe. The organic spinners I have spoken to are wary of commercial "organic" dyes, and fair enough, I only need to dye a moderate amount of yarn, they are responsible for a lot more than that.

I purchased some Touchyarns 4ply merino in the "Blackwatch" colourway , it is beautifully soft, and very reasonable at $15 for 100g.I have started on a wee basket stitch cardigan of my own design, I think this stitch pattern should bring out the colours well.

Tomorrow I plan to drive out to Akaroa - a French settlement on the coast an hour from Christchurch, I have a copy of the "Crafty girls road trip"book, new batteries in the camera, and a whole day to myself, I plan to explore the galleries and shops, especially the Paua pearl gallery (blue pearls) but somehow I don't think I'll be buying anything there! The book has a few a few glaring holes: Geoff's Emporium of Dominion rd, and behind the new library in Henderson are legendary, but missing. I would thoroughly recommend the book to anyone planning any travel in NZ, especially those from overseas, it is wonderful to have all of those resources in one place, the author has done a lot of work.

All sounds well at home, Flash has not continued with the demolitions (the fridge didn't fit in the kitchen, so a couple of cupboards had to go...the dishwasher pipe was behind the back of the glassware cupboard...so that had to go) the girls are mucking in well, even cooking dinner and making his lunch for him, however they did lose Frasier for a few moments...I wonder if they checked his favourite hiding place? better not tell him about the local Indian restaurant nearby my motel...it's called "A taste of Bengal" hmmmm.

The Layla and Frasier show

yes it's me again,broadband still not in residence but getting closer...we now have a dedicated adsl jackpoint thanks to the lovely telecom man who visited last thursday, now we are awaiting delivery of a new router which will not happen while I am here in Christchurch, and the final "switch" to be thrown to actually connect us ( it has got to the point where whenever I imagine that moment I see a bearded man in coat tails brandishing an outlandishly large pair of scissors as he awaits the moment - when he will cut the red ribbon fluttering in front of him and the assembled crowds - hurrah! the Broadband is connected - hurrah!)

Flash has coined a new pseudo-medical term for this semi-connected, semi-delusional state I am currently inhabiting, my feelings of being slightly lost and disjointed, the feeling that there is .something. missing. he says that I am "unplugged from the matrix" and he is correct, I miss my cyber social life, wandering the virtual neighbourhood visiting my friends - has the cold cleared up? how was the first day of school? the baby must have grown a lot, how did that green wool knit up? how was SSK? It is wonderful catching up with family and friends, but half my life is unreachable at present except for the slightest of contact - I am thankful that I have been able to maintain my business suring this time - but there is a lot of updating work to do there.

Holly and I returned to Christchurch today, she starts Uni tomorrow, and I am here until wednesday, when she will move into her flat, this time we know what to do, where to go, what to expect. I am looking forward to spending some quality hours in secondhand bookshops and antiques shops tomorrow, wandering the unspoilt goodwill stores with their treasures of hand embroidered tea towels and candlewick bedspreads. I will be searching for "The Loving stitch" which has been been discontinued, but should be available somewhere in this country! it will make a good companion to my copy of "Thrift to fantasy" a beautiful and expansive book describing domestic crafts from NZ's history. Christchurch still provides good hunting for those of us on the lookout for vintage treasures.

I was going to post photos of my workroom, I am so happy with it, the light, space and wonderful views, but unfortuantely it is presently marred with a 7 foot tall "cat tree", as this is Frasier's "quiet" space for when he needs time out - hopefully it will move to a less conspicuous part of the house soon! oh I can't wait until our lives are just slightly quieter - just for a bit...my mum says that the drama only stops when you die...and even then it continues, but you no longer care! but have i told you about the washer and dishwasher? hmm yes I think so... the brand new bed which broke the first time we slept in it (don't think those thoughts, we were just sleeping...too tired!) (1/16th inch steel - should have been 1/8th used to make the centre brace and slats with huge knots - not a good combination)the flooding dishwasher? the fact that the house had obviously not been cleaned for a long time and I still keep discovering pockets of "ick"...but have I told you about my new herb garden, the fence Flash put up to keep the kitties safely in the entertaining areas, the evenings spent languishing in the spa with a wine, the stars, and my dear husband, the native tuis with their beautiful liquid song, (see one here at youtube)the utter quiet and peace after living on that intersection on Parramatta Road, the big blue LandRover Discovery sitting in my (steeeeeep) driveway, and those aforementioned kitties:

Layla

(yarn? what yarn?)

Frasier

I'm not really biting the zombie baby...

well this is boring

yes we are still sans internets, Telstra Clear have told us that they would be delighted to have us as customers, but it will take "about a week" for us to be connected, that was over a week ago, we are on kiwi time for sure.

The unpacking has finally ended - now the rearranging begins, we have only lost 3 lampshades, which is ok, because I was planning on knitting some, and I am sure that when that project has been completed the missing ones will be found - it's all good. We have received a quote to have our appliances repaired, thank goodness the weather has been good, and that we have Charlotte's washing machine (which will one day be my felting washing machine) so washing has not been troublesome. I have started work on the herb garden, and have loads of little vegie seedlings ready to go in when I have made a bed for them, I was standing in the garden hanging the washing out in my bare feet, and remarked to Flash that I hadn't had my barefeet on mud for more than 2 years, it felt nice.

A blogiversary and my 39th birthday have passed the blog by, the birthday was wonderful, Flash bought me a wheel cover for the LandRover, and a matching keyring, and Mum bought me a company registration and some number plate surrounds with justjussi.com on them, which look to have already brought me some business! and of course Frasier came home. No photos because I am not on my laptop, but we have heaps, he is personality plus, he just can't-sit-still! he is in your face, smooching and loving, playing, tearing around like a mad thing, and telling you all about it in his lion cub voice, last night he helped his Dad build the home theatre system for upstairs - he has to have a say in everything, Layla is not impressed, so they haven't met properly yet, but she is becoming more curious about him, so hopefully it won't be long, she is only a couple of weeks older than him, so we'll just take it easy and not push them.

The girls are back at school, and Holly and I are dropping her car off at the car transporters today, it was just too much to think about driving it to Christchurch, so we are flying down on Sunday to do the whole Uni thing again, at least this year we have a better idea of what we are doing, and I will have room in my suitcase for all of the op shop bargains!

I am still feeling out of it, but much closer to getting back in!

fallen off...

the face of the earth

not really, but it feels like it. We are in the midst of the great unpacking, there are over 170 boxes, and the packers had great fun...the handset of the phone was in the box labelled "patio" the base of the phone was in a box labelled "sewing", all of the peices of my pasta maker were in 1 box...but the handle was in a box labelled "bathroom 1", I suppose they need to do something to liven up their job!

we are incredibly tired, Flash and I were unpacking until 4.30 am, then got 3.5 hours sleep, on the upside I have lost 3 kgs in the last week without trying!

The girls are happier than they have been in weeks, their rooms are lovely and face onto the back entertaining deck, they are spending hours lying on the camp beds (blow up) in the pool, as the temperatures here are very hot.

Layla came to live with us yesterday (she has been in a cattery since Charlotte moved our of her flat) she is a delight, so curious and chatty, she is the same age as Frasier, so I can't wait to see how they get on, speaking of our boy, he has just had "the snip" and will be home on the 10th.

The knitting room is looking great, i will post photos (we are still in the "during" phase) and I can't wait until we have everything set up, Flash is setting up the other half of the room as a study, it is going to be so much fun.

Hopefully internet access will be up and running soon, until then I am getting about 20 minutes every couple of days, hence the lack of posting and blogging, can't wait to catch up with all of your blogs and see how things are going for you and your families, and I can't wait to share photos of our new home

fallen off...

the face of the earth

not really, but it feels like it. We are in the midst of the great unpacking, there are over 170 boxes, and the packers had great fun...the handset of the phone was in the box labelled "patio" the base of the phone was in a box labelled "sewing", all of the peices of my pasta maker were in 1 box...but the handle was in a box labelled "bathroom 1", I suppose they need to do something to liven up their job!

we are incredibly tired, Flash and I were unpacking until 4.30 am, then got 3.5 hours sleep, on the upside I have lost 3 kgs in the last week without trying!

The girls are happier than they have been in weeks, their rooms are lovely and face onto the back entertaining deck, they are spending hours lying on the camp beds (blow up) in the pool, as the temperatures here are very hot.

Layla came to live with us yesterday (she has been in a cattery since Charlotte moved our of her flat) she is a delight, so curious and chatty, she is the same age as Frasier, so I can't wait to see how they get on, speaking of our boy, he has just had "the snip" and will be home on the 10th.

The knitting room is looking great, i will post photos (we are still in the "during" phase) and I can't wait until we have everything set up, Flash is setting up the other half of the room as a study, it is going to be so much fun.

Hopefully internet access will be up and running soon, until then I am getting about 20 minutes every couple of days, hence the lack of posting and blogging, can't wait to catch up with all of your blogs and see how things are going for you and your families, and I can't wait to share photos of our new home

Look at me!

I'm Frasier, I'm 10 weeks old and get to go home to my new family in 2 weeks time, hopefully they will be ready for me. I have just found out that I will have an adopted sister, the same age as me! Charlotte's black shorthair kitten Layla has been accepted into the family, today she went to the vet to make sure she has no nasty bugs - the vet fell in love with her, she is cute and smoochy and talks a lot, just like me.


Justine is still running around like a crazy woman - Flash is off on work retreats - lucky bum, but it's all good, moving day is next tuesday - they better have my room ready!


Here's another photo for you to be going on with, to show you all my cool spots (excuse the lack of cropping - the mouse died - thats my breeder Mum holding me, she has the coolest house, full of Bengals and Maine Coons)

an apology

I feel so bad, I haven't replied to commentors or emailers - my situation at present is that I get 30 minutes on the internet A DAY! the first 20 is spent checking my work email, and orders, checking the shopping cart has no manual orders waiting, that sort of thing, then and only then can I check other things, bank accounts, bills and finally blogs, so I am still popping in to visit some of you - but don't have time to comment, or reply to comments.

This exile will be over very soon, I am learning patience

best wishes to everyone

wheeeeee!!

and finally - it came out today, even more page space than I expected, in the "Family" pages, nothing will shake the smile on my face today.

The Knit Rangers

Living in a motel is great, the wet towels disappear, clean ones appear...cooking is limited to ham and cheese croissants and salads, all cooked meals are prepared by someone else...laundry too disappears and returns freshly pressed.

My new (to me) machine is set up in the lounge of our suite (Flash and I share a 1 bedroom suite with courtyard, the girls share a room in the main building) it chatters through the day, but I turn it off late afternoon so as not to annoy the neighbours, I am learning a lot and can see how this contraption will be like having a workmate, although I will still have to make my own coffee! I have seed trays lined with jiffy pots on the patio, merrily getting greener as the oregano, coriander, basil and various other herbs and basic veges sprout and grow.I have cut off the bottoms of water bottles and planted cuttings from my Mum's collection of herbs, the warm, humid weather will ensure they take. I am not at home, but am preparing for it, this quiet time will not slip through my fingers.

My whinge yesterday arose from a common complaint - the indifference of LYS owners. I had organised for some very nicely priced Noro Cash Iroha from Little Knits to be sent to my Mum, in preparation for my arrival, I had my photocopied-from-my -copy- of- the- book- pattern for the Hourglass sweater (including the corrections from the website) and just needed the needles - 4.5mm in 80 and 30 cm lengths, I also needed a ball winder, as in my dumbass-ness I had forgotten to pack one.

I arrived at the first LYS, quite big, a national chain, nice selection, but nothing out of the ordinary. I found the 80cm no problem, and asked for the 30cm - none in stock, but I can order them in, no ball winders - once again we can order them in. No problem, I got some long dpns instead of the 30cm circ, and said "don't worry, mine will be here in a couple of weeks" but just trying to chat, ask about local knitting groups - no real response, there was no one else in the store who was demanding attention, so I felt a bit flat, on the upside, they were unpacking the latest issue of Yarn magazine.

I then went to another, an Auckland chain, a few more interesting yarns in skeins, but still very old-fashioned (what do want Justine? Purl, Loop?) asked for the 30cm circ, "they don't make them" was the response, and I couldn't help myself - I advised the assistant that yes "they" do make them, that I have 4 in my collection on the way from Sydney, but that it would be really convenient to have some now - her response was that "of course they have them in Australia" but not in NZ - how ridiculous! it's a global community, and I want to buy locally.

I have heard good reports of a small shop which opens a few hours a week, in someone's backyard studio, and I may have to continue internet shopping, but as far as knitting groups go, I am not close to the 2 I have heard of...so have decided to start my own, in Titirangi - not quite sure of the venue as yet - but I have a couple of places in mind...anyone who lives in the Waitakere Ranges or central or West Auckland (or anywhere else!) is welcome to contact me at my gmail address (top of the sidebar) once I have a place organised I'll contact everyone and the Knit Rangers will be in action!

I am envisaging a lively group of opinionated knitters, young, old, experienced and novice, all enthusiastic, all up for a challenge, willing to teach and be taught, the chatty and the quiet, but all with something to contribute - meeting on a weekday evening. Let me know your suggestions, what do you want in a group? (merit badges have already been suggested!)

catching up

The Bate’s Motel

Our flight into Auckland was delayed, thus arriving almost an hour late, so it was almost 10.30 when we met our cab drivers, who had waited patiently for us.

We should have found it strange that neither of our Corporate drivers had been to these serviced apartments before, they are situated in a nice part of town, 2 minutes from the city.

On arrival at the apartments we found our keys had been taped to the office door – the owners left every evening. The drivers unloaded our bags and left them in the carpark, watched on by numerous curious residents, we then hauled all 16 bags up a flight of stairs and gasped as we saw our rooms…breeze block walls (cinder block) stained ceilings, furniture that had seen much better days, covered in numerous dubious stains, rotten boards in the bathroom…we showed the girls how to lock their door, and then we pounced upon the Yellow pages, and made a list. Next morning (after replacing their pillowcases with our own…) we awoke bright and early and started phoning around to find a replacement motel (unfortunately the PA who had found the motel in the first place, was fooled as we were by the photos which had obviously been taken 20 years previously) eventually we booked ourselves into a nice, clean centrally located motel, sighs of relief all round.

That was then a week ago, this is now…
Just Jussi garments are a prize in the NZ Woman’s Weekly on sale this week ! this is major advertising for the cost of 8 garments, I am very happy.

We did an inspection of our new house yesterday, and are even happier than we were when we bought it, I cannot wait to move in, and after days like today in Auckland – the pool is looking very inviting.

especially after the high temperatures today, we spent the day at Piha - photos to follow.

I am working on a new blog for Just Jussi knitwear, then I can concentrate on my other knitting, making, family and friends on this blog.

I am in a kind of limbo at present, tomorrow I will tell you all why I am feeling like "I am the only knitter in this village"

we're baaaaa-ack

we are home, safe and well, we have had some adventures in the past few days, and I will enlighten you when I can. Internet access is very patchy at present, but will improve shortly.

Many stories to tell, so will try to organise my thoughts and give each the time it deserves.

The first motel...horror story

The vehicle...romance

Frasier...our new baby

ok, I'll show you a couple of photos of Frasier's Dad, just to give you an idea.

His name is "Rebel" he is a brown spotted Bengal - here is what the International Bengal Cat society have to say "The Bengal is a medium to large domestic feline that originates from crossings of the small Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) to the domestic cat in an attempt to create a companion with an "exotic" look but a domestic temperament. After four to five generations of Bengal-to-Bengal breeding, the breed is recognized for championship competition by most international domestic cat associations including TICA, ACFA, GCCF, and AACE."

Frasier is just 7 weeks old, and while we spent 2 hours playing with 6 baby bengals, I completely forgot to take photos, even of our little one, after he chose us. His markings are pretty much the same as his Dad's, even down to the red around his head and legs. He will come home a couple of weeks after we move into our new house (at the end of the month) and I will finally be able to post kitty porn!