Helloooo Yarn-Lovers! I’ve been agonising for a few weeks over how to add a separate page to my blog for yarn-craft classes. My concern has been keeping it continuously up to date, amongst other things. So I’ve decided to just do a regular (maybe monthly?) blogpost with details of upcoming classes all over SA. If you host or offer classes, and would like to add yours, please do send me details and I’ll gladly add it. I’ll be posting crafting classes next week, so keep an eye out.

I Love Yarn Retreat

I’m particularly looking forward to (and nervous about) the I Love Yarn Retreat this weekend. It’s being held at Shangri-La Country Hotel & Spa in Modimolle (took me a while to realise that it’s the town that used to be called Nylstroom). It’s going to be a laaarge group of yarn-crafters (about 30, I think). Hence my nervousness. Big groups of people are overwhelming for me, but it’s good to get out of my comfort zone occasionally…

I went to I Love Yarn‘s Saturday Morning Social at the beginning of September, in the hopes of meeting some of the retreat-goers and to pre-empt the stress of the unknown just a bit. I was hoping to get to the Be Inspired Pop-up Shop the same day, but I just couldn’t swing it. It was a lovely morning with a group of lovely ladies, many of whom are also going on the retreat. It was great to meet my roomie-to-be. I sincerely hope I don’t do anything to annoy her, or embarrass myself 😄.

I’m an over-thinker of note! (Incidentally, someone told me that alcohol is a great remedy for overcoming that. The control freak in me just doesn’t like that idea, though.) If I really put my mind to it, there are a multitude of scenarios that flit through my head, from awesome to cringe-worthy. So, best to just get any “what-if’s” right out of my mind 🙃 and live in the moment. As long as the world doesn’t end and no-one dies, it’ll be a great weekend.   

Something I’m particularly excited about is the gift I’m taking with. I love giving gifts!! The wrapping of them, not so much. Each of us has to take a yarn-craft related gift of a certain value which we will give randomly, somehow, to another attendee. I ordered it a few weeks ago from Natural Yarns in Cape Town, but I still have to wrap it.  

I’m delaying this until the last second. There’s a competition for the best wrapped gift and I’m under no illusion that I stand any chance of winning. So I’m tempted to give it to Caitlin or Meghan and let them wrap it as crazily as they wish. Not something they can do together – one of them would probably end up bleeding. Still, I think the outsourcing is a stroke of genius on my part! I’m hoping that whoever receives the gift will get some entertainment out of the wrapping. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

WIP’s

It goes without saying that we all have to take some WIP’s with us on the retreat. I’ll be taking my endless, blanket-wannabe RBTL (Read Between the Lines) shawl, the fox-hoodie I’m knitting for Meghan’s birthday, the scarf I’m knitting for Caitlin with her skein of Linda’s Treehouse birthday yarn, and a wrap I started over the weekend.

Meghan’s fox-hoodie is coming along nicely. The pattern I chose in the end is the Garden Gnome Hoodie. It calls for half-seed stitch on the body and hood, but I’m knitting the whole thing in stockinette. I think the yarn looks better (and more “foxy”) that way. I’ve gotten as far as the end of the yolk and I’m halfway with the hood. I won’t be posting any pics on Ravelry or on my blog until her birthday, in case she somehow manages to catch a glimpse.

I’ve still got to cast on again for Caitlin’s “pride-scarf”. She decided that she did like the gift of Linda’s Treehouse Oriole better for the scarf than the one I started with. I’ll be sticking with the original pattern that she chose – Diagonal Copper Lines. It looked lovely knit in Linda’s Treehouse Plover but I’m sure the Oriole will look just as good, if not better. And I can keep that gorgeous Plover for something else.

I cast-on an Inara Wrap over the weekend but it has not gotten off to a good start. The yarn is a One of a Kind Orenda Art Button. 200g and 660m of cotton-bamboo lusciousness. I generally don’t swatch for wraps or shawls, but in this instance, it might have been a good idea. It seems like it’s going to be much wider than the measurements given in the pattern. Unblocked it’s 72cm wide and I’m  afraid I won’t get enough length before my yarn runs out. 

Some of the project notes I read indicated that other knitters had similar concerns. So, close to the end of the first lace section (pictured below) I decided to measure it, weigh the remaining yarn and calculate how long it’s going to be.

According to my calculations it’ll be about 130cm before blocking. Not happy ☹️, so I’ve decided I need to frog it and start again with 2 lace repeats less than the pattern calls for. I think I’ll be happier with narrower and longer. I’m loathe to start again but I’m sure there will be ample time on the retreat to make good progress on this wrap and the other WIP’s.  

FOMO – Quenti Farm Festival

I’ll be back from the retreat on Monday the 24th, Heritage Day in SA! Just in time to build up severe FOMO because, as much as I would love to, I won’t make it down to the Quenti Alpaca Farm Festival on Saturday 29 Sept. If you’re going, please enjoy on my behalf, too. I’ll be there next year! 

On the pets front…

…all I can say is that, at the moment of posting this, they are all still alive 😅. After the run we’ve had this year, and what feels like weekly vet visits for the last few months, that’s quite an achievement. Our vet will be paying year-end bonuses and for a trip to the Maldives from just our bills 😁 – enjoy guys, you deserve it! Seriously, though, we really love Bergbron Animal Clinic. Because we’ve spent so much time there over the last seven years, they’ve become a huge part of our life story. Their passion, caring and support has made them feel less like “service providers” and more like friends. So grateful! We can all do with people like that. 

Wishing you a wonderful Heritage Day long weekend. Enjoy! May your weekend be filled with many happy hours of yarn and crafting, and special time with the people &/or fur-babies that energise your soul.

Bx

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• Be Inspired
• Bergbron Animal Clinic
• I Love Yarn
• I Love Yarn Retreat
• Inara Wrap
• Linda's Treehouse
• Natural Yarns
• One of a Kind Yarns
• Orenda Art Button
• Quenti Farm Festival
• Shangri-La Country Hotel & Spa
• WIPs
• yarn tails
• Yarn Tails SA
• yarn-craft classes
• yarntailssa