Clubbing, the fibre artist's way

Logistics, logistics, logistics. The fine art of organising wool for the 2011 Stranded In Oz knitting and spinning clubs is on in earnest.

This year, I've been trying to source Australian wools and other fibres to knit and spin. But how to keep excellent quality, emphasize AUSSIE and not bust the budget? It's a delicate balancing act. Hmmm. Balancing isn't a word I should be using, given I am hopping about on one foot, crutches, and a moonboot.

A Sock Knitter's Club To sock or not to sock? For those who know me and my knitting/spinning habits, they know I am a sucker for fine wools -- cobweb is just fine. And I have friends, like Eric Corbin, who think one should never knit with sewing thread, thanks very much!

Even so, it is with this addiction to 4ply/fingering wt yarns that I've taken the plunge and developed a sock knitting club for 2011. There's no shortage of sock designs on my desktop and no end of the types of sock yarns I continue to fall in love with.

What's missing from this picture? Alas, the ultimate, tightly twisted, worsted-spun Australian sock yarn still eludes me. But who knows, perhaps my dream will come true? Not Kiwi (though we love that too), but Aussie. Like, say, the one produced in South Africa that has a lovely tight twist and will never ever pill?

In the meantime, I've been planning a nice mix of 4ply and 3ply yarns -- some grown and spun in Australia, some from a small, family-owned mill overseas, as well as a few on the exotic side, like my fave SWTC Tofutsies, hand-painted the SIOz way.

Jonelle Beck Raffino, owner and developer of the fun, funky, and fab that is the SWTC line continues to enable me. Bless her cotton sox. Or should I say soy and bamboo sox? Yup, she's just come out with a new line of bamboo sock yarn, Infatuation. Don't worry, it's on it's way to Stranded In Oz and to you. Of course, it's in happy SWTC colours! Greeeen. Plenty of blue, pink, and all manner of sock colours to play with.

SWTC Infatuation Bamboo Sock Yarn

But still, a sock knitting club? What if you are allergic to knitting socks. That's ok; with 100gms of lovely thin yarn, there's no end to what you can do with the club pack. Right now I'm knitting a scarf in Tofutsies -- it's an eyelet chevron pattern I'm preoccupied with and will make a fine fashion accessory.

There's also a cute knitting bag pattern on the desktop awaiting editing, not to mention the shawls in various states of development. So you see, it's all 4ply all the time at SIOz.

This reminds me of that strange quote attributed to Wallis Simpson, 'you can never be too rich or too thin.'
Err... you can never knit too much or too thin?

Dye... My Pretties! M