Waving Hello, saying Thank You

Though the weather was cold, the atmosphere was warm 'round the market, as several lovely knitters and crocheters came by to say hello, fondle some yarn, and play with spindles.

Thank you especially to the mum's and daughters who came by -- it was family day at Stranded In Oz. And isn't that why most of us knit and crochet? To make something special for people we care about? Thank you to Mel *smile*, who went away with the covetted hanks of Sherwood Forest laceweight merino. My husband thanks you, as it was migrating towards the personal stash. Can't wait to see what you make out of it.

And to the beginner spinners -- if you bring back what you've spun with your Chuppah Whorl, you get a special 20% discount on your next purchase of spinning fibre.  More Chuppah Whorl spindles on the way, in more groovy colours. Rick says he' s going for wild this week, as it is tax season, and things are crazy!

mel, still stranded in oz

From the dye workshop

Some new 5 ply hanks -- put up in 200 gm hanks: blue/greens and red/purples. There's a new batch of 8ply 100% merino for winter accessories or jumpers. A few lace-weight treasures to be had in the mix!

At left, top: 8ply 100% merino, middle: kidd mohair lace , bottom: 2ply wool







At right; top -- reds, pinks, greens 8ply merino

middle - sherwood forest 2ply

bottom - sherwood forest 8ply merino (gray version)

Knit something warm and soft for someone you love.

At lower right, a beautiful 3ply pure wool hank, ready to be knitted into a scarf, or shawl, or whatever strikes your fancy. At lower left, a serendipity skein of 8ply merino.

orange olives hemp and wool

Beanie in SIOz hand-painted hemp and wool. Could not resist casting this on and playing with yarn -- OK -- there is nothing else quite like it -- soft, warm, lovely nubby bits of hemp which bloom and create surface interest. Toasty, but not heavy. Just a pleasure to wear and of course, to knit.

This colourway has red as well as orange in it -- the shot was taken in bright sunlight -- and there's a bit of pinkish purple in there with silver as the contrast. The green is accented with brown. Must make a note: need better camera!

There are some kick-ass hanks for orange semi-solid and some outrageous RED in this week's batch of hemp and wool. VERY RED SOY as well as BEETROOT to be knitted.

See you at the market!
mel

Chuppah Chuppah Hey!

New Chuppah Whorl Spindles -- Rick's colours this week are excellent! Check out the trippy blue, teal, black one. Ooooooh. $25.00 including a puff of wool to get you started.

Hemp Is Good

Thank you to the customers who came out of their warm houses and bought wool yesterday. The supply of hand-painted hemp and wool is exhausted -- so it is time to put on the goggles and gloves and head into the world of colour once again. And thank you to my friends who were willing recipients of the test skeins. It's nice to have talented knitter friends!

A new SIOZ hemp and wool hat pattern -- The Global Thinking Cap -- will be available this week, exclusively from Think Global in Hove, SA. (see links). Great shop, great products, all in tune with thinking globally about the environment. Check It Out.

Stay tuned for some very RED yarns!

Happy Knitting
M, still stranded

More Knitting and Designs for Winter

Thank you to everyone who has purchased a banana smoothie kit. I'm busy painting more soy and other yarn for this weekend to keep the madness going. There's a deeper, winter version of Semaphore colourway (pictured, left) -- in both soy, and a new, non-mulesed gorgeous New Zealand 8ply. Absolutely lovely natural sheep yarn that I've insanely painted. Soft and ready to knit for winter.

There's plenty of hemp and wool to be had -- and having tested it this week, I can say, it's really fantastic stuff - when washed, it softens and is toasty warm.

More beautiful wool 2ply this week -- in pinks, reds, browns.

AND... New, more wildly colourful chuppah whorl spindles... I've been asked to make 'em in wilder colours, so they're here -- everything from wild purples to greens to a girlie camouflage. Thank you Rick for going nuts with the polymer clay artistry this week!

See you at the market! m

banana smoothieness bag fun

Just in time for this weekend's DOUBLE TRADING WEEKEND at the Port, (we're open on Monday this week as well as Sunday!) -- I've dyed some amazing DEEP DEEP TEAL and wild, Jamaican coastal blue -- think wild aqua -- banana silk.

There's a new colourway for soy -- and a new shade of purple in there. I've had the beakers and the mad scientist's grin out this week. In addition -- 2 popular colourways in 8 ply, a pile of lovely hemp and wool, and some new laceweights -- in a Robin Hood-kinda colourway and a gorgeous blue/green hand-paint, both in wools.

Special this week: the more hemp/wool you buy, the bigger the discount -- seriously!
2 skeins: 10% off. 3 skeins: 20% off -- 6 or more skeins? 50% off. Discount applies through Tuesday.

See you at the Port!

Banana Smoothie in the House

The new Yarn is out and in it is a new Sioz pattern - The Banana Smoothie Bag. Sorry 'bout the name, but husband Richard called it that and the name stuck.

Kits are available for $35.00 plus postage to your door; or you can mosey on down to the market this weekend and get one. I will post the colourways in stock this week on this blog -- though I reckon the Semaphore colourway is pretty.

If you have some gorgeous Oasis soy yarn in your stash, I've got banana silk and aloo to match.

Design features:

A no-drop knitted bag bottom. And no need for lining. I mean, I'm a knitter and I have an allergy to sewing. I save the sewing for the amazing quilters in this world. Seriously, I've put 2 kilos of yarn in this bag and the bottom hasn't flopped down.

And, don't be tempted to make a longer strap -- I designed this one for stretch, so knit that short. (Ummm. I know that from making the Mach I version way too long. Not a pretty sight) You can also put a piece of cotton cord in the strap before sewing it up if you want it even sturdier (a suggestion from Imperia De Ionno).

Suggestions: This bag works equally well with Sioz sari wool and sari silk. So if you want to make a non-Vegan version, alternate kits are available --.

Don't forget the hemp -- see previous week's blog for info on hemp and wool yarn.

Happy knitting,
mel, still stranded in oz