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It was a busy weekend. I headed off to the Bendigo Sheep & Wool Show with Lou on Saturday morning. After a brief stop at the Beechworth Bakery for breakfast, we found the showgrounds and entered the show, and were immediately swept into the throng of farmers, crafters and people out for a cheery morning. The sun shone brightly in the cool winter air; it was a beautiful day and I wish I’d taken photos.

Highlights for me were finally meeting Sarah Durrant, and hearing her enthusiasm about knitting, and (as always) the visit to the alpacas. With their bright eyes and cute faces, they’re so appealing, even if their plaintive cries do sound a little like stoned sheep

After the Show, we headed off to the Bendigo Woollen Mills factory shop. and especially to the famous bargain room. I picked up a couple of cones of 3-ply Classic in ‘Claret’ and ‘Sweet Pea’ – they’ll make great socks, and I should manage to squeeze two pairs from each cone. I also picked up some scraps in bright red and pumpkin orange 12-ply to incorporate into my latest no-brainer project – a Babette Blanket. Yes, it’s crochet – eeek!

I’m making my Babette Blanket from the scraps left over from Ben’s Magic Blanket. This is Ben’s Magic Blanket:

This was my major knitting project of last year, a special gift for a dear friend. The yarn is all 12-ply, most of it from Bendigo Woollen Mills but some from Nundle Woollen Mill and there are even a few scraps of Noro Kureyon in there. Ben wanted bright colours, and some of this is natural yarn dyed with Kool-Aid to achieve the requisite brightness. Every square is different. However, I have a lot of yarn left over, some in quite small scraps, and plenty from previous projects as well. Hence, the Babette! I’m actually making two of them – one in the 12-ply, and one in all my scraps of 8-ply. I’m hoping the 12-ply one will end up big enough to use as a spare blanket. I was going to do a sock yarn one as well, but given that the size of the blanket would be tiny, I’m debating that. I think I might make wee mini socks from my sock leftovers, as Christmas decorations for all my friends and colleagues, and incorporate any leftovers after that into yet more socks.

I also picked up some 10-ply in blue, to make one of those worsted weight American patterns I’m always wanting to make From the Bendy Show I got ‘Socks, Socks, Socks’ book and a couple of skeins of Colinette Jitterbug to try. It was so pretty! So I was fairly restrained

On our way back from the show we picked up Harry Potter 7, which I spent much of Sunday reading. Nope, no spoilers here. I feel a wee bit flat now it’s over

I have begun my first Bust Out of the Box sock – it’s in the Milanese Lace pattern from ‘More Sensational Knitted Socks’ and I’m doing it in the Brombeere Sockenwolle from Wollmeise. Pictures to come, when I’ve got a bit further along.