Knit August Nights

On Sunday morning, with a couple of friends, we headed up to East Pier at Ahuriri, Napier, for the annual Knit August Nights (KAN) market. The retreat actually runs for a couple of days for registered attendees but the Sunday market is open to the public. 

I'd been so looking forward to going along, and once again, it didn't disappoint, I was in knitters heaven!!  It was a lovely day in Napier too - the venue for KAN couldn't be more perfect, right beside the sea.

We found the market very busy this year, KAN was celebrating 10 years, and there were people jammed packed into the whole place. As always, the yarns, accessories, etc were amazing, so much to see!

There were several new stall holders this year and all my favourite NZ dyers and knitwear designers back again to see and have chats with.

So this was my haul!!

Some pretty dishcloth cotton and a pencil from Holland Road Yarn Company:

Sweet Sweet Manuka, a merino by Prosper Yarn from Loopine Wool Co

These fun faux fur pom poms were from Nana Cindy NZ

Some 2019 souvenirs, including this fab calendar supporting the Yarny Army, a group of Hawkes Bay knitters providing warm knitted garments for those that need them :

Gorgeous yarn from Catrien of Yarnflozzy

A new pattern from Libby of Truly Myrtle Designs

And lastly, I was so pleased to see Union Fibre's stall so added these two squishy skeins to my shopping.

We could have spent hours browsing around, and spending a lot more too!  I'll have to start a KAN 2020 saving fund as I'd really like to attend the whole weekend next year.  It's well worth a visit if you get the chance.

See you soon xx

New Yarn and the National Aquarium

When Libby from Truly Myrtle Designs released a new shawl pattern, Nessa, a couple of weeks ago, I jumped straight away on to Ravelry to purchase! 

Catrien from Yarn Floozy had knitted the shawl in some of her gorgeous silk merino so I decided to purchase a couple of skeins of the colour Sodalite, love it.

I also purchased a skein of Smashed Gemstones for a special project later this year.

So looking forward to getting this shawl underway, I just need to finish my Washed out shawl first.

A couple of weeks ago, we spent an enjoyable day in Napier with the clients from work.  We started off with a visit to the top of Bluff Hill, where there are amazing views over the Napier Port of the bay.

The ladies and I stopped by Starbucks at the top of Marine Parade for a coffee and had a quick stroll along the top of the Marine Parade.

After lunch, it was off to the National Aquarium for a visit, we haven't been there in a few years.

The water dragons were having a spot of lunch.

Not a very good close up but I did spot this tuatara coming out from it's hidey place. Tuataras are rare reptiles only found here in New Zealand.

We also got to see the little blue penguins being feed by the Aquarium staff and watch them racing around in the water, ducking and diving and showing off.

I tried to snap a few pics of the fantastic murals painted on the outside of the Aquarium walls:

Well worth a visit if you have the time  - there's also a gift shop and cafe. 

See you soon x

Two Shawls

Sorting through my photos recently, I came across the photos of two shawls I knitted during our winter.  This blue one was the very first shawl I knitted and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is the Settler Shawl by Libby Johnson of Truly Myrtle and the yarn I used was New Denim by Catrien of Yarnfloozy.

A bit hard to tell from the light in these photos but the yarn has a sparkle to it.

My second shawl is Spindrift by Helen from Curioushandmade, and this was also a lovely design to knit. 

My yarn choice for this was a silk merino mix by Bonnie from Union Fibre called Not Quite Pink.
It was dream to knit with, so lovely and soft.

See you soon xx

Knit August Nights 2018

One of my favourite things to do now every August is take a trip up to Napier to the Knit August Nights (KAN) event. This is a whole weekend of classes, yarn shopping, mill tours and lots more but my friends and I just go along to check out the market which is open to the public on Sunday morning. 

For the third year in a row, Napier turned on the sunshine and it was a beautiful day. The venue for KAN couldn't be in a more perfect spot, right beside the sea at Ahuriri. 

Look who I found - Kath! We arranged to meet up for the morning and had a fab time checking out all the gorgeous yarn, accessories, patterns and chatting with several NZ designers and hand dyers.

If you are a NZ knitter you probably would have heard of Libby from Truly Myrtle Designs.
Kath and I had a great chat with Libby and checked out her wonderful designs.

Here are the samples for the Floozy cardigan, which Libby has released recently.  Using Catrien from Yarnfloozy lovely colourways, the pattern and kits have been a huge hit here in NZ and around the world.

I had so much fun spending my yarn money, photos of my purchases at the end of this post.

Once we'd finished at KAN, we decided to head into town for lunch and a browse of the shops, it was such a warm sunny afternoon.

And my goodies - some new pins for my knitting bag

This yarn by Revive Designs is so lovely to squish, so soft, its a silk and merino mix.

One of my favourite hand dyers to visit is Alice from Bleating Art yarn and I've purchased from Alice several times before. Alice and her Mum dye the most fantastic colours.  These three skeins are intended for a shawl, which is going to be an ambitious project for me considering I've only ever knit one small shawl before.

My first ever skein of Hedgehog Fibres, in the Cheeky colour way. Hedgehog Fibres is from Ireland.

It wasn't intentional but I must have a thing for pinks and greys at the moment, lol.

If you get the chance to visit KAN one year, please do so as its well worth it. Maybe next year I'll get along to some classes.

See you soon xx