I managed to get those colourful socks finished after all, in time for this week's blog post. Just. I used a ball of the Regia self-striping sock yarn designed by the Norwegian knitters Arne and Carlos - it's called Regia Pairfect. The idea is that one ball makes two identically patterned socks. You'll see by looking at mine that I didn't manage that - typical! I'm still not sure what I did wrong as the leg part started off all right, but the stripes on the feet wanted to do their own thing.
Anyway. I like the cheeriness of the finished socks and they were fun to knit.
Keira and I went to see some art on the weekend, including Janet Lilo's Top16 exhibition at Te Papa. It was a large-scale look at our online profiles and social media identities - I thought it was great. SHARE THE LOVE is from that. Also at Te Papa, we loved Indra's Bow artwork by Tiffany Singh - a rainbow of ribbons holding small glass vials with natural materials in every variation of every colour of the rainbow. It's a beautiful piece and I never get tired of looking at it.
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In an effort to do more local adventuring, we headed up to Fort Ballance today to properly explore the former artillery battery that was built in the 1880s amid fears of an impending war with Russia. Now the concrete tunnels and rooms are likely the location of many parties and graffiti sessions. I've been up there a few times over the years, and the artwork has looked completely different each time. It's quite an amazing site, this stark concrete structure completely adorned with bright paint, set among wildflowers and broom.
I picked some things: fennel, mallow, clover and wild rocket. It's a bit eerie up there, but weeds and wildflowers soften everything.
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Lastly this week, I wanted to show you this new top I made. It took a little less than one and half metres of linen and the design is from this free pattern from Peppermint Magazine. It's proved to be quite useful already - a simple but light and breezy garment to wear to work. I'm sure it will be really useful as the weather warms up too, in place of a jacket or cardigan. I recommend it, if you're in the mood for a spot of sewing!
X X X X X See you soon and thank you as always for visiting here. X X X X X