Perth Royal Show

"The Smoke Free Perth Royal Show is Perth's biggest community event attracting 400,000 visitors from the city and the country every year. With a rich history spanning 170 years, the Show is an iconic social and cultural event which showcases WA agriculture, small business and entertainment."

This annual show just ended last weekend & in my last 8 years living in Perth, I had only been twice. But this year is an exception as I had to go to the Show & check out the Creative Crafts section. I had entered 2 of my hand knitted items in the show.

To my great surprise, both items won prizes. The Alpine Shawl which I knitted for Helen won 2nd prize in the Lace Section......

.... next to my shawl is the 3rd prize winner which is the Swallowtail Shawl (sorry for the poor picture because of the light in the showcase).

.... the white round lace is the 1st prize winner which is knitted by a senior (over 70). The piece is knitted in such a fine yarn & the work is so intricate. This peice definitely deserves the prize.

My other item is a pair of socks which I entered in the Original Design section. I created this design sometime ago & had made many changes to the design. This is the only design that I have not written the pattern but anyway, here they are .....

.... the socks won 3rd prize & the sweater next to my sock won the 1st prize. In my excitement, I forgot to look out for the 2nd prize.

I am so happy with the results as this is the 1st time that I have entered a competition. I went a couple of days ago, to collect the items & the certificates .........

While I was there, I met the Chief Steward & volunteered to demonstrate sock knitting at the show next year. She even confirmed that they have decided to have a category just for SOCKS ! I have to start thinking of designs for my entries next year .....

Gretel Is Done !

In my last post, I mentioned the problem that I had with the Slanting Gretel Tee. I finally decided to follow the pattern & knit the sleeves as instructed. I am glad that I did as I am happy with the finished product ......

It looks great (Lydia is the model) & fits perfectly. I love the color & the feel of the yarn - it's Handmaiden Casbah (Salt Spray) which is gorgeous to knit with & I use only 2 skeins !

I am also glad that I followed the instructions for the cap sleeves which turned out perfect. As the sleeves were not knitted in the round, there is less bulk on the underarm & feels so much more comfortable .......

This pattern is really well written & clever as the shaping is done at the back. The only change I made is to have the same cables on both the front & the back of the raglan yoke which I think looks more balanced .....

I am so glad that I picked this project up again & finished it. It just perfect for the spring weather & I have already worn it a couple of times.

I have also cast off another project which is a Christmas present for Lydia's piano teacher. This is the only knitted Christmas gift for this year as I don't have much time from now to Christmas for more knitting (as I am working on a couple of secret projects).

This is the 2nd Ishbel that I have knitted & I still love the pattern - it's a quick & easy lace shawl ......

.... all done in less than a week. This Ishbel is knitted in Zen Yarn Garden Sea Wool in a Passion Pink colorway. The yarn is from stash & one of the many skeins that I had when I was in the Sock Club.

This time, I did something different - I added beads on the edging & it looked great .....

The beads do add a nice touch to the shawl but it slowed down the knitting - pick up the crochet hook, pick up the bead with the hook, pull the stitch thro' the bead, put the stitch back on the needle & then knit the stitch! I don't think I can go on doing this for a long time & I am glad that the edging is only 8 rows & I had beads on 3 rows!

I do love this shawl ......