Monday, July 21, 2014

The Australian Sheep and Wool Show 2014


 Hello crafty peeps! How was your weekend?  Mine was great!  

Yesterday my man and I went on a drive to Bendigo so I could visit the Wool Show (officially The Australian Sheep and Wool Show I think), I hadn't been there before, and I wanted to check to out this year.
It was a great day, filled with colour, yarny goodness and people who were so enthusiastic about all the stuff I love!  I was pretty much in my element!

I had my first ever try at spinning yarn, something I think could become another addictive hobby. The lady at the stall convinced me that yet another crafty hobby was perfectly alright, so I bought a drop spindle to practice with at home.  A friend of mine has a big bag of fleece shorn from his sheep and has said I can spin that if I'd like, so I had better get practising.  I also got a rundown on how to clean and card the fleece, although I fear it went in one ear and out the other, so that will require more investigation.


And as you might imagine, there was a lot of gorgeous wool! Beautiful, colourful squishy balls of yarny pleasure!  





It was a little overwhelming, and there was almost too many choices, so I actually was quite restrained with my shopping, I did buy some lovely 10ply hand dyed in natural dyes, like brown onion, walnut, red cabbage and madder ( great names I thought!).  I hope I bought enough to make a blanket or at least a pillow case.  I also saw some scrummy alpaca that was in beautiful strong colours, but my budget had been blown by this stage, so I just had to admire it.


There were lots of things for the spinners, huge piles of colourful rovings just waiting patiently to be spun into lovely yarn, lots of spinning wheels and people sitting contentedly spinning amidst the crowds.  I looks very relaxing actually.
Weaving also got plenty of attention and I saw lots of cool looms for sale.  I just wanted one because they are such interesting looking piece of equipment!  Weaving is also on my list of things to try this year.  I had a chat with an artist who made these amazing woven artworks, they were tiny and intricate, and beautiful.  I am going to attend a workshop in August and learn how to weave in miniature with embroidery thread. It looks amazing, very contempory!


There was also plenty of crafty talent on display, most stalls had lovely examples of knitting and crochet and plenty of patterns and kits to get you started.  And a hall of competition knits, crocheted things and spun yarn, it was interesting to see which pieces had won prizes, it was hard to tell which items were the best to be honest, I think the judges would have had a difficult time deciding.


 I had a nice chat with the ladies on the Machine knitting display and have rekindled my interest in having a go at this.  I am not having my luck finding a machine, I keep getting out bid on Ebay, and it doesn't help that I am not really sure what I am looking for!  Apparently there is a machine knitting group in Koo Wee Rup that I should get in touch with, that's reasonably close by, so must put that on my to do list too!
  
It was quite an inspiring day, my brain was buzzing with all the things I want to do!  My patient husband got quite the crafty ear bashing on the way home but managed to seem reasonably interested in my chatter!  (he didn't actually come to the show with me, happy to drive me there and preferring to explore Bendigo for a few hours by himself , he's a good guy!).
I stopped by the Knitting Mills before we left Bendigo and stocked up on a few bargains from the back room, and somehow quite a bit of colourful 4ply found it's way into my basket, I have a few crafty plans for that stuff! 
We also visited Maldon on the way back for a late lunch, oh I love that town so much!  One of my favourite spots to visit when up Bendigo way.  They have great pies too! :)

So all in all a lovely day out. 

I hope you had a good weekend, did you have a fun one too? 

Talk soon!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



32 comments:

  1. My God, I would spend MILLIONS if I would ever attend a wool show! Unfortunately, there isn't something similar around where I live. I'd love to spend my money that way! ;)

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    1. I know Emm, it was tough restraining myself! There was so much inspiration though, it was great to see so many different yarns in one place. Thanks for stopping by, Julie x

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  2. Definitely looks like yarny heaven to me! Some amazing looking yarns there, good on you for being restrained :-) I have two knitting machines (a standard and a bulky) and I recommend a bulky one over a standard. They're a lot easier to use and it takes a thin 8ply beautifully, but in saying that I taught myself, so if you can find a club or someone to show you the ropes that would be a lot easier!

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    1. It pretty much was yarny heaven Bec! Thanks for the tips on the knitting machines, that's the sort of info I need, I think I'll keep an eye out for a bulky, I like to use 8ply so I think that would suit me better. Thanks for visiting, and congrats on the Country Living exposure! J xx

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  3. Its sounds like the perfect day all round ! So much colour and inspiration, I can see why your head was full to bursting by the time you left.
    Have a lovely week Jules,
    Kate x
    PS: I have just finished my Little Woollie cushions from the Simply Crochet pattern, thank you so much Jules, I am in LOVE, and they were so much fun to do. Hoping to post about them later today. x

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    1. Thanks Kate, aren't you lovely! Glad you had fun with the cushions, I can't believe people are actually making my patterns!! Quite surreal! :) Have a great week too, Julie xx

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  4. Where to look first ?!! Thanks for sharing :)

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    1. I know sweetpeaandivy, there was crafty eye candy everywhere! Have great week, thanks for stopping by, J xx

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  5. Oh, wow, that show looks fantastic. We don't have anything like that where I live. My husband and I are going to visit Yarndale again this year (it's held in Yorkshire, England but we live in Northern Ireland). Last year I was an exhibitor but this year I'm just going as a visitor. My husband quite happily comes with me round all the stands of wool and woollie accessories.

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    1. Hi Gillian, I'd love to get to Yarndale at some stage, maybe one day I'll get over there, it's quite a trip from Melbourne! It is nice to have company to share these events with isn't it, we have good husbands! :) Thanks for stopping by, J xxx

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  6. Hello Julie - I just popped over from Robin's place to have a little peek at what you're up to, and boy, am I impressed with your lovely blog - so full of interesting and lovely colourful goodies!
    You must have been in your element visiting the Wool Show and being in among all that wonderful yarn: exciting stuff - I would have bust the budget, definitely. I sometimes buy wool from the BWM, online …. I live in Western Australia …. but what a treat it would be to get in that backroom! xoJoy

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    1. Joy, hello to you over in WA, thanks so much for your kind comment, you are making me blush! :) And yes, the back room at BWM can have some real bargains, but they are pretty good value at their normal prices too I think, I always end up with a mountain of wool when we visit there! Have a lovely week and thanks for visiting, J xx

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  7. Wow, I would love atending a show like that! And I'd come home with too much wool - oh wait, one can never get too much wool! ; ) Have a nice week, and thanks for showing these amazing pics, it felt a bit like visiting the show! : ) x

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  8. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. My mind would have been buzzing by the time I went home with all kinds of new yarns and ideas. I too have been playing with the idea of weaving..I love the texture and looks of it..not sure what to look for either. Thanks for sharing your day with us

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  9. A blissful day you had! I would need to drag the hubby along just to keep me in check! lol I've been very tempted by spinning, but think do I really need another hobby?! ;) Those knitting machines are really cool, I thought about one of those too. ;0 My weekend involved a lovely day of hooky delight, working out a pattern, trying to get the "bugs" worked out and dreaming of color combinations. Have a great week!

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  10. A great day indeed, all the things I really want to try spinning and weaving. Shame the show is the other side of the world. Some really delightful looking yarn.

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  11. Oh my gooooooooood! Those beautiful colors!!!!
    Love your pictures
    Kisses from Argentina

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  12. Thanks for taking me with you as we don't have anything like that around here. I'm thinking maybe people should move to where their interests are but then on the other hand it's easier to be frugal here ...except when I get on the internet! LOL! I would get into spinning if it made my yarn more affordable. But not sure I could afford a wheel right now and I have a drop spindle but I haven't messed with it much. Beautiful yarns....I would have blown my budget there! LOL!

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  13. So many colours, so much texture, so much choice...wool heaven. Just a tad too far from the UK for a visit but appreciate you sharing it with us-thank you

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  14. What a dream - I am definitely going to put that on to my dream list for next year....

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  15. Sounds and looks good fun.

    I remember trying to machine knit at school (as well as needle knitting, but being left handed bother the teachers and my mum gave up lol) and it being...interesting shall we say lol.

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  16. I sooo wish I had known there was such a show - would def have made the 6hr drive. A must-do next year!
    I'll bet you were in heaven with all that texture and colour
    There is nothing more satisfying than producing something from yarn you have spun yourself - unless it is growing the yarn first, lol
    I did spin my own super-fine organic merino until my baabaas went to sheepy heaven. Now I buy locally grown organic undyed fleece. It's lovely to know there are no pesticide residues in the wool. Colouring the spun yarn with vegies is also fun and rewarding as well as being an adventure because I never know quite what the result will be until it dries. Someday I'll get the courage to try out some of the organic yarn dyes that are around.
    I picked up my pre-loved Ashford wheel through the local Spinners & Weavers Guild branch for just $100. There's an Ashford store in Cooma that sells the maintenance kits. Best $100 I ever spent as spinning is so meditative and a great winter pastime - you know, when it's just too grey and wet to do anything outside.
    I can't afford those fancy and expensive 'carders' so I just comb my fleece with a dog comb from the pet store - about $10. I've trained my hubby to do some combing too while he's watching the footy so I always have a basketful of fleece ready to spin.
    You can spin yarn from just about anything that is a fibre. There are spinners producing yarns from dog fur!
    The next thing on my wish list is a pre-loved loom. I'd love to create eclectic rugs, blankets and mats from interesting combinations of yarns and colours. It would be a great way to make use of my first few skeins of merino - they came out all lumpy and interesting while I was getting the hang of it, lol
    Next year I'll be at that show and I'll be keeping an eye out for you :D

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  17. Gorgeous!! Did you know that there are usually people selling alpaca fleece at the Bungendore Show annually? I have a friend who has bought some and spun it into beautiful wool.

    Thanks for taking us to the wool show with you - it looks lovely!

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  18. Hey Julie, this is the 3rd post I've read about the show and I feel like I've really missed out. Although not a knitter as such I do play around with some yarn. But I think I would've really enjoyed all the colour and creativity there and certainly come away inspired to do something yarny!!
    I can imagine how much you enjoyed it and your hubby, what a good egg he was, allowing you to enjoy your time without worrying about him being bored.......
    Have fun with your purchases.......
    A lovely, sunny day here, hope you've got the same down South.

    Claire xx

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  19. I've been wanting to get to the Bendigo wool show for ages. Every year I read posts like yours and each year the desire to visit increases. If I were to go, I would want to do a road trip and I love little details of local knowledge and side trips like your tip about Maldon. The list of yarn events on te "must do" list is steadily growing. Thank you for sharing the pictures and giving a review for all of us who so wish we could be there with you. Happy travels

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  20. I would love to do some weaving as well and I have a spinning wheel sitting in my lounge room that I am busting to get at...just need a few more hours in the day...

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  21. Well, that must have been a colorful yarny heavenly experience!!!! So many beautiful yarny goodies!!!! The perfect place to be!!!
    Love
    AMarie xxx

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  22. That sounds like an awesome day out I wish Bendigo wasn't such a long drive away :-(

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  23. I loved your post and hope to go to the show next year. I particularly loved the mitered square blanket in the second last picture. do you remember which stall that was or if there was a pattern or kit for this.
    Thanks
    mitali

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    1. I think it might be from Sackville and Lane in Wangaratta - they do mail order and are online, though you have to phone throuhg the order!

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  24. I can see some of the stock from the lovely Sackville and Lane from Wangaratta, Victoria - a great shop if you are ever in NorthEast Victoria! I think the last few pics are from there... Looks like a great day out!

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  25. Julie
    I wish you had of told me who you were when you popped by. I love your blog and am always inspired.
    I'm so glad you like the Onabee Hand dyed yarn.
    If you run out let me know. I am hoping to put it online soon.
    I can't wait to see what you make with it!
    happy Knitting
    Fiona
    Onabee (fiona@onabee.com)

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