Knittin' a mitten

Wow, it's 1.30am already! I should be in bed as I have work tomorrow. I got home from work just before 10pm and sat on the couch with my flatmate, drinking tea, watching An Idiot Abroad (love Karl Pilkington!) and knitting. I'm just about finished my first arm warmer. It's a fingerless glove made from alpaca but it stretches right up to my elbow. It's going to be so cosy and snug come Winter! Actually I'm wearing it as I type this; so at least one arm out of two is toasty. That's the worst thing about gloves - you have this great sense of accomplishment until you remember you have to make the same thing all over again. I'll post a picture once it's cast off.

I bought the yarn from a alpaca farm on the outskirts of Otorohanga in May. They have a small shop that they'll open up if anyone pops in and a mill which they gave us a tour through. It was really interesting to see all the machinery it takes to turn fibre off an animal's back into gorgeous knitting yarn. If you aren't familiar with Otorohanga it's about 40 minutes south of Hamilton and has a kiwi house and bird park, a kiwiana theme throughout the town and is just down the road from Waitomo Caves. It is also where my cat lives which is a pretty big drawcard in itself.

My cat. For some reason the neighbour's cat isn't as fond of sitting on my hip :-)

The alpacas that provided the gorgeous yarn I'm knitting

Kiwiana walkway in Otorohanga - Footrot Flats

I loved this recipe!

Pommy flatmate having some fun with the sign

The public toilets

Speaking of pairs of gloves, we rearranged our lounge last night. By rearranging I mean we kind of flipped everything around like a mirror image because it's so narrow and has so many doors coming off it, you are very limited in what you can put where. Anyway as I was moving the couch I found a mitten hiding under it. The same mitten my flatmate knitted me and I proceeded to lose the first time I wore it way back in May! And then today at work I found my angora Hermione hat and a merino cardigan I'd misplaced a couple of months ago. So this week has been a very good week for finding things. If only a $20 note or bottle of wine I didn't know I had would pop up somewhere too.

Boy am I glad to have this hat back! I love the mix of cables and lace.