What an inspiring few days! About 3 hours from Paraparaumu, in the Ruahine Range, unlike anything I have ever seen in the US. Here is one of the roads we took on the way….

The retreat was held at Sixtus Lodge, a facility built by a family to be used to teach the children in middle school in the Manawatu area outdoor living skills. Everywhere you look around here was beautiful, this is across the road from the lodge.

We did some ice dyeing…

We were inspired by the Shawlography shawls and the Mrs. May knitted by Bev and Christine…

Tricia’s freeform knitting vest was incredible. She taught several of us how to get started with free form knitting. Tricia is the national President of New Zealand Creative Fibre which includes many different types of Fibery guilds and groups.

There was warping by Ester in preparation for weaving some tea towels, and lots of life lessons😁♥️….

We saw the final stage of life of the Puripuri moth, who spends 7 years eating, growing, laying eggs and resting to get to this stage where he gets to fly for 48 hours before he dies.

There were people who have been attending Sixtus for most of the 40 years of this retreat ….

And friends who were newly minted.

Rosemary showed us her Friendship Blanket, which was 20+ years in the making by a cooperative group of weavers.

We saw glow worms…

…we hiked…..

….but mostly, we unplugged from technology and the world and plugged into our art and each other. It was wonderful and I was fortunate to be able to attend.

The little dot by Apiti is about our location, in the bush of the North Island of New Zealand.

Attended a meeting of the Gear Woolshed Fibre Arts groupPorirua today. The meeting was in the Woolshed of the Gear Homestead. The people here are all so friendly. We are all wooly people. The blooms in the photo are on a giant camellia.

James Gear built this house for his wife in the 1860’s. He was a pioneer in the export of frozen meat. His first wife died, he was 41 when he married his 20 year wife, built this house and started another family. The walkway across the back led to another house that he built in order to have a place to get away from noise and energy of his young family😊.

Cabbage trees looking out from the Gear Homestead over Porirua Harbor. They have a bloom with a fruit of sorts at the base that resembles a cabbage. Many were wiped out in the past years by and infection. They look similar to yuccas but are trees.

Today we head to the Manawatu retreat at Sixtus Ranch, near Apiti, in the Ruahine Range. Internet will probably not be available so I will not be posting until Monday. Till then, be well!

A friend of Sheena’s who lives in the same village came to visit us. Tricia and I went to her house to see her felting and it was breathtaking. I decided to put these photos in a separate post because they deserve their own spot. Enjoy, and look at the detail!

Inspired by Blenheim on the South Island. The canopy of the trees is wool felted on silk fabric. Zoom in to appreciate the texture on these. If I know the inspiration, I listed it.

Inspiration was the Three Sisters near Sydney, Australia.

Kapiti Island and the artist’s brother and sister in law.

Zoom in on those rocks….

Tui, a common bird in New Zealand.

And last, a wooden bowl and eggs turned by Edna’s husband. Also in the bowl, bottomL and R, a sea shell and Edna’s felted seashell (hard to tell which is which), a huge chunk of amber, a a big black blob of wale vomit. YES, whale vomit. It can be sold and is used in the perfume industry. It is much lighter weight than a rock the same size.

So glad to be able to have seen these beautiful wet felted pieces of art!

Kapiti Island from Raumati Beach

Left- South near Poirura/ Center – path leading to beach points to the headland of the South Island off in the distance/ R is Kapiti Island. (Pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, the “iti” pronounced as the “iti” in Tahiti, KAP-iti)

I went to the Kapiti Arts and Crafts Spinning/Weaving/Knitting/Crochet group today and met a lot of fiber artists. We all speak the universal language of yarn and regardless of where you live in the world, we all have that passion in common. The knitters back home will appreciate this post. New Zealand Creative Fibre is the name of national organization that supports fiber arts of all types. The country is divided into 15 geographical regions. Each area has smaller groups that meet based on interests. The photo below shows all the different groups that compose the 240+ member Kapiti group. Notice they have an address. They have a dedicated building for the meetings and it includes a kitchen area, attached pottery studio and gallery where items can be displayed and sold. Artisans pay yearly dues to join and this helps to support their meeting place. They have raffles where people bring things like flowers, biscuits, etc and you can buy a ticket for 20 cents. The area where we met is as large as the gallery.

Gallery where various artists show their work and it is for sale. Closeups of displays, mostly pottery and paintings follow.

One of the members I met was Sylvia, who was I knitting the new Stephen West KAL “Twists and Turns”. Beautiful work!

A 45 minute train ride (absolutely cleanest form of public transportation I have even seen) and I am in Paraparaumu. Sheena met me at the train station. We went to buy groceries that’s what this post is about, plus the Blood Moon, but more about that later.

I was amazed at the produce section, as you can see. Everything is clearly labeled as to its origin. No guessing or looking for a tiny sticker that may have fallen off to find out where you food was grown. This is the rule here, as a result of the citizens wanting to know where their food was produced. See this first photo? The only item I found not grown in New Zealand was a large bag of peeled garlic that was from China. There was another long display case opposite from this filled with other veggies and fruit, almost all products of New Zealand.

Cauliflower trimmed so that those who want it but not a whole head, or who may have difficulty cutting it can still buy it. Plus, no food waste.

These asparagus stalks were as thick as my thumb.

Blood Moon over NewZealand (totals lunar eclipse). Next one occurs March 14, 2025. Zoom in to see it up close!

It is Wednesday here in NZ. This morning we are going to Paraparaumu Arts and Crafts, a local guild. Will try to post again tonight with some photos of the land and sea.

Onward!

6500 miles and 12 hrs later, after crossing the Equator and the International Dateline, skipping Sunday altogether, I am in Wellington!

Uneventful flights and the Skycouch on Air New Zealand is HIGHLY recommended!

I made it to Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand in time to eat a meat pie in the cafe for lunch. Incredible interactive museum. I wandered the floors for about 3 hours. In retrospect, I was overwhelmed by the blend of different South Pacific peoples, cultures, ethnicities and traditions that comprise this country. Truly cohesive, as was evidenced the Gallipoli exhibit which detailed the World War 1 campaign. It is a free museum right on the waterfront. Te Papa translates to “place of treasures”. A must see!

Wellington is a clean and friendly city. I walked 8.09 miles today! Remembered to look R at intersections instead of left before crossing the street. Finished the day with a superb dinner at Floridita’s on Cuba Street.

Beetroot and Hazelnut Risotto with whipped smoked tofu and oyster mushrooms. Brown Sugar Pavlova with strawberry custard and strawberries. Absolutely delicious!

Tomorrow I will take the train to Paraparaumu, where Sheena lives on the west coast of the North Island. It is less than an hour from Wellington by train.

Onward!

Off to New Zealand! In talking to some acquaintances, it became apparent that many of us have forgotten elementary school geography of the world, so I decided to include this little refresher before I get started on my journey.

New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy with the King of England as their nominal head of state. Their Prime Minister is Jacinda Arden. The have an elected Parliament. There are two main islands in the archipelago and smaller outlying islands. It is about the size of the state of Colorado. The total population in 2019 was 5 million people. About 3/4 of the population live on the North Island. The capital is Wellington, which is located on the south end of the North Island.

I will fly into Auckland then take a domestic flight to Wellington where I will spend the night and visit their national museum, Te Papa. On Tuesday, I will be visiting my friend Sheena, who lives a bit north of Wellington. We will be attending a fiber retreat in the bush on the North Island, then head to the South Island to tour. Maps, photos, travel commentary to follow! Subscribe to follow when I post. Not all places have internet, so it might be sporadic.

Just to clarify, (because someone actually asked) they speak English in NZ. Along with a lot of other languages, just like the US. They are not a 3rd world country, they are modern and progressive. Koalas are in Australia, not New Zealand. Thanksgiving the way we think of it (turkey etc) is an American holiday. They have something along that line but their history is different than ours.

****EDIT:NZ women have had the right to vote since 1893, 25 yrs before Britain and the US. They have elected their 3rd female head of state. The first was on 1997. They have allowed same sex marriage since 2013.

My flight leaves at 8:55 PM Saturday, November 5 from Los Angeles. It is a 14 hour flight and crosses the International Dateline, so Iwill be a day ahead of the US. New Zealand is 20 hours ahead of Mountain Standard time. To determine the time in New Zealand, think of Arizona time in a military format. Subtract 4 hours, then add the word “tomorrow”. For example, if it is 10AM in Yuma—

10 – 4 = 6 + tomorrow= 6AM tomorrow. I leave November 5. When I land, it will be Monday, November 7.

If it is 2PM in AZ, that would be 1400 in a military format.

14:00 hours – 4 hours = 10:00 + tomorrow=10AM tomorrow.

Just for kicks, my return flight departs Dec 4 at 11:55PM—-that is the time when the plane is pushed back from the gate. We won’t be airborne until Dec 5. I arrive in LA on Dec 4 at 3:00PM. Confused? Google “International Dateline”!

I have never crossed the International Dateline, have you?

Onward!

I am visiting Sheena in November! She has lived there for years and I am so excited to see her again and to visit this beautiful country. I will be documenting my visit on this blog, so if you want to follow along, subscribe!

I have been auditioning projects for my travel. Lots have come onto the list and been deleted. Requirements include:

1. Size-must be small.
2. Not too fussy. Small chart or pattern to keep my brain engaged.
3. Engaging enough to not put me to sleep. Therefore, no all-garter.

Here are the top contenders so far!

Left-Monkey Pride Sock in BMFA Socks That Rock, Pride Colorway. I can knit these on auto-pilot (until I get to the heel).

Center, Stochastic hat in Merino Worsted , colorway Monte Carlo Blue, by Gauge Dyeworks. Fun pattern and you don’t to do anything until the color changes. I have two others to do out of this yarn/pattern.

Right, 22 Cowl by Casapinka in Chicken Coop Dyeworks, colorways YardBird and Chard. Love me some Casapinka and Sharon From Security, and we all know this Cat really calls the shots!

I would love to take this one but the yarn is dark, which would be hard to see in low light. Plus, there are charts to deal with. I have all of these in Knitter’s Companion so it wouldn’t be that hard to transport. I probably won’t take it, because I do want to get the hats done in time for Christmas. I usually take too many knitting projects. Plus, I “might” be buying a little yarn along the way😂. How about you?

On the left, my Monsoon T Shirt by Susan Chastain. Designed to remember the 2021 Monsoon in Flagstaff. Knitted in Black Cat Studio fingering weight from Purl in the Pines in Flagstaff. Miss this shop!

Center and right, my hybrid T knitted in Kenzie. Body and sleeves done on my knitting machine, colorwork and ribs done by hand. I did block it, but it has a wrinkle in the front from being folded.

Melting Marl Shawl by Stephen West. Yarn curated from The Knitting Tree LA and my stash. An exercise in venturing outside my color comfort zone and I loved it. Discovered I have all of these colors in my closet😊

For young Mr. Archie Domby (who will make his entrance into the world in December) a Reversible Triangles blanket. The second blanket I knitted was a for a little cutie named Ozzie, who dubbed it his “Nancy”. This is the 26th Nancy I have knitted🥰. I flew through this, started last Thursday when I received the yarn and blocked it Monday😵. I always give some of the yarn to the mom, in the hope that one day they will ask me to repair it because it has been well-loved🥰. This was commissioned by his Grandma who is a good friend of mine.

Charlotte the I, the one that started it all..in Koigu.

Charlotte the II, knitted in a solid electric green because my friend Helen entered the wrong Koigu number on the Patternworks website….it was supposed to be a crimson color and this came instead…but I love greens…and it is 100% Koigu.

Charlotte the III, the relaxed, remnant version. This one always gets a nice nod when worn in public. Total random remnants…probably lots of Socks That Rock with the occasional electric lime green thrown in just to keep the earth rotating on its axis………

And finally, but certainly not my last, Charlotte the IV. Cast on while visiting Deb this summer in Utah. We cast on sister Charlottes😊. Knitted in Gusto fingering, from The Knitting Tree LA, my “local” yarn shop I visit in LA.

This definitely won’t be my last Charlotte. I have a huge collection of remnant fingering weight and I love doing the ones with more contrast. It actually is fairly quick knit for a lace shawl, and you get to rest on the purl rows, so bonus! If you want to dive into a lace shawl, this is a great one. I will share my edits with you as the pattern is quite easy but a bit confusing to get started. When we did the KAL in 2005 I rewrote the pattern and developed a row by row stitch count chart that helps a bunch. It is an 8 stitch 4 row repeat, but two of the four rows are the same, so 3. You can do it! As you can see, you can buy all new yarn or go the random way, it’s all good.

Reviving and reacquainting myself with this blog in preparation for my trip in November😊! Stay tuned for details. I will be writing about it here, with small teases of a photo or two on Facebook. Fibery holiday visiting a friend who lives in a beautiful place!

Onward…………