Monday 26 November 2012

Fyberspates Scrumptious - heavier weights

Scrumptious DK worsted yarn Plum  100g
Fyberspates Scrumptious DK/Worsted in Plum


 

We are now stocking four weights of the fabulous Fyberspates Scrumptious yarn. The yarn is lovely and soft, and made from 45% silk and 55% merino wool. Gorgeous! The yarn has a lovely shine to it, and is a pleasure to knit with.

The weights we have added to the range are the Double Knit/Worsted and the Aran.

The Double Knit is a singles yarn, and is perfect for the ever popular Clapotis shawl from Knitty.com. Each 100g skein is 220m long.  The gauge, using 4.5mm needles, is 20sts & 28 rows for a 10 x 10 cm square.

The Aran is a plied yarn, with 165m per 100g skein. A deliciously soft, plump and shiny yarn. The gauge, using 5mm needles is 18sts and 24 rows for a 10x10cm square.

We recommend that you hand wash all garments you make with Fyberspates Scrumptious (and my hand dyed yarn). Each washing machine is different, and it would be an utter tragedy to shrink or felt a garment you have spent so many hours knitting!

You can find all of the Fyberspates Scrumptious yarns I have in stock here:



Scrumptious Aran   Moss  100g
Fyberspates Scrumptious Aran in Moss

To support the range of Fyberspates Scrumptious yarns, we also stock the Fyberspates Scrumptious Volume One pattern book, and the ScrumptiousBaby pattern book. Both books are bursting with patterns written specifically for this gorgeous yarn.

You'll find the pattern books here:



Happy knitting!

Alex :-)

Monday 19 November 2012

A Quizzical Owlet

Life will change dramatically around here in the next few months. :-) In a good way!

Scott and I are expecting a baby towards the end of February.

As the months go by, we are getting more and more excited about the impending arrival. I've been incredibly lucky to feel so well up until this point. We are referring to our offspring as the "Cylon", which is a reference to a nerdy tv show, Battlestar Galactica.

The Quizzical Owl will remain on track for a busy 2013. I plan on still attending markets and events such as Supanova and the BrisStyle markets. I'm already thinking of costumes to dress our little person in at Supanova on the Gold Coast!!

I'm looking forward to February next year, but first we have to get through Christmas 2012. Thanks must go out to our customers, blog readers, Facebook linkers, Twitter followers and friends for supporting us over the last 12 months. We really appreciate your support and we are really excited about the next 12 months.

Alex :-)

Saturday 15 September 2012

Fyberspates Scrumptious - Childry Shawl

I have been wanting to knit something from the Fyberspates Scrumptious Collection for a while. I wanted to be able to knit something that I could wear in Brisbane’s sub tropical temperatures. I chose the Childry shawl and knitted it in the 4ply/sock Teal. 



I really love the feel of the Scrumptious and I also love the teal colour. It is quite a simple looking pattern and I like the ruffled edging of the shawl. 



From a marketing point of view it is also an excellent opportunity to show what can be made with a single skein of the Scrumptious 4ply yarn.

Sunday 2 September 2012

Loki Earrings

One of the first items that I created when I started making Lego jewellery was minifigure earrings. They are something that I really like and enjoy wearing.

I have a pair of construction workers earrings that I have been wearing for more than two years. The reaction has always been fantastic when people see them. Some of the feedback that I have received is that the perception is that the earrings will be too heavy. I can vouch for the fact that they aren't heavy at all! 
I was therefore really excited when a friend of mine and fellow BrisStyler asked me to make a pair of Loki minifigure earrings for her daughter’s birthday. I wasn’t able to take photos when I made the earrings as these were a surprise present. I asked for a photo of the Loki earrings so I could share them on the blog and I think the photo looks fantastic and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. 




I was also very pleased that at the last BrisStyle Twilight Market, I sold a pair of viking minifigure earrings. After a pair for yourself? Check them out here: http://thequizzicalowl.com.au/ourshop/cat_484144-Minifigure-Earrings.html :-)


Thursday 23 August 2012

BrisStyle Indie Twilight Market

Friday 24th August, 5-9pm
King George Square, Brisbane City



It's that time again - time for the BrisStyle Indie Twilight Market! But, this time, there's also an Etsy Party for you all to enjoy too.

I can't wait for the market. There's always a great atmosphere - happy customers, happy stallholders, and hopefully great weather!

I've made a few new project bags for this market. Here they are:


I've also been playing around with polymer clay. I've made some bananas! I'll make these into earrings when their varnish has dried, and they'll be available at the Twilight Market tomorrow night for $10 a pair.

What do you think? Very Queensland, right? :-)



Looking forward to seeing you there. Come by, say hello, and stay for the Etsy Party - it'll be a hoot!

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Hand Dyed Yarn Shop Update

Over the past few weeks, The Quizzical Owl has attended several great events. I made sure that I had loads of hand dyed yarn available for these events.

It's sometimes a bit of a gamble to bring a specialised item to a general craft market. But, there are more and more knitters out there! Knitting is one of those hobbies that you can pick and at any time, and come back to even if you stopped a while ago. I love being able to introduce people to new yarns - other than those available at the larger craft chains. And yarns in unique colourways that they will be able to make lovely items from. It makes me happy to see my customers happily stroking the yarn, looking intently at the colours.

(And yes, I'm one of those knitters that sniffs skeins of yarns at knitting shows or in shops. There, I've said it.)

I've listed all the remaining skeins of hand dyed yarns on my website. You'll find a few on my Etsy shop as well.

Here are a few teasers to get you in the mood...





Happy knitting/crocheting/crafting!

Alex :-) 

Friday 10 August 2012

Ambifair - The Event

Last weekend The Quizzical Owl attended Ambifair which was held in Ambiwerra Sports Ground and is the annual fundraiser for St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School.
 
 
 
 
The event was held on an absolutely gorgeous Brisbane Winter’s day. There was an excellent turnout for the event of which the highlights were a battle of the bands, some amazing dancing, a fashion platter competition and acrobatic demonstrations. 
 
 
 
With two people on the stall it is always enjoyable to be able to wander around and check out some of the events that are going on and the quality of the work that the students had put into their performances was certainly on show.
 
 
Having lived in London for 7 years, Scott was very excited to have found a pair of cufflinks with parts of the London Tube Map inside. The tube map is such an iconic image for anyone who has travelled and lived in London and it is always nice to find an unusual collectible to bring back some of those memories.

Friday 3 August 2012

Ambifair

On Sunday 5th August The Quizzical Owl will be attending its next market in Brisbane.

This will be the first time that Ambifair has been held. Ambifair is being run by The Parents and Friends Association of St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School and will be held at Ambiwerra Sports Fields, 40 Erinvale Street, Corinda, Queensland, Australia 4075

Ambifair will comprise of over 50 market stalls offering high quality home grown organic produce, creative and original arts and crafts, skin care, jewellery and fashion.



We are very excited to be attending and will have our full range of Lego Jewellery, hand dyed yarn and project bags available.



Hopefully Scott and I will see you there.

Jumpers and Jazz - our weekend away

What a weekend!

Scott and I jumped in the car on Friday afternoon and headed down to Warwick about 4pm. We made great time, and arrived at our motel just after dark.

Warwick is a lovely town, with a lot of history. It's only a couple of hours drive from Brisbane, and well worth a visit.

We checked in to our motel, then had a bit of a drive through the town to get our bearings and find somewhere for dinner. We found ourselves at a lovely Chinese restaurant not far from the motel. The food was tasty! I had chicken in a local peach sauce, and Scott had a bird's nest. YUM! Of course, I can't resist reading menus and finding spelling errors. I don't know what it is about Asian restaurants, but they honestly have the best spelling/grammar errors. ;-) This restaurant's specialty was "Pork Bibs".

We had a slow start to Saturday - we ended up being awake really early (force of weekday habit I guess) and we watched a bit of the Olympic Opening Ceremony. We meandered down to the town centre and had a lovely brunch in a cafe. Then we wandered up and down the main street absorbing the atmosphere, and checking out all of the dressed/yarn-bombed trees.

The trees were amazing! The overall theme was Spice, and the variety among the trees was excellent. There were trees done by local school kids, by Girl Guides, local guilds, and enthusiasts from all over the place.

After wandering for a couple of hours, we hopped into the car and headed towards Stanthorpe. We found several lovely wineries, a cheese factory and even a cidery. We christened our new car on a very long dirt road (oops!), but the winery at the end of that road was totally worth the bumpy, dusty ride. At the cidery we had superb slice of apple pie. Then it was home to the motel for a reasonably early night.

Sunday we were up before the sun. It was freezing - literally!! The outside temperature according to the car was 0 degrees. Thank goodness for drive through coffee shops.

We set up our stall on frosty grass, and slowly thawed out during the day. We were thankful for the warm sunshine, that's for sure!

The crowds soon arrived and filled Leslie Park. We had a lovely day chatting to people about yarn, watching people enjoying themselves, and selling Lego jewellery to excited children (and adults!!). It is always fun to do markets, to be able to connect with people. Someone had remembered us from Supanova on the Gold Coast, and others mentioned that they go to the BrisStyle twilight markets.

We had a fun weekend. Thank you to Warwick for welcoming us! We will be back soon, I'm sure. Until then, here is a selection of photos from our trip. I've also uploaded a bunch more to my Flickr account.

Alex :-)


















Thursday 26 July 2012

Jumpers & Jazz, Warwick

This weekend we are heading to Warwick. We are taking part in the culmination of the Jumpers & Jazz festival - Picnic in the Park. This event is the culmination of a week-long festival of music and arts.

And I can't wait!

I've heard a lot about the festival - and the yarn bombing. The trees in the main street are decorated with yarn and the entries come from all over the world.

On Sunday 29th of July, Picnic in the Park is happening in the centre of Warwick. Between 9am and 3pm, pop down to Leslie Park for and art and craft market.

We'll be there with Lego and Fimo jewellery, hand dyed yarn, project bags, stitch markers, Fyberspates Scrumptious yarns, and pattern books from Fyberspates and Ysolda.

See you there!!!



Monday 4 June 2012

QSWFA Open Day

The Queensland Spinners, Weavers, and Fibre Artists have an Open Day every year. I was invited to have a stall by the lovely Vicki, who I met through Ravelry.

I was really excited about having a stall there, as I would be able to sell my Fyberspates yarn there, as well as the pattern books.  I am not able to sell these items at the BrisStyle markets (which are handmade only markets).

I dyed up a storm - I bought in new yarn from Mr Wool, bought new dye colours, and worked my magic. I was absolutely thrilled with the comments I received at the show about my dyeing technique and the colours I produced (that I was very talented, and had an excellent eye for colour). It's incredibly satisfying after creating new colourways, and presenting them to the public on a market stall, to have compliments on the items I have made. It's really rewarding. I already love what I do, but it's made that much more special when somebody at a market stall picks up something I have made and smiles.

We had a wonderfully successful day at the Open Day. We made the most of our stall space, which was along a fence outside the QSWFA's building in Auchenflower, Brisbane. I was really happy to be able to use my great-grandmother's suitcase to hold my Fyberspates yarn. I loved having a connection to her.

I'm now a member of QSWFA. Their next event in their Christmas Fair, which I'm really looking forward to. :-)

The Quizzical Owl enjoying the morning sunshine

Fyberspates yarn in my great-grandmother's suitcase <3
My hand-dyed yarns

The view down from our stall

The QSWFA's store - The Emporium. Yum!

Alex :-)



Friday 18 May 2012

Shop Update - Hand Dyed Yarn

Over the past weekend, while I was working, Scott put in a big effort into updating the shop. I am very happy to announce that the full range of hand dyed yarn is now available from The Quizzical Owl shop.

I currently have five different sock yarn bases available and have named each one after long-lost civilisations, which were inspired by my museum studies and day job as a museum nerd.

The yarns available from the shop are:

Benin - Sock Weight Yarn, 100% Blue Faced Leicester, 400 Metres/100g



Herculaneum - Sock Weight Yarn, 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon, 400 Metres/100g



Mesopotamia - Sock Weight Yarn, 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Silk, 400 Metres/100g



Pergamon - Sock Weight Yarn, 100% Organic Merino, 400 Metres/100g



Nineveh - Sock Weight Yarn, 75% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon, 5% Stellina Sparkle, 400 Metres/100g




Published today is the Weekend Edition of map magazine and I am very excited to be featured in their in the Gentlewoman section.

The dye pots have also been fired up again as at the end of May and early June we will be attending two exciting events. The first is on May 27, and is the Queensland Spinners, Weavers and Fibre Artists' Open Day. The second is a special BrisStyle Craft Caravan event on June 1st in King George Square, Brisbane.

I'll have some Double Knit (8 ply) yarn available at these events too. It's a gorgeous mix of Superwash Merino, Cashmere and Nylon. Yum!


Monday 14 May 2012

Brisstyle Indie Twilight Market April 2012

On Friday the 28th April, The Quizzical Owl attended the Brisstyle Indie Twilight Market. The forecast was for rain so the location of the stall moved onto the terrace in King George Square. I'm so grateful that there is a wet weather option for us and for our customers. Thankfully the weather held off right until the very end of the market.

There were lots of people wandering around the market buying all the handmade lovelies. I was thrilled with the feedback that I received about my hand dyed yarn. This is only the second market I have brought it to, and it's still exciting when somebody loves it as much as I love dyeing it. The jewellery was also very popular. We love hearing people's reactions to the Lego! Most people laugh or giggle at the jewellery, which is the reaction I love the most. I enjoy making people smile with my work - who wouldn't? :-)

I had made some rings from dead Apple keyboards and had them available at this market. The keys were taken from three separate keyboards that had been fried, so rather than throw them away, I made good use of the pieces. The most popular key? The Command key.

Here are a few pics from the night:

Rings made from Apple keyboards

The crowds enjoying the handmade goodies

A whole basket full of hand dyed yarn