I had been holding on to this wool (two balls of Lang Mille Colori) for ages. I think I bought it from the bus depot markets several years ago, and at the time I had no idea what I would make with it. Every now and then I would take it out and wonder what it would become. At some stage I realised the stripes were the sort I love to use for felting, but it's 50% wool and 50% acrylic and didn't feel like it would felt thoroughly.
It turned out that this wool really wanted to be the Shizuku scarf from the 2012 Knitting Calendar, by Angela Tong. I like the novelty of the calendar and I've tried not to peek ahead, so I can enjoy turning over the pages every few days. Most of the patterns haven't really appealed to me, but when I got to this one I left the calendar on that page for a while and kept thinking about it. It was so nutty! It's designed for Noro Kureyon, and I wonderer whether that fringe of drops would work in any other wool? (I already have one scarf made from Kureyon, and it's not the softest stuff).
I ended up knitting the first half twice, restarting on bigger needles, because I could see I was going to need as much length as possible. It was so quick that restarting didn't bother me much, and I was enjoying the process. Throughout the first ball, the stripe sequence never actually repeated itself. So when that hot pink appeared in the second ball, especially that extra wide stripe, I started to wonder if they really were the same colourway. Having examined the labels, I'm still only
pretty sure - dyelot numbers are printed imperfectly.
Maybe the large section of pink is a manufacturing mistake. But I don't really mind, it's a loud and quirky scarf anyway! I'm finding it very wearable - the length is just right and the elongated triangle shape gives some bulk in the front for warmth without it being bulky all over. With all the colours it sort of goes with anything. And it makes me happy in crappy weather.
This is the Perch Creek Family Jugband. I had actually briefly seen these guys before, busking at the Old Bus Depot Markets last year (and a dear friend bought me their CD). The stringy stuff behind them is some kind of group/participatory installation. The festival organisers were calling for donations of wool before the festival and I think this is what it was for. Not sure I love it but I'm sure they had fun! 
And this is the Hardrive Bluegrass Band, who were very good. Maybe it's weird to hear Australians singing in American accents, but it works. (If you like that sort of thing, which I do.)
I spent half of Saturday taking photos at Free Comic Book Day. The full set is here, though I can't take credit for all of them, especially the really well-composed ones!
We were joined for the day by a Jedi Knight, an Imperial officer and a tall, dark and mysterious Shadowtrooper. Most kids treated him with a certain amount of awe, but most were also keen to pose for photos. (Who doesn't want a photo with a Shadowtrooper?)
