We came across these guys on our way from Bunjil’s Shelter in Victoria, Australia. Glenda and Stephen run Blue Moon Alpacas and sell undyed yarn, fibre, knits and other alpaca goods out of a small shop on their organic farm. Glenda introduced us to the alpacas – very inquisitive, handsome fellows. Since they had all been shorn for the year, 10 of them were going to work guarding sheep.

I walked away with a big 800g bag of 8ply yarn, which I learned would be DK weight in North America, in a natural charcoal grey. I’m thinking about using it to make Kate Davies’ Manu cardigan.

Blue Moon Alpacas don’t have a website, but if you find yourself in the Grampians, they’re at 340 Pomonal Road, Stawell, Victoria (phone: 03 5358 2581).

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[Photos 1 and 3 courtesy of Chris]

I’m back from three fabulous weeks in Australia. I loved it, loved it, loved it. I could have easily done with another three weeks, but it was definitely enough time to get a feel for the state of Victoria, Port Douglas, QLD and Sydney. The landscapes were stunning, the food delicious, and the wedding we attended was perfect. These are some of my favourite bits.

Phil and Aggie's wedding. The guests gathered in front of the Brighton bathing boxes, some of which have stood since 1862 (photo courtesy of Chris)

Camping at Johanna Beach, Victoria

Sailing and snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef off of Port Douglas, Queensland

The Sydney Opera House. It was amazing to see this iconic building from the plane as we came to the end of a 22-hour trip

I’m gradually uploading my photos to this set, if you’d like to take a look.

The Twelve Apostles, Victoria, Australia

We’re off to Australia for three weeks. Hurrah! Dearest Phil is marrying the lovely Aggie in Melbourne. I’m very proud to be one of his groomsmen. We’ll be back the first week of April, so until then my friends!

Image courtesy of nadi0

I’m back in Toronto after spending three wonderful days in Vancouver, BC. I love visiting Granville Island whenever I’m in Vancouver. The Public Market is incredible and the dock is a great place to just sit with a coffee and watch the boats. I could move into the houseboat in the middle photo tomorrow – how perfect would it be to have that view of the West End?

It was a short trip, but filled with good times with family and friends, and of course, fantastic food! Part of what I love about spending time in a city that was once home is discovering new favourites. This time around, I discovered a new favourite breakfast spot – Medina Cafe. It’s a Belgian cafe that serves extremely tasty Liège waffles (I had mine with milk chocolate lavender). I also highly recommend the Libanais: soft-boiled egg, fried pita, baba ganoush, tabouleh and cucumber salad. Yummy!

I’m back home after a wonderful week in the Netherlands and Belgium. I met up with my knitting partner for life in Amsterdam and we spent some quality coffee-drinking-wine-drinking-knit-time. We stumbled upon de Afstap yarn shop on our way to the hotel before the sun came up on Saturday morning. It’s the only yarn shop I’ve seen in central Amsterdam and I was overjoyed.

We made it back later that same afternoon looking for some local yarn. It turns out they carry almost entirely Rowan yarn and some needlework supplies. So no Dutch yarn but still a lovely little shop! I must admit that I did make a second trip to pick up a few balls of Cashsoft 4 Ply in navy . . .

de Afstap is conveniently located next door to a chip shop, as well as a whole string of boutiques stretching west to the Jordaan. But after travelling by train to and from Belgium and seeing many, many sheep along the way – where is all the Dutch yarn???