Baaa in Australia means Merino !! :)

Thank you for your comments on my cross stitch and trip photos !! :) I have been adding my WIP progress along with the vacation pics but I don't have anything to show today .

I have just one more set of trip photos left which I will share later . Right now , I will share some crafty shopping adventures . I had dedicated the last day of vacation for my crafty shopping after collecting a mountain of souvenirs for our extended family and friends .

Baaa......Australian Merino sheep 

Saw lots of these while passing by villages towards Great Ocean road from Melbourne city

My shopping had me visit three places in Melbourne - Lincraft Store , Wondoflex Yarn center and Cando Books . My blogger friends , Lavina and Pam shared information on various shopping destinations and touring places in Sydney and Melbourne . Lavina also gave feedback about Indian restaurants as she had stayed there for years . Thanks Lavina and Pam .

About my yarn shopping , I got information from SnB Melbourne group on Ravelry and they promptly shared info on the stores based on my specific yarn choices . And this blog post on many craft stores in Melbourne also helped a lot .

Lincraft Store

Lots of threads

fabric...not much of choice 

DMC and Sullivan threads 

Lots of yarn and they were having 50% off on many brands on the day I visited

jewelry crafts section 

and this is what I got from there ......

Aida fabric, some random DMC and Sullivans threads, a white aida fabric band and a wooden lap frame . I have no idea if there are any more attachments needed with this frame . I just bought it and need to learn how to use .

random things --- those pebble shaped sticky notes and the thimble were bought from some other place . The 'make- a- zipper' roll is a new thing for me  

Got some bamboo batting for small projects , some more random zippers and flannel fabrics

Lincraft local cotton yarn and Paton's Sorrento synthetic yarn 

Made in Australia Pure wool yarn - Cleckheaton country 8 ply

I will make something for either me or Anshita

Shepherd baby merino wool 4 ply . I hope to make a short jacket for Anshita

A visit to Wondoflex Yarn center 

Lots of yummy yarns :))))

and this is what I got from there ......

Australian Superfine merino 8 ply by Cleckheaton. 

These were a bit expensive , 65gm ball @ 12 . 50 AUD . I guess I can make a short top for me with 3/4th sleeves .

Touch 2 ply pure merino was from Newzealand, very costly, so I got only one skein . 

Made in Australia Heirloom 100% cotton on left and Paton's cotton blend on right .

I was surprised to find that there were many yarns which were made in India and some in China too . There were European yarns also but those I can purchase from Deramores . I wanted to buy Australian yarns mostly made in Australia . My mother sponsored my shopping, looks like my 40th Birthday celebration got extended :)

Last weekend we went to New Delhi to get an award for Anshita :) She got 3rd prize in an International English Olympiad conducted by an organization among schools of south east and middle east Asian countries. Also , I had to visit two of my cousins family there so the three of us had gone .

Hope you had a lovely virtual shopping time with me :)  In next post, I will share about the craft books and magazines I purchased .

Have a great day!

Preeti

A little stitching and vacation part-2.....

Thanks for seeing the pics on my last post , I am still going to bother you with few more in forthcoming posts :) I usually give up the fight for selecting pics after two sets of posts but this time I am thinking of being a relentless blogger bombarding with lots of images :))

First up , my little but some progress on height chart

stitched on left side of the tree bark . This tree is a bit boring . Many times I feel like doing patchwork or paint the entire tree (mixed media). This confirms that I will never have patience for HAEDs .

On the way to Blue Mountains , we went to Featherdale wild life park to see the Australian wild animals .

The shy Koalas

Can you spot this one?

Most of them were sleeping

Look at this one - all rolled up :)

Only this one was up 

You were allowed to touch , one at a time while the Koala kept on munching his healthy breakfast 

and feed Kangaroos too :) These were smaller species

These ones were the heavier and big

Raj with the smallest species of 8 years old Python . Yikes !!

Wombat !! I liked these ones :) They are kind of giant rats .

There were many owls . 

Awww.....these small penguins were so cute !! These penguins live at the coastal area of Phillip island, a 150 km drive from Melbourne city . We saw those in their natural wild habitat also when we went on a special tour called 'Penguin Parade' where you can see hundreds of these returning from ocean to their homes in the evening . 

A Cockatoo, getting himself petted by Anshita . Lovely Bird :) 

Southern Cassowary, an endangered bird. The male Cassowary raises the babies alone . Don't know why, but I remembered this fact only which Raj feels is a bad knowledge gain :)

In Sydney, we also went to Sealife Acquarium, Madam Tussauds and one more small zoo . Madam Tussauds is similar everywhere so I am not sharing any pics here , will see if I find any specific ones .

I liked these jelly fishes in the aquarium , The colors changed with the lights and I loved seeing those . Their center looks like a button

Some more penguins in the Aquarium :)

 Queen Victoria building , built in 1890, inside of which is now a shopping mall . It still has old stained glass windows and dome . I liked the clock on the left. I don't have good pictures for this, you can see more here 

We mostly booked private taxis for sight seeing because this trip was meant more for taking my mom on a foreign trip and she cannot walk much because of her knee problem so our itinerary was only main tourist spots . There were Hop-on Hop-off buses to watch more .

I could not keep my promise of sharing yarn shopping as I still need to segregate some more pics . Anyways I did my shopping in Melbourne and now that I am done with Sydney so next is Melbourne :)

Have a great day!

Preeti