and not chicken dinners!

Apparently, in the land of the internets it was Tuesday yesterday when I was supposed to draw the Eucalan giveaway. Hmm, I must have been channelling my inner Scottish heritage, imagining that I was a Northern Hemispherer and thought it was indeed Tuesday today. So let's just pretend it is Tuesday and I might make you a lovely chicken dinner.

I asked my iPhone random number generator app to throw some numbers at me as winners. Do you know that it actually gave me the same number twice in a row! I guess that is quite random. Very random, I say. And I have to say I have NEVER seen that before. Have you? Instead of giving the same person two prizes, I went for an extra draw. That seemed fairer, really. 

Our winners today are (in order of prizes) : Lianne (who is knitting with some BWM), Michelle (indulging in some Madelinetosh DK) and Trudi (who is a polygamist knitter flirting with Wollmeise and Fibrewebs).

Ladies, you shall find an email in your inbox very shortly requesting your postal address.

I do so love hearing what yarns everyone is knitting with. Sometimes it reminds me of yarns I want to try and others, I remember, hey I have that yarn in my stash! I should knit with it soon! Do you know I've never knit with Wollmeise. Can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen it in real life. Perhaps one day I'll rectify that. 

I'm currently knitting with some Malabrigo Rios in the Paris Night colourway, falling totally in love with the variance of shades that is Malabrigo Rios. Have you knit with this? What did you think of it? This one is destined to be Lily's new school cardigan and I am a wee bit jealous that it is not for me. It really is rather beautiful. I am using a really simple pattern, well actually, the one you see above. I think the simplicity will capture the colour variance most beautifully and make me sigh longingly every time I see it.

I have also been knitting with lots of White Gum Wool. *sigh* so beautiful, very beautiful!  I've just knit three pieces in a row with it, and I seriously can't get enough. I'm about to order some more as Toby is in need of a new cardie and has selected his colours from the colour card this morning. He chose well. And Brianna, if you're still trying to decide on colours; get them all...although I have to admit I am quite smitten with the ghost gum, the very pale grey. So very very pretty. 

The cardigan above is knit in the Fairy Wren colourway and it's a little something I've prepared for my The Craft Sessions classes later this year. You'll have to wait until next month to find out a bit more about that. 

I'm back into the swing of writing some patterns. yippee! Currently, there are two with the testers. This cowl above, which is also available in a shorter form. And a cardigan to match the bloom dress, which I am very excited about. You can imagine how long I've been meaning to write this pattern for, umm, let's think about it, err, about 4 or so years!  

Over the next few weeks I'll tell you a little more about that as I have a little something in the works to coincide with that pattern's release. 

Then I think it's time to knit a little something for me. 
What do you think? 
Which pattern would you like to see become a grown up one next? 

The good people at Eucalan have sent me some samples of their products to try for myself and to also share with my readers, which is really rather lovely. What is also quite lovely is that there is quite a synchronicity to this story. The recipe and inspiration for Eucalan originated in Australia, which given the play on the name of Eucalyptus is probably no surprise for most Aussies.  The founder of the company was given the recipe whilst visiting Australia. Apparently the recipe for the no-rinse wool wash came from the Ministry of Agriculture.  

What is a bit surprising however is that Eucalan is not that easy to find in Australia. Why? I'm not so sure. So it was very exciting when I was contacted and asked if I would like to try it. Eucalan is very highly regarded overseas. In fact, Knit Goddess Clara Parkes has previously declared it her favourite wool wash so I was very interested to give it a go.

Straight up, Eucalan's environmental credentials pleased me. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, phosphate free and scented with pure essential oils, not synthetic fragrances. The eucalyptus base acts as a moth deterrent  and the low-sudsing formula means no rinsing, which is a great water and time saver. The formula is also lanolin enriched which helps preserve the life of wool and keep it looking good. As an added bonus, my hands feel lovely and soft after washing my woollies with it! The no-rinsing means that some of the eucalyptus and lanolin remains in the fibre working even harder to keep your woollies looking good.

I delved into the samples and selected two for myself; the original eucalyptus and the new Wrapture by Kristin Omdahl. The eucalyptus I set to work in my washing machine on a hand wash cycle with two rather grubby yellow superwash jumpers. One would be Toby's, the other mine.

The Wrapture I used to wash and block two smaller accessories, a new cowl design knit in the super glorious White Gum Wool and a scarf knit in Malabrigo Worsted that's been hanging around since before Christmas. The jasmine scent in the Wrapture is not overpowering, it's more subtle and just so very very lovely.

It's so easy to wash with Eucalan. Just squeeze the suds through and let it soak for a few minutes. If your garments are grubbier, like Toby's get, you can leave it to soak for a few hours or over night and the dirt and grime is drawn out and settles at the bottom of the basin. Nice! 

I've totally decided this no-rinse gig is the way to go. While generally I really don't mind hand washing, it does tend to pile up and anything that speeds up the process means I'm more likely to get it done. I am a bit lazy like that. If I can avoid some housework, I will. 

All my garments washed up beautifully and smell ever so lovely. Subtle and not overpowering, just the way I like it. They are now sitting to dry, hence no after shots but I can attest that my yellow grubs, I mean jumpers, are looking very clean and lovely. 

 I shall have some shots of my new cowl design up hopefully this weekend.

So would you like to give Eucalan a try?

I have a couple of wee packs to give away for you to try too. 

First up, I have a Getaway Gang (pictured top) which includes 8 single use wash packs, 4 stain treating wipes, a 20 pack of lint remover sheets, a mini sewing kit and a nail file. 

Pack two: a stain treating wipe and three single wash packs.

Pack three and four: two single wash packs.

I am happy to post these anywhere in Australia or New Zealand so you can give them a try. 
All you need to do is leave a comment below. 
No need for any stories or confessions, just tell me what yarn you are currently knitting with. 
Easy. Almost no thinking required.

Next Tuesday at around this time I shall close comments and randomly draw some winners.

If you're interested in a retailer for Eucalan, Yarn Over do stock it. If you know of anywhere else in Australia or New Zealand, let me know so I can amend this post. 
Eucalan do also ship internationally.