These socks were a joy to knit. The yarn is squishy, soft, and yet somehow cool to the touch. A little fluffier than my usual yarn choice.

Yarn: Waikiwi sock yarn – possum, merino, alpaca nylon blend

Needles: 2.75mm circular needle (Addi turbo)

Pattern: made up.

Sweet merciful crap.

Eyemeltingly bright.

But fun. Tadpoles pattern, again, quick and easy, and on one needle again.

Fibre: EGMTK Little Speckled Hen in Merino.

Something is happening with my spinning. Either my hands have now fully recovered from the surgeries, or practice really does make perfect.. Or maybe it’s the new wheel, but my spinning has gotten MUCH finer! This is incredibly fine! If I knit this as a single, it would easily be a laceweight.

The down side is….. it takes FOREVER to get thru a braid of fibre I need to learn to spin chunky!

Three Bags Full..

The house we were staying at this year was *amazing* – we have found our new Bendi home! Huge, many many rooms, and even a seperate retreat. Perfect for lots of families and kids of all ages. Kangaroo spotting and sunsets/sunrises was the order of the day, and we all enjoyed chilling by the fire in the evenings.

The best bit about going up a few days early, is the time we spent actually relaxing and enjoying Bendigo itself. Lake Weeroona is spectacular, and the weather was just fabulous to match.

(But god, am I kicking myself for forgetting the pram/stroller until N drove up and joined us on the friday night! My arms were killing me!)

We popped into the wonderful Bendigo Pottery, a destination which will be a regular for us!

The show was exhausting as usual, but what a day! I got to see lots of familiar faces, and as usual got to put some faces to rav names and blogs. There was much stash snaffling, and I really enjoyed seeing lots of new vendors as well as the favourites.

On to the stash!

Finds from the BWM back room

Yarn from the show

Fibre from the show

That’s my fibre and yarn spendings for the year

You need:

2 small or one very large brown onion, sliced, and lots of garlic. Here I have 4 large cloves of Aussie garlic crushed.

2 or three skinless chicken breasts, sliced.

Cooked rice. I use basmati. Here is 3 cups of rice.

Some kecap manis, and some regular soy.

Dried chilli. I used about a teaspoon, but you can go a little harder with the heat. I also add tabasco at the end if it’s lacking some zing. The same each of ground cumin, ground coriander seed, and a sprinkle of cumin seeds for a nutty texture. The secret ingredient in my nasi goreng is curry powder – good ole Keen’s.

2 eggs, beaten with a fork with a splash of water. Free range, please.

Heat up some oil of your choice in a pan. Dont be shy with the oil, this dish needs it.

Sautee the onion and garlic until it has softened. Please, no crunchy onion in my rice. There is NOTHING worse! Then, add the chicken, and brown. Keep the food moving – we want browned chicken, not stewed!

Add the chilli flakes, and let them release their spicy goodness. Add your dry spiced and curry powder. Depending on quantity, feel free to amp them up a bit. The overall flavour should be smokey, gently spiced, and toasty. When the spices are frangrant, add the kecap manis and soy. Dont be afraid of the kecap manis – this will add sweetness, caramelisation, and depth of flavour. I estimate that I add at least 3 tablespoons.

Add your cooked rice. This is meant to be best made the day before, but to be honest, I have best results with rice straight from the rice cooker.

Take your time here. Fold the rice through the mix, adding more sauces if it needs it, or even a splash of water. Smoosh all the lumps of white rice, and eventually it will look evenly brown and delicious. Taste a bit, and make sure it’s balanced. If it needs more spice, push the rice to the side and add it!

Beat your two eggs with the splash of water, and push the rice to the side. Pour the egg mix in, and cook. Chop up the cooked egg, and fold it through the rice mix.

At this point, you could add any extras to the rice, like chopped spring onions, or anything else you feel like. I just forgot.

Serve topped with dried shallots, and sliced crisp lettuce. We ate ours with chilli garlic prawns on top, and it was just delicious. Bean sprouts would be awesome.

Enjoy!