The Bendigo Project - a study of texture and twist

I was tickled pink to be invited to participate in The Bendigo Project for 2026!
I got to dye some yarn and test knit two designs from the collection.  

I was also really lucky to be able to try on this fabulous cabled cardigan, the NOOSA CARDIGAN by Vera Marcu (the back of this garment is particularly striking).

I got so excited by knitting fabulous little colour swatches of this cable for Vera that I became stupidly addicted and wanted to knit a swatch in EVERY colourway (this was not possible). Just look at all those little coffee bean stitches!  (Most appropriate in my house where we are fuelled by caffeine.) To make the most of my enthusiasm, Vera gently suggested I have a try of the NOOSA SCARF.  Being a smaller project this seemed more achievable for me.

The pattern is written for a 4ply yarn,  however I wanted to try using 5ply Skysail, since my little swatches looked so charming.  Being the grinch that I am, I wanted to use up a couple of underweight, non-repreatable skeins which were lurking around the edges of my workbench.  

Part way through the project it occurred to me that not only was my yarn thicker, I also had less of it, than would be needed.  Not to be deterred I fossicked around and found a few tiny balls left over from a striped jumper I knit last year and appear to have already lost (and there are no photos)....and so I included a few stripes here and there and reduced the number of pattern repeats.  I've popped a few more details on my Ravelry project page for those who are interested.  The design has created a very wearable scarf which feels and looks great on.  The yarn is a blend of merino and linen, making it snuggly but also a wee bit drapey and not quite as hot, which is where I'm at here in the sub-tropics of Newcastle.

Then there was the NOBLE JUMPER by Susanna Kaartinen which came along right when I thought I would never knit another sleeve again. I have been interested in knitting a textured garment ever since I saw a beautiful one a friend Jo made years ago.  This pattern seemed to offer all-over action, and those cables which run up the arm and into the raglan shaping seemed pretty dazzling to me.  I found this a more challenging knit, but with the experience now behind me, I think it's made me a better knitter.  I think I will enjoy the next one even more, because I will understand what I'm doing and I think it will feel much less white-knuckled (and I may even be able to watch a subtitled series whilst doing it). I made a larger size than usual and used around 7 skeins of my Scuttlebutt yarn.  (More detail like what size needles I used is available on my Ravelry project page.)  The yarn shows the cables nicely and is relatively light due to the woollen-spun nature of the yarn construction. In true Katrina-style I appear to have momentarily mis-placed the colour recipe for the very nice green colour....I'm sure it will show up any day now and you will soon find this colour available to purchase, I mean it's too good isn't it!!

To read more about the initiative and see all the designs in the collection please visit the Bendigo Project.  Patterns and yarn requirements for each project are available to assist you in planning your project.