A few weeks ago I took a day trip to Bendigo with my knitting friend Judith. From my home, to Melbourne and then from Melbourne to Bendigo takes nearly three hours of train travel. Clearly this needed some preparation – coffee and a project to work on while travelling.
I splashed out on a proper, expensive Thermos to make sure I had enough coffee to keep me happy. After carefully cleaning, pre-warming and filling it, I left it on the kitchen bench before I left. Not a good start.
Luckily I didn’t forget the knitting! I decided to be good and work on an existing project rather than casting on something new. I took a pair of socks I’d started as a stash-buster. (I’ve since finished them and they’ll be on the blog soon).
Judith brought her Baa-ble Hat project which made me insanely jealous.
The Baa-ble Hat is a free pattern from Shetland Wool Week and it seems like I’m the only person in the world who isn’t making one right now. Have a look at some of the amazing projects on Ravelry (and sign up if you’re not a member yet).
After a very enjoyable train ride, we arrived in Bendigo where I quickly found some coffee before heading off to the Bendigo Woollen Mills.
The Bendigo mill shop is fantastic. Although I get the shade cards in the mail when they come out, nothing is as good as getting to handle ALL THE YARN and see the colours in real life. I spent quite a bit of money on some lovely 8ply cotton, bamboo blend, patterns and a few ready-made cardigans.
After the mill shop, Judith and I decided to splash out a ride on the vintage tram which was a lot more fun than I expected. The recorded guide talk is unintentionally hilarious and the trip is genuinely interesting.
While we were waiting at the tram depot, the ticket seller spied our giant bags of yarn from the mill shop and asked if we’d like to see the yarn bombed tram.
There is only one answer to that question – yes!
The yarn bombed tram was originally decorated for the Australian Sheep and Wool Show. This amazing tram only comes into service for the week of the show, when it takes the knitters who come to town on city tours.
The rest of the year it sits in the depot looking lovely but a bit lonely. Every so often all the knitting and crochet is taken down, washed and put back up again by dedicated volunteers.
No surface of the tram is left untouched by yarn. This has to be the most yarn bombed tram in the world (although I’m not sure how many yarn bombed trams there are). There are rows of bunting strung along the ceiling, the seats are covered, the whole exterior of the tram is wrapped in a crocheted blanket or yarn.
Unfortunately I didn’t set my camera properly so I didn’t get many pictures. I plan to go to the Sheep and Wool Show next year, so I might get to see Bendigo’s yarn bombed tram in action and take a ride.
