Red squares

This is the beginnings of an idea - something that I'm just kicking around at the moment. I'm not entirely sure yet how it will pan out but I'm going to let it unfold gradually. It's going to be some kind of blanket - patchwork style - made up of differing textures and fabrics. A little mixed materials kind of thing.

I've been thinking about the way we all focus on the newest, latest yarns and stash additions, sometimes to the detriment of those we already own. The feeling isn't always fun because someone else always has something newer and shinier. I don't like to feel that way about my knitting - it's supposed to be for fun, right? - so I'm planning to see what fun can be unleased from my stash. After all, there's some good things - and ideas - in there.

i'm ready for my close-up now....

Pattern: Mousie by Isolda Teague
Needles: 2mm
Yarn: Grey 3-ply cashmere (label unknown), Pink Rowan Lightweight DK

Made especially for my middle daughter (if you didn't do it for love....), an extra mouse to join her family of mice toys because mummy won't let her have a real one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unrelated to knitting content but I must share it here because I couldn't find the answer when I googled for it. Being coeliac, I make all my own bread using a Panasonic Breadmaker which is usually fantastic. I have found that gluten-free breadmaking is a very precise science - ingredients always need to be precisely measured, added in a particular order and, a new discovery to me, to be the right temperature.

My bread machine usually lives in my unheated pantry and has reliably churned out loaf after loaf of good bread until the cold snap in the weather. The bread began to be hugely holey and sliced badly and I couldn't work out what was wrong. I kept tweaking various details to try to make better bread. Turns out it was a combination of things but all related to temperature. I moved the breadmaker into the warm Aga-heated kitchen, used water from the (warmer) kitchen tap, used flour that had been kept at the warm room temperature and, voila, lovely bread again. Pass it on to any coeliac with gluten-free bread problems.

easing into the new year

I'm easing gently into the New Year, starting off with a small project (hopefully) quickly completed. It's going to be a whisper-soft mouse, knitted in a scrap of pure cashmere, just one of the left-overs littering the house this holiday. No big New Year's Eve celebration here but I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your nearest and dearest.

Best wishes for the New Year!

Merry christmas

Merry Christmas!

candy cane

So, we're back in the game again. Still a little shaky on our pins but we're doing our best to invoke the spirit of Christmas. Luckily, it's not 'flu.

I was doing a little secret knitting for my middle daughter aka the lawyer. (I happened to notice that she had sent a message to one of her friends which contained the phrase "lmao". I thought it worth just showing that I see what is being written and said "Have you actually L'd your A off?" to which she replied, "Clearly not as I'm still sitting on it." She is nothing if not precise in her language. The use of "lmao" and its suitability for use by an twelve-year-old is a conversation for another day however....)

Back to the knitting..... it was intended as a surprise gift but, despite being a joy to knit and striping in a very satisfactory way, the hat was turning out a little on the small side. It says in the pattern instructions - Harvard Square Cap, Interweave Winter 2008 - "when stranding the contrasting color, strand very loosely - so loosely that is seems excessive". That's a really good bit of pattern writing. Precise, even.

Let's just say that, despite extreme blocking efforts, one of Santa's elves will be getting a new hat this Christmas.

The lawyer said, "Well, you can just knit it again." Which, of course, I can, and will. But not right away. You know how it is.

'tis the season to be....

....poorly!

Three out of the five of our family have succumbed to wintry bugs. The remaining two of us are taking our nursing duties very seriously and desperately trying to avoid catching anything ourselves. Antiseptic handwash is my best friend currently....

is is time to break out the chocolate yet?

School holidays have officially begun. Two weeks of running to our own timetable, which is always a treat.

starlight

Have you heard about Bianca's wish? She wants to be a popstar and has recorded a Christmas single which sounds pretty great. Read about her here - you need to click on Bianca's Wish to see the whole story. Be warned - it does start playing Christmas music!

Starlight is a fab foundation that makes wishes come true for special children. Seems like a Christmas present worth giving, doesn't it?

the greatest compliment...

The greatest compliment, surely, for a knitter is to see the handknits actually being used and worn?

Today, I received such a compliment. Having gifted the socks yesterday, one of the ladies came into school this morning, pulled up her trouser leg to show me the socks and said how thrilled she was with the fit and the fact that they were hand-made especially for her. My knitterly heart swelled with pride.

I told this to my husband later in the day and he rolled up his trouser leg, peeled down one layer of sock (it's cold here - we're double-layering where we can) to show that he was wearing the last (and only) pair of socks I knitted for him.

And now, my daughter has returned home from school and, unprompted, she has been wearing one of her hand-knitted pairs all day. She says they keep her feet especially warm on a cold day.

****Breaking news****

My eldest daughter has just come in the door from an ice-skating trip today - she says her hand-knitted socks were just great inside the ice-skates.

I'm taking over Cornwall - one knitted sock at a time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's your greatest knitting compliment?