All Fingers and Thumbs

It's nearly the end of January (yippee - I just can't love this month the way I should!) and I'm doubly excited for the start of February as the new issue of Mixtape will be out. I really enjoyed the first two issues, there could be more knitting for me but then I do in fact feel this about everything and am strangely pleased whenever I see someone knitting on film/telly/Shreddies packets! I feel the fun that goes into this little publication and I like that the articles are on quite mixed ( natch ) topics . Also on the subject of crafty magazines - does anyone know what is happening with Yarn Forward magazine? When I tried the url for the website the other day and again today it won't resolve to a site and I can't find a link from Hipknits . Thank you for the scarfy compliments - it's been in use every day this week so far :o)

Hot on the heels on one gift scarf comes another. A rather fine one if I do say so myself. Pattern: My So Called Scarf cast on 40 stitches Yarn: 3 skeins of Manos del Uruguay; shade 6709 I used long sections of alternating two rows and carrying the yarn up the edge to introduce the new skeins because of the striking differences in colour from one skein to another. 3 skeins makes a really big, handsome scarf. Needles: 8mm Wooden Straights Started: 28 December 2007 Finished: 26 January 2008 Notes: It was a good job I didn't get too far on the secret knitting of this 'Christmas' present as when I showed the beloved the couple of inches I'd managed he requested it be made wider. Maybe surprise gifts should be banned! I'm pleased with the final size of this - a manly scarf. Took some knitting but already worth it to see how pleased the recipient is.

Two of the nicer things in life! First of all a big thank you for all the kind and thoughtful comments on my last post; the ME is not something I want to dwell on here as knitting and blogging are great escapes for me but I'm glad I got it out there, it seems more honest and it's helping me already to have done it. Thank you friends. Secondly, a huge thank you to Knitty in Pink . I brought her back a couple of skeins of Koigu from Imagiknit and the lovely, thoughtful lady that she is she didn't just send me some yarn as a swap (but yum oh yum look at that Kureyon) but she knitted me a wonderful pair of Dashing as well - she saw I had them in my sidebar and rustled them up in this heavenly Rowan Yorkshire Tweed. Big thumbs up! Thirdly the socks: These went straight on the hoof the morning they were finished and stayed on all day so I think they fall in to the Winner pile. Pattern: Based on the Garter Stitch Rib from SKS Yarn: Just under 200g pure undyed Alpaca from The H...

Sometimes when I take a little break that's when I realise that actually I'm all out of juice. I was diagnosed with ME about three years ago; probably almost to the day. I'm in the midst of a bad spell of it. I'm always trying to find the balance between getting the most out of myself and pushing it too far. Tipped over into the too far lately. I've never mentioned my specific illness here but I need to work on accepting that I have it and stop hiding it from people - so telling you all seemed like a good first step towards that. Anyway it was lovely to rest a short while at home with Mum and Dad and get some good fresh Cornish air, some of it of the sea variety - the garter stitch scarf was a hit. Pattern: Cast on 20 stitches and knit :o) Yarn: Colinette Point 5 Needles: 15mm Plastic Straights Started: 12 January 2008 Finished: 17 January 2008 Notes: When the inner knitter calls for simplicity the inner knitter can have simplicity. The end result ...

Released from work for a long (gloriously "not back till Tuesday" type long) weekend I feel crazy happy with finger tingling anticipation at a weekend full of knitting. Two long train journeys and cosying down with my Ma and Pa means that I shall have knitting in hand for many of my waking hours. Poifect. This will be my travelling project on the way down; now I don't have to I am of course enjoying knitting my Dad's Christmas socks. Keeping with my current garter stitch love these are a garter rib stitch. Thank you all so much for your thoughtful and thought provoking comments on my last post; I had definitely started treating my knitting as something I had to do and getting too focussed on the idea of the process. When you stop with the fussing it's all so simple isn't it? Is it any wonder I'm happy as can be? No work for four days and the world of knitting is at my fingertips. Beautiful.

When I first started knitting my only ambition was to be able to make garter stitch scarves. I just wanted to get some creating in my life in a simple, relaxing form. Make myself and my nearest and dearest some beautiful scarves. Blogs soon raised my expectations above that level and as I realised that I had the ability to learn and explore the craft more thoroughly I quickly left behind more basic items. A bit over a year on I've made far more and more complex projects than I ever imagined; trying out techniques and yarns that I never even dreamt existed. Knitting became a full scale passion and my life has been infinitely enriched by the craft and this community in a way it just never could have been if I had only made garter stitch scarves quietly in my own living room. As the new year has started I took a deep breath and looked at the unfinished presents and wondered why I hadn't knitted them or anything much else for the last couple of months of 2007. I remembered my in...

...you might see these little guys. Three bears that were a picnic to knit. I needed a simple bear pattern for a little lady just turned three and I've been meaning to knit a bear for the Baby Pack Project ever since I saw Modelwidow's bear last year. I decided that a 'lend' of their pattern in return for a couple of cute chaps for their packs seemed like a fair deal. These made a fun quick 'distraction from the bigger things' project so I hope I might get a few more done this year. Pattern: Baby Pack Project - Small Soft Toy Yarn: Wendy Shimmer; 2 skeins Needles: 4mm Wood Straights ( mmm Brittany) Started: 5 January 2008 Finished: 11 January 2008 Notes: What a fun knit for the first FO of the year. I thought I'd try the pattern in the Shimmer as I have a small batch in the stash and I was inspired when I saw Criosa's bear in the Holiday Kal -Cal (The fact that I was inspired to make Christmas presents which turned into a birthday gift will be...

January can be a bit too grey, grey, muddy brown, grey for my liking. So I've signed up for Project Spectrum and sought out some colourful cheerleaders from around my house.

Any new project! As I gleefully wind skeins of yarn into fat, squishy balls, the yarns for the imagined items yet to be started seem so much more desirable than those of the WIPs . My boss restarted knitting a couple of months ago after a long hiatus . She's just finishing off her third sweater; her third adult sweater. Sigh . I would like to be the kind of knitter who works steadily through one project at a time, buying the yarn for just that project and not starting anything else until it is off the needles. However I don't approach anything else in my life that way so I think I'd better accept I will never be that knitter! Here's to as many WIPS as there are knitting moods to be satisfied. I'm off now to persuade this little lady to share my snuggly throw with me and I might just get to work on something new.

January is probably my least favourite month of the year - bleak and dark, no Christmas round the corner and a feeling that I should be good - eat less, spend less - all the recklessness of 'it's nearly Christmas' gone. Today, however, I feel like this could be a great January. After having most of December on holiday and away from home, having had a fabulous Christmas and caught up on some sleep, I'm feeling ready for the steadiness of routine and cosying in until all is lighter and brighter again. I have much knitting to be keeping me busy as I have three outstanding Christmas presents to finish - that is three I am acknowledging as Christmas presents and will endeavour to finish this month. The cardigan did not make it, along with the earlier abandoned Dad's socks and Chris' scarf. All other gifts in progress/in mind are being reassigned for later events in the year. The socks sadly look much as they did in San Francisco, so no new photo of those. The scarf...