All Fingers and Thumbs

And swatching it twice; Gonna find out if it's naughty or nice Cushion gifts are coming to town

Sometimes I think a compromise can leave you feeling a little like you gave too much up, that you settled for less than you should have. I feared I may feel like this when I decided to knit a plain foot on my Poms . I'd been wanting to knit this pattern for so long could I really make do with just a patterned leg? Would it look like I couldn't stand the heat in the Pomatomus kitchen? Would it lose the joy of the original pattern to cut it off at the ankle? Happily I love the way this looks; sure I could take the all over patterning if someone else was doing the knitting - one of the great features of many Cookie A patterns is the seamless flow of the patterning across the sock. However, for me, given where the foot of a sock normally ends up I can feel content with taking the easy way on these. I'd got stuck at the end of the leg on this first of the pair and was not feeling inspired to press on even with the deliciousness of the heel to come. I liked the look of the pat

...with a lovely bit of fluff. Hope your Friday night partners are as delightful.

Having resolved to knit more sweaters this year it seems only appropriate to kick the year off with knitting accessories. The equivalent of scoffing down the chocolate eclairs when you've resolved to diet. Better for the waistline though. Pattern: Urchin Yarn: Knitglobal Shetland Flame - shade Sherbet, 1 skein Needles: 7mm plastic straights Started: 9 January 2009 Finished: 18 January 2009 A looming birthday convinced me to make another of these super quick to knit hats; I wanted an excuse to get the yarn used in one of the versions photographed for the pattern as I really love how much the texture mimics that of a sea urchin shell. In my first version with a yarn with consistent thickness there isn't all that much of the sea about it. It's a great beret but not quite so magical as that soft pink cap Ysolda looks so sweet in. Knit in the Shetland Flame yarn the hat seems to have grown in some mysterious, under the sea way. Instead it grows in a mysterious, knitting is

I have been feeling the owl love that seems to be spreading across the knitting net at the moment. There have been a couple of owlified patterns that have caught my eye of late. It's such a fun motif and a wonderful demonstration of our craft to see a simple touch of cabling create such a strong image. It wasn't however until I saw Cara's renditions of this pattern that I knew I must capture some owls of my own. Well isn't he a hootie cutie? Pattern: Give a Hoot from Kelbourne Woolens Yarn: RYC Cashsoft Aran - 2 x 50g in Poppy Needles: 4 and 5mm bamboo DPNS Started: 15 January 2009 Finished: 17 January 2009 Mods: I fiddled with the decreases to leave eight stitches and kitchenered the top closed. Couldn't be happier with these lovelies. It's like having little friends along to keep your hands warm. I'm sure I'll talk to them on days when the company is slow. The pattern is beautifully set out, very clearly written and easy to follow. They're a ve

There's much more knitting going on in my family these days and I hope I've played a part in inspiring this. I'm certainly always knitting whenever I see them - it's important to set a good example you know. I don't tend to talk that much about knitting until some sustained interest is shown as I find it best to hide the true strength of my obsession from the uninitiated ! At work this week though I came over all Pollyanna- ish and was extolling the virtues of knitting as the perfect winter hobby to a colleague with the January blues. Well it is isn't it? Something that makes staying in fun and creative (not that I'm averse to knitting in the summer either!) Look at one of my Christmas pressies from my auntie and you can see what a skilled lady with the needles she is and how handy knitted items can be for keeping you cosy whilst you stay in and get creative. I've been meaning to make a hot water bottle cover for so long now and this has been so well us

The stash. Is it a monster or a treasure trove?Sometimes I love my stash, sometimes it weighs me down. My ideal stash would be smaller than it is currently (this one drawer is just a drop in the ocean ) and with less stuff that I purchased on sale for no higher purpose than it being a bargain. Sub-section a) of the stash - my sock yarn stash - brings me nothing but pleasure because I love all of the yarn in it, looking at it can be inspiring, I can see myself knitting it all and when I want to start a new pair of socks I have something suitable on hand. Simple really. Within the rest of the stash it's the odd amounts that I'm not too sure what to use them for that weigh me down the most. They're not quite charity shop donations yet (though some of it went that way last year) but they may be in time. (For full disclosure purposes it should be noted that I do not count part used balls, the odds and ends bag does not clamour at me as that yarn has already had a go at fulfil

Making a list of resolutions for the new year is not something I bother with too much (you can tell by this opening that I will now go on to talk about the new year's resolutions I am going to make for 2009 but work with me, one day I'll resolve to be consistent). I like to think that I'm always working towards living better (and what that means varies wildly from moment to moment) I resolve to do all sorts of things whenever the whim takes me with varying degrees of success in keeping to them. At the end of the year I'd rather think about all the great things I've done than see a list of things I haven't. However at the New Year's Eve supper we attended this year I got asked for a resolution and out popped 'knit myself more jumpers'. And so, more jumpers I must knit. Notice the vagueness of 'more'?I finished two jumpers in 2008. I think this goal is achievable. I'm off to a good start with the first new project of the year - a shrug for

Christmas Knits 2008 Originally uploaded by allfingersandthumbs They got done. January 1st type done but done and I'm not so done with them that I'm sworn off Christmas Knitting for 2009. There will be some refinement to the approach and I'm sticking by the lesson learnt to only go for patterns I actually want to knit but there will be woolly gifts again for my nearest and dearest I'm sure. Now on to this 2009 thing, not so sure I have the hang of this year yet but when this nasty piece of work cold leaves me to get on with life alone it'll get easier I think. Happy New Year to you all, keep the knits close by and I'm sure it'll be a good one.