All Fingers and Thumbs

...outside have become just damp in the time it's taken me to knit this little pretty. No bad thing as it's a light, delicate piece so better suited to spring than to the depths of winter - this past winter it would have needed to be a layer amongst many scarves. Pattern: Falling Leaves Mohair-Silk Scarf Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Night - 1 skein Needles: 4.5mm Bamboo Straights Started: 9 January 2010 Finished: 30 March 2010 It's a soft snuggle around the neck, a gentle touch which will be a gift for a gentle lady, a little token of love that will be held dear for the sake that I made it whether or not she likes the scarf, though of course I hope she does. I think that the best recipients of gift knits are the ones who see beyond the item to the work within. As my Dad said, having made my Mum a carrier for taking water for his chickens, it's the time that goes into a gift that counts :)

Knit Love Club shiny silver parcels went in to the post yesterday. I thought it might create some added power for the postal service if I was ready and waiting for it and finishing my first pair of club socks before the second installment arrived was a good incentive to keep me knitting on. The magic worked and when I got home from work I just had the graft on the second toe to do and a parcel to open. Lickety split and they were done; with these so so soft socks snuggling round my toeses I'm wondering how I managed to take this long to get them finished. Alchemy Juniper is the definitely the most luscious sock yarn I've ever been fortunate enough to knit with. Pattern: Rumpled by Alice Yu for Knit Love Club Yarn: Alchemy Juniper - Rumplestiltskin Needles: 2.5mm DPNs Started: 22 January 2010 Finished: 24 March 2010 Isn't it a lovely little detail to have the twisted stitches carry on over the toes? I love the depth of texture to this pattern, the twisted stitches and th...

A little dress for a little girl who's taking her time to show her little face. Hurry up little one your knits are ready and so by all accounts is your Mama! Pattern: Little Sister's Dress by Tora Froseth Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Needles: 2.5mm Circular Started: 6 February 2010 Finished: 20 March 2010 Love this knit - pattern and yarn combine in a winning combination. It's a genius design, simple and fun to knit. She's a clever lady and and I've got my eye on her Sweetheart pattern, which looks like a lovely variation on the theme. As for the yarn - this cotton/wool/acrylic sock yarn blend is a real favourite of mine - I made socks for Mama in it a long time ago and struggled to get more. This treasure of the stash was brought from lands afar for me and it could only be coaxed out for a special knit. It isn't widely available in the UK and these plain shades seem particularly rare - any tips on where to get it or similar alternatives gratefu...

Why is it that 'the next project' is so much more exciting for me than what is on the needles? I tend to give in to my rampant startitis but I have three projects I'm trying to stay motivated to finish before my latest gorgeous new yarn gets a chance to fulfil its destiny, no doubt becoming a less appealing WIP that has to compete for attention with the next shiny and new project along the way. It's all knitting so why does it matter what I knit? Sometimes it's the FO motivating factor but honestly one of my WIPs that would be so easy to ignore is a pair of socks for me, me, me that I am super keen to have on the hoof. It's probably having a butterfly brain that always wants to be flitting on to the next thing, part of de-stressing is about being more in the now so I'm sure I should stop dreaming of the next project and just start knitting what I have on the go. Who knows I might even get to the new thing faster if I wasn't busy taking photos and petting...

...is done in time for Mothers Day. Yay! Pattern: Feather Yarn: Zitron Trekking Pro Natura - 1511 Needles: 3mm Started: 11 February 2010 Finished: 10 March 2010 A lovely simple lace pattern, very easy to memorise. I went with a sock yarn to get a skinny style scarf as that is what Mama is in to wearing currently. Very hard to photograph, but should be a nice versatile little accessory. I went with the option of knitting in two halves and grafting in the middle so that my ends matched rather than have upside down feathers. My two halves are actually different lengths as I used up all the yarn I had but just guessed at how much half of that was, I could have ripped some feathers out from the first half but it didn't seem worth it. This was a knit that really needed blocking. I just ironed it for speed and ease. I guessed the bamboo yarn would take it okay and I couldn't face pinning out the metres of it. Seemed to work just fine.

I'm full of the joys of a Friday evening, looking forward to a gentle weekend ahead. Just a few fun things planned, time for whatever feels right to be slotted in, there'll be plenty of knitting of course. One of the great things about where I work is that our hours are organised so we work slightly longer days Monday to Thursday and then finish up an hour or so early on a Friday. That hour always feels so precious to me. Today it meant that I got out in the garden for a short spell. I was following instructions to get half an hour of natural daylight. I was rewarded by seeing a huge queen bumblebee , my first bee of the year, fly through searching for somewhere suitable for her nest. I tried to tell her how lovely she'd find it here soon, when all the daffodils that are pushing for the sky burst open, but she was gone before I even managed a picture. The daylight advice was one of the tips for improving sleep from the Goop newsletter this week. Not sure where I first cam...

We went to stay with friends on the edge of the Peaks this past weekend; the sign for Holmfirth wasn't the only thing that let me know I was in Rowan country. I like to hope that the wool from these sheep is destined for hand knitting one day.