All Fingers and Thumbs

... Mr Sewing Machine I'm not scared of you any more! Thanks Mum!

1) If you're thinking of making a donation to help those affected by the devastating fires in Victoria then this is the place for you to visit: Serendipity 2) If you haven't got it already and you can get your hands on a copy of the spring Interweave Knits - DO! For the glory that is the The Florist Knits collection - SO many beautiful pieces - I don't think I've ever liked so many patterns from one collection before. The two cardigans, fabulous scarf and shawl I want to cast on for NOW. 3) If you were me this weekend you'd be a very lucky lady. Cushion the first is knit and number two is underway. Mama is visiting this weekend with her sewing machine so I will have some tuition on how to back them. (And someone to shop with for the yarns for the Florist Knits). May your weekends be as wonderful.

After all that swatching it is a joy to finally be knitting the cushion cover I've been planning for my friends' wedding gift. Number one of two hopefully as making a pair seems almost compulsory. Swatching is a bit like the trailers ahead of the eagerly awaited feature presentation; sometimes fun but often just something to get through. I hoped I wouldn't be alone in my laziness so thanks for those of you keeping me company on that front and as for the rebel no- swatcher Rachel I like your style! Kendra asked what I do with my swatches. This is something I'd like to improve upon now I am going to be such a swatching swot. I always try and keep them and they are strewn in random nooks around the place. I haven't yet had to unravel one to have enough yarn I don't think, but I'm sure that'll happen one day. I did try to set up a scrap book for them where I recorded the needle I had used by the swatch so that if I used that yarn again I could refer...

It turns out that I'm a very lazy swatcher. In my mind I'd always had myself pegged as quite conscientious about swatching but I realise now I was kidding myself. Although I'll often knit a gauge swatch that's normally been as far as things get. Wash it? Nope. Pin it out and measure it properly? Nope. Even though I know I should. And why not? This is where some knitting police would have come in handy - a firm word from them may have set me on the right path long ago. I mean really, either be a rebel and knit on without a swatch or having taken the trouble to knit the thing use it properly. After starting my cushion swatching (probably smaller than the ones you're thinking of Rachel, update as soon as there's something pretty to take a picture of Bells) I realised I would have to steal some Rowanspun from a sweater's worth of that pretty soft purple you can see above. It had dreams of becoming Assemblage but it turns out I never had enough for that even b...

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.