All Fingers and Thumbs

The shores of Garter Triangle Island are out of reach as I bob about in the waters of Bird's Eye Lace Lake. They are gentle waters really, a simple two row repeat to make this wide open lace but they are the kind of waters that I like to have a little of my knitting wits about me so that I at least catch when I've missed something or done something unprescribed before I'm working back and discover it on the the next row. Handily I already have the perfect counterpoint piece in my current WIPs. A long, vertically striped garter stitch scarf in various shades of woolly, soft Rowanspun. The perfect piece for my week night evenings when I generally lack much in the way of wits having left them trailing behind me in the day's work. These plumper, snugglier stitches require so much less concentration. They help smooth out the brain waves in an echo of their ripple and get to work on repairing the wits for the next day and for the next voyage out on the Lake.

Percival here. Well obviously my name is not really Percival it's Simon but she who sewed me thinks Percival the Polar Bear has a nice ring to it, so you know, I'll go along with it to keep the peace. She has been promising me some friends all week but all I've seen her do is disappear out of the house muttering something about 'work' and when she's here she just plays around with some green string. Not sure how she thinks 'a whole bear troop' is going to get created unless she gets her needle out. She keeps reminiscing about how fun it was creating me. She had a day off this work thing apparently and sat around drinking tea and eating macaroons with another one like her who shares my birthday before heading out for an evening of cocktails. Apparently the lateness of the hour on a school night may be to blame for limited productivity for the rest of this week. Hmmm I think this all may be a ruse, she may be on to my plan for world domination and thin...

The sunshine of Italy is feeling like a long time ago as I sit under murky grey skies this end of the week. The irritations of daily life are doing their best to impinge on my shiny, squam exfoliated outlook. I mean really, even if Squam is a fortnight ago I should still be on new friend high after a super decadent meet up with two very lovely squammers and their very talented friend . We all went for afternoon tea at The Savoy on Monday but even that seems a long time ago. Though - oh my - the lavender eclair - will never be forgotten! So I have no excuses for feeling a bit flat but luckily when life seems a little humdrum again there's comfort close by with the needles and yarn. This is a Squam inspired comfort. These lacy stitches are the start of an Aestlight which I chose as my class pattern. Gudrun definitely inspired me to stretch out my shawl skills and try some proper laceweight and this interesting, traditional construction. It begins with just one stitch and you ...

A week on and the freckles are fading but the effects of my time at SquamItalia! will be with me forever. I have pictures and I have a full heart. I'm not sure I have the words. I keep writing sentences and deleting them. It's so hard to explain exactly what it was like and why it has such an impact. The ingredients meant it was bound to be fabulous: a sunny hillside in Italy with views of the sea one way and the mountains the other, talented teachers and a whole group of powerful, creative women brought there by the vision of one to have fun and learn. The magic is in how those people come together and in the creation of a space so removed from everyday life that I found I could cast off some of the restrictions I've learned to put on myself when I've come up against challenges and challengers in the past. Thank you so much to everyone I met for making my time unforgettable. When do you ever get the chance...

It's a bright and sunny morning here in Oxford and I've got some bright and shiny new toys to play with this weekend. I gave in to my scissor obsession (I want these one day, you know the lottery winning type day!) and bought some beauties from Posie along with this year's felt ornament kit and then was delighted to receive another, very reasonable quality pair, free with the latest issue of Mollie Makes . My pincushion is stuffed and ready for action so it promises to be a happy, crafty weekend.

Knit in my beautiful Squam yarn and ready just ahead of SquamItalia (next week!!); here's the hat I had the urge to make for me after finishing up the Mr's . Pattern: Butterfly Hat by Sofiya Cremin Yarn: Jill Draper Makes Stuff - Superwash Merino - Squam colourway: Deepest Depths Needles: 4.5mm DPNs and 16in Circ Started: September 2012 Finished: September 23rd 2012 Ravelry page While the s omewhat abrupt arrival of deepest autumnal weather yesterday here in England means it'll see some use straight away, that very same weather makes it even more delicious to note, that you could say it's not likely to be the most  essential item for my suitcase given the current weather where I'll soon be knitting. Weather  for  Abruzzo, Italy 24°C |  °F Mon Tue Wed Thu Partly Cloudy Wind: E at 4 mph Humidity: 78% 33° 18° 28° 18° 28° 18° 31° 18° None of these photos does any justice to the really amazing shade of this yarn. It's the most indescribabl...

A week ago now I had a great trip down to see my Mum and Dad and brought a Pa back with me for a couple of days of less fun for him as he had a course close by. I took so many photos, mainly of my Mum's beautiful garden. We had some lovely sunny days and I relished that feeling of start of term freshness that comes with September still. Newness in the form of two beautiful puppies for my auntie. Train and car time made for plenty of knitting and I reached a momentous point of GAAK when I actually remembered how to do Judy's magic cast on without looking at the instructions! And so we're nearly ready for the next weekend, more lovely memories to be made, but oh why is time flying by so fast?