Christmas spirit

Usually when I get a magazine I tend to disguard the free gift, especially if it's a thing to knit. I prefer tools like stitch markers, tape measures and scissors.

For the the kits are useless. I don't knit toys and have no interest in knitting santa, hedgehogs or puss in boots.

So I was very surprised when my latest magazine purchase came with a kit that I really wanted to make...

I thought this was something different, something I hadn't seen before with a magazine. It was finished in a night and I really quite like it.

It just goes to show that every now and again magazines can surprise you.

Aftermath

Tuesdays update didn't happen for one very good, fluffy and cute reason.... we refused to hand back my mum's 3 year old Westie,  Gibbs.

My dad stole him back last night so normality can resume.                                                           

Dublin this year was great as always and we finally managed something I've wanted for years.... a new yarn colour wheel!                 

Just remember that I contributed to the colour wheel, I didn't buy all that yarn despite what some people think. (Although in the past I could have created a wheel all by myself)

There was much knitting in the evenings and by the time we got off the train in Belfast I had just the rib to finish on my socks.

And finally, the moment you've been waiting for....may I present the new stash.

Everything in the new stash has a plan...sock yarn for socks, yarn for a really pretty cowl, 2/3rds of a shawl and yarn for another shawl. This time round it's quality not quantity so there's a lot of indie dyed yarn too...close up pics next time!

Not quite right

I started knitting a rather simple man hat over the weekend.

Right size needles? Check.

Cast on right number of stitches? Check

K1 P1 for the round? Check.

Knit round? Ummm no.

Seems I left this part of the pattern out so was content knitting rib all weekend! I only realised when it came to the decreases....which I ended up making up.

But, I've another hat for the gift box and I won't make the same mistake twice!

Squish!

Last week I volunteered to knit a sample for A Fine Fish Yarns
(https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/afinefishyarns)

I was given a skein of aran weight yarn and tonight I set to work winding it from this lovely skein into a cake.

The colourway is called Sheelagh and the yarn is amazing. It's soft, bouncy and each stitch is a pleasure to work with. It's one of those yarns you just want to keep working with.

I picked a pretty simple hat pattern for this yarn. I wanted the yarn to be the focal point without creating a completely plain hat. I'm just hoping it turns out to be as lovely as seems to be.

Despite the fact that I'm going to Dublin next weekend on the annual knitting pilgrimage,  I think I need this yarn in my stash!

Oops

You may have noticed the lack of post on Tuesday and that's because we took ourselves off to the cinema to see spectre.

Wednesday was a little yarn delivery from Germany. Just one or two balls of sock yarn being added to the stash

Trapped!

Crafters are hoarders. Show me a crafter who doesn't have a stash of one kind or another and I'll root out their hiding spots.

They sneak yarn into the house, slightly concerned about the eye rolls from their significant other, hide it in the boot of the car, stuff it in nooks and crannies or have another crafter mind it for them.

And it's not just yarn.  While my yarn stash threatens to take over the house from downstairs, the magazine stash is trying to burst from its designated spot upstairs!

I used to be a 2 magazine subscriber. The anticipation of waiting on the postman to deliver the magazine was great. What patterns would I get this month? What stash would I be able to use with it? And, most importantly, what will the free gift be!?

Needless to say that once I ripped the plastic off the magazine, had a look at the free gift (and 9 times out of 10 said I wouldn't use it) and gave the patterns a  cursery look, the magazine was abandoned in a corner until someone texted to say they were visiting. At that point the magazines were scooped up and thrown in another corner out of sight.

In order to corral the mess, I didn't resubscribe to one magazine when my year ran out.  In my eternal stupidity, I continued to buy the magazine and not knit any patterns from them.  So the decision has been made not to resubscribe to magazine 2.

And then there's tools- needles, crochet hooks, stitch markers and buttons. We knitters tend to hoard these items too and yet, we never have what we need when we need it.

So the moral of this tale is simple. Despite your belief that your crafter has every thing they could ever possibly need,  you're wrong. We'll always need something else, something new and shiny.

My advice is to just go with the flow. One day you'll come home to find them buried under the stash and then, and only then, will the notion of "enough" cross their mind. And as quickly as the notion came it'll go again.

Evil temptress

What is it that makes crafters immune to saying no when new yarn is involved?

This is a question I've been pondering over for a while and it all began in September.

A fellow crafter in work was bemoaning the state of her craft room (I know, a whole room for crafting in). There was card and stamps and inks and glues everywhere and getting glitter out of carpet isn't easy.  In return I was venting about the stash getting out of hand....again.

I wanted to get the stash knitted up before the annual knitting pilgrimage to Dublin. Why? To make room for all the new yarn I would acquire.  Unfortunately the stash contains the excitedly purchased yarn from the four previous pilgrimages.

But why when, for as long as I can remember,  I've been cold sheeping?

Because I get the thrill of hitting the purchase button online. It's not just the yarn I'm buying but the illusion of time to knit it up.

Sometimes this thrill comes back to bit you. For example, last week a knitting website was advertising their grab bags. Oh ho says I,  an excellent opportunity to try new yarn out for a discounted price. So I ordered 3 bags- cascade, berocco and crystal palace.

Imagine my excitement when the parcel arrived.  I opened the first....

Started well with berocco weekend. Nice colours and the yarn feels nice.

Then came the second bag,  the cascade...

Another victory! Bulky merino in blues which I love.

Then, the final bag...the crystal  palace. Would I be lucky and get 3 fab bags of yarn??

No. Bag 3  was 5 balls of fun fur that I have no idea what to do with.

And, despite the new mystery yarn (and one or five other balls that arrived yesterday), the knitters are in talks about ordering a lot of sock yarn from Germany! 

This only means one thing....I knit to climb back on the sheep until mid November and knit socks like they're going out of fashion!