Wonderful Wool!

We are right in the middle of another cold snap at the moment. It snowed for pretty much all of the afternoon here in Ascot much to the fascination of my pet cat Bear, who sat and watched the snowflakes fall for ages.

To me Winter and Wool go hand in hand. I always get my knitting needles out at the end of September and when I am at home in the evenings, I'll knit in front of the television most nights until the Summer arrives. Up until now I have been busy making hats. Woolly hats with oversized pompoms are v. fashionable right now and I have made a few of my own which I have been happy to wear on dog walks.

My latest knitting adventure involves fishermans's rib. I first encountered this lovely knitting stitch when I was a teenager. I knitted a fisherman's rib jumper for a boyfriend. It was bright blue and he only ever wore it once under cover of darkness!

When my friend Peter came to stay a few weeks ago he was sporting a gorgeous jumper that had been hand knitted by his Mum. Theo, my youngest son, was hugely impressed by this and asked if I could make him one. The only thing that holds me back is remembering the amount of time you need to dedicate to making a jumper. At twelve, Theo is no longer in child sized clothes and as many people will be only too aware, the tastes of a pre-teen can change with the wind.

Before deciding to commit to the sweater I thought I'd re-acquaint myself with fisherman's rib and I've been knitting this in the evenings....

I love the uniform neatness of the stitch. It was originally going to be a cowl scarf but now I am thinking it would look great as a simple cushion. I am still undecided, so will wait until it grow further to make a decision!

There are many reasons to knit. I wrote about them in a past blog post - 10 Great Reasons to Knit, that you can read by clicking here For me all ten reasons remain relevant and I look forward to further adventures in knitting over the coming months. Next week I'll be attending the Woolly Wormhead Workshop at the Unravel Festival at Farnham Maltings where I'll be adding to my knitting skills and I look forward to sharing details of the day with you soon.

Wishing everyone a happy and creative weekend!