In the Making...

I did get a few nice knitting bits for Christmas, mainly books this year. I'm really loving all of these. From left to right - Botanical Knits 2 by Alana Dakos, New Lace Knitting by Romi Hill, Sock Architecture by Lara Neal and Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook by Felicity Ford. The first two are pattern books and there are some really beautiful ones included. Knitsonik is a self published book that is just gorgeous and really interesting. I've really enjoyed reading this one. The Sock Architecture book is very good and I think my favourite one, since it's the one I've used the most so far. I've started a toe up Dydas with the leftover WYS yarn from my Holly socks. A lot of the patterns have toe up and toe down versions. There are options for different toe lengths and whether you want gussets or not. There's a lot of info and you could easily use the patterns as bases for putting your own patterns onto. Over New Year, I started a st...

That was a long holiday break. My birthday falls near Christmas too and it was a special one this year, so we've been away for a bit. I did get some lovely knitting-related presents this year. Some special skeins of yarn from my lovely mum - waves"Hi Mum" Two skeins of Quince and Co Chickadee A skein of Brooklyn Tweed Loft in the beautifully named "Button Jar" shade. And a few knitting books. My birthday weekend was a trip to London, which was just fabulous. One of the places we visited was the Natural History Museum (I've been plenty of times but Mr has never been). Not only are the exhibits fantastic but this time around I really appreciated how gorgeous the building is. The little details are just incredible. Here's just a little sample of photos. Ceiling of the Central Hall (Natural History Museum) Carved columns (Natural History Museum) Central Hall (Natural History Museum) Stained...

I had some really wonderful surprises from my family this Christmas. I had lots of lovely knitting/spinning gifts. Some very helpful knitting books. And some gorgeous spinning fibre and some Knitpro Cubix needles. Going clockwise, starting with the braid, it is 100% BFL - Enjoy the Ride from Countess Ablaze . The others are from HilltopCloud , 100g Yellow Batts - shetland, merino & camel, and a 35g Frog Prince Batt and 100g Hand Blended Frog Prince Roving. And my best knitting present of all was made by my niece. I love it. Though, not sure what the warning is about, perhaps flying needles and balls of yarn! I'm sure I'm not a dangerous knitter...