November woolly round up

 Well, November (Wovember) for me was a rather crafty month.  It celebrated the making, the knitting, the crochet and the crafting with wools and yarns. (With added cake of course...)  So to celebrate this lovely creativity I've put together some mosaics - enjoy!

 My knitting crew!

 Knitting miles

 Where do  you knit?

 Inspirational creativity

 Designing and loving it

Projects finished......and not so finished!

Wohoo! Let hear for creativity and all things woolly :)

Happy knitting me :)

Wovember inspired posting.

I have been slogging away with my stockinette knitting and lets be honest - getting bored.  Time for a little play!

So I found my graph paper, sketched a pronking deer and snowflakes then 'converted' it into stitches so I could knit my OWN DESIGN festive bauble!! (How excited am I??!!)

Progress is only slowed by the fact I have to do some boring things - like work, sleep, eat and drive... otherwise I would be finished.

Any hoo - just a quick post and then back to more knitting *hApPy*  *hApPy*  *hApPy*

PS - if it works would you like me to share the details?

Excuse me - my knitting calls :)

A big-sky micro adventure

A sudden desire to be out of the house, out in the open, out - just out, made Himself and I spontaneously pack a picnic and persuaded Youngest to leave his laptop and come with us and set off. Set off - just out.

 The air was biting, our hands felt brittle and noses icy. I took knitting with the plan to knit as we drove along but the views kept calling to me. So my camera came out instead. During our lunch stop, Youngest and I wandered through wild moorland down to a stream where a Viking longhouse lays buried under grass and reeds. Each summer archaeology students unearth the building and delve into the past, then when finished carefully return the turf and cover the longhouse for the winter.

 The roads we chose were narrow and winding, high up on the moors where stock animals graze.  Youngest opened and closed several gates as we went along.

 My knitting, which on Saturday I did not really care for, sang in the late afternoon sunshine. Mirroring the colours of the hill side.  I could feel myself gently falling for it....I hope it lasts.

Time to go home.

Knit and natter Ta-da!s

Wovember inspired post.

It was my turn to host the knit and natter this last Thursday and it amuses me that Himself always makes himself scarce and my boys retreat to a safe distance but still close enough to check out any baking which magically appears as the girls arrive.

This week did not disappoint :) There were freshly made (and still warm) scones, jam and cream with rice crispy and choc nibbles, 'Viking' biscuits** and flapjacks.

Not only do we knit and natter (and nibble of course), we share our projects and show our progress. We don't restrict our crafting to just knitting or crochet and at the moment there is some gorgeous work appearing. I love these needle punch pictures being created (Thanks lovely lady - I have lifted your works of art straight off your blog :))

Picture from Lovely Lady's blog

Picture from Lovely Lady's blog

Picture from Lovely Lady's blog

My fav-sis-in-law has been knitting and knitting and knitting, then got fed up and happily passed on to my mom to finish, a lovely warm and snuggly yet cool (I know - an oxymoron) Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier - a free Ravelry download, in a most delicious chocolatey-charcoal grey wool. (Sorry - that sentence is hugely too long but it needed to be!)

She was so happy with it, she tried it on before it was completely finished, when oops....it started to unravel! So it went back to my mom for a bit of first aid and today (Saturday) it is now completed and all edges are safely woven in! It looks lovely - Well done J (and mom!)

L makes gorgeous rug-hook pictures and these two are no exception.  Her hens are for another of our knit and natter group and the hare is destined to be a cushion cover.

L has also given an ornamental festive tree an amazing make over. It was once a plastic coated wire dark brown frame and she painstakingly wound bright rich carpet wool methodically around each and every twig and branch and look how fantastic it looks now!

I teased her gently at how kind it was of her to do if for me and despite all the laughter I noticed how tightly she held onto the tree when at the end of our lovely evening as we all said good bye!!

My knitting is progressing slowly, I seem to have lost steam.  It is not complicated or brain draining, it is just comfortably methodical rhythmic knitting. But. *sigh* I don't really know. Hey ho.

Tomorrow - Sunday, hopefully the weather will be friendly enough to go walking. Today turned out to be gently beautiful but we'd already made other arrangements. What ever the weather - I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend

love hawthornxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Viking biscuits - years ago, when Eldest had his 8th birthday and wanted it to be Viking themed, we researched all sorts of things Viking related, clothing, food, games and we found a very simple oaty biscuit that only contained ingredients current at that time - oats, butter and honey. We tried them and fell in love and over the years it has altered slightly to suit our palates and now has seeds and nuts as well as sultanas. It has been a family*happy*favourite ever since.

My favourite fibre space

An InLinkz Link-up

Where do you knit? and Hello JO!!

Hello Jo, Of course I remember you :) How lovely to hear from you again :) I am so so happy that my little bit of crochety excitement rubbed off on you and you have got so much pleasure from a little hooky action - It is definitely a small world, hope to hear from you again xxx

Wovember inspired post.

I was thinking today, as I quietly did a bit of escapism knitting at work, of how many places I drag my knitting along with me.

Whatever my current project is, it comes too....to work, walking, holidays, visits, knit and natter and of course at home.  

My curiosity piqued, I trawled through some of my photos and had a look where I'd sat down and had a little me time with my knitting.

Today at work - sitting at my computer.  I try to go out for a bit of a break but today I had so many chores to do during a particularly brief hour that when I returned to the surgery, I just sat down with my knitting. (That cute kitten on the screen is called Jaffa and is only 3 weeks old!)

 In the car - knitting and crochet are the best form of in-car-entertainment EVER! And I will not hear anything to the contrary (well - within reason of course!) I find as a passenger when we are off on a jolly gives me permission to just sit and knit without the inbuilt guilt associated with just sitting and knitting!!

 Knitting can be done out in the open (in this case only briefly as the midgies were horrendous and had vicious little */~//*#@ teeth!! oops. Well, what do you expect in a woodland in Galloway?

 Walking on the moors above Bolton Abbey, I can always find time for a row or two when we sit out of the breeze and sip tea from a flask during a walk.  Often a break will be longer than planned as I have been know to mutter...let me just get to the end of my row..... and find that if the boys haven't noticed, I can start another one!

Holiday knitting is the best, each stitch imbibes the atmosphere, taking home a little bit of the light and the air to gently release when the garment is being worn.

Winter knitting is almost like comfort food, it is cozy, it is comforting, it is all encompassing. It does help, however, to have a fire and a fire-worshiping cat - bliss.

 This picture and the one below are almost identical but are about 8 months and 20 miles apart. There is something familiar about knitting - it is repetitious without being tedious and it seems our walks bear a remarkable similarity to my knitting - strangely comforting and reassuring.

Knitting by laptop light - no not really, I use the laptop as a store for most of my patterns. 

I was lucky enough to help out at a couple of woolly themed fayres and shows and it seemed right to take along my knitting :)

I have to honestly say that I have never found it too hot or too cold to knit. In winter or when we have been camping, knitting actually warms my hands up and if my project is big enough - it acts as a mini-lapghan and keeps me warm. 

The wrapper on the yarn says it all.

Yes, you can see 3 cones of wool........think I'm dedicated to the cause!

:) xxxxx