The knitting goes on...

I am still knitting away and very soon, should be able to start showing some of my projects.  The thing is that many of them are Christmas Presents and so they need to remain secret for a little while longer at least.

Lots and Lots of Knitting

There is lots and lots of knitting going on in the background.  I will try and see if I can't share some of it with you soon.

On another note, I am undertaking a foot length/shoe size survey - result very soon, which will hopefully help sock knitters!

My stash

My stash - a lot of knitting to be done

Hot water bottle

I am really please with this.  PomPom wool and a quick and easy gift.

So much...

Som much of my knitting right now is Christmas Presents, that it is difficult to Blog about it all, without giving the game away.

I am however knitting away and really enjoying knitting the Socks.

Lovely little hat

My prayer shawl

And so the ball of wool became a shawl.  Shawls have many purposes, but this particular shawl is a prayer shawl.

The socks are finished!

So the socks are finished.  They are now a pair.

 

A Pair!

This is the first pair of socks that I have knitted.  The thought of 4 needles is daunting, but actually you only ever work with two of the needles at at one time.

When I knit...

When I knit, I get lost in a world of creativity.  The needles become a part of me, an extension of my hands and as they weave the wool and create, my mind is focused.  It is focused on the creative process and nothing else can get in.  For a little while it is just me and my needles, purling, kniting, casting on and off and weaving a magic prayer which will be worn by it's recipient.  The recipient may not realise that the item they wear is a prayer, but each stitch, each loop of yarn is a prayer for them, a prayer of blessing and love.

Ali's Scarf

Ali's Scarf - Picture as promised

A lacy scarf

A Christmas present for a friend.  Ready to be finished off and put into the box in readiness.

The Socks

The sock so far

Socks

I have started kntting the Socks!

More news soon......

A stripy scarf for Ali

Today I finsihed Ali's Scarf.  Another Christmas Present ready.  Ali is quite tiny and the scarf is quite long.  It was meant to have tassels but I used pom poms instead.

Picture to follow

Knitting Socks

I decided that I wanted to learn how to knit socks in the round.  I just found this video on YouTube, which has been helpful in showing the basics of knitting on 4 needles!

Knitting on 4 Needles

Why do I knit?

Why do I knit?  It's a fair enough question.

I knit at the moment because I am depressed.  Knitting keeps my mind occupied and my hands occupied.  It helps me to centre and to relax.  In the process I am making things, gifts for other people.  When I am knitting the rest of the world sort of stops.  I think about the person I am knitting for.  I focus on them, I pray for them.

Perhaps this is why my Prayer Shawl remains a work in progress.  Just at the moment, focusing on me and why I am depressed is just a bit too much to cope with. 

Being depressed is.....well it is many things.  It is challenging.  When you have a broken arm, people can see a cast and so they know that there is something wrong.  When the cast comes off, for a while you will wear a sling and a support bangage and so folks are reminded to tread carefully and to be gentle.  When you are depressed there is no plaster to see. 

Being depressed is a bit like a big tangled ball of string I suppose.  The wires in the brain have got confused and they are consuming the chemicals that the body makes to help us cope and be happy all wrong.  As you begin to untangle the string, things improve, you can use that bit of the string.  But then.... you come to a bit of string that is really tangled or in the process of untangling one bit, another bit that was alright gets tangled.  It's all a bit of a mess and it just needs time and paitence to untangle.  Not to fast, but not too slowly either. 

I guess this brings me back to the knitting.  The yarn, a single length of yarn gets knitted into a piece of fabric, be that a scarf or a hat or a pair of gloves.  It is fashioned into something useful. 

In untangling my ball of string, I get the opportunity to fashion it into something that is useful. 

A scarf for Ruth

I've knitted this scarf for my special friend Ruth.  Whilst I have not been able to live in my flat, Ruth has collected post and kept an eye for me so that I have not had to be there!  She is an AMAZING friend and I love her to bits.  I hope she loves the scarf to bits too!

The Scarf

The Scarf was knitted with Sirdar Bamboo Yarn and I used 4 x 50g balls.  I found the pattern here Lacy Scarf

And a hat to match

And a hat to match...

This is another skye hat, to match Elizabeth's Mittens

Elizabeth's Gloves

Elizabeth's Gloves

I knitted these gloves for my friend Elizabeth.  She requested Teal/Turquoise/Jade colours and I think this yarn meets those criteria.  This yarn did knit up rather wide, so I hope that the gloves will fit.  There is abother left for a hat as well.....

I found the pattern

The pattern for the poppy beanie can be found here poppy beanie pattern

Prayer Shawl



The Wool

 I thought I would knit a prayer shawl.  I have found a pattern and I have the wool.  So here goes........

Hat and Gloves

So whilst in Lyme Regis last week I finished off some projects.  This hat and mittens are knitted in Debbie Bliss 4ply and the pattern for the mittens was found at zig zag mittens and I increased theh size to 61 stiches wide.

I can't find the pattern for the hat and I can't remember where I found it! Doh.  When I do I'll post it.

I read this today...

I am reading 'Knit Together' by Debbie Macomber and today I read this passage:

From The Message, Galations 6:1,4-5

"Live creatively, friends.....Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.  Don't be impressed with yourself.  Don't compare yourself to others.  Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

Skye Hat

Today I finished my Skye Hat.  I found the pattern here Skye Hat 

The hat was lovely to knit and took me a couple of days.  I used Debbie Bliss 4 ply yarn. 

Cardy

I knitted this cardy for Jasmine and Sam, my friends twins.  The first one I knitted was in the littlest size, this is the biggest!  The twins were 8lbs and 9lbs when they were born, so I thought it best to knit bigger!

LITTLE LAVENDER BAG

so this is my little lavender bad knitted in dainty chevron stitch, 41 stiches wides, casted off with a pom-pom effect.  Very easy and very pretty

My mittens

The pattern for these mittens came from Yarn, needles and a cup of coffee.

I have knitted them using Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 Ply.  They were a joy to knit although have come out a little smaller than I thought they would.

Ravelry

Ravelry is a wonderful website with lots of lovely knitting things

https://www.ravelry.com/

Knitting

My Blog is going to take on a new theme.....Knitting. 

I am generally a very crafty person but this year I am going to focus my energy on Knitting.

Worrying

So I lay awake last night worrying. Till 5.30 this mornring I lay there with thoughts running through my head. Planning, replanning, and organising in my mind, thinks that have not yet come to past, things that did not matter, things that were not even plans until I created them last night in my anxiety.

Then today I saw the Voyage of the Dawntreader and the message for me was to worry not about tomorrow, worry not about the past, live in the here and the now and focus on God. It will protect and guide and keep you.

And so to Issiah 43:18-19

Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not percieve it? I am making a way in the dessert and streams in the wasteland.

So I pray Lord, help me to let go of those things that cause me anxiety and let me rest in your arms, in your presence.