Oh my - such pretty things ...

have come into my life today, and I'm just going to share them. Today there is a little knitting progress, and an impromptu project starts, a slow one grows and there is the one that still needs frogging, plus I have a new toy ... well, two new toys, both of which which are so so pretty, and begged to be played with.


First up, the toys, because they are the most fun, I arrived home today to find a parcel for me, from afar, with knitterly things and little toys for the cubs, for me, a pair of Signature needles no less, pointy, and shiny and smooth and stiff. We were all very good and patient, so afternoon tea was had and home work done before the cubs took advantage of their toys, but me ... I had to play with mine. 3.25mm, mmmmm what could I knit, lots of things but what could I knit now? The points are so smoothly sharp, the metal so light, the colour so gold, all so tempting, I rummaged and the first yarn to come to hand that was the right weight for these needles was Cleckheaton Natural 4ply cotton - so a dishcloth it was. I have been knitting cotton on bamboo, but its working perfectly on these, did I mention they were smooth and pointy? The pattern is a grandma's diagonal dishcloth variation by Eloomanator. Sorry its a Ravelry link, I can't locate the pattern on her site.


The other toy is the most beautiful Kaleidoscope I've ever looked thru, a Magic Marble kaleidoscope, a simple little card tube with a slightly cloudy marble at one end ... but the view,



Oh my ... the view

and, and these don't do them justice, the colour and detail is breathtaking.


And just in case you were wondering, I seem to have a bit of an ongoing exchange with a knitter somewhere else, where we send little knitterly and other things every now and then - I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'm liking it ... (if you are wondering, most recently I sent a Vintage Purls sock club .. among other things).




On the knitting front, I did finish something, a mitten so half of a pair? These are ones I started in late December, in hand-spun, and with three rows of one colour Vikkel braid. The mittens are all of my own making up, but the braid is from Folk Knitting in Estonia by Nancy Bush. Technically these are only one quarter done, as there is to be a pair of mittens and I plan to line each - which means knitting 4 mittens in total.

And the socks for Toby that need frogging, they still need froggin, I've not frogged them yet, on me they fit ... but they are for Toby who has much smaller paws. I do want them to be for Toby - so I will frog. I've called these my making-them-up-as-I-go socks, and I guess frogging is a risky part of the 'making them up' as opposed to following a pattern? I rotated the cast on toe so the 'sides' ran up the middle of the foot, and continued the lines by working a purl ditch, growing it into the gusset increases, and filling them with linen stitch. I worked the heel in the linen stitch - and I'm quite pleased with the look. The linen stitch disrupts the Regia self patterning just enough to make it more interesting.



But on my Toby ... they look like this, which is not good, and yes he will grow, but maybe not fast enough to wear these in winter.

So I'll frog, soon, promise.
take care
na Stella