Smooth. Not

knitwitches silk
Originally uploaded by celestine_e2

Happy chocolate egg and bunny day to those of you who care about such things.

I'm starting to realise just how much my knitting is influenced by what's going on elsewhere in my life.
At the moment, there is a lot of uncertainty, coupled with some sadness, and my projects are designed to provide mostly mindless knitting, coupled with cosy results.

With this in mind, I decided that it was finally time to start the black silk Clap using the Knitwitches silk I picked up in November.
Out came the swift and ball-winder, and I got to work.

Heh, there's a lot of yardage to silk. Okay, it didn't take too long, but that's when the fun started. The silk is wound so tightly that there's no way to get it off the winder.

So, I need to knit faster, and hope that there's nothing I need to wind for a while.

cranford mitts

cranford mitts
Originally uploaded by celestine_e2

Yeah, the photo is blurry, but so's my head today.

There are projects that you think you'll enjoy making even if they don't quite work, and projects when you know that it'll be a slog, but the end result makes up for it.

These mitts are just perfect.

The pattern, from the talented Jane Lithgow, is easy to follow, and fun. I made the first one while pretending to watch rugby, then raced through the second in 2 sessions.

The yarn, from The Yarn Yard, is a delight to work with. What's not to love about organic merino? Oh, and it's incredibly good value too. For £5, I got enough yarn to make my mitts and another (super sekrit) project. There's still a little left too.

Coming soon, my silk woes...

ian learns mattress stitch

ian learns mattress stitch
Originally uploaded by celestine_e2