Fame Infamy

I'm starting to worry that I'm gaining a bit of a reputation. First of all, I was head-hunted to start a knitting club by one of the Big Girls' teachers today. Despite having an already bulging schedule, I'm seriously tempted. It would be amazing to work with teenagers on more adventurous projects and design work. Then, as I was getting ready to leave work, a parent popped his head round the door to wave a scarf at me and say, "It's a home knit!" before wandering off.

Who am I kidding? I'm not worried at all. It's brilliant!

Anyway, I digress. I actually signed on today to tell you all about my new tea cosy...

Before Christmas, I suddenly became inundated with commissions for Christmas presents. One of them was for a tea cosy. A friend asked me to design and knit him a tea cosy that was like an Aran jumper. He sent me a few pictures of jumpers for inspiration, too, and asked for it in cream. I obliged, turning it around in two days before sending it off and not giving it another thought.

Except that's not entirely true. Now, whenever the teapot comes out, my mind wanders to the beautiful cable cosy. How I wish I had one of my own. The solution? To knit my own! Hurrah!

The cosy is knitted in two pieces and sewn together at the end, leaving ample room for handle and spout. I used 5.5mm (UK5/US9) needles and chunky wool, bought from my fantastic local wool shop in Stanhope. It is a fairly simple design using the basic cable C4B and alternate sections of knits and purls:

Now my tea can stay cosy and warm in this chilly weather!

It's a Sickness

Happy New Year, knitting friends! I hope this finds you well and happy and ready to embrace 2013.

I don't really do resolutions myself, but I do need to be better at updating my blog, so maybe a few things should change around here. Not least because I have been knitting like crazy for the past couple of months and haven't shared any of it with you.

My reason for posting today is to document my addiction. I can't stop buying knitting books. I know; it's a sickness. I just pop into those cheap, high-street book shops and come out with a bag full. I spent all of last week sorting out my bookshelf. Finally, it was tidy, and I felt marginally better about living in a cramped house. Then I went out and bought another book. Arg! I think my husband is about ready to strangle me.

Possibly the best thing about my addiction is that other people recognise and embrace it. I was bought an amazing book for Christmas by a dear friend called Knitted Dinosaurs (Barrett, 2011) and I am itching to get started on a few of them. My little boy has a dinosaur themed bedroom, as you'll know from previous posts, so I think a few more frieds dotted around the room will add to the ambience quite nicely.

I also picked up Animal Hats (Henderson, 2012) from my local discount bookseller's for a bargainous £3.99. I'm a bit miffed that a lot of the hats are crocheted (just can't do it) but some of the designs are just fantastic, particularly the shaggy lion.

I'll make sure I post photos of any successful projects!