Presents

Pooch and I swapped gifts early since he will be in Colne over xmas while I will be here in London. I got chopsticks, an amazing printed linen cloth with cat faces on it which I forgot to photograph and....washi tape.

I'd asked him to pick up couple as I've seen it on various craft blogs but the UK prices seem a bit OTT. Turns out the prices in Japan are just as bad but...

I've only got as far as unwrapping one roll to play with but I don't want to get caught in one of those 'saving it for something special' traps which so easily leads to hoarding. I'm therefore scouring Pinterest for ideas. Apparently it is wall friendly and I am rather taken by this:

Source: fellowfellow.com via Alex on Pinterest

And you know I do rather like polka dots.

Having finished my christmas crafting I've got a few FOs to share. During my flu I wasn't capable of anything more complicated than a Frankie's 10-stitch blanket which I've made twice before. This one is destined for a french cat and another is half complete.

Details on Ravelry here.

I also tried a sock - 4-ply fairisle with flu? It was never going to work. I cast on the suggested 68 stitches and changed to top down. By the time I got to the ankle I knew it was too tight and had to frog it. That was in this combination of yarns.

I retried with a different yarn with a greater contrast and an extra 8 stitches.

Looking good and fitting much better. I've used a plain, vertical stripe on the sole and gusset.

I love the look of fairisle stripes because it's like a secret only a knitter would understand. To a non knitter I suspect they'd assume it was just alternate rows not real fairisle.

I've got the weekend to relax before my volunteering starts on Monday. I've used it so far to start my somewhat overdue spring cleaning. My bathroom now sparkles and the kitchen has no idea what is about to hit it.