I do still knit

DD started this scarf but got bored with it - I think the "drop the yarnovers" row got to her! I finished the scarf while we were away, I think while we were watching The Royal Wedding. It's made from yarn which DD hand-dyed; it started life as Bendigo Wollen Mills Rustic 8ply (DK).

The pattern is Christine Vogel's Drop Stitch scarf (Ravelry link); this is the second time I have knitted this quick but effective pattern.

I started this scarf last Monday for the hour commute to Strathfield to put mum on her CountryLink train. I just can't sit for an hour and do nothing. Again, it is the Drop Stitch Scarf pattern.


I cast off on Sunday night and sewed the ends in on Monday morning. The yarn is a collaborative hand-dying effort from DD and I (also Bendigo Wollen Mills Rustic 8ply - DK). We play; some combinations work well, other's not so well.

The colours of the full scarf on the left are much more accurate.

This hat is knitted with a band of plain green wool and the leftovers of the scarf above. I cast on this hat on Monday night but stopped ten rounds short of the end; I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I finished it on Tuesday evening and sewed the ends in right away. I even cast on for another hat!

The pattern is my "go to" plain beanie pattern: it comes from Cleckheaton book #956 Handknits to Wrap and Adorn (Ravelry link).





As for works in progress (or hibernation as the case may be), I have these:

• the hat I cast on last night (three rounds of ribbing done so no photo to show you - it's the same green as the hat above)
• the toe up socks for WM - I almost finished one and it fit beautifully; then I tried the tubular cast off from Wendy Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up (Ravelry link) - and it was so tight that WM couldn't get it over his heel. He wouldn't have been able to wear it even if he could get it over his heel, it would have cut off his circulation! I don't know what I did wrong but it's been languishing in the naughty corner for a couple of weeks now!

• the Fibonacci strip blanket - I still have a few dozen ends to sew in; although mum did so sew some of them when she was here a couple of weeks ago (thanks mum)

• the Ambassador of Love mittens - I have SMS (second mitten syndrome)!

• man's fingerless mitts - SMS again and no photos!

This cold weather is certainly conducive to knitting but my knitting muse seems to have left me - I think I need a complicated project to spur me on. I feel a certain amount of ennui with all the things I have on my needles; even with most of the things in my Ravelry queue! I really want to try knitting a shawl but are they practical items for charity knitting? Would a homeless woman really appreciate one? Would an Aboriginal woman living in a remote outback community? What do you think?