More creations from my needles

As with anything I do, once I start I get rather obsessive about it. Knitting is no different. I now have so many projects on the go that I'm not sure which one to start - the baby blanket (must complete by 11 Feb) or a beautiful creation for my mum's birthday (must complete by 24 Feb) or a present for a friend's baby (must complete by 8 Feb).

But as I explained before, knitting has become important as a way to spend some "me" time and also as a creative outlet. So let me share with you my two latest creations the Headigan (cardigan for your head) and Calorimetry headband.

The Headigan (a sideways cardigan for your head) was an easy knit but I really needed it! I used Naturally Harmony 10 ply 100% wool. It feels wonderful to wear although I'd prefer it a little longer. But it's my fault for using too small needles.


The next creation is the Calorimetry. I used the same yarn as the Headigan, but made this much smaller so that it's just a headband and ear warmer rather than something that covers most of my head. It's invaluable for my morning walks (or waddles now I'm so huge!) as I like to wear my hair up in a ponytail, something you can't do stylishly with a beanie.

So after all these scarves and hats, you'll be pleased to know that I am doing some "real knitting". Here's a preview of a jumper I'm doing as a Christmas present for the man. So far, so good. It's a long long knit though, but seeing him wear it will be worth every little stitch.

Also on the needles is a baby vest, mittens and colourful socks. More about them later.

When previewing this I noticed that all my knitting is looking really grey. I'll add some colour to future projects.

Scarf and Snood complete - my neck is warm

Generic Garter Stitch Scarf (17 sts in width) inspired by brooklyntweed

Materials: Noro 'Iro' in shade #113, 2 full hanks Needles: US 10.5

Meet my new scarf. It was a very basic knit that I fell in love with while reading the amazing brooklyntweed blog. I'm actually cyber-stalking a few of his creations like the rest of the knitting blogging world!

This scarf was mostly knitted while on the subway or sitting patiently in my doctor's waiting room. It's good timing actually with the weather in NYC forecast to dip below zero tomorrow and possibly the first snowfall of the season. Yippee! Bring on the snow.

Snood pattern from The Point Knitting Cafe and inspired by Emma Cook's much more shapely and beautiful design.

Materials: Malabrigo gruesa, super thick black, nearly 3 skeins, Needles: US13

The "snood" is the actually the second item I completed but I tried it on and the man laughed at me and said it looked like my head had been bandaged so I didn't sew in the ends and just left it for a couple of weeks.

During my insomnia last night, I decided to finish it. But it didn't look right. So I found this fabulous little flower pattern and knitted the smallest size on US 5 needles and stitched it on. It made all the difference. Now it looks like a cute little cap and scarf. I'm looking forward to wearing it today.

So I'm near finishing off a baby vest (which is so big it might fit my baby next winter!) so I'm having knitters agnst because my next yarn delivery doesn't arrive until Monday and in the meantime I've got nothing left to knit.

Getting knitty witty

When I moved to the US the hardest part was saying goodbye to my sewing machines. Nothing soothes me more than whipping up a new outfit. Since we're only in the US for about 2-3 years, there's no point buying new machines. So I needed another creative outlet. Knitting seems like the perfect option - it requires very little equipment, is transportable and is creative.

So I searched for courses and found some fab ones on weekends at The Point Knitting Cafe. Now I forgot that I had actually learned to knit years ago from my mother and grandma. But as soon as I got into the class I started knitting! I think the other students thought I was being a right smart arse. But it just came back to me. Straight away I was hooked (haha). I bought some wool and a pattern and spent the rest of the weekend knitting a beanie for my man. It's modelled here by my lovely little friend Nicolas who stayed with me for a few days.

It's got a lot of mistakes, but it was an amazing feeling to actually create something again. The man was so excited that I made him something. He said it was the best present ever and wears it all the time.

Now I'm planning my next projects inspired by some incredible knitting blogs (oh yes, there are thousands!) such as brooklyntweed, the brown sheep and dyelicious addictions. Dyelicious is actually written by a friend from high school who I've become reacquainted with thanks to Facebook. Now she's helping me out very patiently with my multitude of knitting questions! More pictures and projects to come.