Summer knitting

Of all the things I do during the course of a normal day, the one thing that is guaranteed to help me relax is knitting.  Who would have thought that winding a long piece of wool or cotton around a couple of bamboo sticks would clear the mind and produce such wonders. And it's such an old craft, unchanged over all our years, and more. I always have some form of knitting on the go. The repetitive nature of it helps me relax, it also helps me think, it's a movable feast so I can easily take it with me when I go out and after all that winding, we have something useful.

If you're new to knitting or you're struggling with a project, we have a group of experienced knitters at the forum who are always willing to help. To start knitting without someone at your side to guide you, simply go to Youtube and search for "how to knit". That is what I do when I want to learn a new stitch. You can stop the recording and go back, many times if you need to. To start knitting, all you need to learn is cast on, cast off, knit and purl. Start by knitting a square dishcloth - cast on 30 - 40 stitches, using knitting or crochet cotton. You'll be able to practise your stitches, work out the tension and still come out at the end of it with something you can use.

Alexander's cotton cardigan.

Late last year, I finally finished the organic cotton cardigan I made for Alexander. I chose cotton because it allows air circulation and in our climate, it can be worn almost all year. The yarn I used is from EcoYarns. It's a really soft on the skin and I feel happy giving it to my grandsons knowing no harmful chemicals are lurking.

I confess, I now have two knitting baskets.

I recently received the beautiful Jo Sharp cotton you see in the photo above from Rachael. She has been reading my blog for a long time and wrote asking if I would like her to send the cotton. She was too busy to use it - she has three children and had just given birth to twin boys!  She had started on a couple of face cloths - and included them as well (beautiful knitting, Rachael!) so I'm going to continue as Rachael started and use this cotton for face cloths. It's Australian cotton and it's really soft and luxurious. I'd never heard of Jo Sharp before - it's frightening how much I don't know - but I'm very pleased I have this here now and I'm looking forward to knitting with it. Thank you Rachael.

I'll be starting on this little hat soon - one for Alexander, one for Jamie.

Summer is knitting time for me. It's usually the time of year when I slow down and sit in front of the TV watching cricket. When you get to slow down after a year of hard work, life is very sweet and about as good as it gets. But even though I take it easy then, I like to stay productive, so I start up a couple of new projects and I try to finish off those I started earlier in the year. The one I still need to finish is Hanno's jumper that I started too long ago to remember and said I would have ready by winter. Gulp. Having finished the front and the back, I only have the two sleeves to go. It should have been within my limited powers to do that over the Christmas-New Year period, but I didn't.

I did finish the little cotton teddy bear though. This is for one of the babies. It's made using Japanese organic cotton which isn't as soft as the Peruvian cotton but it knits up beautifully and I'm sure will last for many years, every with constant machine washing.

The beginnings of a cowl scarf for me using organic cotton. I love knitting with this - it feels beautiful as it slips through my fingers and it knits up wonderfully. I can't wait for winter when I have this wrapped warmly around my neck.

Tricia's work mittens made with organic baby Alpaca - two strands. They're really warm and very light.

I started two new projects over Christmas - a pair of wrist warmers for my sister whose is celebrating her birthday today. Happy birthday Tricia!. Tricia lives in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, where it's very cold, even in summer. So I thought she'd like some wrist warmers that she can wear around the house while she's doing her housework or gardening.  My other project is a cowl scarf for me in winter. The pattern is on the wonderful Pickles site.

And finally, I just had to show you this little teaser - it's a page from my book with the blue Japanese cotton I used for the teddy bear, and some of my needles. I had to include a tiny bit of knitting in the book. Any book about our lives here would not ring true without some reference to knitting. The book will be publish on 22 February. When I know about overseas sales I'll let you know.

I have no doubt that my northern hemisphere friends are knitting away by the fire, but we down under can continue our knitting on throughout summer too. If you're working on one project or three (or more) like me, I'd love to know what you're knitting.