Autumn has definitely sneaked into our quiet little corner of Oxfordshire. And in its sneaky sneaking, it’s brought a very familiar damp chill to our old house, as well as rich new colours to our surroundings, and some birthdays to be celebrated (not mine – I’m plenty old enough already and don’t feel the slightest need to advance any further).
Birthdays bring visiting relatives and peaceful times around the log fire. This time it brought a happy new novelty, too: companionably knitting with my Mum, who came with Dad to stay here for the weekend. (Dad is strangely uninterested in knitting.)
Here she is doing a few rows of the Arne and Carlos blanket and yes, her gauge may be different from mine, but I Don’t Care because I just like the thought that she’s putting some stitches and maybe some love into what’ll probably become our go-to family-sheltering-from-the-cold and Toddler-Twinnage-making-dens blanket. Anyway, she’s my Mum. She taught me to knit (though she despairs at my knife-grip of the right-hand needle, being herself a lifelong pencil-gripper). Y’never know, maybe there’s a genetic component to gauge that enables mother and daughter to knit pretty similarly. Certainly, what she’s done looks just fine. Thank you Mum. (But we’ll just have to agree to disagree about how to hold the needles.)
And in the photo above, I’m working on another prototype for My First Proper Grown-Up Pattern. Yes, knitting 1×1 rib is so slow that my fingers will grow old and drop off before I’m done, but the reward is a lovely thick, stretchy fabric where the stripes transition perfectly on both sides!
Anyway, before all this birthday malarkey hit us, we went out to take a little look at autumn. We wore our stripy wellies, the toddler twinnage and I:-
And we ran along an old cobbled path in a nearby village:-
And we had a pretty decent amount of fun in the chilly sunshine. I hope we get a proper cold winter this year, despite the ice-on-the-inside-of-the-windows and the need to dry out clothes from the wardrobe over the radiator before putting them on that this oddball house brings. Much as last winter’s floods were photogenic, we need some decent snow and ice round here soon. Any weather gods reading this? Would you mind ever so much?
The blanket and your ribbing are GORGEOUS!!!! So glad you enjoyed some Mom & Dad time, even if the latter wasn’t into knitting. Here in the States I’m enjoying my first New England autumn since 2004…Southern California does not have seasons.
Oh wow, New England + autumn sounds pretty much like heaven. Enjoy. Hang on, you’re supposed to call it ‘fall’ – does this mean you’re secretly British? Oh, and thank you for your compliments.
I just love your A & C blanket and think the idea that your mother has added some if her stitches to it is priceless. Cannot wait to see it in use. Also excited about your grown up pattern. Belated birthday greetings to the twinnage x
Thank you. 🙂
The blanket is coming along brilliantly and it’s lovely to have your Mum’s contribution. Can’t wait to see your mystery pattern unveiled. I love Autumn – so rich and bittersweet. Enjoy. And yay for colourful wellies.
Thank you. And most definitely yay for colourful wellies. 🙂 (And grr at my autocorrect that consistently alters ‘wellies’ to ‘willies’.
That blanket is gorgeous! It’s lovely that you’re able to enjoy knitting with your Mum.
Thank you. It’s a new development. One that will, I hope, continue.
Birthdays galore here too. And yes, a little snow this year would be lovely. Just not *quite* yet, if you can hang on just a little longer. The blanket is coming along beautifully by the way.
Enjoy your many birthdays. And thank you for the blanket compliment.
Love the colors and all the stripes in this post, even the long shadows. Beautiful!
Yes I should have thought about the overall stripy theme. Oh well, too late. Thank you for you post.
Your blanket is stunning, I love your beautiful pictures. What a nice mum you have. I could never hold the needles the way my mother did. As long as the project gets done that’s all that matters ?, then have a cookie.
I agree on the whatever-works front with knitting. ahhh, cookies…
Do you have knitted stripey socks to go with those gorgeous stripey wellies?
No, but I did consider see-through wellies and lovely knitted socks.
See-through wellies! Such fun.
I hold my needles the pencil way and I quite like doing rib, had a go with the continental style of knitting (when in Germany….and many German friends kindly told me that how I’ve been knitting for the last 38 years is wrong) but to me it felt too much like crochet, I kept dropping stiches and couldn’t control tension so I say the diversity of knitting and the many roads that lead to a sweater should be embraced and no-one should tell anyone else which is best, knitters have to find their own path, kimosabee. Apparently the world record holder in speed knitting uses the “into the bunny hole, round the big tree, out of the bunny hole,off pops he!” method.
Ha, I love the speed-knitter’s description. 🙂 You LIKE ribbing? I’m seriously happy about this because I assume everyone will hate my ribbing-based forthcoming pattern…
The thing I love best about ribbing is that I don’t have to worry about tension, just as tight as I can keep it works best for me, good when I’ve had a bad day at work :-\
Also,I like knitting lace so the kind of double throw you do for each stich to move the yarn back and front is pleasing to me
Yes, I understand. But I fear we’re in a minority.
Fabulous blankets and so nice to have a partner-in-crime with which to enjoy your knitting. Brilliant photo of the cobbled path with the light dancing through the trees like that.
Thank you. 🙂
I love that you and your mother knitted on the same blanket–that’s just the sort of sentimental behavior that really gets to me! And, if her gauge is different so much the better–you’ll always be able to point out her work, surrounded by yours. Enjoy your beautiful weather!
Good point – I wish her gauge was different, now. As for the beautiful weather, it’s well and truly gone. 🙁
I will be very happy to send you all our snow and ice. We don’t need floods, but then I think those might be better than last winter. Soon we will go into our monsoon season and then into snow ……… and I got some new boots so I’ll feel really cool wearing them and I made some new socks that suit a Maine winter with the heat down at 55 super well ………. I’m looking forward to it too. Even with the cold ……. I knit so much faster when it’s cold …… and I love that blanket. If you want, send your mother over here …… I could use a hand.
Ha, I’ll have a word with my mum and get back to you. Meanwhile, all snow appreciated, thanks. 🙂
I love the colours you’re using for that blanket, and the fact that it’s a bit of a family project makes it all the more special.
Thank you. Yes I do love the idea of mum’s contribution hiding away amongst its stitches. 🙂
Beautiful! Love the idea of your Mum’s contribution to a family blanket!
Yes, it made me smile, too, regardless of any variation in gauge.
Wish I was there for a walk as well, it looks lovely and peaceful. 🙂 Lovely to be able to knit with your Mom.
It was less peaceful when the toddler twinnage grizzled because they didn’t want to go home. Oh well.
I understand how they felt, I would not want to go home either. 😉
Hello! Have you done the blog hop yet? And if not, would you mind if I nominated you? ?
Er, no I haven’t. I’m also not sure what’s involved. I’m sure the answer is yes, but what do I need to do? Does it involve spiders? (I really don’t like spiders.)
Hahaha I don’t like spiders either! It’s a few questions and I have to nominate two people to take part and you in turn would have to do the same 🙂
Fine by me. Thank you for thinking of me? 🙂
Your photographs are absolutely stunning, your works in progress sublime. I love reading about you and your Mum knitting together; maybe my daughter and I will be able to do so soon despite the distance in miles and a new baby!
Thank you. Wishing you intergenerational knitting too, when the opportunity comes. 🙂
Your blanket us going to be amazing! I think it’s great your mum got to share in that experience. You know it’s funny how you say you have a knife-grip on the right needle because I absolutely cannot knit without propping up that needle on my stomach when I knit. I barely touch the right! I cannot knit standing up but I can knit really fast because I don’t have to worry about weight on the right. I’ve tried to change things up but my perfect tension slips and it feels awkward. I do get chastised for “doing it wrong” when I’m spotted out in public. Oh, well. That’s what I get for teaching myself! 😉
Yup, there’s always someone ready to tell you you’re doing it wrong. But really, does it matter? We knit stuff. It looks good. End of.
My mum and I both hold our needles differently too – she says the way I knit looks so awkward 😉
But I assume she’s impressed with your results? That’s what matters, surely?
It’s almost eerie how much the pattern of your knitting looks similar to the last picture
Hi..As a newborn blogger I’d just like to say that your fabulous website is truly inspirational/aspirational and I thank you for the boost to my desire to be half as good!! 🙂
Thank you. Your photography on your blog is absolutely stunning, so I think the admiration should be more in the other direction. Welcome to the addictive world of blogging. 🙂
What a nice, stripey post!
Of course I meant to mention the most important thing, mother and daughter knitting together – bliss!
🙂 Yes, I wish I’d twigged that there are stripes of shadow in the autumn photo, too. Oh well.
Love those rainbow stripes!
Thank you. 🙂
wow!! You’re incredibly talented! Your ribbed knitting us divine. Totally heartwarming that you spent time like this with your Mum ?
Oh my goodness! You’re incredibly talented! Love the ribbed knitting and the beautiful colours! It’s also just precious that you spend time with your mum knitting!
Thank you. 🙂
All that lovely ribbing makes me wish I was a knitter! I absolutely love crocheting, but when I see self striping yarn I immediately wish I knew how to knit socks! Also I hold the crochet hook like a knife. I have friends who hold it like a pencil. I think I hold it that way because I crochet right handed but I actually write left handed. I think it’s wonderful that you and your mom worked together on the blanket, what a special thing! I too am gearing up for winter after we had a very short summer here in Illinois. Thank you for a great post!
Yes, I think the knife/pencil – hold issue is exactly the same in crochet as in knitting. I hope nobody gives you a hard time about your knife grip!
What amazing colours to brighten up autumn! I especially love the blanket – is it all garter stitch as it looks? I think that much of it would drive me over the edge!
Yup, all garter stitch. Very useful when you’re knitting in bed and too tired to contemplate anything more complicated.
I love the stripes that garter stitch gives and your colours are so vibrant. Yum!