January is a good month for hunkering down and getting on with some serious stitchery. Time to put the hours in to those projects where you’re well past the ‘Ooh, this is new and fun’ stage and on to the ‘Only another eleventy thousand purls to go and I’ll have finished the left sleeve cuff’ stage. Speaking of which, I’ve finally, finally finished my ‘Thermal‘, which is a good thing because right now, it’s all that stands between me and acute hypothermia. Look at that ice-cold background behind me:-
(By the way, a lot of people ask about the pocket watch pendant, assuming it’s a valuable antique. Err, it’s really not, it’s here. But the only person who knows how to set the time correctly is our ward clerk at work.)
The camera strap is my own free design: see here if you want to make one.
Anyway, January. A bit of a rubbish month in my humble opinion: none of the parties and sparkly lights of December, and none of the signs of spring you see in March except when unseasonal daffodils start appearing right after Christmas, but I’ve already blogged about that. So people are busy knitting. My Mum is knitting a twiddlemuff for a friend’s wife who has advanced dementia. These muffs are supposed to be varied in colour and texture with lots of different buttons/ribbons/bobbles/tufts/loops/anything, to provide sensory stimulation for people with dementia. A very clever idea, and a perfect project for eating up random bits of yarn. When my big crochet project is done, I think I’ll make one too. Dementia wards are generally happy to take donations.
I love watching people’s hands at work.
Meanwhile, my lovely friend Gill came to stay on her way home from a conference. (Sneaky blog link included as a way of cruelly pressuring her to resume blogging because I love her blog, especially her photography.) Needless to say, we knitted and drank wine. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. She’s making a gorgeous fairisle jumper:-
Look at this colourwork!
The jumper is this one. It’s worked flat, bottom-up.
…And you can find the pattern in this book, available from Amazon etc:-
The crocheters at Bagalong With Crafternoon Treats are busy too this January. (It’s a closed group, but anyone can request to join.) I’m honoured that they’ve decided to make my cottage bag this month. I’m also slightly nervous, in case they all get frustrated working the fiddly window stitches and end up hating me by the end of the month. I’m on standby, ready to rush round to all their houses with emergency gin and sympathy if it all gets too frustrating. They do seem like a very friendly, encouraging group, though, if you’re looking for something to join.
Finally, a tip from the fabulous Selma that I’ve shamelessly copied: you know that naked Christmas tree that’s now sitting forlorn outside, waiting to be chopped up or recycled? Well its branches do make very good kindling for the fire:-
So whatever January projects you’re working on, have fun. And stay warm.
So there I was about to make lovely appreciative comments about your beautiful thermal jumper and Gill’s wonderful fair isle, and to exclaim at how exciting it must be to have inspired a whole group of crafters with your crochet house bag pattern, but then you completely threw me with the Christmas tree comment at the end.
Now all I can think of is the weird coincidence that the very last thing I did before settling down to read this was to light my fire using bits of Christmas tree as firelighter. It really is marvellous stuff, and I love the “whooompf” noise it makes when it really gets going. It also seems so much friendlier to make a cosy warm fire than to leave the poor bedraggled tree out on the pavement for the bin men to throw heartlessly in the back of a recycling truck. So here’s to warm fires and knitting!
I haven’t been spying on you, honest. It’s a lovely idea, isn’t it? I’m going to try and work through your instructions for the new theme tonight. Wish me luck. Thank you for sending all the detail on how to do it. 🙂
Time will tell whether they were helpful instructions or not! Just remember that if it goes pear-shaped, you can switch back to the old theme at a moment’s notice and it will (or should!) remember all your settings.
Your sweater (jumper) turned out lovely. Too much fiddly work for me,but it looks great.
Thank you! A little too much fiddly work for me, too, which is why it took me a couple of years to get round to finishing it.
I’m knitting again after doing only crochet for a long time. I think crochet is easier on my hands which is a pity as I don’t want to have to stop knitting.
Yikes, I REALLY hope you don’t have to stop knitting. That would be grim. Is it easier when you swap between knitting and crochet often?
I have that book I thought I recognised the top – £5 from Whs reductions :). Your finished sweater looks lovely such a gorgeous colour x
A fiver? Bargain. 🙂 Are the other patterns as lovely as this one? And thank you for your comment on my sweater. It’s a very well – written pattern.
Your jumper turned out beautifully. I love both the color and the stitch and it’s a lovely fit. That’s a clever photo of you holding the camera with your strap. You turn yarn into all sorts of clever things.
I’ve never heard of a twiddlemuff, but can’t help think these would be good for anyone with sensory issues. My son is on the spectrum and fidgets were a big thing for him when he was younger. A great way to use scraps of yarn as you say, and a small project to carry with you for times when you have to wait somewhere.
I’m glad you had a good visit with your friend. Those are good for the soul.
Thank you. 🙂 And I hadn’t heard of twiddlemuffs being used for anything other than people with dementia, but now you mention it, maybe they’d have a potential value for some people on the autistic spectrum. Interesting. I hope your son is thriving.
Thank you, Phil. My son is thriving. He’s come a long way, and has become a sweet young man. We continue to celebrate all his successes.
I love the idea of making a twiddlemuff!! Maybe I’ll make one (or more??) for people living in the nursing home, where I have some patients……….
I imagine that your patients would very much appreciate them. 🙂
So if “I” join that bag-a-long (being a member of that closed community) and have problems, you will race around to my house and give me a hand? We have a better Christmas tree recycling system here. You throw it outside till OUR winter where in mid July, it’s bone dry and the perfect consistency to light the fire 😉
Eek, erm that might be quite a long drive… I’m not sure that the stinkwagon will make it that far, especially through the big watery bits. And you’re not allowed to take liquids on planes these days. Um, I might just have to nod sympathetically from afar. Would that help?
Maybe I could rework the bag into a messenger shape of “Rover’s Return” from my husband’s favourite show. He reeeeally needs a new bag to carry his junk around. Being in Canada, crochet is always frustrating as we learn in English but most (not all) of the books/magazines are in American.
A twiddlemuff…what a fantastic idea xx
I’m in the Bagalong group, and have tonight just finished the fanlight over the door. You didn’t tell us you were on gin standby!! Wish I’d known….had to resort to a very large midweek brandy instead!
I’m still working on an interminable poncho, but hope to soon tackle some baby hats. They should knit up fairly quickly. Right? Say right. Also, lovely photos!