Every morning for the last four five weeks I’ve woken up with the best intentions. I would write a blog post. A blog post of such searing erudition and delight that every knitter who read it would never more see knitting in the same way. A blog post of such hilarity that there would be knitters everywhere giggling at the most inopportune moments of daily work, causing chaos in traffic and disrupting important meetings. Every day I’ve been blindsided by trivialities such as driving lessons, dentist appointments, gardening, a trip to the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, several inspirational TED Talks, guitar playing, the snooker, bright shiny objects, impromptu cinema visits, too many good books, etc, etc. Which only compounds my belief that it’s the small, insidious, day-to-day things that you need to watch out for, and be on your guard against. And now here I am, writing this rather humble, vaguely uninteresting post… But thank you to all you lovely readers who wrote to inquire after my absence; it was entirely unintentional!

Penelope & the Suitors by John William Waterhouse

When I haven’t been very blatantly procrastinating, I’ve been a bit like Penelope (excepting the suitors, oh and the weaving), knitting by day and undoing it all by night. I’ve been pretty patient about it though, and I presumptuously attribute this to the fact that I am now no longer a “beginner”. Ripping out huge chunks of knitting, or knitting an enormous swatch just because you don’t feel like stopping – these are not actions that non-knitters or “persons who knit”, seem to understand. They stare at me in horror when I tell them it’s all got to go. All that lovely work! So I’ve taken to ripping alone and unseen, because I’m a little bored with explaining… “No really, it’s OK. It’ll save me work in the future. Besides, this is one of the best things about knitting!” I secretly suspect that Penelope loved the process of weaving as much as she loved Odysseus, or why would she hit on such a solution?

As to why my knitting wasn’t working out… It was really amazingly simple, when I stopped trying to do it the wrong way. Fortunately, Rowan Scottish Tweed is a hardy yarn that doesn’t mind a good deal of frogging and re-knitting. It’s also very rustic & well-suited to keeping warm in the country. I’m testing it right now. :)

I took some shots today and the pattern should be up soon. It will be a perfect present for gentlemen (or ladies) for whom you can’t easily find gifts. If you can guess what it is, you can get a free copy! ;)

November is a busy month. There’s National Novel Writing Month, for a start. Writing a 50,000 word novel in a month is a feat I’ve accomplished twice before. It’s utterly mad, and utterly fun; you must join if only to receive the pep talks from Chris Baty & other famous authors. And if you do, don’t forget to add me as your writing buddy! Also in November is the illustrious WoollyWormhead’s Mystery Beret. How exciting! I think these two challenges will complement each other perfectly, and help me forget about the increasing gloom of winter…

I had a lovely Easter weekend, full of amazing food, flowers, fun, sunshine, boating & bunnies. I’ve loved seeing all the Chick Egg Cosies popping up on Ravelry during Easter. Eight-year-old Rose Red made a very sweet yellow chick, chia777 didn’t have any felt, so she beaded the beak, clockworkpurple made some with googly eyes (if I ever get my hands on some googly eyes, I’m going to make some that look like Pacman ghosts, with zig-zag edges!), smartcinderella made some cosies that are laced up corset-like, and theknittedcupcake knit some amazing multi-coloured chicklets. All so clever & crafty! If you haven’t knit any yet, remember, chicks and eggs aren’t just for Easter! :) Also very lovely was seeing Vetiverknits’s finished Houses Slipover in gorgeous merino cashmere from The Knittery. Just nothing more exciting and satisfying than seeing people enjoying knitting from your patterns. Thank you all!

I’ve been knitting too, of course, and fiercely designing. I have too much inspiration for two hands, as always! But in addition to the knitting, I’m also very excited to be writing reviews for Cast On! I’m somewhat ashamed to say that I had never listened to Cast On until a few weeks ago; have I been living under a knitted rock? I remember last year a fellow knitter (Julia, who I met on Ravelry) and I were sitting in Aberystwyth Arts Centre drinking coffee and she told me I should really go listen to some knitting podcasts. She then whisked me off to a dance lesson and in between trying to remember the steps to the cha cha and the waltz I completely forgot about this excellent piece of advice. Well, I have now finished Series 5 of Cast On and I’m hooked on Brenda’s lovely voice, and in particular her weekly sweaters. My first review as a Knit Review Minion is for Simple Style, from the same series as Interweave’s Lace Style, Folk Style, and Wrap Style. I hope you have a read and let me know what you think, if only for my somewhat silly, rhyming bio!