back with an fo!

so, due to the busy-ness of the last few months, i made a sad decision not to knit christmas presents this year. for the last two years i have stressed myself out making an abundance of scarves, but this year i decided some time around the end of october that since i had started, i shouldn't... instead i concentrated on other things, like work and sorting out my house (we decorated!). it's left me happier, but feeling a tiny bit guilty. and yesterday i went out with my family and my mum and my sister were both making scarves i had made them and i felt a pang of regret. but i know it was the right decision. see i couldn't just knit one. if i decide on a knitted christmas, i feel like everyone has to get something oozing with hand made love.

with one exception. i decided that if i knit for someone completely outside the family circle (expanded since i got married) it would be ok! and so, i have made one gift. they're for the lovely girl i sit next to at work, who often suffers from cold hands in our over-air-conned office.

look!

they're adapted from a pattern in one skein knits but are knit in louisa harding's grace, a much thicker yarn than the pattern suggests, 50% wool and 50% silk. purple is her favourite colour. the thing that excites me so much about these gloves is that i saw the pattern, then saw the yarn, and in the end decided to go with it, even though it quite clearly was way off gauge. that's right, i did something for the very first time - i reworked a pattern all by myself! alright, so it was just a rectangle, but i still did it, from my swatch, and i am stupidly proud of it because they came out perfectly! the only nervous bit now is that they fit me, but i haven't been able to measure kate's hands... i hope they fit her! otherwise i'll be knitting another pair...!

right, that's all from me! good to be back though. today was our first christm

as - xavier and i always have a fake one in the last weekend before christmas starts properly when i cook dinner and we flomp in bed all morning and give each other stockings full of presents etc. it's been a lovely day and has got me very much in the christmas spirit. so happy christmas everyone!

(hope your knitting is going well if you have been braver than me!)

becks x