How the Heck is it November?

 Hello friends, at last, I am back after having the most awful October with the sad passing of another family member. This time last month we had hope which rapidly faded with each passing day. It really knocked us both for six. The words to write to you just would not come and I spent the month trying to keep hubby and me together in some sort of normality. Once again throughout these most trying of times, knitting and my friends in the yarnie community kept me from going under. I only managed to finish one project in the month but I worked on lots more.

Finished

The one finish was the Woollsia shawl by Australian designer Ambah O'Brien. 

This was pure joy to knit and I have plans for at least one more in the future. I knitted this using Schjeepies Whirl in the Coral Catastrophe colour and love how the hues transition seamlessly from light to dark. I made my shawl larger as I wanted to use as much of the yarn as possible. This was easy to do as the pattern is a simple repeat of garter and eyelet rows, suitable for a beginner knitter with just basic skills. 

Talking of Ambah, a new yearly tradition of mine is to take part in her Advent KAL. She has designed lots of patterns to make use of the gorgeous yarn Advent Calendars that have become available in the last few years. Normally I make up my own calendar using leftover yarn but this year my wonderful hubby has surprised me by treating me to a "proper" one from EasyKnits. The box arrived on Friday and I am beyond excited for December when I can start to open these intriguing little boxes.

Operation Christmas Stocking

Regular readers will know that throughout the year I have been knitting socks and hats for this amazing initiative. I still have a few pairs of socks to finish and more hats to do but here is what I have achieved so far.

I've got to the stage where my brain is screaming "gonnae need a bigger box!"

Parcels of blanket squares have also started to arrive one from the USA and one from Edinburgh 

and I have started to join the squares together. The first strip has been completed and I look forward to a busy month assembling the blankets. There is still time to knit a square if you want or if you would rather help in another way Crisis has an Amazon wish list which you can access here.

That's it for now. 

Stay safe and healthy

Mary