Winter warmer

Yesterday I worked from home, much to both the cats' delight, as I was expecting my new fridge/freezer to be delivered. Since the delivery time was set at between 08:30 and 14:30 I was taken by surprise when they knocked on the door at 08:20! So taken by surprise that I had only just emptied the fridge, the freezer having been defrosting for the past two days and was in the process of giving it a wipe out.

The delivery men were nice enough. They even unpacked the fridge/freezer and put it in the right place in the kitchen. Given the size of the thing (I'm still in shock at its hugeness) there is no way I could have moved it, so that was good of them - and believe me, not all delivery men will unpack large items and put them where you want them.

Dave arrived home last night and spent a lot of time with the door open admiring the spacious fridge. So much time, the fridge began beeping at him and flashing its light... It is fitted with an alarm to encourage you to shut the door, how excellent is that?

The only downside of yesterday was that working at home, I was bitterly cold. The house itself may not have been as cold as all that, but sitting still and typing is not a good thing when its not overly warm and you have bad circulation. I finally gave up and put the heating on... And I'm now thinking I need to knit some fingerless gloves for just such a situation.

I took the finished Stolen Moments Wrap (Ravelry Link) with me to the knitting group on Wednesday, where it was stroked, admired and passed the 'cheek' test with flying colours. The cheek test is when you hold something up to your face to test its softness... Something never to be done I hasten to add (unless you want the wrath of a knitter or store owner) with hand made things or yarn or fabric, if you are wearing makeup of any kind.


These first two pictures capture the colour of this autumnal yarn well, with the other two making it look more of a red, despite having been taken only a few moments later.


The pattern is the Stolen Moments Wrap by Amy Swenson (Ravelry pattern and designer) and I knitted it on 9mm needles, using Paton's Funky Chunky, a super bulky and very under spun yarn.

The pattern itself is a simple four row lace pattern, really consisting of two rows with every other repeat being displaced by two stitches which gives the diagonal lines you can see running across the wrap. It is a very easy pattern and once you settle into it, very quick to do and combined with super chunky wool, litterally flies off the needles.

Knitting with Funky Chunky is an experience, as the yarn has a high wool content and sticks to itself, making it difficult to correct any mistakes. The underspun nature of the yarn also makes it very splitty and easy to break, so the lesson here was to handle the yarn very gently.

That all said, it is a lovely yarn with a nice sheen. It is very lofty and sitting in my lap, the whole thing was very warm, while the finished product is cosy and soft to the touch.

I like it, so much so that I'm making a second one in a sort of purpley colour.