Knitting emergency
What could it be that would make me pick up the needles after eleven knitting-free days? You might think that it would be a new and stunning pattern or a drop dead gorgeous yarn and you’d be wrong on both counts. It was the result of a genuine knitting emergency and by that I don’t mean the usual seasonal lack-of-planning emergency (I don’t have those because I’ve realised that December follows November every year). My son came out of school in tears because he’d lost Fishie, he’d searched the cloakroom, his bag and complied a list of likely hat-nappers. I did a mental stock take and thought that I could whip up a look alike with what was in the house without waiting for anything to be dyed and dried.
This then is the stand in Fishie, he’s been waiting for his eyes for a week or so because I couldn’t put my hand on the felt. It’s the Dead or Alive hat from Knitty, as with all striped hats it is a fantastic way of using up odd bits of yarn leftovers. I messed with the shaping a little, it’s the same length as Fishie but narrows earlier. This wasn’t a design choice so much as a necessity caused by running out of yarn.
As it turned out I didn’t have to knit all night to replace the hat. I’d managed not to notice that I’d put the green yarn for the new hat down on top of the old hat. It wasn’t lost at all, it had never gone to school in the first place and beloved Fishie had been in a safe place all along. I made the hat anyway because it’s possible that Fishie might be lost before he’s tired of wearing it so now I have a spare.
I had the carder out this weekend, I fished around in the fibre bit box and now the lid fits on it. The blue is mostly merino with about 20% blue bamboo rayon, the orange brown has everything in it. 
There was no alpaca but there was camel, silk, kid mohair, merino, angelina and blue faced leicester. They were all odd bits leftover from other things but together there’s enough to make something. Overall I think it’s lacking a bit of contrast but I’ll probably spin it up anyway.
Totally unconnected – hands up all those who have seen one of the Liptons tea adverts. I was fascinated by this and because I live under a rock I’d never heard of sand art. One thing lead to another and then I was watching the winner of Ukraine’s Got Talent. The funny thing about that is that I’ve never watched Britain’s Got Talent – do we have artists too?
