Soft, snuggly yarns... winter must be here!

It seems we've leapt from our glorious summer to a chilly, damp winter here in Dorset. Yes, it all looks very autumnal and beautiful, the leaves are turning, the ferns are burnished and shrinking, but frankly the sudden drop in temperature has seen me reaching for my super cosy yarns. We were lucky enough to have a fabulous week in Sicily, picking olives and basking in the Mediterranean sun and sea...

Pipi did wear her rainbow jumper (the grey sky in the background is here in Dorset, the sky was all blue in Sicily!). And the olives were plump and juicy, perfect for pressing oil...

We combed 950 kilos of fruit and pressed over 140 litres of oil, a successful working holiday ;-). But back home and the heating is on and the hooks are out...

Here are some wristwarmers ready for my friend Ali's beautiful shop, Sharland & Lewis. Some are in Rowan 'Kid Classic', some in Rowan 'Pure Wool DK', all are really cosy and finished off with birds-eye buttons, the perfect project for an evening in front of a crackling fire. Using a 5mm hook, just work 32-42 ch, depending on the length desired, then 24 rows dc front loop only to produce the pattern shown. Slip stitch the two edges together, 8sts, miss 10 sts for the thumb hole, then sl st to end before fastening off and weaving in. You'll find the birds-eye button tutorial in the 'free pattern' section of this blog.

And just in case you thought I had been resting on my laurels, I've decided to stretch my grey cells a little and am currently designing a pair of fair isle wrist warmers...

in some gorgeous Adriafil 'Sierra Andina' extra fine alpaca yarn. The plan so far, fair isle one side, plain knit on the palm, I'll let you know how they finish up! I've always loved fair isle and thanks to the brilliant guide over on The Purl Bee, I seem to be designing my own!!!