December a Month for Knitting

Knitting - the process of using two or more needles to loop yarn into a series of knots in order to create a finished garment or some other type of fabric.  In past times it was a skill that girls had to master along with spinning!  In all my research into the topic I can't find that it has ever been a remedy for depression - so for Woolly Wednesday - knitting the cure all.

I am not a fan of December and I definitely do not enjoy the so-called festive season!   Eating and drinking too much, forced jollity and spending time with people that you don't like just because they are family just isn't my idea of fun plus having spent a major part of my life providing 'Christmas' for the extended family just because I was the daughter and that's what girls are supposed to do, and never really ever being thanked or even appreciated, Mr S and I decided to be selfish and celebrate in our own way.....we go away in our caravan, and on 'the day' we go for a long walk preferably by the sea and throw pebbles as a way of remembering those who are no longer with us.  We go back and eat Tartiflette with a big green salad and have a bottle (or even two) of French wine from the Languedoc - which reminds us of the warm summer days we have spent in southern France..................heaven on earth!

I have been a knitter for most of my life, I was taught by my grandmother at the age of three, using dish cloth cotton and awful plastic needles, and find that I can lose myself in the intricacies of a pattern - a habit that has stood me in good stead many times. 

For personal reasons I really find December a difficult month and in the past have struggled to maintain a semblance of normality.  I sometimes feel that I suffer SAD but only in December.  Little did I think that knitting would help me through the dark days, but last year I found the perfect solution to those December blues - knitalongs and particularly the Advent Scarf on Ravelry.  Twenty-four clues over 24 days leave you with no time to feel too down in the dumps - so for those who like me find December a hard act to cope with I can recommend an Advent Scarf.

This is after Day two.....

 

and this is my scarf on day four (apologies for the photo but its gets dark so early and I didn't get the clue finished in natural light!) This is a lace yarn with gold sparkle dyed Nutmeg - the day two picture is closer to the colour - and accented with bronze beads.  I wrote most of this yesterday, as today I have been down to Dorset to collect another wheel - more news on that later - but at about 2am this morning it dawned on me that I was using sock yarn, not lace and even worse I didn't have enough yarn to finish the project - so today is Day One - I have started again in white lace yarn and black beads................................so the rest of these musings may never come to fruitition..........although I have knitted in the car so am onto the second clue!

But then there are lots more hours in a day to fill, so I fill these with other knitting projects.  I had been looking for a poncho pattern - but all were too long for me and I didn't want a point at the front - so I decided to design my own. 

This, I have decided, will be a square shaped poncho worked from the top down with a large cowl collar which I am knitting in a bulky yarn which a friend dyed a semi-solid black!   And so far I am here - just starting the third 100 gram ball, bulky doesn't seem go very far when you are used to knitting with lace yarn! 

 



Then I have a shawl or two on the go, just in case I find that I have time on my hands -



 

If that not enough to get me through to January then I have just treated my self to Wollmeise Lace Garn for the Walk on the Moon Shawl in lot 11. 

 

So knitting, not only a series of knots, but a remedy for December blues - knit on...........