I've been knitting quite a lot recently. Of course, I've had to squeeze it into the commutes when I don't take Adelaide to Grandma's house in the car, and into lunch breaks, but I've found myself on a bit of a roll anyway. There's been a bit more time at home too, because my little treasure of a daughter is sleeping a little more consistently now.
The funny thing is, I've been knitting for other people. That isn't unusual in itself - if you look back over this blog, you'll see that I mostly knit for other people. What I'm finding to be different is that now I'm knitting for other people at their request.
The first real request I got (more than just a 'will you knit me something?' came from a place I never would have suspected. When my brother-in-law came to visit from England, he came with strict instructions from his boss. Brett is a policeman in my home town, and he works in the Divisional Support Unit. You don't really need to know much more than that. Bethany and I struck up a friendship with his boss, Tom, when we went to a Wednesday match him and his daughter a while back, and he had obviously heard about my new passion for knitting. When Brett asked what he should bring back from Canada for the station, Tom asked for a DSU scarf for the wall. So I set to work, knitting my first requested piece - a police scarf. Strange, eh?
Then the requests started coming in more frequently. I was asked by my colleague to make her a hat. I went for a stitch pattern I found in Mary Webb's Knitting Stitches called Candleflame Lace. I chose a rather nice springy yellow to suit the season, and set to work on it. (It didn't really turn out to be her colour, though, and I had spent too much time and effort on it not to give it to Bethany instead - she's modeling it here.) My friend Mel asked for a pair of fingerless gloves to match a hat someone had knit her. They turned out pretty good too.
Then my sister-in-law wanted a beret. Strange choice for her, but it turned out to really suit her. So much so that Beth had me knit one for her too. Beth's wearing hers in this picture. I knit Becca's in a really nice chunky chocolate brown.The other request I've had recently was for a pattern. A friend from back in the UK had seen the Milky Way hat on this blog, and asked for instructions on how to make one herself. I hadn't written one properly when I made it, so I had to write them up from scratch, carefully investigating the hat to check what I'd done. I guess that'll teach me to not keep a scrapbook as I knit. I'll get the pattern online when I get half a chance.
I'm still finishing the scarf (I kept getting bored with it and having to knit something else for a while), but other than that, I have nothing on the order list. Time to indulge and knit a little something for myself, I think. I'm thinking a grey moss stitch hat. Maybe I'll throw some cables in too. I figure I'd better get the sketchbook out, then.
Want me to knit you something? Got any ideas for what I could do with my grey hat? Comment on this post, or drop me a line at salvatordarling@gmail.com
