My last 3 projects, knit over the past 3 days:

A plain old garter stitch scarf knit in Colinette something-or-other that I bought aeons ago at the Aussie Sheep and Wool Show (100% cotton chenille). I call it the "Jungle Muppet" scarf. This is one project I'm actually keeping because I love the colours and I adore the Muppets. Plus it's cotton chenille. Ya gotta love cotton chenille.

:-)

2 Knut hats knit from scraps. The dark-blue/white yarn is some of my beginner's handspun that I spun about 7 years ago. I have one more ball of it in purple/white for another Knut hat and I'll have used up all my beginner-spinner yarn. Woohoo, posterity, and all that crap.

The lighter blue yarn is a commercial yarn that I've been saving because it's from the 70's. It's VERY retro looking in the skein and I wasn't sure what I could possibly make with it that anyone would use. I kept it because I love the colour and the construction. It's pretty bulky (Aussie 12 ply) and is made of 3 plies. One pale blue, one light blue and one a soft mid blue. It knits up into a lovely speckled fabric, as you can see. Not at all the retro monstrosity I was expecting!

I'll definitely be using the same technique in some of my handspun yarns. I'm thinking a soft rose scheme would look nice and possibly a burnt orange. And green. Definitely green. Leafy, not lime.

I shall have to stick a length of yarn into my notebook so I remember it . (Hey Nanna J, I think I'll make the leftovers into a swatch for the swatch box! <VBG>)

On to something else:

There's been a huge kerfuffle on the Knitlist lately about the dumming down of knitting in publications (and in general) over the past 5 or 6 years. I just wanted to make a short reply here as I'm not on the knitlist, even though I do read it on occasion. I'll be short and to the point since someone is coming to look at the house in 3 hours and I still have to do the dishes and get changed...

1: Knit whatever pleases you.

2: Knit for whatever reason you like.

3: Feel free to change your mind on points 1 and 2 whenever you like.

4: If magazines and books with "easy" in the title aren't your thing, quit whining and go and find the knitting related publications that are. Go and buy some of the many gorgeous and complex patterns that are available from places like Fiddlesticks Knitting, Sharon Miller, Needle Beetle, Woolly Thoughts, Lucy Neatby or White Lies Designs (to name but a few) or buy some books on designing and create your own patterns (Knitting in the Old Way, for example).

5: If you're teaching others to knit, teach them the basics that they need to know to go onto other projects. Cast on, knit, purl, a simple increase and decrease, casting off. Make a practice swatch with these different techniques (cos it doesn't matter if you bugger it up) and then have everyone make a hat and you'll have included knitting in the round and using dpns as well, AND you'll have created a knowledgable beginner knitter with confidence to go onto other projects. And don't forget to tell them how to measure gauge while you're at it.

Now, I'm off to drink some coffee, wash the dishes and wind some teeny tiny yarn into balls so I can knit me some lace.