My Dowland Shawl

Finally finished this and got it blocked. Very happy with the results.
Pattern: Dowland by Dee OKeefe
Yarn: hand dyed by wendyswonders127

What's the best knitting advice you ever received?

I think the best advice I was given by my grandmother was that there was no true "right way" to knit, as long as the results were what I was aiming for. This came back to my memory today when I had to, due to a hand injury, change my method.
What's some advice you have received that has been very helpful?

Snowflake Hat

I thought I would post a picture of the hat I made for our neighbour, he didn't have a warm hat and its been minus 30 C. with wind chills of minus 40 to 45 C. Its made with Patons Classic Wool, the main part of the hat I did in the birds eye fair isle pattern, knit one stitch with one strand, knit the next stitch with the second strand continued all the way to almost the end at the top. Then just one strand for the last couple of decreases. My hubby kindly modelled the hat for me. Our neighbour loves it and it fits him!!

From sheep's back to my head

Feeling very satisfied with my latest hat. Not for the pattern or evenness of tension, but because this is my first item I have made that I spun from a fleece, plied the yarns and knitted into a wearable garment.

I promised myself that when I retired I would learn to spin on my dad's spinning wheel. It was made by his brother (they were both keen on working with wood, and loved wood turning) but my Dad wanted to take it a step further and actually learn to use it. He had the idea that he would gather the wool (from fences where the sheep rubbed, rather than buying fleece!) and then my mum or I would knit it up. Unfortunately the wool he gathered was really not suitable for this, but he did spend hours washing, carding and spinning to some degree of success. But neither my mum nor I would touch the finished yarn with a barge Pole! But he enjoyed the process and found it relaxing. He died many years ago now, and I took over the wheel promising myself that one day I would learn to spin. I retired 5years ago and finally found someone to teach me at the end of last year. I am slowly getting the hang of it and am loving it! My yarn is getting better, but however bad it was I was determined to use it. In the process I have met a lovely group of ladies who are all passionate about yarn: something I never had before as none of my friends or family are knitters or crocheters ( my mum was, but she died 14 years ago) so I've not had anyone to share my passion with ( other than you great folks, that is). Edited to add a photo of my wheel.

Aristocatti baby bib

My daughter bought a present for her friend's baby shower. It was a baby set with Aritocatti face on it. She asked me for a baby bib with that cat. This is what I made.

WIP how do you organize your time to complete them?

I had 9 projects on my needles, now I am down to three. I about drove myself crazy going from one thing to another, only one was a Christmas gift, so I had no timeline to follow. I am interested in knowing how you all manage multiple projects-if you have a system that works please share it with me. Thank you in advance.

Easy Ripple Baby Blanket

I have knitted (easy patterns) for years and have been intimidated by the ripple pattern. I've tried a few times and just could never get the hang of it. Others I talked to said "oh, it's so easy". Well, I decided to finally take this on. I found an "Easy Ripple Baby Afgan" and picked up my crochet hook, yarn, pattern instructions and sat in front of the computer with Ripple instructions. After three different attempts I got it going. The Caron One Pound yarn I find rather stiff, but in learning a new stitch it is easier for me to use. I think I would like to make a blanket in softer yarn and may try that when this one is finished. There are so many different types of ripple Afgan patterns. Thanks for letting me pat myself on the back. I have some errors but continue to forge ahead.

What is on your needles / hook during this month ?

Hopefully everyone got all their christmas knitting finished , Ive promised myself to try more lace work ie baby shawls , mosiac knitting and double knitting this year , I was surprised with how many free beautiful baby shawl patterns there are out there, I got a few downloaded to try just need to get some 4 ply yarn first which I havent got so decided to try a leaf embossed blanket first , finished square number 1 and started number 2 , I'm planning on knitting 4 or 6 depending on how big I want it , then finding a pretty edge to add , Found this pattern on here will have to look up the link
Also got a pair of valentine socks started , was going to use mainly red but decided that might make them to Christmassy or just for valentines day , this way DIL will get more wear out of them , was also going to add words to the sole but Ive got a sinus infection that is befuddling my brain ( welll thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it 😄) so decided I would stick to figuring out 1 chart plus heel decrease rather than 2 , also decided to add a heart to the heel , I like the way that turned out so will definitley try that again
So what is everyone else making this month , looking forward to seeing some lovely pictures and getting some new ideas

Braided cowl

Crochet with Lion Brand Mandala yarn. Followed video tutorial on you tube.

What I knit in November/December( Long post, but there IS knitting, I promise)

My husband had a heart attack Thanksgiving night after a day of feeling ' a little off ' , with light nausea and heartburn.
We had spent the day driving to my daughter's about 200 miles away, then had a wonderful day eating, joking , playing with, and reading to the littles, and just having fun with the daughters, SILs, and my oldest daughter's in laws.
When we got to the hotel, hubby was having horrible trouble catching his breath, although he went right from the car to the wheelchair.
Called the desk and had them call emergency services, who were there in about 5 minutes.
Long story short(ER) he was admitted with a heart attack and pneumonia, and spent 3 weeks in the ICU before transfer to the area heart hospital for a Cath procedure, where they found nearly total/total blockages in all his heart arteries.
Because he wasn't a candidate for open heart surgery, he opted to have a second, more complicated , catheterization procedure , much like a rotorooter thing, where they would try to clear some of the blockages, then stent the arteries.
His heart wasn't strong enough, and he did not survive the procedure , and he died December 18.
Thankfully, I never go anywhere without my knitting, with at least 2 projects. Sometimes I don't touch it, but this time, it was a sanity saver through all the sitting and waiting , and after.
I did take one lightning trip and one overnight trip home during that time , and restocked my bag when I was at the house.
At first, I was reknitting the foot portion of a favorite pair of my daughter's socks. They had already been mended twice, so I reknit the feet with a heavier yarn. I don't have a picture of those.
Next up was finishing a Rudolph stocking for my daughter's niece. The pattern is in one of the Mary Maxim stocking pattern books. Ihad it nearly finished before Thanksgiving, so not much work to finish it up.
When I went back to the house, I picked up the supplies to make my daughters' Christmas gift.
They each got a catterpillar from the movie Labrynth. This pattern is from the book Geek Knits by Toni Carr. I finished them both and stuck them in the Christmas tree the night before we celebrated.

Rudolph. His nose got duplicate stitched with red metallic floss to make it shiny

Labrynth worms. After this picture, they got new scarves, because these were too orange.