Two FO's and the winner is..........

First up I would like to announce the winner of the Knitvent 2014 collection, the winner is............. Amanda Hurrell. Congratulations Amanda, if you could get in touch with me please, with your Ravelry name and I'll get Helen to send it to you.

I've been busily knitting away on some Christmas gifts, my first FO are the Global Nomad Handwarmers by Helen Stewart, that I've knit for one of my niece's. I only ever see her wear black so I've gone with black with some grey thrown in, just to add a bit of colour ;-)

I used Drops Lima which is a wool/alpaca blend, it's an economical brand which you can find on offer at the moment, that makes it even better value. I buy mine from Wool Warehouse which is based in the UK, they give a great service with quick delivery and as an added bonus they pack their yarn in a gorgeous organza bag which is great to use as a project bag. Even though this was an economical yarn, it's fab quality, very warm and squishy.

The Global Nomad Mitts are a fairly quick knit which is ideal for gift knitting, I didn't time myself but I'm guessing at about 8-9 hours. It's mostly rib with with a small lace section, just to give it a bit of interest, I'm pretty sure my niece will be really pleased with them, they are very much her style.

My next FO are the Checkerboard Mitts another pattern by Helen Stewart, this pattern is from her Knitvent 2013 collection which you can purchase as an e-book or as a separate pattern. The pattern is given for a mans average size hand but it tells say how to knit them larger or smaller to suit you. I cast on 36 stitches and they fit my hand fine, I would say I have an average size hand.

This pair are for my other niece and are knit in Aran weight, I used Rowan Pure Wool Aran in Cloud, a pretty shade of blue. I did time myself whist knitting these and they took me six and half hours so can easily be knit in two to three evenings, comfortably.

I love the texture on these mitts which make them even more warm and snugly, they are also very squishy. That's all for today, I'm off to do some more Christmas knitting and hope to finish another project today.

Here's a little sneak peek of what I working on today, it's Mr Bakery Bear by Kay Jones, he's "legless" at the moment so he's stopping in my favourite Bakery Bear bag also made by Kay.

Also my favourite knitting magazine arrived yesterday, it's the Winter 2014 issue of the Pompom magazine so at some point today I'll be reading this. It's always full of patterns I want to knit and also great articles including a seasonal recipe. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and congratulations to Amanda on wining the giveaway.

xxxxDebxxxx