The knitted Christmas tree at the Forum, Norwich

Thanks to my friend David and to snoopydog for letting me know about the wonderful Christmas tree in The Forum, Norwich. The tree, the decorations and the gifts below are all knitted.

 Everything was knitted by hundreds of ladies across Norfolk and beyond, some as far away as the USA. To date £10,000 has been raised to fund new lifts in John Grooms Court where physically disabled young adults are cared for. Some were recently stranded on upper floors by a broken lift.

For more information there's a Youtube video which has a link to a paypal donate button.

Finished project - Be Mine socks

Three finished projects within a month? I'm on a roll!

Pattern is Piccole Onde, a free pattern published on Knitty. The small needles and real cable crossovers make for slow work but well worth it. The pattern makes little pockets of warmth!

The fibre is Picperfic's Wylie blend (yak, merino, silk) in 'be mine' colourway - a special Valentine colour mix for February's luxury fibre club.

The yarn is very fine. The leg a good length but I've used only 60g of the original 100g of spun fibre.

Larger pictures on Flickr

Finished project, Knitted Nativity

The knitted nativity is now finished, complete with wooden stable and straw. I made this for a friend with help from another knitting friend. The pattern is Jane Greenhowe's Christmas Crib

They actually do move around at night. I left the camera on one night and this is what happened:

Ravelry Project

Woolly Wednesday for December 2013

I spent most of my knitting time last month making the knitted nativity for a friend. When finally finished I wondered whether they moved around when no-one was looking and I couldn't help making this. "You're all drunk!"

After that I was free to catch up with some works in progress, I quickly finished the boyfriend scarf. More details are here and when finished we couldn't resist recreating the silly version of the Ways to Wear a Scarf (original cartoon here):

This one goes on and on. The tiny stitches and crossover cables make for very slow progress, but well worth it - the result is beautiful. The free pattern is Piccole Onde toe-up socks that I featured in February's Purl Two Together and the fibre I spun from a wool / silk / yak mix which was from Picperfic's Fibre Club.

Finally a new project that I shouldn't have started until other things were done, but I couldn't resist. I bought the pattern from the lovely Ruth of Rock n Purl back at Wonderwool. The wool is from the sheep of a family friend, very bouncy. I washed, dyed and carded it earlier in the year and I'm spinning as I go.

Ways to Wear a Scarf - Finished item - boyfriend scarf

Finishing the nativity freed me to catch up with some other works in progress. First the boyfriend scarf, now a bit overdue (it's been frosty).

This is the drop stitch pattern, the second I've made. It's fun to knit, easy to pick up when out and the result is very effective. It suits an inconsistent yarn; handspun singles, or in this case Manos Maxima merino wool.

I started it using his archery arrows. But switched to ordinary 7mm needles because a. he needed his arrows back and b. the bullet points of the arrows aren't great for catching stitches.

We enjoyed recreating the silly version of Ways to Wear Scarves:

Homage?! You're all drunk!

Finally I finished the knitted nativity that I'd rashly agreed to knit for a non-knitting friend. I was quite proud of the result and I wondered whether they moved at night when no-one was watching.

I couldn't resist making this. "Homage?! You're all drunk!"