The colour purple

Neat-(Knit)-pick 6

Purple is the colour of A/W 2010 - or so the glad rag mags are preaching to us.  But some loyal "purplists" have stuck on despite the ebb and flow of the finicky fashionistas' minds.

Here is a dedication and birthday pressie to my good friend, Char, a purplist, I believe.  Hopefully it will keep her warm, if not fashionable at least, this A/W 2010 in the ah-so-infallible capital of fashion itself, Paris!

Scarf measures approx. 220 cm L x 15 cm W,  pom-pom yarn is an entirely man-made* material!

*Yes, ridiculous as it sounds - there is no sheep, angora goat or alpaca that can produce pom-poms on their backs!
So rest assured no furry animal has been harmed in the production of this scarf.

Warming up to le Creuset

Neat-(Knit)-pick 5

No, I am not losing my marbles.

We got fed up tossing coins and pushing each other off the sofa as to who should make the next cuppa tea. So we bought a mahusive Le Creuset teapot to solve the problem. Then another arises. The tea became cold even before we could finish our 1st cup. We simply could not drink our tea fast enough! Out of embarrassment for taking the mickey out of my granny hobby, the other half, L, whispered to me if I could make a tea cosy. Ah-hah, there was some use to my pensioners' hobby, I smirked. So of course, I jumped at the challenge.

Due to it's proximity to beverage and L, I have used a 90% merino wool and 10% polyamid mix rather than 100% wool (Bollicine from Italy to be precise, I know I've ventured further afield from United Queendom and crossed the channel for this!) This will be hardier and easier to maintain.

This cosy warms up a teapot worthy of 4-5 tea mugs. So there is no need to put on the kettle every half hour or wasting cold brew. Tea cosy saves energy, water and the environment in the long run especially in winter. It all has a higher purpose ;-)

Mika and Bubbles

Neat-(Knit)-pick 4

Mika's 2nd Birthday at the Kentish Town City Farm: she sported an assymetrical scarf fastened with a lime green shell button. My second attempt at stripes and my first for button-holes! This is probably a more child-proof neck-wear. The button will ensure your bambino (or you!) have not left it behind at the creche.

Assymetrical scarf approx. 40cm L x 12cm W, made in 100% wool.

Sophie, Queen of the Castle

Neat-(Knit)-pick 3

A Chrissie pressie for Sophie Motyka featured my first attempt at knitting stripes. Mademoiselle is seen here after popping the Christmas cracker with a pink (of course) crown on her head. We were lucky none of her pizza landed on the scarf, well that night at least...

Kiddie sized scarf approx. 50 cm L x 15 cm W, made in lightly twisted pure British wool.

Jibril Begum Rackowe & the News

Neat-(Knit)-Pick 2

Jibril loved and approved L's snood that he decided to adopt it for the night. Mind you, it was more of a body tube for him! Bless...
I made him a baubled snood for him in a brighter shade of green, many moons later...

Leo and the Squirrels

Neat-(knit)-pick 1

This is my first attempt at a snood and knitting! My model being none other than my willing guinea pig, my hubs (let's call him L ;-)
Here he was pictured in December feeding the starving squirrels in Greenwich Park, as the whole park froze over last winter.

Total circumference of snood is  78 x 42D cm.  
Folded, the snood measured 39W x 42D cm - made from 100% British wool by Twilleys of Stamford.

Hey, hey we support the United Queendom!