Some unexpected joy arrived through the letterbox this morning. I saw a thick brown envelope on the mat and initially was troubled.  Pleasant things do not usually arrive in brown envelopes, in my experience.  Imagine my delight, therefore, when I opened it, to find the latest edition of Designer Knitting Magazine winking up at me from inside:

Oh happy day!

I resisted the temptation to flick through it there and then. I was about to head out to a meeting and did not have time to give the magazine my proper attention.  No! I thought – wait until you can come home and savour it properly.

I am so glad I did. This evening, I have been able to read every page carefully, oohing and ahing over new yarns, new books, new notions and of course new patterns.

Here’s a sample of some of the treasures I discovered:

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I am really hoping that I can use some of the yarn from my stash for some of these patterns.  As I have written previously, I am trying to not to buy any new yarn this year; well at least not until I have made a decent dent in the supplies I already have.  We shall see.

But whatever happens, I definitely need to have a go at the delicious-looking cover pattern.

Not only does it look super-cosy; perfect for our chilly Scottish climate. But the fringe is achieved using ‘steeking’ – a scary technique which involves cutting through one’s beautiful knitting.  I have yet to try this and am always keen to learn new things, so it seems to me the perfect excuse to get stuck in. And yes, if I have to buy suitable yarn for it, then I will just have to force myself…. 😉