not enough fingers

Felicity from Down Under

Jun 4

Beautiful colour: BWM Baby Meadow in colour Golden Sands

Dear Mum, here we are again, around the time of what would have been your birthday; and it's one that uses significantly more fingers than I have. Being June and officially winter, you won't be surprised to hear that we're enduring appropriately wintry weather. Yesterday, I dragged out my beanie, my fingerless mitts, and my rowing scarf - of sleeted upon at Ballarat fame - and I was still cold.

YoungB was wearing the grey beanie I made him, and a pair of gloves that I gave him; although I didn't make them. He still uses his badly repaired (but functional) fingerless mitts for computer work. He said he'd raided his little box of "things to keep you warm", and a surprising number of them were from me. He doesn't do quite so many early mornings nowadays, but it's still a good idea to have a beanie you can grab whenever you need it. It cheers me to see that "no questions asked, this is the best choice on a cold day" attitude. I'm sure you'd understand.

When I was working on the border of the temperature blanket, he said how much he liked the purple colour. I would happily make something for him using that yarn, but there are quite a few other things on my present list, and only so many hours in the day. A purple object might have to wait.

I've started knitting a beanie for the latest baby in the family, your first great grandson. He's a big little boy, and YoungB reminded me to be sure I'm making a bigger size than I think I should be. I am. I'm using Bendigo Woollen Mills Baby Meadow, a 4 ply 100% Australian fine merino wool, and it is beautifully soft. The pattern is a 1x1 rib for the first part, then 2x2 in what I learnt as broken rib, but modern stitch dictionaries tell me is mistake rib. Broken rib is different. Well, there you go. Neither is difficult, although you'd undoubtedly agree that both require attention to establish. It's easy to get it wrong, and then a nightmare to retrieve.

I'm trying to avoid obvious "special design features", meaning that I've already had to do a bit of tinking. Perhaps it's that usual old complaint: I rarely get a chance to simply sit and knit, my eyes are getting older and my visual acuity lessening, and I will insist on knitting late at night. This colour is at least easy to see.

On the subject of getting old, and things not working as well as they once did, I'm distressed to find that knitting makes my fingers quite sore. A few years ago, I changed to soft-handled crochet hooks. Mine aren't the really expensive brand, but they are kind to my fingers. Knitting needles by their nature are less "soft-touch" although it may be worth my while to have another try with bamboo needles. I didn't like them the last time I tried; but if they help, then I'm prepared to learn to like them

I'm presently using Aero metal knitting needles that I've had for adunnamany years. They do the job and, because I've looked after them, they're (mostly) still straight and don't have any rough sections to snag the stitches; all definite pluses. However, they sometimes make my index fingers stiff and sore, particularly needles at the tinier end of sizing. When I'm ribbing with UK size 12 / 2.75mm needles, I often find myself stretching and flexing my fingers, the way you used to. Perhaps it's a good thing that I can't sit and knit for hours. You see? There's an upside to everything.

As the cold, wet weather is continuing with some dedication, tonight will be a good one to stoke up the fire and keep knitting, however many fingers it takes, and however many times I need to stretch them. There's a baby who needs a beanie so that he's warm, too; and I don't need any fingers to calculate his age