Liz Knits!

It's finally spring in New Hampshire, when a woman's mind turns lightly to thoughts of...knitting?

Last Sunday, on Mother's Day, I went with my two daughters on what I hope will become a Mother's Day ritual, to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival. For a knitter, it's a delight. First, you get to see the sheep, goats, bunnies, alpacas, etc. that your yarn comes from. For the breeders, they get to compete for prizes, but for me, I just love touching them and imagining the supply chain from fuzzy animal to finished skein of yarn.

Then there are the sheepdog trials. You can watch dogs...mostly border collies, but a few other breeds...compete at being the best and fastest to herd a group of sheep hither and yon. I've seen it in the movies, but seeing a dog creep up on a group of sheep and then move them this way or that is really amazing. Those dogs are so smart! Makes my dog look like a slouch...he can't even herd our cat.

Of course, for knitters, the vend…

Here's my latest finished object. It's a hot pad, done in double knitting. My daughter Heather created the pattern, and I think she did a fabulous job!

Double knitting, for those of you who don't know, is a way of knitting a two-sided fabric at once. It makes great heavy fabric for a warm afghan, good insulation for a hot pad, or you could knit both sides of a pillow at once. The picture on one side comes out as the reverse, a mirror image, on the other side.

Here's the picture of the reverse side of the hot pad, so you can see what I mean:

I'm new to double knitting so not an expert at it. But it is an interesting technique that I'll definitely want to dabble with more. It might make a great, really warm baby blanket or afghan...shawl or poncho...and of course works great for coasters and hot pads. What experience have you had with double knitting?

Liz