One of the things I love about reading knitting blogs, is coming across new yarns and patterns to lust over. There are never enough knitting hours in the day for all the projects I wish I could make, but that never seems to stop me from adding yet another beautiful design to my queue.

Unfortunately most of what I'm working on at the moment is for the book, so I can't share it just yet... But I've realised that I have finished a few things since I last did a round up of what I was working on (way back in November - where did those weeks go to??). If you click on any of the photos it will take you over to my Ravelry pages, where you can get all the details on patterns, yarn and needles and so on - just in case you feel inspired to add to your queue!

First up is my Woolly Wormhead Mystery Hat KAL. The pattern is now called Armley and I made the beanie version for one of the monkeys. I added 5cm [2in] to the length before working the crown decreases, and a HUMUNGOUS pompom. I'm clearly not over the pompom thing yet... I love taking part in the mystery hat KAL each year - looking at these pictures has made me keen to cast on another hat right now. Uh oh!

My main Christmas gift knitting project was a scarf for my brother in law... Now I don't know about you, but I have a funny relationship with knitted scarves. They are always billed as the perfect beginner knitting project, but I massively disagree. I think there are few projects more likely to put a knitter off for life, than a scarf that goes on and on and refuses to end. I'd much rather start folks off on a hat. Still, it was a long time since I had last knitted a scarf, and it was for my super knitworthy brother in law, so how bad could it be?

Well, the answer is that I finished it, but he had better not loose it! I worked in 1x1 rib until I had all but finished three skeins of INCREDIBLY soft and snuggly Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Solids, then cast the chuffer off, with no small amount of joy and celebration. The finished scarf is absolutely gorgeous, but don't put your ears too close to it, or you might hear some of the rude things I said while I knitted on it. :D

I made a pair of Baa-ble Mittens as a Christmas gift for one of the kids' teachers. I was cutting it tight to get them finished on time, but they were just about dry in their gift bag when I handed them over on the last day of term, and by all accounts they've been much enjoyed. It's always hard to know what to make for others, but I don't think you can go far wrong with such a popular design as this. I've still got plenty of Jamieson's Aran in my stash, so I imagine that it won't be too long before I cast on for a Baa-ble cowl.

Please excuse the less-than-pristine socks in the photo. I've been wearing them! And that's the whole point really, isn't it? To create something that you want to wear? I often make the mistake of knitting what I want to knit, and not considering whether I'll actually get any use from the finished project. Lately I seem to have done better on this front - my Harewood Hap has been in constant use since it was finished blocking, and socks like these barely come back from the wash before they are on my feet again. I need to make a few new pairs for Jim, as he's had a run of socks developing holes, but then again I got some pretty rainbow sock yarn from Father Christmas, so maybe I'll just cast on another pair for me...

That's it for finished projects for the moment. I'll do an update on what's still on my needles at some point next week. In the meantime I have a hunger to start something new, although I'm not sure what sort of project I need at the moment. Something interesting? Something big? Something small? I can't quite work out what I fancy, I just know that I'm in the mood for something new. I'm off to browse my stash and queue and see if I can work it out. What are you fancying knitting at the moment?