Last week was a serious uphill struggle. I have the January blues, or rather, so what better way to cheer myself up (and hopefully you!) than by looking at the lovely woolly items I have knitted for winter!

Last winter I remember enviously looking at all of the glorious knitted accessories that came out with a flourish during the cold months, and was determined that next year I would knit some of my own, so I did! As a newish knitter I hadn’t quite fathomed that you always need to be knitting a season ahead if you ever want to wear it during weather appropriate months!

The first item I knitted was this lovely Debbie Bliss cabled pompom hat. I knit this using my seemingly never ending supply of Drops Nepal that I used to knit The Black Cardi. It was my first attempt at knitting cables and I’m completely hooked! They’re so fun to knit and actually quite simple, but the end results look really impressive! I had originally planned to finish the hat in time for Festival No.6 in Wales, which resulted in me frantically trying to find a fake fur pompom at the last minute, but in the end I didn’t need it as the weather was GLORIOUS!

 I really love this hat and have worn it every day since my ears got cold. I’ve had so many compliments too and a couple of requests which is really nice!

The only downside to the hat is that it’s a bit large, even for my massive heid! I didn’t use the wool in the pattern and also the first part of the rib is done on the larger needles. I knit the same hat for my niece as a Christmas present, but this time knitted the whole rib on the smaller needles, removed one of the cable sets and stopped before the last decrease row. I also used Drops Alaska (in Grey Pink) which is 100% wool, as opposed to the much softer alpaca wool mix of the Drops Nepal, all of which resulted in a better shaped and better fitting hat. I knitted the pink hat in the round too which means no annoying seam down the back!

I purchased the wool for the second winter woolly en route to the festival in Wales. I somehow persuaded J to have a slight detour so I could stop off at a wool shop! I wanted to buy some Welsh wool if possible and the lovely lady at KnitOne suggested I try Colinettes Hullabaloo.  It has a streak of Welsh black wool running through it which creates a lovely tweed effect.

I decided to knit a scarf and it wasn’t until I’d finished that I realised just how beautiful this yarn is! There are so many gorgeous colours running through it, and different ones are accentuated depending on the light! I decided to knit the scarf in seed stitch and actually did the majority of the knitting on the flights to and from Mexico (distant dream!). Due to the scarf being on the short side and also the springy nature of the stitch, I decided that it would actually work better as a snood and so sewed the two ends together. I now wear it every day and its so warm and snuggly, which is a good job seeing as the weather has taken a definite cold turn!

I hope you like my winter woollies! I’m currently in the process of knitting some houndstooth mittens too, but that’s a post for another day! Hope you have lots of lovely winter woollies to keep you warm too!