Stitch by stitch

Thankyou for all your kind words regarding my Auntie Jill. Her funeral last week was a moving and beautiful tribute to a very beautiful lady. Over 400 people came to say their goodbyes, a testimony to how many people's lives she touched with her generous and giving spirit. She opened her heart and her life and her home to so many people over the years. Her son Duncan said of her "She never said no, if she could say yes". I would like to be more like her.



I would also love to be more like her in her skill of knitting, she was very skilled at whatever she put her mind and her hands to actually, her paintings are amazing, and she used to make beautiful quilts. Her mother, my grandmother taught me to knit, many yeas ago now, but just in the last few years I have started knitting again. I'm not sure if I'll ever be creating the beautiful lace stitches and intricate designs that Aunty Jill was skilled at. I'm very slow, but I'm getting there, and it is so satisfying to have a finished garment at the end of it, knowing that you have created it all, stitch by stitch.



I started knitting this vest well before winter arrived, so that I could guarantee that Isla would get to wear it this winter. Well I only just made it, finishing it just a few weeks before spring arrived. And she is now wearing it every opportunity we get, as I don't think it will fit her next year!



The wool I used was this beautiful wool here, gifted to me by this sweet lady, from her very own sheep. It is so lovely and soft, and was lovely to work with. I only had about a metre and a half of yarn left when I'd finished.




And the pattern is this one, the Rainbow Dress, which I just shortened to a vest instead. The pattern goes from newborn size to 10 years, I'll definately be making more. Perhaps I should start knitting one now in the next size up in time for next winter! :)