Wool & Wood

In another life I like to make to wooden spoons. I don’t do it as often as I would like to but when I do I get totally absorbed by it, even more so than with yarny craft. There is something so very satisfying in finding a bit of tree and then fashioning it into a useful object. It’s a bit of a messy hobby though, and I tend to spend more time knitting because it is more conducive to the sofa/telly/woodburner/wine position of which I am fond. It was a few weeks ago now that I spotted a plea from a fellow spoon maker on FB that he had lost his favourite hat and could someone make him one in return for a wooden spoon and bowl. Bargain! I love craft swapping, it is such a brilliant way to come by beautiful objects. I was one of several women who answered his plea, so I am obviously not so unusual at being into both woolly and woody pastimes. I think he now has quite a lot of hats.

This is the lovely, spalted birch bowl and spoon that I received packaged in wood shavings, a nice early Xmas present to myself.

I had some nice Drops Nepal wool alpaca mix in Deep Ocean left over from the short sleeve jumper I knitted recently. I am mighty proud of this jumper as it is the first proper garment that I have ever knitted and I actually love it. I was fully prepared for my first jumper to be unwearable and, although it is a long way from perfect in terms of knitting, I have worn it a lot in the recent chilly weather.

I am a big fan of Drops Nepal yarn which I think gives fantastic value for money whilst looking and feeling like a much more expensive yarn. At £2 a ball it is very affordable and the range of muted, natural looking colours are right up my street.

Anyway, It has also now become a large hat (he told me that he has a big head) for a cold green wood worker on the chilly east coast of Scotland. It was a simple, quick make using back-post trebles to add a bit of interest. I also added a border in some unidentified grey wool lurking in my project bag.

I think it probably suited him better! I don’t do hats very well.