Chronicles of Yarnia

It's been quite a while since I flexed my more creative side. Having tried and failed and tried and failed at bribing a knitting-savvy friend into knitting me a nice, chunky winter snood I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. After all, there are times when a normal scarf just simply won't cut it.

Following a trip to the shops for supplies (wool, knitting needles) and as I had the founder of Yarnia in Leeds staying with me, there really was no excuse: I was going to have to learn to knit my own darn snood.

It turns out, knitting is easy. It also turns out, I am an angry knitter. I was so determined to finish before I'd even begun that I knitted with such ferocity that my houseguests were left cowering in the corner, lest I stab them with a needle. I have since learned to calm down, not least because Angry Knitting inevitably means that you accidentally put several extra stitches into the scarf and make it rather... interesting.

If you live in Leeds, I'd highly recommend paying a visit to Yarnia - it's held in a bar that serves teapot cocktails, and Georgie is an excellent (and extremely patient) teacher. 

If you want to make your own snood, you'll need a set of 12mm needles and some chunky yarn. My snood had 24 stitches ,was about 5' long and used 5 balls of yarn. I'm not about to start doing knitting tutorials, but there are plenty to be had through an internet search. Try it - it's fun, relaxing (if you're like me - once you get past the angry, determined stage) and you might even learn a new skill.

I guess I should really learn how to make something other than scarves now. Anyone for a tea cosy?