Denise

Thanks. I mostly knit for myself. There are a lot of stitches in a pair of socks and they can take a long time.

Knitted socks with navy cuffs, heels, and toes, a Norwegian-style snowflake pattern in the leg, and all-over lice pattern.

#ShowMeYourKnits socktober. These are my latest completed ones. Stranded colourwork yet again because it's my favourite thing to knit, and it makes them nice and warm.

The British kind are very easy to make, but I don't know if you have golden syrup where you are. They pretend to be healthy because they have oats and perhaps a bit of dried fruit in, but in fact they are horribly calorific.

Dare I ask what a flapjack is in your part of the world?

I don't have any practical suggestions, just be kind to yourself and remember that there are people who care about you.

Good cables and impressive yarn chicken! You've got good at this really quickly.

Nice cables and a very pretty colour way.

It's addictive! I've got some of my late mother-in-law's needles and when I use them it feels like carrying on a tradition.

Thank you! It just takes practice to get the tension right. I like to knit socks in self-patterning yarn too!

Yes, that's right. If the strand of the unused colour is longer than about 5 stitches there's a way of catching it in so it doesn't get too long and catch on things.

Navy and white sweater in stranded knitting with snowflake pattern and ribbed crew neckline.

White sweater in stranded knitting with tulip pattern in yellow, pink, dark pink, and green. There is an eyelet pattern at the neck, hem, and cuffs.

#showmeyourknits two sweaters I made for myself using my favourite technique of stranded knitting colour work. The blue one is a pattern from Simply Knitting magazine, and the tulip one is a Drops free pattern.

Thanks!

Fingerless mitts with vertical stripes in dark pink, purple, pink, and green, with blue ribbing at the top, cuff, and side seam, and a vertical row of six small blue buttons on the side ribbing.

#ShowMeYourKnits scrappy fingerless mitts. They use up leftover buttons as well as yarn! The pattern is Scrapdealer mitts from Ravelry.

Hooray! My favourite podcast. But when are we going to get an episode on the history of textile production?

Twelve knitted cat toy mice arranged in a circle with all the heads facing inwards. Three are pink, four are white, and five are knitted in pink, blue, and white variegated yarn.

A nest of knitted mice for the UK Woman's Weekly magazine charity cat toy appeal. They were quick and fun to knit, and a good stash buster.

I'm originally from the English Midlands, and we call people "duck" (pronounced "dook" to rhyme with "look").

Look at you getting all fancy with your lace when a few months ago you couldn't knit at all! It looks lovely.

Thanks! It would be quicker to do it on the wheel, but I enjoy spindling and there's no hurry. I'll wait to see what the yarn wants to be before I choose a pattern for it.

Two balls of pale grey chunky roving yarn.

A ball of pale grey roving yarn being spun on a wooden drop spindle.

Found 200g of roving yarn for £2 in a charity shop. I'm not a fan of knitting with roving, so I'm spinning it on a drop spindle to give it more twist.

Good job! The heels are nice and even, and the picked-up stitches are very neat. Socks are addictive, especially once you start getting into all the self-striping sock yarns that are available. I always have a pair on the go for when I'm travelling, sitting in waiting rooms etc.

Good stuff. Socks are my favourite thing to knit. Wait until you turn the heel - you'll feel like a magician.

I repainted my garden shed, which feels like some sort of #widow rite of passage.

I was watching German celebrity bakeoff last night and someone put candied olives in her cake, shudder.

My belief is that stitch markers are the larval form of cable needles. I'm forever buying stitch markers and can never find any. I have never bought a cable needle in my life, yet have dozens.

Knitted child's Christmas cardigan in burgundy and white with tree and reindeer pattern

Knitted adult's jumper in white, yellow, and pink stripes with tulip pattern.

#showmeyourknits colourwork. The cardigan is a child-size one I made for charity, and the tulip jumper is a Drops pattern knitted in cotton that I made for myself. I love doing stranded knitting.

Wild violet plants with green leaves and purple flowers.

Violets in flower on the Norfolk Broads #spring #springflowers #bloomscrolling

Clearly you need to have your actual birthday and an official birthday, like Queen Elizabeth II did.

That's very impressive. One once took me 3 years!

White and blue miniature iris flowers growing through wallflower leaves in a garden in the UK.

The miniature irises are in flower in my garden in Norfolk, UK. Spring is on its way! #spring #springflowers

You should laminate a print out of that scene and keep it with your computer for the days when you doubt yourself! Without the distraction of your, and others' fics when things were really very bad, I really don't think I'd have got through it, so I'll always be grateful for that.