diamonds are a girl's best ...

So there's a book quite amusingly (in my opinion) titled Never Knit Your Man a Sweater* (unless you've got the ring). It follows through on this amusing concept with 22 projects designed for every level of a relationship. Further, a few of the projects are diamond themed including the Flip Your Lid Diamond Mittens (Ravelry link) - fingerless gloves with an attached mitten cap.

I've cast on for them in a grey lambswool that I recycled from yet another J Crew sweater. Again weight wise I'm guessing a bit. I'd say that what I'm knitting with is possibly finer than the 4ply/fingering weight that the pattern calls for but I'm not sure whether I'm getting gauge - it's hard to tell from the ribbing. The good thing about them is that Tim can try them on as I go.

The diamond element is a knit/purl diamond pattern on the back of the hand which adds a bit of interest to the knitting. The diamond pattern, however, is an eight row repeat and the increases for the gusset are a three row repeat which is not very compatible so there's a bit of keeping track to be done. This is ok while knitting but I find that once you put them down (for instance, in order to go to bed) it can be hard to remember where you got to.

And I'm back using bamboo double-pointed needles because that's all I have in 2.25mm. I'm really enjoying it. Magic loop is a great method but it is nice to change over and do something different every now and then. I particularly like the feel of the bamboo in my hands. Makes me think that I must try some of those Addi Natura bamboo circular needles.

Working with recycled yarn is a great thing to do - I've noticed more people expressing an interest in it recently and I really encourage anyone who is inclined to give it a go. It's cheap enough to go to your local op shop or thrift store and buy a jumper/sweater in a colour or fibre that you like. The undoing of the seams and the actually unravelling can be a bit tedious but I find that destruction, like when you prune roses, can actually be quite relaxing. So although I am trying to use up what I have, in the past few days I have acquired three more garments to unravel - a red lambswool vest from which to make myself another slouchy beret, a red heathered wool/cashmere sweater for another slouchy beret and a taupe silk/cotton cardigan for, oh, something will come up (aka as 'for baby bear' because that's always something that I want to knit).