Show Sponsor - Meadow Yarn Meadow Yarn is an inviting online retailer selling yarn, needles and notions. It's a small, family business based in rural Suffolk in the UK. Meadow Yarn was born out of a passion for beautiful yarn and knitting accessories and aims to bring you a range of great products. Yarns stocked include madelinetosh, Eden Cottage Yarn, Hazel Knits and many more. What's in the WIP? Still working on secret design knitting. Paper snowflakes - fab tutorial that kids can do - How to make paper snowflakes tutorial #GiftingZen Week 3 Knitvent pattern - Crisp and Even Cowl Leave a comment on the pattern page above and let me know who you would make this for to go in the draw for a ball of Rowan Creative Focus Worsted (by Sunday 30 Nov) Milla Mia Knitting cables WITH a cable needle (front cross) Knitting Cables WITHOUT a cable needle Join in the Knitvent KAL over here on Curious Handmade board on Ravelry. There is going to be an Eden Cottage Yarn shop update this weekend which will include some BFL sock. And Eden Cottage Yarn is going to sponsor the Knitvent Jingle Bells Grand Prize!! Non-Guilty Pleasures Did you see that A Playful Day SSSalong has been renamed #MEalong? It made me think about the book I'm reading at the moment The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown and how being a little bit selfish isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, gratitude, #MEalong and #zengifting I chat about some little things that I'm planning on "indulging" in. Drink more water - its really nice with a squeeze of fresh lemon Do 5 minutes of breathing in a quiet space (or in a queue at the post office) Declutter a space in your house – even just one space or surface Delete those sale emails and don’t even click on them! Do one little annoying job that you’ve been putting off. Pee when you need to Call a friend – remember how we used to pick up the phone and talk to people? Reclaim the phone! Take some things off your plate and say "no" to more things. Maybe start or revive a a gratitude practice such as a journal or a visual one e.g. 100 happy days AND enjoy and savour your knitting regardless of whether you are knitting gifts or something for yourself. I'm curious about what are your non-guilty pleasures and tips? Leave a comment below on the blog by Wednesday 3 December and let me know and I will give away a gorgeous skein of yarn to a commenter.

Today I'm talking about knitting in the round because the second Knitvent pattern, the Lind Cowl is knit in the round. Show Sponsor - Meadow Yarn Meadow Yarn is an inviting online retailer selling yarn, needles and notions. It's a small, family business based in rural Suffolk in the UK. Meadow Yarn was born out of a passion for beautiful yarn and knitting accessories and aims to bring you a range of great products. Yarns stocked include madelinetosh, Eden Cottage Yarn, Hazel Knits and many more. What's in the WIP? I'm doing some secret knitting and listening to some wonderful podcasts: Skein Studio by Kristen Knit FM  #giftingzen The second pattern in the Knitvent 2014 collection was released this week. Lind Cowl I talk about knititng in the round. Here are two good YouTube tutorials with slightly different methods. Nancy Wynn iknitwithcatfur Knitvent Podcast Tour Kicked off this week with The Knit Girllls Knitting Pipeline This weekend you can listen to GreenTriangleGirl and I chatting about our approach to holiday knitting on A Playful Day. More dates to be announced! All the podcasts on the tour will have discount codes and giveaways so make sure you check them out.

Talking about holiday gift knitting and some indie yarn I have in the stash. Show Sponsor - Meadow Yarn Meadow Yarn is an inviting online retailer selling yarn, needles and notions. It's a small, family business based in rural Suffolk in the UK. Meadow Yarn was born out of a passion for beautiful yarn and knitting accessories and aims to bring you a range of great products. Yarns stocked include madelinetosh, Eden Cottage Yarn, Hazel Knits and many more. What's in the WIP? Dream Big Collection....Complete! Eden Fells Scarf Eden Fells Hat 3 for 2 Offer on Ravelry with coupon code DBPARTY until Sunday 9 November Jill Draper Makes Stuff Hudson madelinetosh Vintage Yarn Love A Fine Fish Yarn - Fair Folk colour Cast On Cast Off - Kirsty is based in Australia Shamu Makes Eden Cottage Yarn Gifting Zen #giftingzen I'm participating in the Indie Designer Gift-A-Long on Ravelry starting Thursday 13 November. You can see my designs that will be 25% off as part of the event on my designer page. Some great gift knitting patterns there :-) Knitvent 2014 will be starting next week! The Festive Mystery Knit Along returns! Join in each week as we take the stress out of holiday knitting and cheer each other on with Knitvent 2014. Each week another pattern is revealed which is perfect for either a gift or your own selfish desires. The collection will feature 5 accessory patterns with each pattern offering a choice of at least two sizes or tips on how to modify them. It's time to release that special skein from your stash to lavish on someone you love, even if that someone is you! Still undecided? Join in the KnitVent 2014 chatter and fun with our Ravelry group, inspirational blog posts and a newlsetter packed full of discounts and goodies, thanks to the Curious Handmade seasonal challenge. You can sign up here for the free Holiday Knitting Planner and Knitvent updates Let the Curious Handmade community help you get your knitting #giftingzen on this holiday season.