Which I absolutely hate having to do! Because I’m not a really confident knitter, I hate having to frog a row and then getting it back onto the needle because I always think I’m going to put the stitches back onto the needle the wrong way. I know that if I just pay attention to what I’m doing, before I frog the row, that I’ll know exactly which way to put the stitches back on, but I never feel quite right about frogging, as if it’s going to wreck the tension of the knitting. I really need to get over this silliness, because I really love the pattern I’m working on, and want to be able to wear it in this cold weather… and not have to wait until next Winter!

I’m a slow knitter, because I’m tired most of the time, and don’t tend to knit when I’m tired, unless it’s a really easy pattern. Speaking of which, I’ve got a new DS… a green one! I think it’s a great colour! However I’ve not seen any good cases in the same colour, so I’m going to knit up a nice cover for it. I’ve decided it’s going to be felted, for extra strength, and I’ve got a pretty fat-quarter – a piece of nice cotton that quilters use – in a complementing colour to my mossy-green yarn, that I’m going to sew in as a lining.

Here’s my plan… Knit up a large piece of the mossy-green yarn that will have enough to cover all the pieces. Double felt, because I’ve got a front loading washing machine and the test swatch wasn’t felted as much as I would like. Then I’m going to cut out the pieces for the size of the DS, plus one centre meter seam allowance. I’m then going to iron on interfacing to the lining fabric – again for extra strength – and cut it out to the same size as the felted pieces. I’ll sew up the felted pieces and the the lining pieces separately, though they will be sewn together to form the opening to the case. I’m going to put on a cool button on the outside, probably, and have a nice felted loop to go round it.

Anyway, I’m pretty excited to get started on that, which I’ll have to do soon, because now that I’ve gotten to a mistake in that neckwarmer, I’m not enthused about knitting it again. Anyway, in case you don’t want to do all that for your own DS case, here’s a pretty cool pattern, the Dapper Nintendo DS cosy case for DS Lite or DSi.

I’ve always liked this brand of needle, because they have always looked so very lovely. Lantern Moon is a company that produces handmade knitting needles, as well as some knitting accessories. They support the regions where there products come from, by putting funds back with the hand-crafters. I think they have a nicely ethical business model, and I can’t say how much I like there products!

My fiancé gave me a pair of 4.5mm needles – he asked which ones I would like most and this seemed a size I would use a lot – and a needle case. I love the case, too. It is a red and teal woven fabric, with silk on the inside and on a band round the middle. It is so nice to finally have a lovely place to keep all my needles, this is a first, because before this, they were kept all bundled together with an elastic band in a drawer in my knitting cabinet. Not good! This case is so pretty, and sturdy too!

I’ve decided the very first thing I’m going to knit with my needles will be a pretty little ruffled neckwarmer, which I’ll link a little later on. I cast on today, and I have to say, these needles are lovely to work with! They are a little heavier and slicker than my bamboo ones, but not cold and too slick like my aluminium ones. I can’t wait to get further in this lovely pattern!

Now, about this pattern, it’s a Ruffled Neckwarmer, and has quite the strong Victorian sort of feel to it. It’s meant to be knit on 5mm needles, but in this case I wanted to use my new Lantern Moon ones, and the yarn I’m using calls for this size. I’m expecting it to work out quite nicely as other Ravelriers have done the same as me and there’s all seemed nice too. This pattern calls for some pretty buttons, too, so now I get the extra bonus of having to shop for those!