Hi Fellow Knitters,

Christmas and Australia Day are finished for this Summer. With all the fires,  extreme heat and low rainfall it is not a Summer that we will forget. However I still managed to knit - aided by a cool afternoon sea breeze while on holiday at Sawtell on the north coast of NSW. The solar panels on our roof gave me guilt free air conditioning at home.

I am looking forward to getting back to my two regular knitting groups - The Knitters Guild NSW at Epping and STYKs at Castle Hill. It is always exciting to see what everyone has knitted over the Summer break as well as hearing all the news.

My latest rug design is almost ready for sale, both as a PDF and in kit form. It is called Tessellations and there will be four colourways in the kits.

The largest block has three variations. Here is  the first colourway with variation one.  I love the strong diagonal lines created by the decreases. 

The Shetland Island knitting community keeps popping up via Facebook. Here is a post  worth sharing. Anne Eunson knitted a beautiful lace fence for her home using black twine - the kind used to make fishing nets.

It took It her about three weeks.

 Knitting Snippet

I have been interested in collecting cartoons and sayings about knitting for some time now.  I have come across many with the theme Knitting is Good for Your Soul.  Lately I have come across the theme Knitting is Also Good for You Body.

Engaging in activities such as knitting can reduce the chance of developing mild cognitive impairment  for seniors. Knitting is especially good for this, since it requires you to use many parts of the brain at the same time.

The repetitive action of knitting can induce a relaxed state like that associated with meditation and yoga and so acts as a natural antidepressant and can help ease anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. Once you get beyond the initial learning curve, knitting and crocheting can lower heart rate and blood pressure and reduce harmful blood levels of the stress hormone cortisol. But unlike meditation, craft activities result in tangible and often useful products that can enhance self-esteem.

What's not to like about KNITTING?