Question: if you were home alone on a cold winter evening, what would you do? My answer: look at the photo. I'm sitting in front of the computer, surfing various sites and occasionally picking up my new project to knit a stitch or two. Oh, and sipping lukewarm decaf coffee while I'm at it. It is a hard life.

My project? Well, I needed a portable project for knitting night (Dave's sweater is getting too big to carry around with me; lace knitting at knit night = big no-no), so I had a quick look at my Ravelry queue and, really, it was a no-brainer.This fair isle tam called to me loud and clear.

I have plenty of hats, but right now they all seem flimsy and floppy. I want a hat which will keep my head warm in the midst of winter and stranded knitting was the obvious solution. I dug into my stash and uncovered a skein of "homegrown" Gotland wool I bought at a sheep farm in rural Denmark which matched a ball of Rico Poems I recently bought here in Scotland. I have been wanting to try a project with Poems since I first heard it being touted as an affordable alternative to Noro Kureyon (I'm easy that way). So far it feels more like a long-colour-repeat version of Twilleys Freedom Spirit, but I'm yet to learn if Poems will pill as much. One thing is certain: Poems may initially look a bit like a Noro yarn, but it feels far less substantial.

Finally, one of my knitting buddies showed me the coolest knitting implement tonight.. I may be slightly in love.