What is your relationship with your Ravelry queue? Odd question perhaps, but I have been thinking about it for a few days. After bravely battling manflu my cold and after finishing a new shawl pattern (more on which later), I was itching to knit something. The obvious thing to knit would be Frontier (the pattern is a lot of fun) but I lost one of my needles somewhere in Casa Bookish. The tidying mojo is absent at the moment and so I turned to my Ravelry queue.

I have 30 patterns queued at the moment. I know most knitters struggle to keep their queue under control - I struggle to add to my queue because I think so very, very carefully about what I add to it. In my head, the Rav queue is the creme de la creme of what I want to knit. Many of the queued patterns have been there for years and I know exactly what yarn I am going to use and in which colour. I don't often cast on from my queue but when I do, it feels like the height of knitterly luxury and indulgence.

I cast on Acer by Amy Christoffers this week. I can see it has been in my queue since January 2011 though I am positive I had been wanting to knit since I first saw the pattern. So far I am just beyond the first few rows of ribbing and the first few rows of the chart. It is a fairly intuitive pattern - and very well-thought out. Loving how the ribbing melts into the cable/lace pattern.

I bought ten hanks of Rowan Silky Tweed (a heavy worsted/light aranweight wool and silk blend) in a December 2010 winter sale with Acer in mind. So far the pattern and the yarn match each other as well as I had imagined. Heavenly.

The colour is Mardigras - a light mustard yellow with orange flecks. I am going a bit more 1970s with my colour choices these days and that colour will work beautifully with tweeds and brown cords.

What will replace Acer's place in my queue? There are plenty of patterns I adore which I haven't queued: Sarah Hatton's Stevie (Paula's version is gorgeous - I have seen it in real life), Heidi Kirrmaier's Harvest Moon, Kate Davies' Deco, Amy Christoffer's Windsor cardigan, this charming Drops pattern and Lene Holme Samsøe's Lily - to name but a few. Will they join the queue? Who knows..

..I do think I overthink my queue way too much. Thing is, I am rarely disappointed when I finally knit something from my queue. It just feels right.

I have a pattern currently being test-knitted. Social media is the best: I idly mentioned on Twitter needing to have my next pattern test-knitted and within ninety seconds I had more than enough offers to have several patterns test-knitted. My mind, she was blown away.

I sat knitting in the backyard today and I had my new shawl draped around my shoulders to keep the spring breeze at bay. Total love.