My heart has been stole-n!

I love the zig-zag stoles I've knitted!! I can fit two of my babes under one so we sit cuddling on the sofa with the wings tucked around us; I'm like a bird in a nest with my brood. It's a little bit of heaven!

The pattern is the easiest in the world - it's just an incredibly long, zig-zag shaped length of stocking stitch - but the yarn I used is what it makes it look & feel special. It's called 'Fandango' ( though 'Isis' is equally excellent - I just prefer cotton) from the Welsh company, Colinette Yarns.

I've made five (!!?!!) of these stoles so far ( Florentina, Adonis Blue, Jay, Zebra & Sweet Dreams, the latter being for 11 year old Ellie) , got one on the go ( Pagan) and have another waiting in the shopping cart. For those of you who know Lula, this may come as a shock, but Lula........wants one too! Yes, Lula the tomboy, she of the mini-tractor & dirt patch fame, wants a stole of her own! She's dithering between October Afternoon & Heavens Above, though there are a couple more that have grabbed her attention. Ideally she'd like four, but as I knit as slowly as a sloth, I've explained that she may not get all of these until she's grown up & got children of her own.

I think the key to this stole's charm, and thus its huge appeal to Lula, is its cuddle-ability. I unfurl one in bed whilst reading or drape one around me on the school run or when dashing down to my Shack studio. I primped our sitting room using Wabi Sabi principles, but it can be cold in winter so we cuddle up together with two babes plus me all under one stole. It's also an anxiety soother. If I'm out in a crowd & that familiar feeling of panic starts quaking, I've got a stole to pull around me; I guess it's a similar principle to baby wrapping & it certainly helps me. Why, somedays, I can actually manage to go shopping with just a stole & Bach's Rescue Remedy for company ;-)

I've been knitting scarves for years ( for which I have Nicki Epstein to thank), but my heart's been stolen by stoles. Not shawls, but lovely, long, drapery, pinned up or just coiled round.

The pattern, 'Elderflower', can be found in Colinette's booklet, 'Isis'.