I made this all by myself!

Yes, I knitted this jacket! I am ridiculously pleased with myself :)

I started back in September and have been labouring away in the evenings over the last few months. I don't do lot of knitting, in fact I had a good 10 year break when I zealously crocheted and wouldn't even have looked at a knitting needle - pah!

But then we started selling all this gorgeous wool in the shop and I got very tempted. So I dusted off my very limited skills and last year I knitted a jumper for my son and some socks for myself. I felt very proud when I finished the socks.

This year we started selling the amazing Noro yarn from Japanese. Obi is a new aran/chunky yarn in the most incredible colour palettes. This pattern book full of beautiful knitted garments accompanied it. I could resist no longer and started to knit the jacket on the cover in the same colour.

I've never really gone beyond stocking stitch and rib so the lacey bit on the border proved to be quite a challenge. There was a lot of sighing and unravelling before I finally got the hang of it. But, like everything, practice makes perfect (or at least passable!). The Obi is wonderful to knit with and lovely and warm on your lap during cold nights.

I also had to tackle picking up stitches for a button band (difficult, will try harder next time) and using a circular needle (suspiciously easy).
I finished it at the weekend, just in time for the weather turning colder.
Jonathan took some photos of me in front of the beech hedge...

...swinging around so you could see all the gorgeous colours.
In some ways you can't really go wrong with the Noro wool, the texture (Obi is wool, silk and mohair) and the way the colours change mean anything you knit will look stunning.

Still I am very proud to have finished something so big and (for me) challenging.
And guess what? I have already started my next pair of socks ;)
Oh dear I feel an obsession coming on!!