Yesterday I caught up with my knitting buddy, Julie, for our regular (although not regular enough for either of us) Knit, Sit and Chat. Both of us have been knitting for many years and it is a passion we both share. Knitting is a wonderfully portable craft, easily packed into a favourite bag (in my case a bag lovingly made for me by another good friend), thrown in the car and just as easily unpacked at your destination, all ready to go. Julie has the remarkable ability to be able to knit and not look at what she is doing - being able to give you all her attention. Sadly, I have yet to develop this skill.  However, being the Mother of 5 chatterboxes I have developed the ability to be able to do many things whilst still listening attentively!!!

I wanted to show off a few of Julie's many finished projects. You can also find her on Ravelry.

These wonderful socks are so bright and colourful. The yarn used is by the fantastic English yarn designer Colinette.  The 100% wool yarn Jitterbug (shade Neptune) is great for socks as wool fibres have a great 'memory' and will hold their shape quite well.  The dark self striping of the wool is a great bonus as you achieve design without any additional effort!

The colourful rainbow effect achieved in these socks is a result of the beautiful Noro sock yarn Julie has used. Noro yarns are renowned in the knitting world for their gorgeous colour combinations. Noro is a Japanese yarn production company famous for its extravagent yarns, generally made from combinations of  natural raw materials such as silk, wool, kid mohair, lambswool, ganpi paper, cotton, cashmere, alpaca, camel, and angora. The company was founded 30 years ago by Eisaku Noro, a gifted artist who turned his talent to desiging yarns that wow with their beauty while also meeing certain ecological requirements.

By now it should be apparent that Julie is certainly not afraid of beautiful, bold and bright colour! She embraces it most enthusiastically.  This lovely cowl is made from a 75% wool/25% nylon combination sock yarn, Zauberball by German company Schoppel Wolle. This wool comes in a huge 100gram ball (unusually for a ball of yarn actually shaped like a ball!!) and one ball will make this cowl.  I love the picot edging top and bottom - it appeals to the girl in me!!