This Christmas I will be mostly chillaxercising... including with my knitting!
When I asked you for advice on how I should start knitting, I knew you'd be helpful, but I didn't expect quite so many amazing tips and generous offers of free lessons! I would have loved to visit more of you, but in the end I went to Stepney for a lesson at the home of Aneeta Patel, author of the bestselling book Knitty Gritty which many of you recommended, along with the follow up book Knitty Gritty: The Next Steps. Aneeta was a fantastic teacher - clear, patient and down-to-earth. If you're looking to take a knitting class in London, I would definitely recommend paying her a visit.
I've also just booked into the Knit Lab online video class on Craftsy, which looks great as you can see the teacher's knitting in action close-up while learning the essentials from the comfort of your own sofa. The class is on sale at the moment, along with loads of other classes in sewing, pattern making, knitting, photography etc if you fancy learning something new this Christmas or new year.
I'll also be curled up on the sofa sipping amaretto sours (classy), eating lebkuchen (mmm... I am getting through an average of 12 a day at the moment, yikes!) and reading the new issue of Crafty magazine. Ooh look, there's my column! This month I share some tips for beginners for diagnosing common causes of sewing machine strops.
Well, I'm exhausted, so off to recline with my knitting. How will you be chillaxercising this Christmas? Wishing you a very merry one!
[Soundtrack: 'Presents for Christmas' by Solomon Burke]