Confessions of a knitting lush...

I have many passions, knitting is one of the biggest, but another is cooking & entertaining, especially wine appreciation. I have quite a healthy wine cellar tucked away & I try to keep up to date with new & exciting wines. In a former life BC (before children) I used to run a thriving wine club, write wine reviews for the local radio station & a webzine, I even had an article published in a cutting edge Australian wine magazine. These days I have had to cut back my involvement, now I keep up to date with some of my favourite producers & clear out the cellar every few months of so of bottles that need 'attention'.

One of my great indulgences is to sit down in the evening after the boys' have been put to bed, enjoy a glass or two (or sometimes three...) of a good wine over dinner with Dr. Phil, then pick up the knitting & quietly enjoy two of my favourite things. For those that know me well, they also know I rate projects I have in the queue based on how much I can drink before the knitting starts to suffer, ie a three glass project might be a simple singlet or vest for the boys through to a zero glass project which encompasses most lace work, complex arans or fair aisle, basically anything that would require a chart! Needless to say more aran & lace projects were completed whilst I was pregnant & it has been quick simpler projects since I have been 'back on the wagon' as it were.

To that end I have great respect to those designers that produce such stunning projects using beautiful colour work or cable patterns, things I am more than capable of knitting. I have even more repsect for those knitters who dedicate their time to knitting these zero glass projects. For me however, I find myself steering away from zero glass projects more & more, in favour of those that let me indulge in my other passion, do you think I should set up a group called "knitting lushes anonymous"? Nah, I'll just pour myself another glass of wine!

Pictured is my friend Andy's Gold Medal winning Hihi Malbec with balls of Jo Sharp Kid Lustre Alpaca aptly named 'vintage'