Thank you so much for so many brilliant mojo-retrieving ideas! I’ve assiduously been following up as many of your suggestions as possible.

Sarah, Amanda and Kate all commented that it’s not good trying to knit things that are not enjoyable. I agree! I have therefore ‘hibernated’ almost all of my projects. Christmas knitting? Bah humbug to that! On my sidebar you will see that I currently only have two projects on the go – my lacy cable stockings, which I am loving, and the cashmere beret that I blogged about recently. I’ve got some news on that situation, but I’ll come back to it in my next post.

Clearing the decks in this way has freed me up to start dreaming about what I would like to knit next. SweetP, Asiye and Lucy suggested trawling Ravelry for ideas, and I spent some time doing just that during a long train ride yesterday.

I couldn’t quite bring myself to give away stash, as Janet, RoseRed and Kylie suggested. Partly out of selfishness, but partly because I really don’t have that much (honestly!)

Michelle suggested sticking to small things at the moment, and I think that is sound advice. I have been playing with the idea of making an A-line, knee length February Lady coat, in a bulky yarn like Rowan Cocoon. But when I priced it up the other day, and thought about the potential for it to be a complete, expensive, disaster, I came to my senses!

So, here are my exciting new project ideas:

1. A pair of beautiful mittens for wearing when cycling. I adore Brooklytweed’s Druid Mittens, but I don’t really want to buy Vogue magazine just for one pattern. Instead, I think I’ll make a pair of Eunny Jang’s Anemoi Mittens. I’m going to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally next weekend, so I’m hoping to find some special yarn there for these.
2. Some socks to wear to yoga classes – these would be fun to do as part of Soctoberfest. Following KV‘s advice I rummaged in my stash and found some Shelridge Farm yarn that I’d forgotten about! I’m thinking of making Flint Knit’s lovely Marigold Socks with it – I think the variegated yarn will work beautifully with this pattern.
3. A pretty shrug to wear over girly frocks (and ideally to have for a half-term break we’re going on). I love this one from Rowan 44, even it looks about three sizes too big for the model!

I went to John Lewis yesterday, and bought some delicious Rowan Kid Classic yarn for the shrug. Amanda has very kindly emailed me the first part of the pattern, as I left my Rowan 44 magazine at home – thanks, Amanda, I owe you one!

And, perhaps most inspiring of all, and the one thing that none of you mentioned, is that I have spent today catching up on reading your blogs. So many amazing knitters, so many gorgeous projects to drool over!

Thank you again for your fantastic suggestions but, most of all, thank you for such wonderful inspiration!