I didn't plan to knit a cowl in a weekend, it sort of just happened.

It was Saturday morning and whilst I didn't exactly have all of my weekend knitting plans finely honed I did have a number of things I was keen to make progress on. Then my eye fell on a fairly new addition to my stash. A skein of plump, purple merino DK from the Countess Ablaze yarn club - The Classics Society. A fabulous mix of dark and light purple with the odd jolt of bright blue. 

Before you could say "swift" I had the skein wrapped around my knees to hand wind it and I got it on my needles straight away. I'm not much of a hat person and with only 225m to play with I didn't have enough for a shawl - so I decided to go for a cowl. The Honey Cowl pattern to be precise. I've made a few of these before and it's a lovely fast pattern to knit. And the slip stitches work really well with hand dyed yarn.

It turned out to be the type of project that you just can't put down. Never mind, just one more row, I'd done a couple of inches before it was time to head out for the morning. A quick trip to the local farm shop where I seized the opportunity to buy some lovely home made ready meals (no cooking equals extra knitting time).

Then it was home for the kids to watch a film and me to put my feet up with my Kindle and crack on with my cowl. It really is amazing how much knitting you can get through when you focus on just one thing - and it helps if the yarn is as delicious to work with as this. As soft and plump as a Flump's behind.

There really are very few things to compete with the thrill of being able to face a cold, dark October morning snuggled up in something you have made yourself, with your own two hands. It really is particularly satisfying.

And now I find myself casting around for my next weekend project - matching mitts maybe?