FO: First Blanket Finished

Cable knit blanket or throw worked on 25mm wooden circular needles, using a double strand of super-chunky yarn.

The needles are very special because they were hand made by my Uncle David.  Before he retired he used to make spinning and weaving equipment in his spare time, including looms and spinning wheels.  Most notably he is the designer and maker of the Barnett Drum Carder, which became very popular in the UK spinning community.  Second-hand models are still sought-after now.  So when I was looking for large circulars and could not find any, not even on ebay, I knew who to call.

Uncle David rustled me up a pair of 25mm circulars out of scraps of beech wood: glued, turned, smoothed with 3 coats of matt varnish, and finished with brass fittings to hold the plastic piping in place.  They are absolutely beautiful. It feels very much like I am continuing a family handcrafting tradition. Using the tools that my Uncle has made connects me with the past and with ancestors I never knew. At the same time, I am making things which will hopefully last a long way into the future.