It was my birthday last week. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world, not least because we had a party at Knit Night, with a delicious, flamboyant cake and prosecco. The girls wore badges professing their love for me.  I was very embarrassed and a little flattered, just as they'd planned. 

I was also given this:

My very own hand-knitted Muddy Sheep! And he is knitting!

Receiving any knitted gift is always wonderful for me. As a knitter I can imagine the trials and emotions invested in that gift:

I imagine the knitter's mind wandering as they knit, thinking what the recipient will say when they see it, and maybe chuckling inwardly at the thought.  

I imagine the apprehension the knitter feels that it might not look as good in reality as it does in their imagination.  
 
I imagine there's a good chance that the knitter underestimated the time it would take to complete - despite having underestimated many times in the past already (or is that just me?). So I imagine them cursing as they find themselves knitting at break-neck speed to get it finished in time. 

And finally I imagine the satisfaction when it's done: when that perfect button has been located, the mattress stitch has worked its magic again, and all the fiddly ends are sewn in.

I knew all that in my heart when I was given that gift, and now I've put it into words.  Thank you to all my Knit Night friends for a wonderful party. And for my Muddy Sheep, thank you Karen.

Wendy x

The knitting group that I'm in had a party last night to celebrate our third birthday. I love these knitty friends; so much fun, so many giggles and always there when it matters.  

But back to the party; I'd promised to make the cake and after seeing this cake on pinterest - and though I feel obliged to share the link to credit the original, I'd much rather not, since hers is sooo much better than mine! - I knew I wanted to make a muddy sheep version.

I used my staple cake recipe; the BBC's blueberry cake with sour cream, and James Martin's chocolate ganache from his book Desserts, though it didn't come out at the consistency I needed, so I got a sugar rush with all the adding and tasting that I had to do to get it right. It's a tough life.

It was really fun to take the time to be creative in a different way, though I think I'll go back to the day job now, especially as the girls decided they were more sheep-dogs than sheep! Ah well, at least it tasted good.