Many people do not knit when it’s very hot. The idea of sitting with a heavy sweater or scarf is not very appealing and sticky sweaty hands make it difficult to knit with very fine laceweight and cotton yarns for those pretty stoles, shawls, little tops and cardigans which are more useful in warm weather.

I find knitting with two straight needles gets very uncomfortable in the heat. I am one of those knitters who holds the needles under the palm of the hand with the knobs anchored under the upper arms for extra stability and the metal of the needle sticks constantly against bare arms. So instead I use my circular needles and knit small items. Working with fine weight sock yarns is great fun and you don’t just have to knit socks with them. Children’s garments, mittens, gloves, bags, hats and all sorts of things can be made and if you’re into knitting doll clothes the variegated sock yarns in particular are ideal. Another way of resolving this difficulty would be to use bamboo or wooden knitting needles.

You do need to be a little careful though. Keep a tub of talcum powder in your knitting kit and dust your hands with it occasionally (unscented powder is best, you really don’t want your knitting impregnated with a scent which may not come out in the wash). Wash your hands before you start knitting if possible. Don’t sit in the sun knitting, bright sunshine can cause knitting yarn to yellow or fade and for the same reason if you’re washing your knitting don’t put it out to dry in a sunny area.

If you really don’t want to do any actual knitting then why not sort out your knitting stash? It can be quite a shock to find out how much you actually have but it’s a nice feeling when it’s all organised and you know where everything is. And you can either donate any yarns you know you’ll never use to charity, or sell them on eBay.

Sit down and read those knitting books and magazines you bought but never did anything with. When you come to do knitting again, you’ll remember some of what you read and you’ll be able to use it to improve your knitting skills, and maybe even knit up some of the patterns in the books. You might like to create a database, either on the computer or using index cards, to show what yarns and books you have, and where a particular technique, pattern or yarn is located. Finally, I like to go through my stock of knitting needles every so often, make a note of sizes I need and then when I go shopping on or off line I won’t duplicate something I already have half a dozen of!