Re-startitis

I recently finished a baby blanket.  The pattern is Lullaby Blanket and I really love how it turned out.  Please pardon the bad lighting, it was February.

Now that it is finished, I find myself wanting to Start All The Things!  Unfortunately this year is all about finishing, so I have been strong and not purchased all the pretty new yarns that have caught my eye.  I did start a new project, but I used stash yarn, so I'm going with it.

Today I went delving into the stash room and resurrected a couple of old projects.  Poinsettia has been on the needles since November 2010 according to my project page.  The other two never even got project pages, so I don't know how old they are.  Clapotis is something that I resisted for a long time because everybody was doing it.  But I picked up a skein of sock yarn with cashmere (I've long since lost the ball band) and thought it would work.  The third project is another Pretty Thing.  The first one was made of cashmere and this one is made from some of my own handspun.  Neither made it onto Ravelry, so again I have no record of the details.

I'm telling myself that it is just like starting a new project since it has been so long since I touched any of these.  And there's the added benefit that they won't take long to finish since I was quite a bit into them when I put them down.

New socks!

This Year, Next Year

This Year: Knit all the Sweaters! 

 About this time last year I had a thought that I needed more cardigans in my wardrobe. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I am well versed in dressing in layers. I have a number of pullovers, and I love them, but my current office requires frequent wardrobe adjustments. With all that in mind I declared this year to be "The Year of the Sweater"! There was much rejoicing, and also some casting on. So far I have started and completed both Crane Creek and Forest Fiesta. I love them both and expect to get a lot of wear out of them.

 On my quest I also started Vivian, but the way the pattern is written is hard for me to follow, so this is currently tucked away waiting for a time when I can sit and sort it all out. I would really love to have and wear this one, but the knitting of it may do me in. I have also started a Featherweight Cardigan, but haven't made much progress yet. I recently found out that some friends are expecting a baby in March and I've gotten a little side-tracked with the knitting on Itty Bitty Things! I have a couple more sweaters that I have the yarn for and would like to get started before the end of this year. Starting Strata Sphere and the Burdock Cardigan this year fall right into my plan for next year...

  Next Year: Finish all the Things! 

 A couple of weeks ago I realized that my stash room had exploded. I spent an evening trying to get it back under control, and in the process found a number of projects that had stalled. These are still lovely things that I would like to finish, but have been set aside because I was distracted by something newer and shinier. It happens. I would love to tell you all the lovely things that will happen next year, but in my mad tidy of the stash room I shoved them all in a tub that I mentally labeled "next year". I figure if I put it in writing here that I'm going to restrict my starting of new things to socks next year that maybe I'll actually finish some of those older projects. We shall see!

Lovely

Daybreak

I am so happy with this! There is something extra magical about finishing a project using handspun yarn. The pattern is Daybreak, and the fiber came from Tactile Fiber Arts. I used 2 oz. each of the Pomegranate and Concord Grape colorways, and spun them to about fingering weight. I love the way the colors worked together, and I expect to get a lot of wear out of this one.

Insanity

I have fallen completely down the rabbit hole. Luckily my sock leftovers stash is pretty deep, and so is the random unlabeled wool in the spinning stash. I should be fine, but this may take a while.

Ready To Roll!

I am so happy that these are done! I'll be wearing them on Saturday at Sock Summit.

Double Heelix

As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew I had to knit these socks! I was intrigued by the heel out construction. The beginning is a bit fiddly, but fun. I added some extra decreases to fit my foot, and substituted my usual toe.

Another Baby = Another Blankie

I think I started this back in late February or early March. I then set it aside to work on other things because I had plenty of time before the baby was due. That is no longer true, so now I'm working on this and only this until it is finished. By my calculations I have 35 rounds left to go. It sounds like a walk in the park doesn't it? I'm currently working on 576 stitches and it continues to grow. I'm sure I'll finish before the baby is born... I hope!

When Life Hands You Lemons...

Frog a sweater. There are some things going on right now over which I have no control, but which are causing a fair amount of stress. Naturally I turned to knitting, but was having a hard time settling on anything. I want something new and shiny, but nothing suits. Then today I realized that what I really need is to have total control of something. I need to boss around my knitting! There's only so much bossing needed for socks, a hat or scarf, they aren't very satisfying that way. Then I remembered the sweater I've been ignoring for several years.

I knit all the pieces, but once seamed, it didn't fit. As an extra bonus it looked like crap on me. This is the perfect project to boss around. I've started taking out the seams in order to rip this bad boy out, reclaim the lovely yarn and knit this sucker into a sweater that doesn't suck! Wish me luck.