Last Year's Resolutions

It's the end of the year, and a great time to look back at the resolutions I've made and see how I did. These are the resolutions I made last year.

1. Make a sweater! Really, I just need to throw myself in headfirst and make a darn sweater. And finish it! [Yes, Done! I not only finished my Something Green, I've worn it. In public! And someone said it looked like an Anthropology sweater! Woohoo!]



2. Learn colorwork - specifically Fair Isle. [Hmm, kinda. I've yet to finish a whole project and I'm still not happy with my tension, but I can do it. Must finish those mitts...]



3. Play with dyeing yarn - you don't have to be good, you should just have fun. [Ok, I never even tried this. And now I see how many beautiful yarns there are to buy, I no longer care.]

4. Learn to spin...better. Maybe borrow a wheel to play with. My last attempt failed miserably - my yarn broke over and over and I lost it about halfway through trying to ply but I don't want to give up because roving makes me yearn. [Done! With PurlEwe's enabling I not only got better at spinning (not such a challenge given how awful I was at the start) and even got my own spinning wheel. My latest yarn is awesome!]



5. Buy necessary accessories - specifically a swift and ball winder and some KnitPicks Options. [Whew, I just got in under the wire with this one. My order for swift and ballwinder went in on Monday! I can't wait to get them.]

6. Organize stash and accessories. It's no fun to be always looking for a darning needle. [My stash is now (mostly) all in ziplock bags in my old entertainment center and organized by weight. The accessories are another story altogether. They may be centralized, but they're not tamed.]


7. Keep the couch absolutely clear, and try to limit the number of projects that are in the living room to a reasonable number. [Hahahahahahah. Bwahahahahaha. Uh. No. Not happening.]

8. Buy good yarn and don't feel guilty about it! Although looking for bargain prices is encouraged. [I've had some struggles with this one. But my purchases in this last month have more than made up for any reticence from earlier in the year. My stash is growing.]

So, over all I think I did pretty well. And having the resolution to complete a sweater really did push me to the finish line. And I'm really happy it did.

And looking back at my projects from the last year I'm really happy with them. I've made two lace shawls and they're both lovely. Mom adores her Swallowtail.



And my roomie loves her Christmas present: a Wavy Feathers Cowl.

Making Knitters out of Friends

When I was in Philly I was fortunate enough to make a lot of knitting friends. I miss them. In NYC I haven't had the time to join any sort of knitting circle (although I'd like to) and I only have one close friend who is also a knitter. So I have to make my current friends in to knitters. And this Sunday I did just that.

A very good friend of mine from college knows how to knit, because she was taught by her grandmother, but doesn't knit often and doesn't know much beyond knit and purl. About a year-and-a-half ago she bought some yarn to make a hat with and she's been bugging me to help her with it for the last couple of months or so (although she kept forgetting to bring it with her when we met up). She did remember to bring it with her on Sunday, when we got together at my local B&N. And when I saw it, I must admit I laughed. It was gigantic. Really gigantic. My friend is not a small girl, but it was clearly not going to fit her. I asked her how many stitches she'd cast-on and she had no idea, I counted, she had 162. In worsted weight, on size 8 needles. I told her that there was no way we were going to be able to fix it with the amount of yarn she had left over (if there had been more we might have been able to felt it) and so she bit the bullet and starting ripping. We then adjourned to my apartment where I measured her gauge and her head and figured out how many stitches she should have cast on. About 100. She started in a 2X2 rib and had a couple of rows done when she had to go. Two days later I got this photo (as well as several with her wearing it - it fits!)



And now she says that for her next project she want to make...SOCKS!

I win.

Serendipity

I ran into another knitter on my way to dinner with one of my good friends (also a knitter). I sat down, about to cast on a sock, and realized that the woman two seats down from me was working on a ribbed scarf. I looked over at her and smiled, but she was deeply involved in her knitting, so she didn't notice. I sat back, a bit dissapointed but unwilling to break her concentration, and began to cast on.

A minute later she asked the man sitting between us (he was her companion) if something didn't look right with her scarf. He was stumped. So I leaned forward, gestured with my needles, and asked if she'd like a second opinion. She very happily accepted, and switched seats with her companion. She'd made a simple mistake, knitting a stitch she should have purled, and once I explained what had gone awry she thought that she'd have to take it off the needles and rip back to fix it. Since she was clearly not looking forward to doing that I asked how much further she had to go and (after explaining I meant how many more stops and not how much more scarf length) I dropped the offending stitch back the six or so rows and then laddered it back up. And poof, it was perfect. She was very, very happy and I felt like a genius. We compared notes on our favorite LYS (Knitty City) and said goodbye.

It left me with a lovely warm feeling.

Finally!

As beautiful as the Hemlock Ring Blanket is, mostly what I feel right now is relief at having it done.

Not the prettiest picture on earth, but I do want to at least show it off before I send it home with Ali.



Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shephard Worsted
Mods: I did the extended version
Notes: I love this yarn, a lot. Also, next time I try to block a circular projects I will try to do a better job pinning it out evenly. Ah well.

Sundara Scarf

Thursday night I cast-off my first project in Sundara yarn. It's Japanese Leaves in Sundara Sock colorway Jungle Boogie.

I FINISHED MY SWEATER

This is a really terrible picture of it!


I just hit a wall and had to get this done. I really wanted to wear it at Thanksgiving and I did. I spent all day walking up to my relatives, gesturing to my sweater, and asking them if they knew that I had knit it. They did. They really did. That did not stop me from asking though.

I am on top of the world! I can do anything! I have gone from sweater fear to sweater triumph.

Now the only question is which of my many queued sweaters do I cast on next?

(I will be posting a better picture of this, just as soon as I can get someone to take one.)