Monday, January 9, 2012

Happy New Year!

Even though the 2012 calendar went up over a week ago, for me today feels like the first day of the brand new year.  For the third year running, Cameron and I spent the first week of January on holidays, more or less holed up on our own, with limited contact with the outside world and this morning signaled a return to real life.  This year we opted for a “staycation” and except for spending two nights in a not-so-rustic cabin at a local golf course, we stuck pretty close to home.  The weather was not conducive to a lot of outdoor activities so we passed much of the time reading and knitting and just enjoying being together.  It’s a tradition that we will definitely be carrying on.

The socks have just been flying off my needles.  Since Christmas I’ve finished three pairs.

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I enjoyed knitting up this variegated yarn in a slipped-stitch pattern.

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Almondine worked up quickly in some yarn I received from Jessica and Neil in my "Boxing Day Survival Kit”.

Christmas 2011 055 

Last year I had presented Neil with a video-game themed kit so they turned the tables on me this year, providing everything I needed for a relaxing, knitting-filled Boxing Day (including adult underwear so as to avoid those pesky bathroom breaks).  The truth is, I didn’t put it into use until a few days later (well, except for the Depends…) but it was much appreciated just the same.

I also made my tenth stop along the Silk Road and knit up Yomut in just a week’s time.

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I just love how they turned out in the Gradiance Yarn from The Unique Sheep.

In addition to socks, I joined a shawl KAL in the Handmaiden/Fleece Artist group on Ravelry and cast on Caricia in some Sea Silk that’s been in my stash for over four years. 

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I like how it’s knitting up so far.  This yarn has tried and failed to be several other things in the past but I think this one’s a winner. 

And if that weren’t enough, yesterday I began a new pullover for Cameron, the Traveling Man Sweater, in a charcoal grey that’s much darker than it appears here.

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Something tells me that I may regret all that ribbing in near-black yarn before it’s done but this one is all about the product, not the process.  I’d like to have it finished by the end of February, in time for his birthday.  But it won’t be a surprise.  Cameron is rather, shall we say selective?, about his clothes so he was involved in every step of the planning, from choosing the pattern, to determining the size, to shopping for the yarn.

With all that knitting, I’ve had plenty of time to think about the coming year and what it might bring.  Most of my goals—maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, bringing vacation photo albums up to date, and compiling some genealogical research—don’t involve yarn or needles but I have been contemplating a rather ambitious project that does.  This year I’d like to try my hand at design and put together a pattern collection for sale.  Right now I am purely in the planning stage, with tons of ideas running through my mind and keeping me awake at night.  As the year progresses I hope to bring some of those plans into fruition and share the process with you as the year unfolds.  So hang on tight—it may be a rocky ride.