So! 2011! Let's review the notable knitting projects from last year (about 2/3 – 3/4 less than the year before! oops):
- The mustard yellow Brandywine shawl! All that garter stitch – heaven. Also notable for being the first project I ever made out of Sanguine Gryphon Sknny Bugga! – a major new favorite.
- The magenta Bellingrath shawl! This too was a darned pleasure to knit with. This was knit with Madelinetosh sock yarn.
- EZ's Katmandhu bonnet, knit in Dream in Color Classy. I can't remember if I ever told this story, but I spied the book (Knit One Knit All) at the local Beverley's and had to have it. I assumed it was about $30 or so, but there was no price. I figured they would scan it at the register and the price would pop up. Except – it wouldn't scan! The number wouldn't load either! So the teenager behind the counter sold me EZ's new book for $11.99. SCORE, Y'ALL! Poor Beverley's. I never did look up what it really cost. Anyway, this hat was really fun to make and I will likely make more. There is another version with a different back design.
- Started a pair of Hedera socks (Cookie A) from the Knit. Sock. Love. book, which I have a digital copy of. These are knit out of the Loopy Ewe Solid Series sock yarn that is on the Dream in Color smooshy base (if I recall correctly). While these are taking forever, they will be a worthy addition to my sock collection once I complete them.
- Janel Laidman's Eiki shawl – this is truly a beautiful design and my very favorite thing I knit last year. Because it's knit out of regular Bugga!, it's soft and squishy and gorgeous. And one of the few things I managed to knit with my Stitches West haul the very same year I purchased it! hahaha
- Boutique Stripey Socks – knit from Knit Picks Felici Sport, my new favorite striping sock yarn – I like regular Felici a lot, but Felici Sport knits up super fast! One other thing about Felici – it wears like iron.
- Peeps socks – I finished these in the summer, but forgot to take an FO picture. And right now they need to be washed, so it may be awhile (if ever)
- Bas-Relief socks in the Emerald Isle (?) colorway from Three Irish Girls. I need to finish these but they are further along the second sock now. I really like this sock yarn.
So, I didn't get a whole lot of things completed last year, but the shawls definitely make up for lack of quanitity with their amazing quality! I hope this year I feel more like knitting – I lost my mojo over the summer and it hasn't really returned. I do feel like making a couple of new winter hats so we'll see where that takes me. Whatever I do knit this year it will ALL BE FOR ME. And maybe try to finish those rainbow socks for Abby.
I do currently have some things still on the needles from last year that I need to decide whether to FINISH or FROG. A couple of shawls, several socks, etc. etc. So, we'll see.
I kind of feel like knitting a sweater this year, so maybe that will happen too! MAYBE. No promises.
At any rate, I don't have to work too hard to beat the actual number of FOs from last year (six).
Well, I didn't MEAN to not write in here all month, but hey, it's November – at least I had a good excuse. It was budget season at work, and I've been participating in National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo)… and I successfully finished my novel! This was the tenth year I've participated and the seventh finish. This year I wrote a straight up science fiction story, which I'd never done before, and man let me tell you, it is pretty ridiculous. It needs a massive overhaul – plot threads, characters, etc. were dropped willy nilly in favor of others, there's a kidnapping and a space kraken, telepathy and a cliffhanger. With no explanation. It's terrible. I kind of love it. If I ever go back to it and am able to fix its many, many problems, it could actually be pretty cool!
