Category: musings

  • so long, 2007

    I can’t believe it’s that time again! This year has gone by so quickly that I feel like I haven’t been able to catch my breath. It’s been an interesting year, I suppose – lots of good things happened, like graduating from university, my garden adventures, my first vacation in years, a great Rhinebeck with rachel and jaya. Of course, where there’s good, there’s always something to balance. The last couple months have been very difficult for me personally, and the going is still tough. Things take time, you know? Sometimes too much time to bear.

    But! New year’s is always a time of reflection, and rebirth, time to move forward and leave the past where it is. Tonight, my family is all out doing their partying things, and I’m at home with a bottle of Trocken in the fridge and just loads of Indian takeaway (tomorrow, I’m going off wheat, dairy and soy for a few weeks to clean my system up – tonight, I’m eating!). And knitting. I’ve got the possibility of one more FO of 2007 tonight.

    The benefit of having lots of projects on the needles at once is having lots of FOs at once! I’ve completed not one but two sweaters in the last week. First up is the Treeline Stripe, of course (sorry for the crappy photo, I think the stripes confuse my camera) –

    treeline stripe, done

    Treeline Striped Cardi
    Pattern: based on a concept by the Purl Bee – I looked at the colours and the yarns, and did my own numbers, shaping, and details.
    Yarn: 3 skeins of Shelridge Farm W4 in Chocolate, 2 skeins in Misty Blue, 3 skeins of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Villain.
    Needles: US 7

    Okay, so it doesn’t have buttons yet. But I’ve worn it a few times, and I just love it!

    Next up, a surprise FO that jumped from the needles this week.

    a very bulky sweater

    A Very Bulky Cardigan
    Pattern: my own. Top-down raglan with crochet edgings.
    Yarn: 5 skeins of thick and thin merino from Americo Original, some random handspun merino from my stash.
    Needles: US 15 (no wonder it was so fast)

    I started this on Christmas Day (Tuesday), I think, and wore it to work on Saturday. It’s pretty uncharacteristic of me, all that bulky wool and wacky edging, but it’s fun and very cozy. I even had the big buttons in my stash.

    To me it looks like a big version of a little girl’s sweater.

    bulky sweater, flat

    In 2007, I finished at least 18 tops or sweaters (there might’ve been an extra one or two in there undocumented), and a couple projects each of socks, shawls, skirts, and other assorted things. Here’s to even more in 2008.

    Bye, 2007, and well, good riddance.

  • is it down to the wire yet?

    So it occurs to me that, as it does every year, that Christmas is sneaking up on me. It might be the piles of work that lay between me and it (both paid and unpaid), or maybe just denial. At any rate, the knitting list?

    – super secret project #1 – alllllmost done. I’m hoping to finish up the seam today.
    – noro blanket – no further along than the last time I posted.
    – xmas gift #1, socks – 1 sock done! Thank goodness for sportweight yarn.
    – xmas gift #2, bolero – back and one front done. Need to get on that.
    – xmas gift #3, shawl – I’d say 75% done.

    giftmas shawl

    It’s in worsted weight tweed, on 5.5 mm needles, so it is going pretty fast. Unfortunately, the yarn (Classic Elite Skye Tweed) is crocking off on my fingers – they turn black after just a few rows! So that’s making it a bit sucky.

    You know, I guess that’s really it. It just seems so daunting. And then there’s the paid working (on a deadline) that needs to get done as well.

    How on earth am I going to finish everything??

  • WIP roundup

    Thanks so much for the great reception of the Rayne pattern! I’m working on the back photos, but it might take a few days…

    In the meanwhile, I’m trying very hard to stay on track with stuff that I need to get done, but I must say that the urge to cast on something new is overwhelming – even though I did cast on something new just yesterday!

    So, instead of actual progress, how about a current (as in, they still hold my interest) WIP roundup.

    noro blanket

    – Noro blanket. Xmas present. The panels are all done – they were certainly fast knitting! They’re shown on a double bed, so the blanket’s going to be pretty sizeable once I put the borders in. I’m going to crochet in some black alpaca between the panels and around the whole thing.

    – Xmas presents #1, #2, and #3 – Well. #1 is started. Nothing else has been, but I’m hoping one of the other ones that I’ve been planning (a shawl) goes really fast. We’ll see – that’s one I want to cast on for right now!

    – Treeline Stripe sweater – I love love love this sweater and really want it to be done so I can wear it! Alas, haven’t really done anything with it lately. The body is done to the underarm and one sleeve is done to the underarm.

    – Drops A-line jacket – back and 1.5 fronts done. Quick knitting, but…

    Everything’s being overshadowed by a secret project that needs to be done for the end of the month. Which is getting there, now that I’m feeling the crunch (even more) and really trying to knit faster.

    Projects I’m tempted by? A cabled sweater based on one Alexis was wearing last week; the Gathered Pullover from the latest Interweave; colourwork mittens; some sort of new winter headgear.

    So much to knit, so little time!