A New Year and a Basketful of New Projects

The Holidays came and went this year, without any Christmas Knitting. This is very unusual for me, but as you all know, I had committed to spending all of 2014 knitting exclusively for myself. It was a great year, and I learned so much! I learned many new knitting skills, but the most important of all, was learning how to knit to fit my own body. As you saw in my last post, I knit 7.75 sweaters for myself last year, and with the exception of 1, they all fit beautifully.

This sweater was my favorite, and I have to restrain myself from wearing it more than once a week. I've never had this problem before, as I was rarely happy with final fit of the sweaters I knit for myself. Thus I didn't knit for myself much. I must thank Amy Herzog and Custom Fit for the fitting knowledge I have gained over the past year.

This was Sweater #8 "Bloomsbury".  Knit of a beautiful silk yarn, "KnitPicks Diadem in Amethyst".  I decided to knit this sweater on US2 needles, so it has taken some time (nearly 3 months) to finish just the body portion of the sweater.  As I started the first sleeve, it quickly became apparent that I would be running out of yarn.  I quickly contacted Knitpicks, only to find that Diadem DK Tonal had been discontinued.  "Yikes"!  What would I do now?  I went on a mad search of stashes on Ravelry, and luckily was able to find a skien, in my exact dye lot, in the stash of "Mythwrangler".  She was so gracious, and offered to send me the much-needed skien, if I would simply make a donation to my favorite charity.  THANK YOU MYTHWRANGLER!  The donation has been made, the skein has been delivered, and I am back to knitting on my Bloomsbury.  Phew . . . what a relief.

This is the best purchase I made as a gift this year.  Meet Hayden and Madame Giggles.  It is always grand when your gifts are accepted with laughter and kisses.  Hayden drags her along, everywhere she goes.

Along with expecting two new grandbabies in the Spring, the new year has brought a basketful of new knitting projects.  I'll be knitting "Charlie's Cardigan" by Amy Herzog, out of my very own "Salt Grass Alpaca" yarn in the colorway, Waffles Twist.

This swatch will give you an idea of what the yarn looks like.  This is the first sweater I have knit out of my very own yarn.  Waffles passed on last year, so this will be the only batch of yarn that looks exactly like this.  It is so soft, and twisted with fleece from Spud, it has great color variation.

These mittens and headband are the product of our Knitting Guild Yarn Exchange.  We selected yarn in a brown paper bag, from another Knitting Guild Member.  We had several months to knit it into the creation of our choice.  In February, we will be returning the finished product to the yarn's original owner.  We do not know who brought what yarn, so it should be a fun surprise to get our own yarn back, all knit into something beautiful.  I blindly chose 2 skiens of the same type yarn, but in 2 different colors.  It was challenging to decide how to best blend the 2.  I hope the recipient is happy with my choices.

This the sample I'll be presenting to my "Knit Night" Group in February.  It is a fun hat, knit up of bulky yarn.  It was quick to knit and I love the way it fits.  I think I'll get a lot of wear out of this!

I've also purchased yarn to knit up two of these darling little rompers.  The pattern is "Small Things Romper".  I'll be knitting one in pink and one in blue.  I've never been able to knit for twins before, and I am so excited!

Our "Knit Night" Group continues their "Lady Kina" KAL.  This is the latest finished project to add to our collection.  Jill knit this shortened version of "Lady Kina" for her daughter.  What a great adaptation, making it the perfect sweater for a young girl.  Everyone else continues to work on their's, and I can't wait to see their progress.

Well, I had best quit typing and get back to knitting.  Happy New Year Knitting!