Out with the old and in with the new…

First off – our Holidays were wonderful. It was great to have some time with my family for a change – we don’t get to see each other that often. Everyone loved their gifts, and as promised here is what I made for BadgerDan:

A Pair of Varsity Socks (which he immediately put on as soon as they were unwrapped) and

an authentic WWII Watchcap (which he asked for).

BadgerDan made(!) me a truly fantastic handstitched leather satchel – it’s huge (14″ x 14″ x 6″) and has more clips than you can shake a stick at. In a word – SQUEE!!!!

My travel project for the Holidays was my Highland Hose, and I actually managed to finish the first one:

These, my friends, are what I call “kneesocks”!!!

In anticipation for the new year, I’ve been going through my projects and wildly finishing off WIPs, ripping out those that needed it and gathering yarn for some new ones.

I present to you – my completed 2008 Mission Falls Sampler Afghan!

and (finally) my completed Mystic Earth Stole!

Relegated to the Frog Pond was my Casablanca Shawl – I had run into some mistakes (all mine) and didn’t get back to it. I can always knit it again later.

I also took apart my Lopi Vintage Vertical Stripe Afghan (9.75 feet is WAY too big for a blanket) – reballed the yarn and made a new plan of attack. Using the blanket as a massive gauge swatch – I calculated that 165 sts/84 rows would give me a blanket measuring approx 5.5 ft x 3.5 ft. Much easier to deal with. And since it seems that I don’t really do “random” all that well – I sorted the yarn into colour groups and plugged them into a Random Stripe Generator using 1 row & 42 rows as the parameters. I tweaked it a bit in my spreadsheet program, reversed the stripe sequence for the 2nd half of the blanket and voila! One pattern chart to follow. I’m restarting this one at Midnight tonight.

This allowed me to free up yarn for a Hemlock Ring Blanket that I couldn’t resist starting on:

I’m using all browns/beiges/creams radiating out from darkest to lightest.

Unfortunately, I can’t go any further on it until I get a certain ways into the VVS!

The 2009 Sampler Afghan yarn is ready to go:

This is the result of frogging two chunky homespun & handknit sweaters from Equador that I found at the thrift store. It has way too much vegetable matter in it for a garment – but perfect for a camp blanket for BadgerDan! By using an 8mm hook and this year’s CAL’s 6″ square option I should be in pretty good shape. I can always border it with any leftover Lopi from the VVS.

Hmmm, what else??? Oh yeah! I started an Aran Scarf for the Red Scarf Project:

Today I organized my remaining WIPs and did a little mending that I’d been putting off.

So to sum up the year I have just gone through and counted all my Finished Projects from 2008 – here’s the final tally:

**big breath**

Blankets (3)
Sweaters/Tops/Vests (5)
Lace Shawls (6)
Bags (11)
Hats (9)
Socks (29 pairs)
Mitts (2 pairs)
Slippers (5 pairs)
Dishcloths (42)
Stuffed Toy (1)
Bottle/Tea Cozies (2)
Charity Blanket Squares (3)

Total Completed Projects: 118

Holy smokes is that a lot of yarn!

I’ve learned a lot this year and am very thankful for all the new people who have come into my life. **hugs**

Let us meet this new year with strength, hope and the will to see & make positive changes in our lives and the World.

Happy New Year Everyone!