2008...

2008 has been a good year for my knitting. I feel like I'e learned a heck of a lot, and that I know have a lot of confidence in my skillls. The highlights of my knitted lifestyle so far have been my Phildar lacy cardigan, which is gorgeous and cool, and all the socks I have made, especially through Summer of socks. It has been a blast! I"m also deeply in love with my cowl made out of Miski. I love cowls more than scarves I think : less bulk, same warmth. I foresee quite a few more going on my needles.

I'm trying to think of a few goals I am aiming for in 2009. I like goals because they let me think and organize : I really don't mind not getting them done! I did about half of last year's goals, which is fine by me. I've had less time to knit, a lot more work, and that's okay too. I've managed to get a decent stash, and to get rid of the skeins that were no longer for me.

For 2009, I want to...

1. Knit mittens! I have a kit for thrummed mittens, and I have plenty of yarn for colowork mittens. Can't wait to get to it in 2009. I've knit two pairs of fingerless mitts, and I have no use for them. The weather here is just too cold for bare fingers.


2. Knit more accessories. I love smaller projects.


3. Don't force myself to knit sweaters. It sometimes feel like I should, because it is the mark of a more-than-beginner knitter, but really I barely wear the ones I made. I think one or two big projects this year should be enough.


4. Buy smaller amounts of yarn, no sweater quantities : linked to goal number 3!


5. Do Summer of socks again! SO MUCH FUN!


6. And finally, I want to do a yarn bank : for every skein I buy, a skein has to be knit or leave my stash. I don't feel like expanding my stash much past 40000 yards (I'm at 37000 now), and I want to have fun with the yarn I have NOW, not always lust about other things. I also need to introduce a little more bulky, a little less fingering!


7. Last goal : do a sweater for my mom for her 60th birthday... in April!

I hope all of you had a lovely holiday time. During my time off, I want to sow my Gathered pull, finish a sock and get through all of the sleeves of Forestry. Should be doable, especially with football watching sunday!

Happy knitting!

La lune d'automne

Fall at last! I love this season : shorter days, cool nights, football, hockey, vegetables... It is a lovely little stop before the crazyness of winter. I am hoping for less snow than last year, because that was just ridiculous. I'm also hoping for less renovation work, more time to organise my business. I need to make some serious changes soon, and must decide if I need an associate, which is difficult for me. I love being sole captain!

Yarn wise, I've been on a buying frenzy of semi-solid sock yarns. Most of what I had was variegated, not a good choice for more involved patterns. I fell n love with Dream in Color yarns : made a Yarn Harlot one-row scarf in Classy and I just lurve it. It's the one in the photo, I just adore it.

I've gotten almost all my stash on Ravelry. I think I need to shop differently. First, I think I have enough sock yarn for a while. I need to lay off Knit picks because, for the most part, I tend to be dissapointed once I get the yarn. I don't really need any sweater amounts of yarn, but I need more single skeins... I tend to buy in bulk and almost nothing for smaller projects.

So, what's on the needles? For the first time in forever, I have more than 2 WIPs at the same time... 5 to be exact. There's the Gathered pullover : I was waiting for cooler weather to do the seaming, and now the set-in sleeves are giving me trouble. I'll try again after blocking, but I'm also thinking of taking a finishing class cause I really suck at anything other than mattress stitch. I have a Noro hat that should be done soon, a plain Regia sock for calmer moments, and a second Pomatomus to go for SKA on Ravelry. Knitting the first one gave me intense pain in the elbow and wrist, so it's gonna be at least two weeks until I start that one again. I try to vary my needle sizes more, after a full summer of socks on teeny needles.

The big project underway is Forestry, the latest Veronik Avery design for VK Fall 2008 (btw, wow! great projects in this. It's bizarro world, I love this VK more than the fall IK). I'm using some Galway heather I had in stash, it's lovely yarn in a tomato red that should suit me really well. I might run into trouble because I have a little less than the required amount of yarn, but since I have short arms, I should be OK I hope. We'll see. The back is done and I'll start the sleeves next.

So, lots of knitting. After the last online buying frenzy, I swore to myself I wasn't going to buy anything new until I had gone through 10 balls from my stash... I have 1 full and 4 partial balls knit, so it should be good for pre-christmas shopping.

See you soon!

Summer time!

Well, long time no see, good ol' blog! I think I'm not that much of a blogger : Ravelry is enough for me to figure out where I'm going with my knitting. I've been having a ton of fun with Summer of Socks, looking at all the cool stuff people are posting. I had a goal of 5 socks : 3 fingering weight, and the 2 DK habs socks for my man and his father. I ended up doing 4 fingering weight and 1 DK, with the other one planned for this week. I made really great progress, so I'm quite happy with the results. However, I'm getting tired of all those socks.

Soooo, I cast on for a lace ribbon scarf, this lovely pattern by my favorite designer, Veronik Avery. How that woman does it, I have no clue. Pretty much everything she designs makes my heart pitter patter. She has this insane cardigan in the new Vogue Knitting for fall which is so me. The lust is strong with this one!

I'm not participating in Ravelympics : I debated doing it, but decided not to. I'm looking at people's FO anyway, just to get ideas (not that I need any more patterns in my queue : I would not be able to knit everything I want even if I had 8 arms.)

I just received a HUGE package from Knit Picks : I went a little crazy with the shopping therapy! I'm yearning for colorwork mittens, so I bought close to thirty! skeins of Palette. I'm thinking that, after the summer of socks, I'll be doing my very own Fall of accessories! I need scarves, hats, mittens, cowls.... All that good stuff! Can't wait to see what happens.

Here are the fingering weight socks I did.... Pretty sure you can recognize the patterns!

Stash Review

The stash is growing and growing,and I need to think a little bit about matching yarn and projects. I have a lot of acrylics, some random balls of wool, and a few sweater amounts, mostly pinks and purples... I seem to be drawn to those lately.



YARNS

• 6 skeins of Berocco Foliage : I might redo a Cozy V neck with it.
• 10 skeins of Mitchell Alpaca-silk : A Flutter-Sleeve from the last IK?
• 7 Cascade 220 superwash in green : A hoodie, for sure.
• 2.5 cascade 220 brownish : Retro redux shrug
• 6 skeins of Cotton-ease Berry : A tee
• 8 skeins of merino style : no clue!
• Patons Grace : Accidently on purpose drop-stitch tee from SnB
• 17 skeins of Shamrock : Emerald, if gauge works the way I think
• 6 red Ella Rae :a sienna cardigan
• 5 purple Ella Rae : no clue. Was for a Everest vest, but looked awful

That's pretty much it. I'm knitting a leafy shrug from Phildar with some cascade 220, it's a fun knit. Finished the back today, 4 pieces to do. I think this will be a winner.

The unending socks

I've hit a black hole in my quest to knit myself a pair of Jaywalkers. I understand why the pattern is so popular, it makes an interesting use of self-striping yarn, but the fabric ends up so stiff and non-stretchy, I don't think I'll be knitting another. The second sock is taking forever. I also need to shorten the first sock, it ended up a little long. I had hoped to be through with it this weekend, but that ain't happening.

I will swatch for the Everest vest and for Emerald. I'm generally a one or two project girl, a big one and a small one. I'm using Shamrock from Knitpicks for Emerald : I wasn't sure about it in the ball, but it sure looks great knitted up. It is a little rough and doesn't look like it will have much drape, which should work for such a heavy cardigan. For Everest, I'll be using Plymouth Galway in a purle-y colourway. I've been wanting a vest for a while. I'll make it tight but not too form-fitting.

I visited the new yarn shop in Montreal, Ariane Knits. I like that they have yarns that are different from those sold at Effiloché, my other favorite yarn shop in Montreal. I got some Opal sock yarn, for a pair of Broadripple socks. I saw a pair on Ravelry in this exact colorway and fell in love. I also got 5 skeins of cascade 220 in bright purple, I have no clue what I'll do with it.

Good weekend

Good football equals lots of knitting. I think that might just be one of my favorite things ever : sit in my comfy chair and knit while watching big guys go crazy over a ball. I like the orderliness of football : 1st and 10, 2nd and 6... Passes, rushes, touchdowns, everything. Mr V and I made plans to travel to the States next year to see a combo of 1 football game and one hockey : we're thinking Buffalo of Pittsburgh. Anyway, for the superbowl, my heart would like Packers/Colts, my brain says Patriots/Packers. I think Romo will have another disappointing showing this postseason. We'll see.

I finished the Moderne Log Cabin Baby Blanket and plan to gift it to charity. I hated knitting it, both the yarn and the concept of Log Cabin. Yet, I hope it will be helpful to somebody else. A woman on Ravelry was asking for blankets for babies in Nunavut, so I plan on shipping it there, along with a few baby hats and some yarn I don't use. I've figured out that I like wool better than acrylics for most things. I'm thinking of curbing down the acrylic stash to only the stuff I'll use, and sell the rest at the bazar in May. I did a lot of impulse buying at WalMart, unfortunately!

I've figured out most of my knitting goals for 2008

Toe-up socks... One pair plain, and one pair of Marigold. I'll try this once the unending jaywalkers are finished.

Colorwork, or stranded knitting : I've already done a little of it, but the results were crappy. Maybe a vest pattern?

Make a good set of winter accessories for ME. Hat, scarf and mittens, in beautiful WOOL.

I know I want a few sweaters that I'll wear. Possibly do a garment in crochet, if I find a pattern that suits. I want vests for work.

Do a French Pattern from Phildar. It should be interesting!

Do some knitting for charity. I've already started on this by finishing the log cabin (never again!) and doing a few hats.

Quite a plan. Let's hope for happy knitting times. Photos to come saturday of the finished Log cabin and Wicked (with pocket reseamed!)

Happy new 2008!

December was a crazy happy knitting time. I finished all my gifts, and did some things for myself.

I knit the Wicked sweater for myself. Pictures are upcoming, as I have to redo the sewing of the pocket, which is crooked. It is a great pattern, very easy to do and quite pretty. It is a little big, but not too much. I love the yarn, Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks, in a pretty Pumpkin. It is a great yarn with a nice wooly feeling without being crazy itchy, like the Pastazza I used for the V-Neck.

I've done half of a pair of Jaywalkers : lovely look with the zigzags of the stripes, but the resulting fabric is stiff and not that confortable. I'm pushing through the second one, so I'll see how they are after washing. he yarn is great : Regia Canadian Colors. Nice combination of colors, prettier knitted up than in the ball.

I'm starting again the Moderne Log cabin Baby blanket, in Bernat Satin. I want to finish it and send it to charity.

Soon, I'll do a list of my resolutions, knitting and personnal for 2008. I'll post it soon.