Almost Finished: Winter's Fog Gloves/Stash Revamp

Almost there! One glove down, one to go... 

In other news, I decided to go through my entire stash on this last day of the year to be sure my online catalog is up to date so hopefully (yeah right) I will curb my yarn habit in the coming year.  It is relatively exciting to pull everything out and touch it all.  I have never had a stash big enough to "forget" about yarns, but it certainly does bring back anticipated project ideas while reviving my lust.   On one hand I feel very proud of my stash-- not too big, not too small, some amazingly sought after yarns/colorways, but I can't lie, there is a tinge of worry as I look through it all and wonder just how much money I have poured into this "habit"... It's not enough to make me regret buying this or that, but I am hoping it will weigh heavily on me this new year, as I try and avoid (the unavoidable) impulse gotta have its.

Finished: State Street

Sometimes, I don't need something... like I really didn't need another cowl, but I had to have it.  This design, State Street by Pam Allen has been calling to me for some time.  I decided to make mine a lot smaller than the pattern states mainly for functionality, but I think the original, over sized design would be great, too.  I would say this pattern took me about 10 full hours of knitting on the smaller needles so a nice and easy stash buster. (You can find my mods on my project page on Rav.) 

I also began Phillip's cabled gloves last night out of the Cascade 220 that I picked up during the after Christmas sale.  The pattern, Vancouver Fog, is just enough to keep me interested, but nothing too frustrating.  I am somewhere around 30% done with the first glove, so hopefully by the new year P's hands will no longer resemble icicles. 

More importantly, I am getting closer to my 5 mile goal... I am about 200+ yards away, so I better get to my needles before work! 

Yarn!

Sometimes I wonder whether my knitting makes gift giving holidays a little too easy for my Phillip.  For the last few years, any time one has come along, my response is inevitably the same... "I will pick out some yarn," and quite honestly, there has never been any shortage of yarns I am dying for. 

For Christmas, I received some amazing gifts.  Along with some roving and a book on spinning, I also got a couple of skeins of yarn from my MIL's trip to Oregon.  The colors are really gorgeous.. I will have to search Noro patterns for something to show off the color changes, for sure.

This morning I was also able to hit up my LYS for their after Christmas sale... Wow! First, the place was full  of people.. it was sort of shocking.  Then you can imagine my delight when I heard that everything  was a minimum of 15% off! It is possible I freaked people out by squealing, as this was the perfect opportunity to buy things I hadn't really planned on for a fraction of the cost.  There are certain yarns that knitters know never ever go on sale, and this was an amazing stroke of luck that I forced myself out of bed, as I had missed the note about the discount on yarn (Not sure why, but I did.).  Anyway, I left with 6 skeins of yarn for practically nothing! I ended up getting some Cascade 220 for a pair of cabled gloves for Phillip, another skein of Suri Merino, (which kills me--love love love love love this yarn!), some Berroco Comfort to match  my stash left overs, two skeins of Malabrigo Gruesa to try out of sheer curiosity, and last but not least, some Madelinetosh Vintage in French Gray, which practically gave me chills when I saw. (A LYS worker had posted on Rav before my trip that she had been gifted a sweaters worth--I experienced real envy then!)  I'd say the trip was a major success.

In the coming days I should be getting my drop spindle to try this spinning thing out.  I am nervous but have been  soaking in as many videos and books as possible so hopefully it will be a fruitful learning process.  

More soon... 

Hurry up! It's almost 2012!

Okay, I've been slacking a whole lot on my 5 mile goal for the year.  I haven't picked up my needles much in the last week except to begin an ill fated attempt at a Toasty glove made with Rowan Felted Tweed left overs from Guernsey.  It isn't an epic failure or anything, but I have yet to pick up the stitches needed to begin the thumb and then I still need to make another.  I should have known better, but really, they were an attempt to practice for the start of a cabled glove project I plan to begin for Phillip, should I ever stop procrastinating.

I am hoping to make it a little further in the next few days, as I am planning a last minute assault on my LYS for some yarn to begin a State Street Cowl.  I have also cast on and frogged a Marian cowl about twenty times, but I will spare you the gruesome details.... I have some stash yarn picked out for that, but I fear the rope-like structure of the yarn will clash badly with the cabled motif... (If you are a knitter, I know what you are thinking.... you'd just have to see the starts I have had to understand... ropey and cable sounds great together, but not in this instance.)  Anyway, as Christmas approaches I am becoming more and more aware of how fickle I am when it comes to my knitting.  Perhaps, it is a coming of age tale, about how far I have come in the last year.  Not knitting for the sake of knitting (which really isn't a bad thing at all), but really, trying to put out something that will be of real use and beauty in the collection that is my hand knits.

Should I be hibernating as holidays pass to get closer my goal, I am wishing much happy knitting!

Finished: Avery Jr.

After handing along the Avery of a few posts ago to my sister in law, I knew I wasn't finished with the pattern.  I wanted one! Along came the Beet Root colorway  of Berroco Comfort and off I was to knit myself this amazing design by Melissa LaBarre.

I keep getting asked if this pattern is beginner friendly... yes! If you can knit in the round, knit & purl and follow a pattern I say go for it. The result looks a lot harder than it actually is and is wonderfully warm and cuddly. 

Received my Cyber Monday yarn and was off to make gauge swatches last night...so much left to knit to get to my 5 mile, self-imposed year deadline!