Hey, maybe I'll blog!
I may not have been adding to my knitting blog recently, but I have been knitting. Yes, yes, mostly socks, but I did manage to stray away from wool footwear long enough to make a few Christmas presents. A Scalene scarf for Mom, Exeter hats for Dad and my brother, Michael, and Tweed Mittens for my friends Darlene & Crista. I did have a pair of socks for Chris in progress for the holidays but they didn't quite make it in time for his Christmas stocking. No worries - I finished them early in January. Too bad I told him about them when I didn't finish them in time or they could have been a Valentine's Day present. (And too bad my friend, Leigh, didn't suggest that a mere 12 hours earlier...)
Oh, before I forget - Happy New Year! I have some grand resolutions for 2013, some knitting related and some not. First the general stuff - I want to plan weekly dinner menus for my family (it makes shopping and cooking soooo much easier!) And... I actually think that was my only resolution that didn't have to do with yarn.
For yarny resolutions, I decided that this year I am going to knit a sweater. For myself. That isn't some big boxy, acrylic yarn held double-stranded monstrosity like I knit for myself in 8th grade. A real sweater. One where people will say, "Oh, I love your sweater!" and I can reply, "Thanks! I made it!" to which their eyes will bug out of their heads and they'll be so incredibly impressed that they'll barely be able to gasp, "You made that???" To which they'll go home and have five weeks of depression that they only thing they've produced recently is a score of over 300 points in Words With Friends.
But I digress.
I want to knit a sweater. I've even picked out a pattern - it's called the Blackberry Cabled Cardigan. As the name suggests, there are a LOT of cables.
I obviously decided to start out small and simple and not just jump insanely into a complicated pattern that will make me want to strangle somebody and that I have no chance in hell of finishing.
This sweater will also be an investment. The cheapest yarn option I've found so far (Knit Picks) will set me back about $65. My first choice option priced out at $150, so we'll just pretend that yarn doesn't exist. I am perfectly content knitting my crazy sweater in less expensive but still good quality yarn. (And it will NOT be purple.)
I also have resolved to knit a pair of gloves. A designer named Julia Mueller has some fabulous glove patterns, some with unique construction. (No mind that I've never knit a glove of any construction before. But I did knit mittens, so how hard can it be to add all those fingers???) I'm considering a pattern of hers called Eisblume.
I may not add the beads because I've seen some lovely ones without them. But I do like knitting with beads, so for that reason I kind of do want to add them. But I like the look better without them. But they are more impressive with them. But it would be faster to knit them without beads. But I already have beads I could use.
As you can see, my internal bead dilemma rages on.
My final knitting-related resolution is to not grow my stash. (HA!!!) No really. I'm going to try. I did join Cookie A's 2013 sock club, so that's one skein every 2 months - only 6 for the year. And I love Hazel Knits so I gave myself permission to purchase that club which is 2 skeins every 2 months, so that's 12 for the year. Add that to the Cookie Club and that would be 18 skeins. Considering I knit 30 pairs of socks last year, that would decrease my stash by 12 skeins by the end of 2013. But honestly, if I can even just maintain the level of the bins/bags/pile, I'd be happy. That means I need to... Knit. From. Stash.
Can I do it? That remains to be seen.
Next blog- recently finished socks! Are you on the edge of your seat???
