December 31, 2014

Another year over ... and new projects just begun!

The Christmas knitting was finished, though I was still knitting dish cloths on Christmas morning, on time for gift-giving festivities this year.  I swear, like I do every year, that I need to start The List in September next year instead of November.  But, hindsight aside, each kid ended up with something that their momma made for them:

hunting beanie for Scout #1
fluorescent Sportswoman gloves for Rocket
extra long Sportsman gloves for Scout #2
And by the time I wove in the ends on the last gift basket dish cloth, my hands were waving the white flag of surrender, so there wasn't actually a new project cast on (and I just about went batty because of it) on Christmas day as planned.  That's okay, though, because it gave me time to look through this little gem that my Honey bought for me for Christmas, the 6-volume set of Weldon's Practical Needlework.


The attribute of this collection that defines its awesomeness is that I can learn how to do any type of needlework according to historically accurate instructions.  I may have to learn tatting in 2015. It's also interesting to note that many of the projects among these pages are cross-disciplinary, meaning that a knitting project may also include crochet and macrame, or an embroidery project may also require a crocheted or tatted lace edge.  This was the best gift of all!

On the 26th, I cast on for a new pair of socks in Rusted from my Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock yarn stash. I thought briefly about working up something complicated and interesting, but decided to just work up a pair of plain socks ... but now I seem to have lost interest a bit so maybe I will rip back and re-think the plan. They aren't knitting up very "rusty"--more like grey and brown stripes with a bit of white pooling.  I can't decide if it's the plainness of the sock or the lackluster colorway that is turning me off.



On the 27th, I cast on for that Eyeblink crescent shawl that I've been wanting to knit up in my stashed Firewood Tosh Merino Light.  You might recall that I knit one for my mom for her birthday in pink in October. I was pretty pleased with the pattern, though I am tossing about the idea of changing the lace pattern that finishes it off.


Since the shawl is a no-brainer and uses larger needles which also are surprisingly easy on my tired hands, it seems to be the go-to project at the moment.  I might even have it done by New Year's Day.

In other hobby news ... I finally finished reading World Without End by Ken Follett.  Although I am a fan of Ken Follett, and I did read the first book of this series, Pillars of the Earth, I have to say that somewhere around the middle of the book (about page 500) I lost interest and put it down for about a year.  With shouts of triumph, however, I finished page 1,111 this past Monday morning.  I tell you this not because it's particularly interesting that I finished reading an unbelievably lengthy text, but because I have discovered that I can knit and read AT THE SAME TIME!  So, that's pretty great because I've mostly spent the last several years choosing between knitting and reading, and now I can just do both simultaneously.  Fun, fun!

I wish you and yours health and happiness in 2015!


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