Year in Review 2016 and 2017

Hello Blog.  Today is December 31, 2017.  Time to review my last two years of knitting.

First up 2016.

16 in 2016 and two of those were frogged projects. So really 14 FO's. Not a lot of knitting for me in 2016.

1 hat
1 sweater
3 cowls
2 mkal's one being Building Blocks by Stephen West size large.
3 shawls
3 pairs of socks
1 Hedgie for a dear soul who is no longer with us.

On to 2017

44 total projects.  One frogged and one is a wip.  I love the idea of 44 projects in 2017, yes for political reasons. Forever 44.

8 completed hats. One additional wip Brioche hat. 4 Pussy Hats. One marched in Washington, one mailed to the Yarnbomber for his Pussy Hat Instalation. I hear he is ill and wish him health.  One small Pussy Hat gifted to my sister for Little Frog. One more my daughter, because she told me she also wanted to be a Nasty Girl.

1 sweater for a dear little one.

1 Hedgie for the same dear little one.

9 total shawls.  2 Stephen West shawls including the Marled Magic mkal and Speckle and Pop. Wonder Woman, loved the movie had to knit the shawl. I knit two fade shawls, Find Your Fade and What the Fade.  I knit along with the Joji Mystery Wrap.  First bit of commission knitting for Yarnbyrds: A Yarn Truck.

2 cowls

6 earbud pouches

2 pairs of socks

11 dishcloths

1 Rosie the Hippo immediately renamed Fiona the Hippo becuase FIONA.

1 pair of long fingerless mitts for my daughter, who is a Freshman in High School.

That's 2017.  I have a Brioche hat on the needles that I have no desire to attempt to finish in a mad dash today. Loving Brioche. What the Fade really helped me find my Brioche mojo this year. I tried two other times over the years and struggled with Brioche. But now it clicks in my brain and I am in love.

Instagram and Ravelry continue to be my online knitting locations of choice.  IRL knitting, and yarn buying, included my first trip to Wool Gathering at Yong's Dairy with two knitting friends. My first trip to the Great Lakes Fiber Festival at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. Yarnbyrds: A Yarn Truck maid her maiden voyage in Westerville two summers ago, I think it was the summer before this past one. The Nest opened up this fall.  I took a yarn dying workshop at The Nest with Destination Yarn. Lots of fun. There are several newish yarn shops here in Cbus that I still have not checked out but hope to in the new year.

Knitting Goals for 2018.

More brioche.

Pad the stash with more DK and speckles.

Get out to local yarn shops.

Maybe take a workshop or class.

Continue to engage with fellow knitters on Instagram.

Continue to encourage new knitters.

I'm not going to pretend like I'm going to blog much this coming year.  See you later for the next Year in Review.

2015 Year in Review

Happy 2016! Here is my yearly knitting year in review.

2015 was a year of cold sheeping. Overall I knitted from stash and it was great. I did break the cold sheep in the fall for the Air MKAL.  I have next to no lace weight yarn in my stash. Knitting Air reminds me why I have very little lace weight in my stash. Brutal.

Projects completed in 2015

Toys 2, a guinea pig version of our piggy Peppermint and a Sock Monkey for H. Sock Monkey is out of Felici and it looks like he is wearing booty shorts, super cute.

Hats 8  pretty straight forward.

Socks 3 pair

Sweaters 2  One was E's Hermione sweater, it was a beast.

Cowls 2

Shawls 5 fun stuff

WIPS that moved over into 2016 one cowl, Willow Cowl, simple yet not boring knit.  One Dragon toy, challenging knit over on Kim Harrison's blog.  The wings are done.

That works out to 22 finished objects in 2015.  Not bad. I continue to knit but not as much as before.

Happy New Year ones of readers!

Cold Sheeping: The Halfway Point

Look at me blogging THREE times in one year.  Oh how times have changed.  I'm more on Rav and Instagram these days but I will keep my blog going.

I'm loving cold sheeping.  It's a challenge sometimes but overall I'm enjoying the challenge. 

Must admit that a friend gifted me some yarn during a stash cleanse. This included some super spiff yarn.  I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to knit with this fabu yarn.

Other then a few patterns I've spent very little on knitting so far this year.  My stash has provided yarn, entertainment and an opportunity to use what I have.

I plan on continuing the cold sheep until further notice.

Goodbye Grandma J

Both of the very special women who taught me to knit are now passed. Mom back in the summer of 97 and now Grandma J.

Grandma J was 95, it was her time. 

I'm so incredibly sad.

I knitting related news I have her needle stash, which I love. The straights are displayed in the kitchen.  I also have some of her yarn stash.  Maybe it is time to dip into that special stash a bit in celebration of her life fully lived.

Cold Sheeping 2015

I've decided to Cold Sheep this year.  I have fabulous stash. This year I'm going to focus on knitting from stash instead of adding to stash. 

Of course there can be the occasional exception.  I need to buy a few more skeins of WOTA to finish the Hermione Cardigan for E. 

Otherwise Cold Sheep for me, at least for now.

Instagram

FYI. I joined Instagram this year.  It's fun. 

2014 Knitting Year in Review

Hello and Goodbye to 2014.

Let's run down my FO's shall we?

4 shawls, two Stephen West designs, love his funky design sense.

7 hats.

5 Hedgies, including one Extra Special Hedgie for the Ravellenic Games.  The political ridiculousness in Sochi dampened the usual Olympic joy.  So I knitted a Rainbow Hedgie for Educational purposes.  Hedgie turned out super cute and educational.  You can see the short row sections in the back quite nicely. 

Ravellenic Rainbowllenic Rainbow Construction Educational Funtimes Hedgie

Ravelry Project Link

7 dishcloths knitted on handmade wooden straights for an online buddy.  Her Grandfather made the needles and she gifted them to me.  I realized that I tend to drop, more like throw, my needle when I'm done with a row. This is not a big deal when using circs but it is annoying when using straights.

4 bricks for the  Secular Coalition of America.

1 lap blanket using the massive Palette stash.

1 pair of super complicated kilt hose for the husband. I'd not knitted socks in two years.  This was my most challenging pair of socks to date.  One month and a day of knitting.

1 Weasley sweater for the son, it turned out huge, but he continues to grow so no worries.

I am so close to being done with a Hermione Cardigan for daughter, but it is not getting done in 2014.

That brings us to a grand total of 30 finished projects in 2014.  Hooray for me!  Looking back I'm focusing on more complex knitting.  The kilt hose were ridiculous but I got them finished. The Hermione Cardigan I'm currently working on had a crazy stranded yoke.

I continue to knit for me by my rules.  Knitting brings me comfort and a creative outlet.

Goals for 2015

Dare I even think about cold sheeping?  I have a great little stash. I'm thinking it is time to knit down the stash a bit.

I plan to continue to challenge my skill set and try new techniques.

Knitting will continue to be something for me. 

Hello, old friend

Oh knit blog you are so neglected.

I could have sworn I did a 2013 Year in Review but apparently I did not.

I completed 23 projects in 2013 including one massive fingering weight garter stitch blanket, six sweaters, four hats, one cowl, one pair of mittens, four shawls, four toys, and two dishcloths.

The Alber's Blanket

This was a massive undertaking for me. I found Homage to a Square blocks I liked online and then attempted to recreate them as close as I could manage in Knit Picks Palette.  I'm in love with the blanket.  Oh and the squares are in chronological order in which Albers painted them starting with 1951 in the top left and 1969 in the bottom right.

Happy Knitting!