Becky's Knitting

In addition to my New Year's Eve tradition, another post that will probably become annual is my Christmas from a knitting perspective.  Here's the knitting related goodies I received this year:

Knit Picks Harmony set!  A skein of medium-weight Socks that Rock in Downpour, Montse Stanley's Knitter's Handbook, small sock project bag with matching dpn holder, and in my stocking a sheep tape measure and sticky clips to hook your pattern to the back of airplane seats, car dashboards, etc.  I also received Nancie Wiseman's Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques (not pictured).  And, although not technically a knitting-related present, my new iphone is awesome for checking ravelry, knitting blogs, and pattern requirements when shopping for yarn!  I love it!!!

Here's our tree before and after:

Look!  Daniel got a red rider BB gun!

Well, ok, it's really a nice putter.

Major got a present too, all wrapped up in his own kitty paper.

It's a cozy cushion just like Lucy's!

And I did lots of cooking and baking over the holidays for my cookie exchange and Christmas dessert.  Here's a few of the goodies:

This is made of a blend of cheeses.  Unfortunately it was kinda bland, but it looked super cool.  Maybe next year I'll alter the recipe to make it more exciting.

And I made two pies for Christmas.  One was a cranberry cherry pie that was sooo yummy!!  The cranberry keeps the cherry from being too sweet.  It was also super easy to make.  And the one on the right is a Creme de Menth pie that was also quite tasty. 

In other Christmas knitting news, the FIL socks were a rousing success, and they fit!

The color is totally off in this picture - the pics in this post show the colors better.  My FIL has mentioned how much he likes them everytime I've seen him since Christmas, so I guess I'll be casting on for some more socks for him soon.  Even though he has big feet, it's worth it as much as he likes them.  I think his next pair will be out of sportweight though.  I already have some, but I need to get a coordinating color to do the toes, heels, and cuff before I cast on.

Right now I'm working on two miniature sweater ornaments for an ornament bridal shower I'll be attending next week.  Pictures coming when they actually look like something ;-)

Posted by Becky at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It has become a tradition around these parts for me to always post on New Year's Eve.  It's a great way to recap my year in knitting and set goals for next year. 

So, here's a status report on my list of projects posted this time last year.

• Finish Hanne Falkenberg Mermaid by next winter - Not a whole lot of progress, but I am almost done with the body.  I'd love to have the chance to wear it this winter, but it is good school knitting, and I have other things I want to finish first, so if I don't get to it, I'm ok with that.
• Finish Lacy Lattice Stole for a wedding in March - it was finished and blocked the night before the wedding, although I only did the border on one side b/c I ran out of time.  At some point I should put the border on the other edge, but I don't have the opportunity to do much lace knitting so I'm not too worried about it. 
• Pink cabled sweater for my mom - Debbie Bliss Cathay, pattern a combination of a Debbie Bliss pattern and a Louisa Harding pattern - still on hold - I've focused on Daniel's sweater, and once I finish that, or get bored with it, then I'll start my mom's.
• Grey cabled sweater for Daniel - Silky Tweed yarn, Rowan Classic pattern - halfway? done the front.  I really enjoy working on this, but it is not good law school knitting, so it is rare when I can concentrate enough on the pattern to work on it - it will likely be several more years before I complete this
• Finish the purple trekking socks and make lots more - done (and recently redone!), plus other socks listed below
• Finish Vickie Howell collection test knitting by Jan. 10 - done
• Finish the Grandmom Wrap (knitting done, need to block and fringe) - done and gifted, neeed to post FO pics 
• 3 Texas squares for LSSK babies - done
• dishcloths for my mom for her birthday or mother's day - I made one, but haven't gifted it yet as I want to do a few more - maybe for her birthday or mother's day this year
• embellish Daniel's stocking with beads and add names to both - didn't quite manage to do that before Christmas - maybe I'll do it before we put the decorations away, maybe not

And here's what else I made this past year:

• Socks for Daniel's Dad (and they fit!!)
• Longhorn Socks
• Clapotis
• Scarf for Red Scarf Project 
• Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat
• 5 Harry Potter hats for charity
• One skein plush scarf for Daniel's mom for her bday - I need to post a pic of this - my pattern is super easy and quick and available on the sidebar
• Waving lace socks for my mom - this will get it's own blog post soon as I just finished them
• Longhorn baby booties for Landon - hmm, doesn't look like I ever posted a pic of these either, will have to do so b/c they are sooo cute
• I also fixed my blog to have 3 columns and more space for the posts in the middle - I was pretty happy about that as it took some time and messing around with movable type.

Plans for next year:

• Figure out the crochet edging and finish the Dale baby dress (c section scheduled for Friday so better do this soon!!) 
• Order Tilli Thomas yarn and finish Sahara
• Finish at least one Chevron Scarf (I have the yarn for several)
• Finish swallowtail
• Make a baby sweater for my friend Laura who is due in June (the sweater I had almost finished for her won't work for this baby since it was a 3 month size and a wool sweater will need to be 6 month for DE weather.  She finds out at the beginning of February whether it's a boy or girl and then I'll pick a pattern and yarn.
• make at least one pillow with the yarn we bought on sale for pillows in our living room - planning to use this Vickie Howell pattern
• finish Longhorn Danica scarf for my sister-in-law, didn't get it done for this Christmas, but maybe next year

I have tons of other projects I am thinking about as well, but I'd prefer to keep the list fairly short and keep my options open for other projects.  I have so many things I want to make that the list could get way too long way too quick.

Although this post has become an annual event, it also fits in nicely with Dawn's Knitting Resolutions, so I will be linking to that as well.  I don't really feel the need to resolve to learn any new techniques, as usually I just try new things as I need them.  But I would like to learn a little more crochet - this will be necessary for the Dale baby dress, and I got Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet book so I'd like to maybe try the simple crocheted scarf out of that.  But I love knitting so much that I don't feel the need to learn to crochet just to have another thing I can do b/c I already have too many things I want to do ;-). 

And finally, because a post without pictures is no fun, Major (who has an obsession with paper bags) says Happy New Year!!!

Posted by Becky at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)