I'm back for my annual update on how much I've knit in the past year. Whoops, it looks like I haven't updated this blog since mid-February. Whooops. Here goes!
finished in 2011, started previously:
EZ's 100th pi shawl designed by Wendy Johnson
Dan hat (says Dan in binary, represented by two colors of stripes)
Plivver, a lace turtleneck tank top designed by Gudrun Johnston
Yogini Bolero, designed by Wendy Bernard
Hallett's Ledge, designed by Elinor Brown
started and finished in 2011:
Summer Solstice out of Rhinebeck yarn, designed by Heidi Kirrmaier
Snowflake's blue mittens, with flip tops
Snowflake's Habitat hat, designed by Jared Flood
Appletree mitts out of lovely Three Irish Girls yarn, designed by Churchmouse
Presley's owl sweater, designed by Kate Davies
Tangled Yoke cardigan, designed by Eunny Jang
Shalder, designed by Gudrun Johnston, out of yarn that I got from ripping my lumpy, ill-fitting Dollar and a Half cardigan
Li-Mei's wedding blanket, Girasole designed by Jared Flood
Sam the Ram, a sheep that John McCarthy called a "tour de force", designed by Rita O'Connell
Snowflake's gansey, desgined by me using the methods in Beth Brown-Reinsel's book
Wonky cowl, designed by Brittany Wilson
Quincy hat, designed by Jared Flood
Goose Rocks sweater knit for a blog reader who took me up on my offer in February, designed by Tonia Barry
Featherweight cardigan knit for my friend Emily, designed by Hannah Fettig
Ackert Hook Hat, designed by Laura Chau
Pole sweater, designed by Joji Locatelli
Zora sweater, designed by Kristen Rengren
LazyKaty shawl, designed by Birgit Freyer
Dumpling bag, designed by Sharon Dreifuss
Sabbatical sweater, designed by Connie Chang Chinchio
Amelia sweater, designed by Laura Chau
Silures vest, designed by Norah Gaughan
a cowl to match Snowflake's Habitat
Hitchhiker shawl, designed by Martina Behm
Thermis cowl, designed by Kris
Lilac Leaf shawl, designed by Nancy Bush
Foliage hat, designed by Emilee Mooney
Lissajous knee-high socks, designed by Cookie A.
Twisted Flower socks, designed by Cookie A.
Dunes pullover sample, designed by Kirsten Hipsky
Acer cardigan, designed by Amy Christoffers
Balrog cowl test knit, designed by Susan Pandorf
Snapdragon mitts, designed by Ysolda Teague
2 Kerreras for kids for 2 babies, designed by Gudrun Johnston
Breast Cancer awareness scarf for charity, designed by Heather Bagni
Paulie sweater for my friend Carrie, designed by Isabell Kraemer
Whitby stockings for my new housemate Claire, designed by Courtney Kelley
2 dog costumes
another Rose's wristwarmers for Kyra, who wore out her last ones
Aidez for my mom, designed by Cirilia Rose
Time Warp cowl, designed by Susan Pandorf
Versio, designed by fallmasche
5 pairs of felted clogs, designed by Bev Galeskas
Deephaven infinity scarf, designed by Bonnie Sennott
Stockholm infinity scarf
Cole cardigan test, designed by Helen Rose
Green cables blanket, designed by Kathy Zimmerman
started in 2011, not yet finished:
Gretel hat, designed by Ysolda Teague (actually, this is finished, and is my first FO of 2012)
TARDIS socks, designed by Keladry Bonnett
In Dreams shawl, designed by Susan Pandorf
Neville cardigan test knit, designed by Glenna C
Cambridge jacket for Snowflake, knit from reclaimed yarn from his second sweater, designed by Ann Budd
In total, I knit 39827 yards this year, which is 22.6 miles.
In total, I finished:
19 sweaters
1 vest
2 baby sweaters and 1 toddler sweater
2 blankets
4 shawls
5 hats
7 cowls/infinity scarves
1 regular scarf
2 pairs of flip-top mittens and 2 pairs of fingerless mittens
2 dog costumes
1 toy
2 pairs of knee socks and 1 pair of regular socks
1 bag
28 things for me, or for which I have not found homes
5 things for Snowflake
25 things for other people (or dogs)
3 test knits/samples
1 project out of yarn that was dyed in my own house
Designers of the year: Bev Galeskas, who sponsored The Christmas of the Felted Clog, Jared Flood and Gudrun Johnston, many of whose designs I knit.
Yarns of the year: Malabrigo Twist, which made knitting Li-Mei's wedding blanket so enjoyable that I finished it in about 2 weeks, Valley Yarns Amherst, which made knitting Snowflake's blanket and gansey very enjoyable, Valley Yarns Northampton, which I used for all the clogs, and many Three Irish Girls yarns, which were coming to me in the mail every month.
Things I did this year:
I participated in the Three Irish Girls Stash Menagerie yarn club, which brought a lovely skein of yarn to my doorstep every month, and then the Pick of the Knitter yarn club, which brought a skein of one of my favorite 3IG yarns to me every month. I now have lots of single skeins, but I also had my wonderful Appletree mitts (until I lost them) and I have my fabulous Pole sweater.
I tried to get myself to knit socks, and I was going pretty well for like a month and a half there.
I participated in an informal sweater club with my friend Li-Mei. We (theoretically) knit 2 similar sweaters a year. This year, we did blue sweaters in Madelinetosh TML (my contribution was Zora) and Mary Jane (which I just started today, whoops.) Next, we're going to make Twinings from Twist Collective in Mission Falls wool, colorway Heath. Let me know if you want to join! (You don't have to use Mission Falls.)
I participated in Nerd Wars Tournament 3, which has somewhat dictated my choices of knitting projects for the past 3 months. It has been fun, but I think next time I'll do it as a Ninja Warrior, so I can blow it off if I want and not feel guilty for letting my team down.
I participated in the International Sweater-a-Month Dodecathon for 2011. I think that next year, I will participate only as a cheerleader. I think it's a great thing, but it's not a challenge for me right now.
I bought a rigid heddle loom (Ashford Knitter's loom, 20 inch) and wove a scarf!
I taught 3 of my friends to knit. First, there was Emily, whom I had recently "taught" to crochet. We did a small Quincy KAL for her first project, and then she launched right into a hoodie pullover with crochet edging that she finished and wore at Rhinebeck. Next, I taught my new housemate Claire and my friend Brian. Claire is what you would call a natural and has taken to it like a fish to water. Brian has become a master of the long-tail cast on and knit his first sampler swatch a few days ago.
Discovered the joys of ripping and fixing. I ripped out my very sad Dollar and a Half Cardigan and reknit the yarn into Shalder, which is now one of my favorite sweaters. I am now really excited about ripping everything I don't like that much and fixing it. Also, my faith in the felted splice has been solidified. I couldn't even really find the splices when I ripped that whole sweater.
Next year, I will:
Continue with my informal sweater club with Li-Mei.
Stop getting 3IG yarns in the mail. It's been great, but I need fewer single skeins coming into my stash.
Try to get myself to knit socks. I am participating in 12 in 2012, and challenging myself to knit 12 pairs of socks this year. I've got one started!
Be part of the Cookie A sock club! Snowflake bought me this subscription for Christmas, which he told me by wrapping up a box of Oreos and a pair of socks I already owned and putting them under the tree. I'm so excited! There's pretty much one thing that can get me to knit a whole pair of socks, and it's a Cookie A pattern.
Participate in the Finish, Frog, and Slog-along with the Doubleknit podcast listeners. I hope to get some of my UFOs done that have been haunting me, especially the many things I knit and never bothered to block. Whoops!
Other than that, I'm gonna knit what I want!
Here's a picture that pretty much summarizes my year.
New house, couch, laptop, and dog trying to keep me from my knitting.
Happy new year!
