Farewell, 2009!

As the year draws to a close, I find myself first wondering where the time has gone so quickly, followed quickly by positive hopes for 2010.

As December winds its way out, I'm enjoying some quiet time spent with my family, away from the craziness that is work and real life all combined. The crazy in the air seems to have (hopefully) worn itself out, and I find myself looking at a lot of things wrapping themselves up nicely.

The last year has been rewarding and challenging in different ways than years past - this year, I focused much more on my engineering career, rather than on dyework. I took on a new role, and it's proven to be challenging and rewarding, though it leaves me with much less energy to do production runs of dyeing.

It appears that while I have been knitting, I was nowhere near as prolific as years past...though I have to say, I think I churned off some pretty good projects, including an array of spectacular socks, a variety of sweaters and cardigans, and some stunning lace, if I do say so myself ;) Not to mention a wee bit of whimsy thrown in at the last minute :)

I attempted the 365 project, but sputtered out somewhere between 100 and 200....I definitely think those that complete the project are fantastically dedicated :) I also tried hooping - and while I've gotten much more proficient at keeping the hoop up, I'm no good at tricks...and I've discovered it takes a surprising amount of space to actually hoop and attempt tricks (I also discovered that my house apparently does not have such a space, and my cats do not enjoy my attempts at learning hoop tricks). Now that I've reached my mid-30s I figure I can throw caution to the wind, chop off my hair, and sample extensions of various hues - I'm ending the year with burgundy highlights :)

I'm looking forward to the "fresh beginning" that is associated with a new year - I hope to get back outdoors, renew my love of dyeing, learn new knitting tricks, and not go too insane with what I see coming down the pipe at work :D

Best wishes to all of you, for a most excellent 2010!

I can't resist...

a wee woodland creature, immortalized on a mitten. I cast on for these shortly before Christmas, managing only a cuff before getting sidetracked. Now that I have some time away, I am endeavouring to knit away and make solid progress before the new year. You know. Because a girl who lives in a low desert valley apparently needs Squirrel Mittens.

A Last Minute Visit

...from the elves.

I think they left their shoes behind.

For those that celebrate, I hope your elves were kind to you this year!

Swift...

...and squooshy! Behold what became of the handspun yarn cakes - details here!

Wishing...

...you a warm and wonderful day with your family. We're celebrating with naps :)

Happy Holidays!

Best wishes to all of you this holiday season. May you all be healthy, well fed, in good spirits and humor. Thank you for visiting my wee space on the internet - I appreciate each and every one of you! Cheers!

Christmas Knitting....

After having spun up those two yarns recently, I had to wind em up into yarncakes...1) so I could see how they looked in cake form and 2) so that I could start knitting with them immediately! Yes, they've been transformed...but I can't say anything more until after the holidays ;)

Play dough!

I've been trying for a very very long time to figure out how to turn out a good loaf with varying results. I think I've finally stumbled upon one that will become my go-to recipe...want to see how things turn out once they are baked? Look over here!

Textured

After I finished up with Audrey, I jumped in with a quick knitting sock project - these fairly flew off the needles - I think they took 2 weeks total, with knitting only on evenings and weekends. Not bad for a pair of socks destined for my husband's feet! More details? Of course! Have a look over here.

It's that time of year again...

When the cats are extra affectionate and enjoy the knitwear as much as I do ;)

Hope you all are staying warm! I'm taking advantage of the cool weather to revel in my handknits! And by revel, I mean piling on the handknit socks, fingerless mitts, sweaters, cardigans and the occasional hat...all while still indoors. (I'm being stubborn and haven't turned on the heat yet).

Periwinkle.

or verbena. or hydrangea....

This is a wheel blended navajo plied yarn - just over 8 ounces :) It's a blend of BFL and superwash merino that I had sitting around in the stash - there was no reasoning for the blending that way other than the colors were similar enough to allow for nice coloring, and something that I could add to the other navjao plied yarn to get enough yardage for a semi-secret project.

This time round, I made a conscious effort to put enough twist into the singles to prevent breaking on plying, and it seems to have gone much better. I'm loving the bounce and squoosh factor of the navajo plied yarn....tho I need to start churning off finer singles if I want the finished yarn to be less chunky!

And once again....

I pushed the yarn usage to its limits :) that would be less than one meter of yarn left over from knitting my latest sweater. She's been done since November 14th, but I've been sorely neglecting my blog...anyone else wondering where all the spare time is going? If you know, please tell me. I need some.

Full details and lots more photos can be found here, on the finished objects blog. The yarn was purchased years ago, well before I was a spinner - at a farmers market in Oregon. I remember asking the sellers with some level of urgency if it was enough for a sweater, and sure enough, it was :) It's been moldering around in my stash waiting for the perfect inspiration to declare what it wanted to be, and took its own sweet time doing so, but I couldn't be happier with the result!