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Yeah, okay, so it's not much of a "year" when you've only really learned to knit in July, and have only been seriously knitting since November ^^;; so, many a Christmas 2007 review? *sigh* I'm special.

*ahem* Onward! The final count:

2 pairs of mittens, one of them fingerless
4 hats
4 scarves (1 repeat)
1 dish cloth
1 pair of slippers
1 bag that I really need to line! Gah~!

The biggest loser was probably the bag since I keep meaning to finish it, but never do ^^;; (And you don't even get to see a picture of it so there!)

In first place I think I'll put Dashing fingerless mittens that I knit for my friend Lise (They're going in the mail soon, I promise!) in England because learning how to cable was a pretty big wall for me and I was pretty nervous about it. Thanks to these mittens, I'm fearless!


New years eve was an enjoyable evening with some friends, and I started a sweater so that's a great way to start the new year I think!

I was resisting doing the typical new years resolutions this year, but I think maybe I can make some knitting resolutions.

1. Finish this sweater this year. I don't know how ambitious this is, but I do know that I have a crappy attention span so we'll have to wait and see if I lose interest or not.
2. Go to at least one knitting gathering a month
3. Participate in at least one swap per season
4. blog at least once per week (to encourage knitting? Perhaps ^_^)
5. knit a pair of socks!

2007 FO's

Drop Lacestitch Wascloth (Christmas game contribution)

Dashing (Fingerless Mittens at Knitty)

Manly Mitts (free pattern at knitty)

Foliage (hat on Knitty)

Cotton slippers (modified pattern)

Calorimetry headband (free pattern on knitty)

Brown vine-stitch scarf

Reversible lace-stitch scarf

Vine-stitch scarf (blue)

Mock-cable slouchy hat in green

I decided that it was time for Christmas cookies. It just doesn't feel like Christmas unless there are cookies and other treats around. Somehow they just weren't as good as Mom's, but they were still tasty ^_^ Chris helped!


In knitting news, I finished all of my Christmas knitting, the final packaged arrived on Monday which concluded my Christmas shopping, and I finished tagging and wrapping all of the knitted gifts last night. *siiigh* I can almost relax. Almost. Not quite. We fly out to Toronto tomorrow night and I should be packing not blogging XP

I also started a smallish afghan (ravelry link) the other night. I have all of this old Acrylic Bernat SuperValue that I bought before I knew better and needed to use it because they're taking up way too much space. I'm knitting it in the round so that it's easier to take it on the plane (and because it would get pretty heavy on two needles)

I also managed to get some progress bars thanks to Ravelry! They're awesome because they update themselves so I don't have to babysit them. Hooray! I still need to find a better way to archive my FO's though.

Christmas Spam!

As of today, I am officially done my Christmas shopping. The final package arrived today and now all that's left to do is tag and wrap my knitted gifts. *happy dance* I didn't know if I would finish in time. Knitting Christmas presents seemed ambitious and a little scary and I didn't know what to expect. Hopefully they are met with surprise and hopefully people enjoy what I knit for them. Or I may join the ranks of bitter disappointed knitters everywhere whose knitted gifts are met with less than stellar reactions.

I also signed up for the Hot Cocoa Swap yesterday. I'm looking forward to starting my accumulation of gifts for whoever my pal ends up being, but for now, I think it's high time I knit something for me! Why is it so much easier to deside on making something when it's for someone other than yourself? Maybe I just get overwhelmed with all of the awesome free patterns out there.

And then there's the whole instant gratification thing. I mean, I could start a big project like a sweater, but then I would have to go possibly months before completing another project and then what if I get bored? If I knit something small, then I can play with my new toy much sooner! Ah, decisions decisions.

As promised, pics of my first attempt at cables. I chose Dashing because I figured the simple cable was a good one to learn on. So they aren't symmetrical so what? So the mittens are slightly different lengths? So what? I'm happy so there!

Christmas knitting is sloooowly coming to a close. It was ambitious, I know (for a beginning knitter, I mean) but I think it's been successful so far. I have 7 knitted gifts done, finishing up another, and have another one scheduled to knit for a family secret santa and then I'm done everything I set myself up for. *sigh of relief* Now if only I could stay home from work and just knit all day XP

I'm not going to post on what I'm currently knitting (ssh, it's dashing at knitty) because the person it's for is a bit too web-savvy and probably reads my blog ^^;;;; Needless to say it's going well, I love the yarn I'm using and the colourway is awesome too.

I also want to say hello to anyone who happens to be reading today. Thank you for commenting on my Manly Mittens. I'm so excited that people actually read my little knitting thing over here. Yay! ^_^

So after Christmas I'll do a big post with pictures of everything I knitted for people this holiday season, and maybe we'll see something knitted for ME. Finally. Happy Holidays everyone.

I finished my Manly Mittens last night at a housewarming party. I finished the first mitten earlier in the week and was so happy when I got to this thumb. Not that I didn't enjoy the pattern, but I was getting really bored with mittens and wanted to move onto something else. Behold! Pictures! (specs to follow)

This was my first attempt with such a complicated colour pattern. I know it's not really that complicated, but it was ambitious for me, since I only started doing colour a couple weeks ago. I love the pattern, it was easy to follow and easy to remember. The mitts are warm and the Falk yarn is awesome because even though it's 100% wool, it's still soft and not too scratchy.

To continue in the theme of christmas gift knitting, I'm currently knitting my grandpa a pair of Manly Mitts from Knitty's summer '05 issue (free pattern here)