For some reason, I'm all about the blue lately. I wore blue yesterday, am wearing it today, just finished a blue sweater this weekend, and am working on two other projects in blue. Crazy.

Francis Revisited
It's done: I swear! I'm hoping to take pictures of it this weekend. Wish me luck finding some good light.


Ogee Lace Skirt
I just started this over the weekend and it's already halfway done. Very exciting!


Tapestry Cowl
Over halfway done with this. I'm shocked at how quickly it's knitting up...and the fact that I'm capable of working on it at Knit Night without screwing up.

Pattern: Snicket Socks
For: Nadine
Size: US Women's 8 1/2
Yarn: ~346 yds Crystal Palace Panda Cotton in Powder Blue / 2201
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm Knit Picks Options 32" circ (magic loop, baby)
Timeline: started 08.01.2008; finished 09.16.2008

Yeah, I've been meaning to blog about this forever. I was waiting to get a picture of the completed socks, but that is obviously not going to happen. I'd wanted to make these ever since I saw a pair on a blog ages ago. The pattern is a bit fiddly, which I think is one of the reasons it took me so long to finish. I can't blame too much of that on the pattern, though, since I just wasn't in the mood for fiddly much over the past month.

The yarn, as always, was fabulous. I adore Panda Cotton and am sort of sad to see that I've used up the last two skeins in my stash. I've used it to make my Monkeys and my aunt's Ene, and would love to make a shawl for myself out of it at some point. My socks are as soft as silk right now after a bunch of machine washings and dryings. Just amazing.

As for modifications, the main one was to change the heel to a heel flap and keep the pattern going, which I first saw on sheepishone's version on Ravelry. My notes on that are below. I also changed the toe, only decreasing to 18 stitches and then kitchenering it. Aside from that, I just used the directions for the 66-stitch size.

Overall this is a great pattern. I'd love to make myself a pair in an almost-solid, preferably dark yarn. I'll have to keep an eye out.

Heel modification:
Heel flap: 33 sts, p kb p, 24 rows.
Turn heel:
Row 1: knit
Row 2: Sl 1, p 20, p2tog, turn
Row 3: Sl 1, k9, Sl 1 K1 PSSO, turn
Row 4: Sl 1, p 9, p2tog, turn
Rep 3 and 4 until 11 sts remain, ending with Row 3.
PU sts around heel flap.
Decrease every other round as per a normal heel flap until 33 sts remain from heel section.

Pattern: Simple Fitted Cowl
For: Nichole
Yarn: ~117 yds Lorna's Laces Shepherd Bulky in Woodlawn
Needles: US 9 KP Options
Timeline: started 12.31.2008; finished 01.04.2009

Not much to say. I used a bulky yarn instead of a worsted weight one, so I just cast on 68 stitches instead of 100. I also skipped the shaping and didn't switch to smaller needles.

I LOVED working with this yarn, and can definitely see myself using this for a cowl for myself. However, I'd probably pick a solid color, since I had to switch between both ends of the ball every two rows to keep it from pooling too much.

Well, I've never been quite so happy to see a year end as this past year. Good-bye 2008! I hate you. Lots.

The craptasticness of 2008 did cut into my knitting a bit, but I still managed to knit up about 12,336 yards. I knit up about 16,700 yards last year, though. However, I completed 48 projects this year (16 for me) and only 39 (15 for me) last year. Anyway, here we go...

For me...16 projects.

First Row: Ridged Lace Cowl, Bright Orange Socks, Panta, Phiaro Scarf
Second Row: Rusted Root, Tilted Duster, Handspun Bunny, Foliage
Third Row: Liesl, Paris Night Cowl, Rose Red, Monkey Socks
Fourth Row: Francie Socks, Dishcloths, Last Hurrah Scarf, My Cable Footies

For Others...32 projects.

First Row: Mom's Birthday Footies, Ashton-licious Hat, Moss Rib Stitch Scarf, Little Le Slouch
Second Row: Adriane's Le Slouch, Grandma's Birthday Socks, Nadine's Footies, My So Called Scarf
Third Row: Estella, Simple Fitted Cowl, John's Log Cabin Socks, Tracy's Log Cabin Socks
Fourth Row: Beer Gloves, Grandma's Birthday Slippers, Miraculously Striping Socks, Tracy's Wedding Capelet 1.0
Fifth Row: Obamarama Cowl, Snicket Socks, Julia's Calorimetry, Kitty Stuffie
Sixth Row: Baby Cape, Droplet 2, Little Arrowhead Shawl, Laburnum Socks
Seventh Row: Noro Gloves, Neck Thingy, Baylie Needs a Hat, Boring Boy Hat
Eighth Row: Hemlock Ring Blanket, Ribbed Baby Jacket, Karyn's Rose Red, Baby Bolero

I knit a ton of stuff this year, especially smaller projects. Like last year, I didn't make xmas gifts and that was a great decision. I did, however, knit a ton of things for other people: twice as many things as I knit for myself! Crazy! Why am I so generous?

As for knitting resolutions, they currently consist of the following:
1. Knit more sweaters! I only finished two this year and one had short sleeves! That's definitely something that needs to be remedied in 2009. I'd like to finish at least five, but they don't all have to be for me.
2. Get back into knitting socks. I'd like to knit at least six pairs during 2009, and also want to try to have a pair on the needles at all times.
3. Knit with my handspun. I've knit up three things with my handspun so far and I really like seeing how the yarn looks in a knitted fabric. I definitely have a lot to choose from now. I'd love to make a yoked colorwork sweater with commercial yarn as the main color.
4. Finish up my 5 UFOs. They are: the Wedding Capelet, a cowl from my Stitches Midwest 2008 class swatch, John's Smokin' Sweater, Dogwood Donna (needs a lining and a zipper or other closure), Nantucket Jacket (Honestly, I'll probably just frog this.).
5. Knit challenging things. I still haven't really knit anything with colorwork, but I currently have a double-knit cowl on the needles. I would like to make some colorwork mittens pretty soon.
6. Buy less yarn. Ha! Seriously, though, I have a lot of yarn for projects right now, so I'm hoping to buy a lot less yarn this year. I did manage to cut my stash down from 32,700 yards at the beginning of 2008 to just over 25,000 yards at the moment, and I'd like to keep that downward trend going.
7. Publish a pattern for sale. I've had one that I've been working on for a while. I just need to work on the final version and sizing. Oh, and get some people to test-knit it for me.