It's the End of December!? WHAT!?

Yeah- December crept up and got the better of me and time wasn't there for a blog post.  I kept telling myself I'd catch up once the Christmas hub bub was over- plus I could regale you of tales of Boxing day yarn deals and I'd make up for it with a big post Christmas blog.

Then we all got sick.  Again.  And then Boxing day wasn't what it normally was.  And quite frankly... I found myself having not really knit anything, and not much to tell you.  But guilt it is a funny thing and I've decided to get at least one more blog out there before the new year.

First- let's talk Christmas haul.  There were books for inspiration, gift certificates from enablers (including the husband... so he can't complain about yarn acquisition!) and a circular needle holder case and glorious T pins.

The Quick Baby Knits book is probably going to see some action in the new year (one "for sure baby and 2 friends who have dubbed 2013 "the year of baby makin'"), and I have a goal to learn how to double knit something, hoping that the master color knitting book will hold my hand through that process.  As usual... great haul and thoughtful gifts from family members.

As I mentioned Boxing Day wasn't it's usual yarn diet binge of gluttony.  The are 2 reasons for this: 1) I was missing my Boxing Day Yarn Saling Enabler/Companion... better known as my Mother in Law. Unfortunately she had to attend a funeral- which one can hardly fault her for.  This meant I didn't have anyone to get caught up in a frenzy with.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Frenzy yarn purchases lead to "why the hell did I buy that" stash items.  2) Even if MiL was there to go crazy with me, I'm not sure I would have.  I have systematically been working through my stash pretty well, and quite frankly, it feels good to get things going out the door.  I've become a smarter yarn consumer- less caught up by great deals (although I still feel weak when alpaca/cashmere/soft yarn are on sale... I'm only human!) and more thoughtful about what I buy.  I've finally gotten to a place where just because yarn is on a great sale, doesn't mean that I have to buy it.  I'm more a "buy what I need" kind of girl and it suits my stash and me just fine.

And yes, I have done a bit of knitting... just a little but enough to call progress.

Dad's sock- second one cast on.  I will fully admit I have second sock syndrome pretty bad with this one.  I just don't feel inspired to knit it.  I'll probably have to instill a "knit a so many rows" rule and reward myself with something else in order to complete it- and given that it's Dec 30... I'm going to say that the liklihood I finish these before Jan 1 is not exactly a reality.  But taking one unfinished item into the New Year isn't so bad, so I won't be too hard on myself.

Speaking of the new year, I do have a few knitting resolutions or goals to achieve.

1) 3 baby blankets.  I know.  You're sick of them.  I'M SICK OF THEM.  But these are 3 special friends who will have baby #1 and quite frankly... I want them to have something made by me.  You're going to have to see me through this.  I've got a couple of interesting projects planned... hopefully that will see me through the monotony of blankets.

2) Double Knitting.  I mentioned this above but I would really like to learn how to double knit.  I love the idea of a reversible fabric and feel ready to tackle this particular project.

3) 12 (+) Pink hats.  12 is the minimum that must be done. I bust out the purple acrylic stash in 2012... 2013 I need to bust down the pink stuff.  The rules are slightly different, the pattern can be the same but no hat can be identical, I have 3 balls of pink acrylic, I know I can achieve this.

4) Leftover Stash.  I need to figure out something for the leftovers stash.  Stash that has already had a destiny but I also have enough to have a second destiny.  I hate throwing this stuff out but OH MY GOD I have a lot of it and I need to do something with it.  Ideas and suggestions will be gladly taken into consideration.  (I'll address this situation in particular in another post on another day.)

I'll finish this post off with a slight peace offering... something to apologize for the lack of blog posts this month.  Here's a cute pic of my kid... late Christmas greetings and just ever so slight early New Years greetings!

RSVP with Mittens!

It's that moment we've all been waiting for!  The Wedding Mittens are FINITO!

Pattern: Wedding Mittens by Jorid Linvik
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Merino 2005 (Purple- I can't find a link!) and Knit Picks Bare- Superwash Fingering Weight
Needles: US 3
Thoughts: If I were a smarter/less lazy knitting, I would have figured out a way to do a gusset on these mittens.  A gusset just provides a nicer thumb than picking up the stitches.  The lack of gusset wouldn't stop me from knitting the pattern or any of Jorid's patterns again.  (She wrote the failed Doggy mittens pattern too... I might pick those back up again...)

These mittens are for my friend Erica, who is marrying Scott (hence the "E" and "S" initials in the hand), this January.

I've been wanting to knit these mittens for awhile and when Erica announced a winter wedding, it seemed like the right thing to send her.  I'll be sending her these along with our RSVP... we are coming Erica- it better not be too cold!!!  The purple is hopefully close to Erica's chosen wedding colors.

If you're like me, I always like to see the inside of stranded knitting- and so I've taken a few shots for you with the inside/outside view.  I'm getting better and better at faire isle mittens, and almost feel ready to bite off a project with more than 2 colors.  ALMOST.  (Let's not be crazy/over-confident now!)

Also off the needles for 2012 is the purple hat project.

Pattern: Various- although most are from the Sensational Knit Socks book by Charlene Schurch.  You can look on this link to my Ravlery page, that hopefully better outlines what hat is what pattern.
Yarn: 2 balls of Bernat Baby Softee in "soft lilac"
Needles: US 6
Thoughts: I actually had enough yarn to knit 14 hats, well 13 full hats- I had to add some white striping to the final hat in order to get me through.  It's great to have all of this out of my stash!

The goal for 2013 is to knit 12 more hats, this time in pinks, to bust the pink Bernat Softee out of the stash.  I'll set my minimum to 12, but I have enough stash to probably knit more than that.  Rules will be similar, no hat can be the same.  (Stitch pattern CAN be the same, but color scheme can't.)

With those two projects off the needles, I'm hoping to close out my year by finishing up the Balearique socks, started so long ago.  I've picked up those again and this is my progress so far.

Can you imagine people?  I might be starting off January 2013 with a clean slate.... a year of exciting, new projects to knit.  So tell me- what should I cast on to start my new year?