Whirlwind year!

Unlike my last, quite long ago post, since then I have been knitting up a storm.  Despite working full time and parenting and planning/executing a wedding (June in Santa Fe, yay us!) I have completed 14 crafty projects this year.  Holy moly!  Here are the statistics:

9 are gifts, 5 for me.
12 knit, 1 crochet, 1 cross stitch.

2 pairs of socks -- me
4 bags (two five-point bags, one crocheted handbag, one meeple bag) -- kept one, 3 gifts
4 hats (two Lucy hats, one Aran Tam, one Dragonflies beanie) -- kept one, 3 gifts
1 shawlette -- gift
1 infinity cowl -- gift
1 pair of mitts -- me
1 decoration -- gift

Colors:
3 grey/berry or black/grey/berry
2 blue
2 brown/orange
2 pink
1 beige/pink/blue
1 black
1 green
1 white w/ five accent colors
1 too-many-to-count

Hardest (and slowest) project -- by far the shawlette
Easiest project -- the infinity cowl
Favorite project -- tossup between the Lucy hats and the blue socks
Least favorite project -- probably the meeple bag, mainly because the yarn is rough and kept falling off the DPNs, which were a little too short.  The pattern itself was fun though.
Biggest surprise -- finishing my toe-up socks in 9 days!

Firsts for me:  intarsia, provisional cast-on, toe-up socks, complex lace, short rows (believe it or not)

I currently have one work in progress, a pretty purple shrug, and several more projects in the queue that I haven't started yet but have yarn for.

In January, I signed up for a "creative pay-it-forward" meme on Facebook where you make a gift for the "first five people" to respond (after replying to someone else's meme, who will make a gift for you).  I got seven signees and didn't have the heart to cut it off at five.  I've made and sent six of the gifts so far, one more to go and two months to do it.  Not bad!

I've been occasionally hanging out at a friendly (sort of local) yarn store, Madtosh crafts in Fort Worth.  It's not real close by so I can't get there as often as I like, but they are nice folks, have comfy couches, great yarn, and a swift that they are very kind about using to ball up my yarn for me.  I try to buy most of my yarn there because I like them so much, though I am occasionally tempted by something on Knit Picks.  As a side note, do not ever attempt to ball up Tilli Thomas Symphony Lace by yourself.  You have been warned. 

The yarn store in Arlington went out of business a couple months ago.  I have to admit I only went in once, not out of any sort of malice, but because for a long time I had a moratorium on buying new yarn if not for a very specific project, as my stash was out of control.  The majority of my pay-it-forward gifts were using stash yarn or yarn that people had given to me as a gift.  I got some great needles at that store though, and they appeared to have some nice yarns, but I didn't let myself look lest I be tempted.  The folks who owned it/worked there seemed really excited to see a new person come in, so I feel kinda bad that I never made it back while they were still open. 

Last December, when my now-husband proposed, our friend (and my matron of honor) had helped him with the preparations and he wanted to buy her a gift, so he bought her a set of Knit Picks needle-tips.  That earned him not only a "coolest friend ever" award but also a permanent place on the Knit Picks mailing list.  I always get a chuckle when our his-and-hers catalogs show up, despite thinking it is rather wasteful to get two.  Last month, I circled the set of needle tips that I want for my birthday on his copy and put it on his desk with a note saying "Want!"  I should have also circled the small size circular set as well saying he should get me that one for Chrismukkah, but I'm not greedy.

Part of my inspiration to suddenly update my knitting blog is having just read Madman Knitting's blog.  He's a guy who, when having financial woes, turned to knitting teddy bears to support himself.  Which was brilliant and awe-inspiring!  He sells the pattern and a book that he wrote, as well as the finished teddy bears.  I encourage you all to read his blog and if you're as moved as I was, support his business endeavors.  I can't wait to make one of the teddy bears, good thing I am getting a new niece early next year (who has a slightly older brother who also could use one and a teenage sister who may get one just for the heck of it as well)!   My boys are probably too old and cool for teddy bears, unfortunately, and the dog would likely use it as a chew toy.

Knit on!