Happy New Year

Last year we were home in SD and all I could think about was the start of the new year. Well a huge snow storm, to keep you inside and new knitting books will do that to you. None of the posts that I wrote in my head made it here to the blog. Sigh

This year seemed to lack much of last year's contemplation. So does that mean I will have more action? I don't really do resolutions because they are so easy to break. I think I try to be more realistic and adjust things as the year goes on, rather than deciding the week before a date that I don't really want to be the same person in a month. Resolutions are just too difficult, gradual change is much more attainable.

I have set a goal for the next year, I want to learn the cyrillic alphabet with the long term goal of being able to read Russian. I know it is an odd one but I like to learn. I have trouble understanding spoken languages at times but then thought maybe I can learn to read and write another language. Silly me I choose one that includes learning another alphabet too. A girl can dream can't she? I would like to surprise D's coworker with a handwritten note in Russian. Turns out the good thing is that in the Russian language things are spelled as they sound so once I get the sounds figured out spelling should not be an issue for me. I am a phonetic speller so I may have found a language that I can use.

I went to my yarn store today to find a solution to the knitting problem I have been ignoring. This sweater is now 90% completed with not enough yarn to finish it. It has been weighing heavily on me but I have been ignoring it. I took it to the shop today and had help picking out two yarn colors that may allow me to finish it. The sweater is a blue-grey color, I want to do the collar and cuffs in a red or gold color. I am not sure how it will turn out but I am sick of avoiding the problem. I am a product knitter and the product is just not coming out yet. This baby may have to come out by cesarian!

I felt like I was dressed as a real knitter this last week for the first time. I had on my new Multnomah shawl and my Norwegian mittens and the cold did not affect me. I felt down right knitterly! Hey my computer does not know that knitterly is a real word in my world.

If you're keeping score D's British Racing Green sweater is moving right along. I have separated the arm stitches from the body stitches and am about halfway done on the body. The third skein has been joined in and I am happy. I have promised this will be ready this winter for him to wear.

Apparently

Apparently, I will be without thought in the coming year. I started a new sweater for D, a lovely British Racing Green sweater out of Cascade 220. This yarn feels good to me. It is nice every once in a while to use another weight of yarn. I have three different socks on the needles (one I have not picked up in weeks) and the shawl I just finished was a sport weight wool. So this light worsted weight feels substantial in my hands now.

I like making sweaters now. When I started knitting I had no wish or desire to ever make a sweater. I can not remember if I thought it was too complicated or boring or what. Wait that is not totally true I did think once or twice wouldn't it be cool if I could knit a whole Norwegian sweater? I went to a college that had many Norwegian students. They all seemed to wear a certain type of sweater, usually as a combined coat/shirt. I asked a Norwegian student if they could bring one home for me to buy. That is when I found out they went for over $200. Now that was 10% of a semester's tuition for me. (Yeah, now you know I went to a state school.) Way too expensive for a midwestern college student. So I gave up on my beautiful sweater dream.

Until I started to knit. Then I found out about Dale of Norway. I still have not seen the kits for the sweaters but know that they exist. I plan to knit one, one day. I do think that if I ever ran into a kit in my daily knitting life I would have to have it. I think D would even understand. Of course he is quite understanding of my knitting to begin with.

So in preparation of eventually attaining my dream sweater I knit these. My beautiful mittens that I learned so much with. The left fits tighter than the right, same needles same yarn, different knitter tension. That would be very bad in a sweater, don't you think? I did use these mittens while shoveling out part of the driveway on Monday. First time in years that my hands were not cold the entire time I was out there.

Where was I before my ramble? Oh yeah, D will be soon getting a new sweater from me. I just could not resist. I need to take my short-of-yarn blue sweater to the yarn shop to choose a complementary color to finish it with. It is a silvery-blue color should I look for a bluey-silver color or something not even in the blue family? Now you see why I am having so much of an issue with finishing this one. I am leaning toward something out side of the blue family. What I will go in and they will no longer be carrying that type of yarn. I just need to make a decision and go with it whole heartedly.

Well y'all Happy Knitting!

Wooly

Since the weather is so nice, I have pictures. The grass is getting greener and D is out on his bike as we speak. Well it is more as I type since I have no idea when you will read this and I doubt he will still be out on his bike then. Least I hope he is not.

Look new yarn! This is the Malabrigo worsted yarn I mentioned the other day. I'm planning to make Tang by Wendy Bernard. I was reading over the pattern last night and I have no idea how this is going to work. It is a very different construction than I'm used to but people seem to love it.

I'll be honest patterns rarely make sense when I read through them. It is only when I have sticks and string in hand that I can figure it out. I told you I am a visual person.

D's sweater is moving right along. It should be done just in time for spring. Ah well there is always next winter. It is made out of Berroco Peruvia, 100% Peruvian Highland Wool, color 7183.

That would my lovely knit fabric right there. Kinda cool Huh?

We went out the other night and I went to a wine bar for the first time in my life. As we were sitting there enjoying our wine I had the strongest urge to pull out my knitting. I resisted but I think D would have enjoyed it if I did.