Plans, plans, WIPs

As I mentioned in the last post, I have big plans for the new year.  Since my stash and I have a long distance relationship, I've been piling up a small mountain of yarn to take back with me based on what I've got in my queue.  Some will be for me and some - okay, a lot - will become various birthday and Christmas gifts.  Yes, I start early.

So my plan is to turn this. . .

. . . into knits in the next eight months.

One of my New Year's resolutions for 2013 is to make more wool socks for me.  I'm mostly motivated by my cycling in Ireland.  That moist cold really sinks into your bones and sticks around.  While I'm pretty well covered for sweaters and okay for hats, I really need some warm footwear.  For the last year, I've been an inactive member of Sock Knitters Anonymous.  This is a group on Ravelry with monthly challenges in the in three categories of theme, dedicated designers, and the mystery sock.  I plan on getting on the sock bandwagon and trying to complete a challenge a month.  I've got several socks lined up.  First is Hunter Hammerson's Chrysanthemum frutescens in Knitpicks Stroll, colorway Foilage.

I'm doing the theme challenge for January, "Flora and Fauna."  It's orange because, eh, why not?  It's winter and I need bright colors like nobody's business.  I'm also taking all this back with me for socks as well.

Also on the Sock To-do List For Me: Wendy Johnson's Norwegian Rose, Rose Hiver's Fireweeds, Cookie A's Twisted Flower . . . And probably a few more.

I'm also taking back a few sweater quantities for me.   I'm loving stranded colorwork at the moment, so I dug out my Falling Stars kit from Knitpicks in blues.  I might do the hat, but we'll see how it goes.

I need more bright colors, so I'm taking my Valley Yarns Longmeadow (colorway Coral) for Lizette.  This pattern came out in the Spring 2011 Twist Collective and received a lot of press when the Yarn Harlot blogged about knitting it.  Longmeadow is the recommended yarn and it feels soft and a bit slick.  I'm definitely using the wooden needles on that one.

In the new year, I also plan on learning how to crochet with some Debbie Bliss Ecobaby for a Calm Cowl.  I'm also taking my spindle and fiber along to revive my spinning.

This is the gift pile.  It is rather large, but it's not every present I'll make in the next twelve months.  Generally I try to get my Christmas presents done by the end of September.  Since my family can see this blog, I will not mention what these are going to become, but let's say hats, socks, and scarves are on the table.

  
The break has been productive, knitting-wise.  I finished scarf for my mom with her Quivit Luxury Blend from Windy Valley Muskox and a Fernfrost scarf in Hedgehog fibres Pure Cashmere Lace in Sour Cherry.  I also completed a Cable Baby Hat in Knitpicks Stroll for the baby.

It was great to play with luxury fibers.  My mom says that her scarf is very lightweight, but very warm, so I can't wait to play with her 100% quivit yarn sometime in the future.  The Hedgehog Fibres cashmere was fun to work with.  It's so soft and beautiful to look at, and when it was still a WIP, it was the Universal Stress Ball the week before Christmas.  (It was highly successful.)  As a finished object, just looking at it makes me feel better.  When I soaked it, it didn't run at all and it blocked out beautifully.  I have a few more skeins of her yarns, and I will be very sad when I run out.  This is when I wish I still had a job.  

    Well, tomorrow I fly back home, so it's time to cram the last of the yarn and fiber into the suitcase.  Thanks, US, it's been great, but I have a date with Ulysses. 

Life gets in the way

Oh my goodness, it's past Christmas!  It's past New Year's!  My apologies for neglecting the blog.  My Master's program really heated up in November.  I had to work harder and then we had exams starting at the beginning of December.  We also had our first long essay due and I had to try and remember how I used to do analysis.  Working on that essay caused me to question if I wanted to write my thesis on what I was planning or if I want to change it.  It was a mental tornado.  Now I am home and it's past the holidays.  I am grateful for the opportunity to see my family, especially after the death in the family and the birth of another family member.  We also have another animal member in the family.

His name is Jojo.  At the end of August he showed up on our back doorstep skinny as a rail.  We live near a highway, so we think someone dumped him and he found his way to our neighborhood.  He was mostly an outdoor cat until a coyote attacked him; now, he spends most of the day sleeping in the house and goes out at night.  He's a very sweet cat and enjoys being petted.  He even allows the dog to jump all over him when she's playing.  I'm surprised how much I like him since I'm allergic to cats.  So far, I haven't had too major a reaction - just some sneezing and slightly itchy eyes.  He seems to have charmed everyone, though.

Despite all the work, I had time to finish off the Christmas knits. 

Simple gloves for older bro.

Irish Hiking Hat for younger bro

For the new baby: Sunnyside cardigan

For Grandma: Eleanor cowl

The last was a last minute gift.  I was in the middle of writing my essay when I realized I hadn't made a present for my Grandma.  I decided that it was necessary for my her to have a knit gift.  I couldn't get the yarn the pattern called for, so I subbed a fingering weight yarn and added an extra lace repeat while using the needle sizes called for in the pattern.  I probably didn't need that extra repeat and wouldn't use it again.  Also, another knitter suggested that you could put beads on the smaller diamonds in the pattern.  Just an idea.

I also got some knitting for me.  I finished off my mittens just before we got a cold snap in my part of Ireland.  Since I cycle everywhere, these mittens were a welcome addition to my winter wardrobe.

Hedda Knits' La Joie du Printemps

I also finished a cashmere scarf for me using Anne Hanson's Fernfrost pattern.

The yarn I used was Hedgehog Fibres Cashmere Lace in the colorway Sour Cherry.  I was impressed because the red dye did not run at all.  I love Hedgehog's colors and can't wait to spin some of her roving that I have.  The scarf blocked out wide (12 inches or 30cm) but only 50 inches, or 125 cm.  If I made this pattern again, I would make it longer, perhaps using 200-300 yards more than what the pattern called for.

I got to play with more luxury fibers when I reminded Mom that she had some yarn hiding in the closet.  Three years ago, my Mom came with me to my first Stitches, a major fiber retail show that occurs in four regions of the US.  Every year, a company called Windy Valley Muskox vends and they sell qiviut and qiviut blend yarns.  Qiviut is the down fiber of the muskox that is shed naturally every summer.  It is light and very warm . . . and rather expensive.  My Mom likes the good stuff, so she purchased a skein of Qiviut Luxury Blend, a 45/45/10 qiviut/merino/silk blend, and a skein of Pure Qiviut.  I knitted up the Qiviut Luxury Blend in the Little Shells Scarf pattern my Mom got at the same time.  The result was this:

And some detail:

My Mom likes it as it is lightweight but very warm.  Perhaps I'll get around to knitting the other skein before I leave again because I've big plans for the new year.  To be continued. . . .