Happy Holidays!

So, what do you do when you realize that you started the year with 17 WIPs; have completed 58 projects during the course of the year; and look to end the year with 20 projects (more than you started the year with!) still on the needles?

Well, if you're anything like me, that's the perfect time to cast on 3 new projects LOL.

Jenn spied the Annemor 11 gloves I made last year and decided she wanted a pair like them in browns to match her winter coat. How could I resist casting on a pair of gloves for my daughter, who will hardly ever let me make her anything because she "doesn't like knitted things"? Obviously I couldn't resist. I only cast them on last night and I'm almost to the fingers of the first glove. This pair seems to be knitting up much faster than the pair I made myself.



I ordered 2 Hanne Falkenberg kits at the beginning of December. Never mind that I still have a Mermaid kit and Ping Pong kit sitting downstairs in the craft room that I got almost 2 years ago that I haven't cast on yet. I got a note from the distributor that they were on order and would be shipped as soon as they came in. I couldn't wait. My fingers were itching to knit up some lovely shetland yarn and the fairisle projects I had in the works just weren't cutting it. I dragged out the Mermaid kit from 2 years ago and finally cast on.

I am so enchanted with this colorway. It is going to be a really fun jacket!!



Of course, as soon as I cast on the Mermaid, my order arrived from Cucumberpatch! I've always been a sucker for new yarn, so of course you know I couldn't pass up the opportunity to cast on a second Hanne Falkenberg. I am just as enamored of this colorway and it should prove to be quite a fun jacket too! This pattern is Solo. The second kit I ordered this time around was Plisse. Good thing casting on Solo took the edge off the frantic obsession with starting new projects.



There has been progress on the fairisle project this past 10 days too. I finished the front of the Sipalu bag, picked up the 240 provisional cast on stitches, and am starting on the back now.



Emily's Gloves have a pinky!! I really love the colors I chose for this pair of gloves. I will definitely make myself a pair in the same colors during 2009.






Discovering that I now have 23 WIPs is a bit daunting. It's sad that some of them were on the WIP list at the end of 2007 (one is even from 2006!). I've created what will hopefully be a fun way to get some of these completed in 2009. And, if not fun for me, should at least prove entertaining for those who read this blog. Can I actually stick to this plan? Do I really have the willpower not to cast on something until I'm technically allowed to? Only time will tell.

I found a nifty little equation which will randomly choose from a list in Excel. Each time I open the spreadsheet, it will randomly choose something from my list of WIPs. This will be the project I must finish before moving on to anything else. Now, we all know that I cannot be monogomous to a project, so I've decided to make this a bit easier for me. Each time I use the random project finder, I will be allowed to choose 2 other projects to work on at the same time. The catch is that if I finish those first, I won't be able to knit on anything else until the main project is finished, so I'd better choose wisely. And, because for some strange reason, making the decision to work only on projects already started makes me want to cast on new ones that much more, I've decided that for every 2 projects on this list completed, I can cast on something new as one of my "other" chosen projects next time I use the random project finder.

I'm really quite thrilled with the first project that came up. I get to work on Solo! For my other 2 projects, I've decided to work on the gloves for Jenn and Emily. Wish me luck!!

A bit of progress, and a package received!

I'm still a bit addicted to that new Diablo mod, and the holiday parties/get togethers are still filling up my calendar, so knitting content is a bit slim.

I did make some progress on Emily's gloves. I can't wait til I get to the next fairisle bit so I can quit turning them inside out to show the pattern.



The Sipalu bag continues to grow, although slower than I had anticipated. I realized the other day that this whole time I have been knitting it using the wrong size needles lol. Oh well, a bit smaller bag isn't such a bad thing. At least there's less room to lose my keys!



I received my first SP13 package this weekend! My wonderful pal sent me a skein of yarn she had dyed for me. I love the colors and can't wait to finish one of the projects I'm working on now so I can cast something on with it.



Along with the yarn, she sent some buttons and some beads. Both will come in handy for projects I have sitting on the back burner right now.



Jenn and I finished up our last bellydance class last night. Well, not our last forever, just the last of this session. The next session doesn't start until mid January, so for a few weeks I'll be able to visit a local crochet group that meets on Mondays.

Hopefully in my next post I'll be able to point to some photos taken at the hafta (party) our dance group had this past Saturday night. It was my first and was a ton of fun. Can't wait til I can actually put some of these moves I'm learning together and dance with the others!

Actually made time for some knitting!

With holiday shopping and parties, too much time spent at work, getting absorbed in other crafts, and of course, the new Diablo mod being released, there hasn't been as much time for knitting as I usually have. I did manage to get a few things worked on this week though.

First, we have a little something special for Emily (my holiday purse swap partner), who sent me so much yarn I'll be in fair isle heaven for quite some time. I wanted to make her something from the yarn she sent, so I pulled out my copy of "Knitting Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves" and picked out a pattern I haven't yet knitted. Below is a photo of one completed cuff. That's only one evening's worth of knitting, so I think these will be done shortly after the holidays are over.



I also made some time to work on the Sipalu Bag (the pattern Emily sent with all that yarn). It's on dpns now as the stitch count was getting a bit too small for the circulars I had in the correct size. Even though this doesn't seem to be growing much, it's a fairly quick knit considering what little amount of time I've spent on it this past week.



I also pulled out the Ewe Jest Bag and added the handles finally. Found some really cheesy earrings while out shopping and thought they would make a nice accent on the bag. This bag will get a lot of use since the green is a color I really like to accent with in my wardrobe.



Not so sure about these handles now that I've attached them. I'm not particularly impressed with the way they look. I'll give it a go for a bit, but might change them out.