The year is only 9 days old, and I've already completed two projects! W00t! Bettter than I was doing this time last year.
Hemlock Ring Blanket
Christine mentioned this at knitting one evening in November. I'd been stalking the pattern, but hadn't yet added it to my queue. We got to talking about one day getting leather sofas, and wouldn't Hemlock be a perfect blanket for a rich brown leather sofa. Absolutely. Well, to make a long story longer, I hopped over to WEBS to check out the colors available in EcoWool. At that time they didn't have the color I wanted in stock, so that meant a trip by Knit Picks. I couldn't decide which color I wanted, as the one that would look perfect on a brown sofa wouldn't go with my decor now, and I'm not getting the leather stuff until The Terror is a bit older. (We've had a little incident with him involving permanent marker, my walls, carpet, and current furniture. All my furniture is now sporting slipcovers. Nuff said.) I started wandering through the stash and came upon the recycled yarn I salvaged from my very first project~~Mr Fix-it's sweater. Perfect! I contemplated the blanket the entire time I was finishing up the kids' Christmas sweaters, and cast on pretty much as soon as The Teen's
sweater was complete. After a couple weeks of non-monogamous knitting, The Ring is complete and blocking.
Details:
Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket modified and popularized by, who else, Jared Flood
Yarn: unknown heavy worsted yarn recycled from my first handknit project~~used approximately 460 gms
Needles: size 10 Inox express
Start Date: sometime after Christmas Day, I think. I knit the Striped Scarf, Red Light Special Hat, and two hats for CD while working on The Ring.
Finish Date: January 9, 2008 (Much of the knitting took place while CD and I were rewatching the first two seasons of LOST.)
Mods: None, other than using a different yarn. I did knit a couple more repeats than Jared did. Oh yeah, for the knit 9 stitches into one stitch, I used the crochet method.
Size: 51 inches pinned out
For: started out as a present to myself, but my mom ooohhed, 
and ahhhhed over it when she saw it while it still looked like a misshapen jellyfish, so I figured if she could see the beauty of it then, then she deserves it once it really is a beauty. It will look perfect folded over the back of her leather chair.
Thoughts: LACE! On big needles! Love it! Fun, fast knit. Not too difficult. I plan on making one for myself in the near future, but I'd like it to be a little bigger, so I'll buy more yarn. I probably could have gotten away with using a larger needle on this one, but didn't have one with a long enough cable in a size larger than 10.
The Boy Hat
Another hat for CD, unfortunately the first hitched a ride to college before I got a photo. This one was still on the needles when CD pulled out on Monday morning. I would have finished before he left but for the rather intense headache I had all Sunday afternoon and evening.
Details:
Pattern: The Boy Hat by Elizabeth Heath-Heckman
Yarn: Galway Highland Heather in charcoal grey
Needle: size 6 Addi Turbo for extra springiness
Start Date: January 4, 2008
Finish Date: January 7, 2008
Mods: None, take it back~~I knit to 7 inches before working the decreases~~perfect.
Thoughts: Nice hat and pattern. Love the way the decreases form the arrow with the ribbing. The Teen wants one now. I need to modify this one to work with a bulky yarn. She modeled the hat for me.
Next up: I have a couple of things in the works, and some that have been requested.
- Mr Fix-it wants another pair of socks, so that means a trip (via the interwebs) to Tongue River Farms for more yarn (a Valentine's present like last year?)
- The Teen wants a hat (another one--I just finished the stranded one for her. This one may have to wait.)
- I saw this stocking by Meg Swansen on Rav a week or so ago and immediately fell in love. Yarn was purchased on sale at Knitting Sisters, pattern has been printed, and I'm all geared up to start. Don't know who it will be for, but will need to decide quickly as the personalization is near the top of the stocking. Hope to start this week.
- Also, on Rav, I've been going through the Clapotis photos again, and really want to give it a try with the Fourplay again~~just on a smaller needle. I have 4 skeins, so running out won't be a worry.
- I need to wash the yarn for Jarrett so I can start on that.
- Also on tap is a Cobblestone for me.
- Potential Christmas gifts for '08: Ice Queen (at least 2)
It looks like between requests and things I want to knit for myself or as gifts that I will be plenty busy over the coming months. Thank goodness for good TV to knit by~~
The Complete Jane Austen starts this Sunday, January 13th, and I have 4 more disks of LOST season 3 to watch, too. With the writers' strike continuing, we may be watching a bunch of dvds for the foreseeable future.
What do you have planned for '08?
