Mountain Girl in the City

I got back two days ago from a much needed Christmas vacation in Colorado. It was a wonderful, wonderful break and I felt better than I have in months being home. This year was a tough one but one thought kept tugging at me, just an idea of what I needed. This summer I went to a free Judy Collins concert on Governor's Island. It was part of some annual folk music thing that Trinity Church sponsors. Now normally I would not identify myself as a folk music fan, but I had recognized some of her songs after googling and thought "What the hell. It's free and I have never been to Governor's Island." I also kind of love ferries, so there was that. Before the concert even started I was glad that I went. The crowd was happy and pretty hippy, which is to be expected. I recognized most of the music but it was this song I had not heard before that struck me: Mountain Girl. I was homesick a lot this year and the lyrics fit me perfectly.

"Mountain girl in the city
You've been gone far too long
Find your way back to the mountains"

So that is what I did and I have pictures that illustrate this perfectly :)

My "home-home" is in the foothills. I am used to having deer in the backyard because they have stopped by at least once a day my whole life. My mom is a gardener and has a compost pile in the backyard. Unfortunately it rarely every grows in size because the deer, bear, or foxes gorge themselves on whatever we add to the pile. The deer are pretty used to humans to the point that they stop and stare from a couple yards back, or walk slowly in front of the car, but they rarely come right up to humans. Well, this year I went out one day when there was a large herd in the backyard and said hi, meaning I slowly approached them to see how close I could get. Well this time they seemed particularly interested in me so they didn't run. One deer in particular seemed really comfortable with my presence. She licked my hand that day when I reached out.



Two days later on Christmas Day I was bringing out the orange slices that had been soaking in our non alcoholic Glögg, to the compost pile and the herd of deer was out there. The one that licked me the first day came right up and ate the oranges out of my hand. I named her Clementine.



The buck saw this and decided he wanted in on the action, but since bucks can be very aggressive my mom (the photographer) made me go inside. I hung some oranges on the Yucca plant for him. He was grateful.



Once the buck went to inspect the neighbors yard I was allowed back out where Clementine was standing with a friend. The friend was slightly more skittish than Clementine but slowly warmed up enough to eat a few oranges as well.



So there you have it. I spent my Christmas with my family and the neighborhood deer, and that is where I am going to leave my blog for 2009.

Happy New Year Friends! Here's hoping 2010 is a great one!

*PSA- Don't go near deer. They are wild animals and I am very bad example. You never know when an animal is diseased or will become aggressive. People are hurt from deer every year. Wild Deer are NOT Bambi!!!!!!!

Mini Santa Hat and a Cylon goes all Christmas-ey

After making 20 mini stockings for the Christmas cards I was left with the thought that next time it will just be hats, because there will be no heels to turn. They may have been tiny but the heels were the thorn in my side. I whipped up this little Santa Hat as a test drive of my theory that it would be easier. It was. I also got to use fun fur which I kind of love but just cannot bring myself to knit with normally mostly because you just can't get away with wearing fun fur, especially in NY.



Mini Santa Hat

Supplies:
fingering weight yarn, I used Knit Picks Kettle Dyed in Wine
Lion Brand Fun Fur Solid in white
4 dp glove needles 4"

In Fingering Weight Yarn:
Cast on 3 stitches, work two rounds like an i-cord
kfb 3 times while transfering stitches to 2 more needles (3 holding needles and 1 working needle)
k 2 rows
(k1, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k2, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k3, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k4, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k5, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k6, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k7, kfb) 3 times
k 2 rows
(k8, kfb) 3 times
k5 rows

In Fun Fur
k 4 rows
Cast off

Fluff Fun Fir. This may involve gently pulling out the loose strands from where they have been caught in the knitting. Once you are satisfied you have gotten most threads loose, hold the hat over a garbage pail and snip fun fir threads to about a quarter inch. This is of course optional, I just found that the 1 inch fur was a bit too long.

Now you can add something to the top, a handmaid pom or store bought one, or even a bell. I didn't add anything which is also always an option.

Thread a cord through the tip top of the hat for hanging.

After making this hat I went a little further and made a mini version of the Cylon Hat. I don't have a patten for this since it was just a wing it using the original pattern. I used some Karabella Aurora 8 I have had lying around and a single silver thread. I went a little crazy at School Products a while back and now have large spools of sparkly thread, it's a bit ridiculous really, but seemed like a good idea at the time. The red is a cotton, metallic thread I got on ebay a while back. The ball is a glittery 3" styrofoam ball I picked up at Hobby Lobby when I lived in CO. I ripped out the metal hanger piece and reattached it after stretching the hat over the ball. Silly, but fun.

Mini Knitting Makes Me Feel Productive

I have embraced mini knitting this fall/winter. It started with a custom order of Christmas Cards. I was asked for 20 christmas cards, whatever I decided to make would work. I'm sure this person thought I would be making my normal fancy paper cards but in a moment of insanity I decided to make 20 mini stockings that could be used as ornaments and attach them to 20 swing cards. They take just over an hour to make once you get in the swing of things.



Mini Stockings

Supplies
2 colors fingering weight yarn, I used Shibui sock and Knit Picks Kettle Dyed.
5 dp glove needles size 1 (4 inches in length)
Gold Twine

In Color A
Cast on 4 stitches, working in the round, knit front and back (kfb) of all stitches on 4 needles.
k row
(k1, kfb) repeat
k row
(k2, kfb) repeat
k row
(k3, kfb) repeat
krow

Color B
k 5 rows

Color A
k 5 rows

Color B (short row heel)
k 1 row
k9, wrap stitch, turn work
p18, wrap stitch, turn work
k16, wrap stitch, turn work
p14, wrap stitch. turn work
k12, wrap stitch, turn work
p10, wrap stitch, turn work
k8, wrap stitch, turn work
p6, wrap stitch, turn work
k4, wrap stitch, turn work
p2, wrap stitch, turn work
k2, pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch, wrap stitch, turn work
p3, pick up wrapped stitch and purl with stitch, wrap stitch, turn work
k4, (pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
p6, (pick up wrapped stitch and purl with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
k8, (pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
p10, (pick up wrapped stitch and purl with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
k12, (pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
p14, (pick up wrapped stitch and purl with stitch) 2 times, wrap stitch, turn work
k16, (pick up wrapped stitch and knit with stitch) 4 times, k18 This row completes the heel and a return to knitting in the round.

Color A
k 5 rows

Color B
k 5 rows

Color A
k 5 rows

Color B
k 5 rows

Color A
k 5 rows
Cast Off

Cut a length of gold twine about 6" in length, thread it through upper corner of stocking and hide knot in stocking.

Great Weekend Mitts

These mitts were made on a truly great weekend I had a while back. I had been inspired by the mitts the character Penny wears in Dr Horrible's and needed a cute project for the BSG Fleet Power Battle on Ravelry. There are patterns out there already but I decided to make up my own. So here they are, my Great Weekend Mitts.

UPDATE: I have slightly updated the pattern to include tips for knitting in the round. You can get the updated PDF of the pattern:
download now
Now you can print it!



Materials:
3 colors of Koigu KPM (the semi solid version), 1 skein each.
3 matching colors of either Rowan Haze or the Lion Brand LB Collection Silk Mohair
12 buttons
US Size 4 single pointed needles
4 Size 4 DP needles
embroidery needle big enough to thread 1 strand of koigu and 1 strand of the mohair but small enough to fit through the bottons.

These are knit on straight needles except for the thumb hole. This makes them very fast to finish.

Color's A and B make up the Stripes and Color C is the placket. Each color consists of 1 strand of koigu and 1 strand of the mohair.

Gauge: 5 stitches and 8 rows = 1 inch in stockinette

Cast on 44 stitches.

Rows 1-8: (k2, p2) in Color A
Row 9: p in Color A
Rows 10-29: are stockinette stripes. Each stripe is 4 rows in height. The stripes are as follows: Color B, A, B, A, B
Row 30: k Color A
Row 31: p Color A
Row 32: k4, k2tog, k9, k2tog, k9, k2tog, k9, k2tog, k5 in color A
Row 33: p Color A
Rows 34-53: are stockinette stripes. Each stripe is 4 rows in height. The stripes are as follows: Color B, A, B, A, B
Row 54: k Color A
Row 55: p Color A
Row 56: k5, M1, k10, M1, k10, M1, k10, M1, k5 Color A
Row 57: p Color A
Row 58: k Color B
Row 59: p Color B

Left Hand
Row 60: k20, place marker M1, k2, M1, place marker, k22 color B
Row 61: p Color B
Row 62: k Color A
Row 63: p Color A
Row 64: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k4, M1, pass marker, k22 Color A
Row 65: p Color A
Row 66: k Color B
Row 67: p Color B
Row 68: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k6, M1, pass marker, k22 Color B
Row 69: p Color B
Row 70: k Color A
Row 71: p Color A
Row 72: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k8, M1, pass marker, k22 Color A
Row 73: p Color A
Row 74: k Color B
Row 75: p Color B
Row 76: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k10, M1, pass marker, k22 Color B
Row 77: p Color B
Row 78: k to marker, remove all stitches between markers and place on holding thread or stitch holder, cast on 2 stitches, k to end of row Color A (there should be 44 stitches on the needles and 12 on the holding thread
Row 79: p Color A
Row 80: k Color A
Row 81: p Color A
Row 82-85: stockinette stripe in Color B
Row 86-91: k2, p2 ribbing Color A
Cast off

Right Hand
Row 60: k22, place marker M1, k2, M1, place marker, k20 color B
Row 61: p Color B
Row 62: k Color A
Row 63: p Color A
Row 64: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k4, M1, pass marker, k20 Color A
Row 65: p Color A
Row 66: k Color B
Row 67: p Color B
Row 68: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k6, M1, pass marker, k20 Color B
Row 69: p Color B
Row 70: k Color A
Row 71: p Color A
Row 72: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k8, M1, pass marker, k20 Color A
Row 73: p Color A
Row 74: k Color B
Row 75: p Color B
Row 76: k to marker, pass marker, M1, k10, M1, pass marker, k20 Color B
Row 77: p Color B
Row 78: k to marker, remove all stitches between markers and place on holding thread or stitch holder, cast on 2 stitches, k to end of row Color A (there should be 44 stitches on the needles and 12 on the holding thread
Row 79: p Color A
Row 80: k Color A
Row 81: p Color A
Row 82-85: stockinette stripe in Color B
Row 86-91: k2, p2 ribbing Color A
Cast off

Thumb
Distribute held stitches on 3 db needles as follows, Needle 1 [1 stitch from 1 side of thumb, pick up 4 stitches from inside of thumb hole where 2 were cast on for body of mitt, 1 stitch from other side of thumb], Needle 2 [4 stitches], Needle 3 [6 stitches]
Thumb Row 1: knit all 6 stitches on needle 1, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2
Thumb Row 2: k1, k2tog, k2tog, k1, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2
Thumb Row 3-5: k4, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2
Cast off

There are two ways to finish these. One way involves making buttonholes and having a functioning placket. I thought about that and did not anticipate a time I would be unbuttoning my stretchy mitts so I faked it.

Finishing Step 1: with the wrong side facing out, whip stitch the two sides of the mitt together using the outermost edges of the stitches.

Placket
The placket is attached by picking up stitches along the seam edge furthest from the thumb if you are looking at the back of your hand. This hides the seam, or if you are making a functioning placket, it is where is overlaps and buttons.

Starting from the top of the mitt pick up stitches as such,
4 stitches along top ribbing, 3 stitches from every stripe, and 5 stitches from the bottom ribbing. This is not the entire number of stitches but it is what makes the placket fit.

Placket Rows 1, 3, 5, 7, 9: *(k2, p2) repeat till last two, k2 Color C
Placket Rows 2, 4, 6, 8,: *(p2, k2) repeat till last 2, p2 Color C
cast off

If you were planning on making the placket functioning they you will have to deal with the buttonholes on your own. sorry! I am a new pattern maker and have not yet mastered the perfect buttonhole, much less how to describe it.

Finishing Step 2: Stitch down the edge of the placket to the top of the mitt. I used a single strand of the mohair and a medium length backstitch. This makes the placket look nice and finished, one of the benefits of cheating and faking the closure. You will skip this step if you made a functioning placket obviously, although I doubt you are even reading my directions at this point if you did.

Finishing Step 3: Stitch on buttons with a strand of the koigu and mohair together.

Finishing Step 4: I do this as I go but I am including it just in case. Weave in all ends.

Now go take pictures of your new cute mitts holding a cup of coffee or tea or snowball and post them on Ravelry!

*reminder that I am new to the pattern writing, and I am a lousy editor so if you come across mistakes or if you need clarification let me know!

I love the Green Market in the morning.

Twice this week I have ended up at the Union Square Green Market early in the morning. It is an awesome way to start the day. I was already taking pictures of my knitting project so I had my camera out and went a little snap happy documenting how pretty all the veggies looked this morning. I picked up an amazing bunch of beets for $2.50 at one of the stands that had mounds and mounds of carrots and beets.




I actually don't like peaches very much but they are so darn pretty, esp in the early morning light.

Lords of Kobol Mission Complete

This is my completed project for the BSG Fleet Power Battle's second round of missions. I chose the Lords of Kobol mission, meaning I had to make something "Honoring" or representing one of the Lords of Kobol. I have dubbed this shawl the Hera Mountain Ridge Shawl, named after the mountain ridge on Kobol.

Any of you not into BSG this is all giberish to you so here are all the pretty pictures. I got to city an hour early and hung out in Union Square taking pics. It was fun, made my morning feel a little more productive.

Never thought I would be Crazy for Potholders

I blame Hello Yarn and the Japanese Bookstore.

I have been on a major potholder kick recently, which a year ago I would have thought was about as possible as a toilet paper cozy kick, but one can never predict where your interests will take you. Anyway, it started when my mom sent me a vintage potholder she had found at an antique store. She had been inspired by Hello Yarn's recent vintage potholder acquisitions and subsequent pot holder crocheting experiments. The weekend after receiving the potholder I turned it into a pattern and made three with some Karabella Vintage Cotton that was just not working with the scarf pattern I had started ages ago. This also happened to mark the start of my blue/red trend.



The next pattern I started using was the Pretty Petals Potholder. I only loosely followed the pattern since I hate reading crochet patterns. They should all be in graph form like the Japanese patterns. I used some Sensa Cotton that I had hanging out in my stash and some Paton's Grace. I ended up bringing this one to my grandmother and it was used as a trivet under the many bouquets of flowers she was receiving. The color in the pictures is a bit deceiving. It is actually bright pink with pale green leaves.



I had so much fun making that one that I picked up some Rowan 4 ply cotton, which is very sadly discontinued, and came up with a cabbage pattern. This is accomplished by using a light green as the base, dark green as the petals and a dark purpley-maroon as the accent. The purpley-maroon is crocheted onto the back loop of the top of the petals. I also added a row to the center of the potholder. The picture does not do it justice because the finished product is awesome. I just have trouble taking pictures in one of the rooms in my apartment. I swear it is the black hole of light.




I am making like a dozen more pairs of these. I love them, and they have already been gifted.

Finally, I made a placemat out of the pretty petals pattern. I picked up some Blue Sky Skinny Dyed Cotton, which Holy Crap is amazing stuff, and whipped this up.


Seriously, if I won the lottery, which coincidentally I don't actually play, I would buy enough of this yarn for several sweaters and a blanket. The Blue Sky people have a way with colors and that Glacier is the perfect delicate light blue.

Nerdy Knitting for points on Ravelry

So Battlestar Fan, Itsyournickle on Ravelry decided to put together a BSG Knitting contest, the Battlestar Galactica Fleet Power Battle. Similar to the Harry Potter House Battles, except this one is between the Pegasus, Galactica, and the Cylon Basestar. Unfortunately, I am a weak link on the Cylon Basestar. I only finished one of the first months challenges. Luckily it was complicated so I feel like I accomplished something. Knitting Designer Glenna C. designed a sock pattern called Viper Pilots. I used that sock pattern to make a Viper Pilot Cowl. I have this thing about not making socks. I tend to use and abuse socks so I feel that it would be a waste to spend time and precious yarn on them, so I make cowls instead. This one used some Kramer sock yarn that I got from The Point when they had their going out of business sale. It's merino, silk, and silver. I used the arrow cable pattern, the vipers, 6 times separated by the swirled rib cable and a little shaping at the bottom so it flares.




The only time I smile at work is when I take pictures of my knitting for this blog or Ravelry. Otherwise it is scowl city.

The intensity of the cables were a welcome distraction from my life for the month of June. It is difficult to be sad when you are thinking this hard about your knitting.

I am hoping to finish all of the challenges for the month of July. The first being a garter stitch shawl with a lacy border. I am smitten with all these finnish knitters and their garter stitch shawls I see on Ravelry. Here is a sneak peak of the colors.



Warning to anyone visiting Purlsoho, Beware of the wall of Koigu. It will suck you in every time.

Measure a Life in Love

2009 will not go down as a particularly stellar year in my book. This June I lost my grandmother. Although she had been sick for some time, I never actually thought it would come to this because in my eyes my grandmother was an energetic bad ass. She would give me a light poke in the ribs and admonish me for using college language, but that is what she was to me.

My grandmother brought me to my first Broadway show when I was 15. It was RENT. I have used this blog several times to wax poetic about the special place the RENT has in my heart. That is even truer now. After seeing RENT that night we drove back to New Jersey and stopped at a classic diner at midnight to have NY style cheesecake, because to a girl from Colorado, that was extremely cool. Later that trip she and my Grandfather took me shopping in the East Village. My Grandfather would watch pick up basketball games while my Grandmother I ran in and out of punk looking stores picking up wild hair color, big chunky jewelry, wacky nail polish colors, pleather jackets and 5 inch platforms because NY is where you could find platforms shoes for big feet. We went to the Slaughtered Lamb pub and ate pumpkin ravioli next to a werewolf statue while Hellraiser played on the screens in the background. They took me to the TKTS stand in the World Trade Center and we got tickets to Miss Saigon. That vacation was amazing and my grandparents solidified their place as infinitely savvy and cool in my mind.

A few years later my brother joined me for another visit with them and we saw 1776 and Ragtime. As an extra bonus they took us to the Will Rogers Follies at the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Shortly after this trip, my grandparents moved to Denver to be closer to all of us. This dramatically changed how we did holidays, as they were now spent at their house with many of my cousins, aunts, and uncles. We would have large, loud get togethers with enough food to feed several small armies.

My grandmother was with me during my senior year of high school when I went on a tour of UNC and the televisions in the common rooms and cafeterias were filled with news flashes of a school shooting in Littleton. We drove back Denver listening to the news updates on the radio and saying very little, because really, what was there to say?

When I went to college in Boulder my Grandmother and Grandfather would regularly come up to see me, take me out to eat, or pick me up for a weekend at their house where I would bogart their washing machine for the weekend. My grandmother made care packages and would take me to Costco. In the first semester of my freshman year when I was terrified to walk on campus alone after dark they went with me to see Eqqus. If any of you have seen this show you know, it is not the ideal show to bring your grandparents too, but they were unflappable. Whenever I needed to get away from campus my grandparents were there to pick me up.

I think my grandmother was excited when I moved to NY. She had lived here for years in her 20's. She and my Grandfather were married here. They lived a few blocks from where I live now in Brooklyn. She got to visit me twice while I lived here. The second time, she stayed with me in my apartment, which was made possible by the sofa and large bed that she got me. This time I was the one guiding her all over the city. We had an awesome dinner in Little Italy and another one at a cool cuban restaurant. We saw Wicked. We had come full circle.

I will miss her like crazy but I know she lives on in my NY adventures, my emails to my 14 year old cousin, in my doll collection of dolls she made, my love of big broadway musicals, and even in my love of all things sparkly, something we share.

I love you Grandma!

Pattern Clarification and Explanation

I have gotten a few questions about the numbering on the Cylon Centurion Hat pattern and I wanted to address them.
1- I numbered the pattern wrong. Whoops! It has been updated with the correct numbers in red. My editing skills are such that even though people told me it was numbered wrong, I did not see the big discrepancy till yesterday.

2- The numbering of the point shaping is separate from the numbering of the rest of the hat. This was my way of saying those rows do not go around the hat, but are only knit in front. Not sure if the professionals would write it that way, but it made sense in my head :) The number sequence goes like this knit 1-16, continue with 1-12 of point shaping, finish with Row 18 to the end.

There was also a question about the short row shaping used to make the point and wrapping stitches. Here is a page from Knitting Daily that explains it.

Anyway, If you have questions send me an email at Wonderfallz@gmail.com or on Ravelry and I will update this page with new questions as I get them.

What a week

Wow, this week has been intense. This time last week I was just really excited for a new Battlestar and excited that I had finished my Cylon hat, my third project of 2009. I figured the BSG fans of Ravelry would get a kick out of it but I never expected it to spread as far as it did. I want to say a big Thank You to:
Shayne at Geek Crafts
Jenny Ryan at the Craft Magazine Blog
Meredith Woerner at io9
Tim Quirino at Geekadelphia
AMC's SciFi Scanner
-although geez AMC, way to wield the double edged compliment! No, my knit hat does not compare to Tricia Helfer, She's Tricia fraking Helfer!! But thanks for using us in the same sentence, and in the same post as RDM news.
and Thanks to all the other twitters, live journals and blogs my pattern has popped up on.
This is what traffic to my blog looked like this past week.


I must say it has been unnerving going to my favorite blogs and seeing my face all over the place, so it's a good thing I can hide behind my latest finished project (finished project 4 of 2009) when I am feeling overly exposed, or exposed to the elements since it has been damned cold here lately.

This cowl is based off Cookie A's Monkey sock pattern but knit without purls. The yarn is Socks That Rock I picked up at Rhinebeck. I have to show some blog love to that ring I am wearing. It was my gift to myself from the Bust Craftacular this year. It is ridiculous, sparkly, and huge and I absolutely had to have it. I managed to line up early enough to get a gift bag, and I saw Amy Sedaris. So much fun.

My pal J decided he needed in on the Cylon hat action too, so I got some better pictures of the hat on him if you want to see it in better light and from the side. For some reason my apartment is like the black hole of light and I get much better pictures at work.

Wow, Hi!

Just wanted to say Hello! to all the Craft, Ravelry, and Geek Crafts visitors!

Updated to include the io9 readers, Omigod.I am freaking out a little bit right now, I LOVE io9.

Cylon Centurion Pattern is Up!

Hello! The Updated Pattern has been uploaded to my Ravelry store for free!  This one should make much more sense the the original.  Thank You for your patience while I rewrote the pattern.
download now

The Happiest Cylon

Hello! The Updated Pattern has been uploaded to my Ravelry store for free!  This one should make much more sense the the original.  Thank You for your patience while I rewrote the pattern.
download now

In honor of the start of the final season of Battlestar Galactica, I present the geekiest thing I have ever made (or is that the stake I carved in honor of Buffy when I was 16?), the Cylon Centurion hat!

I started this about 8 months ago when I was in the early throws of BSG obsession. I hacked together a pattern and frogged it many times so it sat in a bag until this week when I started tackling WIP's.

Yarn used:
Karabella Aurora Bulky #17
Karabella Glimmer #1054
Karabella Stardust Red

Official Pattern is finished!
download now
I am new to the pattern making, I don't rely on them very much in my knitting, so if you have any comments or suggestions I am happy to hear them. If you need any help let me know.

So Little Time...

I have been thinking about posting for months. I have so much to post really, pictures from NY Sheep and Wool, my future house on Chestnut Street in Rhinebeck, Christmas gifts that came out perfect, and pictures of projects I already finished in 09 as part of my resolution to knit from my very large stash of yarn and finish WIP's. So to break this bad trend of not posting, and throwing order to the wind, I am posting a few projects. But first my resolutions.

This year I am going to try desperately to finish knitting projects I have started. I have a horrible habit of cruising the internet at work, getting excited about an awesome project or idea, and then going out immediately after work and getting the supplies for said project. I will go home and start my new project, and it will indeed be awesome. It will be awesome for that night, maybe that weekend, and then it will be awesome in a ziploc bag, in a box, waiting for the day that I have time to finish this great project because I have already moved on to the next thing. The problem is, I don't want to forget the inspiration I had for any given project so I just keep starting them. This year, I will swim against the current and I will finish projects that I have already started. Here are two projects that I have already finished this year, working from yarn in my stash.


The patterns is Reykjavik.




The pattern is Bella's Mittens.

Oddly enough, there seems to be a brown and blue theme. Normally I am all about the pink, but the new year and winter weather is inspiring a new color palette.

OK That got me started. I hope to post all of the things I mentioned above and more, let's see it I can use the start of a new year as motivation.

This particular post was inspired by Adina, who posted something similar in her blog. I think the resolution to finish projects and knit from stash is an annual and universal one among crafters.