Happy New Year!

Love the imaginative title today! 

We had a quiet New Year's Eve,  drank champagne and vodka, went to be at 5.45!

Yes, I finished Donna and Wavy yesterday, with nearly 2 hours to spare!   So I spent the rest of 2004 winding skeins, pattern books out, needles all over the place, trying to thing of what to knit. 

Because of this:

there are no photos of Donna or Wavy.  This photo was taken at 1pm!  That's anti-pigeon/flying rat netting on the photo, taken from the balcony of the flat.  It looks pretty ominous, as if we're caged or something, but it's not normally as apparant, obviously the camera needed to focus on anything but the overcast weather! Lovely view of Putney, isn't it?

New Year's resolutions
(Just the knitting ones, Chris coudn't believe that I should want to make knitting resolutions)
1) There's no need to rush to the shops every time a new yarn comes out.  This will still be in stock for a few years.

2) There's no need to buy everything in the sales *just in case* I might someday find a use for it. Concentrate on the discontinued yarns that I like. (Wish I'd bought more Magpie)

3)Don't save the nice (aka expensive/hard to find) yarns for a rainy day.  Knit with them. Use them up.  Enjoy them. ** see below

4)If I'm fed up with a WIP, or it's not looking good, FROGGIT!  Or if I can't do that, and there's a chance it's a passing phase, put it away for a few months.  ** see below

5)I have enough stash and don't need to keep those ends of yarn.  I am not likely ever to knit a modular jumper using odd yards of yarn. 

6)Try to knit socks other than my generic 3x1 ribbed socks (although these are my favourite things to wear and I can read whilst I'm knitting them) ** see below

7) More lace please this year.  I'm not knitting as many shawls as I would like to. ** see below

8) More fairisle this year also.  In 2004 I knitted not one fairisle or colourwork item.  In this respect, I would like to try my hand at mittens.  Small and quick.

9) If I want to knit Christmas pressies, then I should start them earlier, or make them smaller with thicker yarn.   

Polly asked me what I've started today, so here goes!

** Resolution 6 has already been implemented.  I started a Diamond Patch sock this afternoon (and it's bloody slow going, lots of ends).  This will probably take me months to do, and I'll probably have to have a SIP #2 on the needles (generic) to compensate, or there will be very few socks knitted this year.

Joslyn's fiber farm sock yarn, 2.25mm needles, lots of safety pins.

Resolution #4 has also been implemented. 
This
 
is frogged.  Easy pattern, but I got carried away and forgot to increase at the end of the section. Not enough stamina to tink KSH, I pulled the needles out in a huff yesterday.

Resolution #7 is implemented also.
I started a beautiful lace scarf this morning, from some cashmere laceweight that Yvonne very kindly gave me for Christmas (and she's still waiting for her pressie!)

Isn't it gorgeous?

Finally, resolution #3 - use those nice yarns!  This is some Touch Handpainted wool boucle.  Gorgeous colours, purple, orange, russet, but, black.   Not much to do with this though, as I only have two skeins, other than a snuggly garter stitch shawl.

That's all I've started, so far.   Well, I did a tension square with some Felted Tweed last night, but I'm a bit vague about what I want.  The DB Maya is still a temptation, but I can't face winding another skein.  If I do get this out, it will most likely be a stocking stitch jumper, top down, basic and plain.  I need a couple of reading/surfing WIPs!

Off to put the knitting resolutions on my sidebar, to keep me on track. 

Comments

[Jill]

I think those are jolly good resolutions, I could apply most of them to myself, except that I don't plan on doing any intarsia, and although I love shawls I shall not start another one until I've finished the Leaf one (2006 most likely, rate I am going). Wish I had bought more Magpie too..... I had a day off yesterday and today from WIPS and made grand-daughter who liked her belt a pair of arm-warmer things - thumbs but no fingers - out of the odds and ends I had left over from said belt and bag. And started her a scarf with rest of left-overs plus what I bought at Libertys on Thursday - the browns and blues. Love the cashmere scarf. PS - why doesn't your comments box remember me?

[dawn]

Hi Jill

I'm not sure why your info isn't remembered, I've not changed anything (and don't know if I could anyway!)

This may be a typepad burp, or maybe your cookies settings have changed on the computer you use?

I've tried emailing you, and they're being bounced, apparantly aol are not recognising your email address! This might sort itself out soon, we hope!

dawn :)

[Yvonne]

I thought the scarf kit might tempt you to start lace knitting again - it's looking good!

My NYR's are to either complete the UFO'S or frog them; to finish sorting out my stash boxes; buy no more new yarn except to add to stash to complete a project and to remember that I knit for fun and relaxation and not try to keep up with the knitting whiz kids.

I started a new project for New Year's day and have just finished it - Ocean from Emma King. All yarn came from stash so I've made a good start.

[Jill]

No, it still doesn't remember me......All the other blogs I comment on they remember me! Some incompatability somewhere, I blame AOL. Have ticked box, will try again and see what happens.

[Jill]

No, it still isn't remembering me......