2014: Summary of a Year of Knitting

Through the twists and turns of a life-changing year, I kept on knitting. One project knit during the turmoil of spring and summer did not get recorded in pictures or on Ravelry, but I have a stand-in at the ready to represent it.

A toque for Ana. The pattern is by Anna Zilboorg from her book 45 Fine and Fanciful Hats to Knit, a favorite of mine.

Very pretty, but someone stole this out of Ana’s mailbox in Montreal and she never got to wear it. That’s OK - to tell the truth, the yarn was kind of scratchy and this was probably not going to be a successful hat in the wearing.

So, onward to a replacement toque:

Better colors to match her winter jacket, and much more satisfactory yarn. There is quite a bit of cashmere in that white yarn - mmmmm, soft.

Two pairs of fingerless gloves. The pair on the left was for Ana, the pair on the right was for me. The pattern: Hexagon Mitts by Sybil R.

This is a fun project that starts with the thumb, grows outward, and then down. The orange yarn in my pair is some of my early handspun.

Sometime during the spring I cast on a pair of socks for my mother, from my only published pattern, Dragonskin Socks. Blue is my mom’s favorite color, and I used Spinning Bunny Hand Dyed Panda Yarn, a lovely variegated yarn that is a blend of merino and bamboo, in shades of blue . The socks fit her well, and she tells me she is enjoying them this winter. I finished them in late July. Standing in for my mom’s pair is a pair I made for my husband Robert in 2013.

Next up: My masterpiece. It was a year and a half in the making.

Beautiful pattern (Lorelei by Tonia Barry), luscious yarn, and perfect fit. This is the best sweater I have ever knit for myself.

I don’t knit a lot of sweaters in recent years, but I rushed forward and finished a second sweater for myself, in less than 5 months time!

I love this picture of me with the statue of Rachel Carson in Woods Hole, MA. This is a tweaked version of Marnie MacLean’s Damariscotta. The yarn is 50% wool, 50% bamboo, so it’s very breathable. I plan to submit it to a local exhibit of knitting projects completed during 2014.

Last completed during the year: a sturdy, colorful pair of mittens.

The main yarn is handspun, hand dyed Cotswold from Diamond Ledge in Vermont. We are not supposed to call yarn “scratchy” any more - the new term is “crunchy”. The yarn was too crunchy to use for a scarf, but mittens are a perfect use for a yarn that is going to be very strong and warm. I used a pattern called Toe Up Mittens by Lynn Hershberger and found a complementary lopi yarn in my stash so that I could have nice, long cuffs after I ran out of the cotswold.

I begin the new year with three projects on the needles: a pair of socks, a lace shawl, and a vest. The last two are leaps of faith, that my current state of well being will be with me long enough to both finish and enjoy wearing more major pieces of knitwear. I end with this quote:

 “Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises.” — Elizabeth Zimmerman