2017: The Year In Review

Well, it's time for my annual Year in Review post! This year I did a lot - I knit 16 garments, 13 accessories (with one more on the needles that should be finished by New Year's!), a table runner, and I crocheted my toy octopus. All together, I knit (and crocheted) up 18,709 yards of yarn (with another 960 to add to that once my Leventry is done). That's over 10.6 miles of yarn!

I released twelve patterns this year, and I'm really proud of what I put out. My Chaverim was something I'd been wanting to try for a couple of years, and my Scrubland Collection is everything I wanted it to be. I've been toying around with Cockle Shells since I was in college, and I've been wanting to design Easy A ever since I first started thinking about becoming a designer.

I participated in seven KALs this year (Selfish Sweater KAL, OAL, TTTKAL, Summer Sweater KAL, Hipster KAL, NaKniSweMo, and the GAL) and I hosted my Accessories KAL in my Ravelry Group. I'm looking forward to participating in many of these KALs again in the future, and starting on Monday I'll be hosting my Easy A-long.

I didn't set goals for 2017, and overall I'm pleased with how the year went. This year was a hard one, in many ways, but I also managed to branch out and grow in many areas. I started writing regularly again, and started a website for some of my writing. I perfected my bread recipe. I auditioned for my first non-musical play since high school (and got in!). I joined my local handbell choir after not playing for nine years.

I don't know what next year will hold. I expect it will be hard in many ways, as the past two years have been, but I'm hoping for more friends, more making, and more small joys to help balance it all out. Happy New Year, friends.

Linking up with Crafting On

New Pattern: Starkeeper

I have one more pattern for this year!

Starkeeper is a light, slouchy hat with eyelets and garter stitch. Using basic stitches and pi shaping for the crown decreases, this hat is a charming, quick knit perfect for variegated and striping yarns.

Starkeeper is now available on Ravelry, in four sizes, and is $1 off through Christmas!

Easy A-Long Prep

I'm woefully behind on xmas knitting, I have several unfinished GAL projects floating around, and I was sick last week and part of the weekend. So, of course, the best thing to turn my attention to is preparing for the Easy A-long!

I've had these yarns in my stash for several months- they reminded me of a mermaid so much that I just had to get them, and I think they'll look great striped up in an Easy A. I need to break out my colored pencils to play around with some stripe/colorblocking sequences to see what I want to go with, but just having the yarn is a big step!

This is the same yarn that I knit my samples from, but I'll still need to swatch in case my gauge has tightened or loosened at all since the end of summer. I'm also going to have to wind these by hand, since they're way too big to fit on my ball winder!

Come on and join us in my Ravelry group- I'm loving seeing people's yarn choices! And remember, Easy A is 20% off leading up to the KAL with code "EASYALONG."

Linking up with Crafting On

Finished: NaKniSweMo Vianne

I finally got FO pictures of my Vianne, and friends, I love this sweater SO MUCH. It's perfect. It is the softest sweater I own, hands down, and it came out exactly how I wanted.

I got this yarn for my birthday a couple years ago, and I'd had some trouble figuring out the best pattern for it. Because of the 50% alpaca content, I knew that whatever sweater I made would need some lace to keep it from being to warm to wear all the time, and after a couple of false starts I decided Vianne would be perfect, with some modifications.

I probably toyed around with different mod ideas for a year - I debated making it into a pullover, adding lace on the sleeves, but ultimately I decided to keep it as a cardigan but make it a super cozy grandpa cardigan. I knit this two sizes up for some positive ease, I lengthened the body, and I made long sleeves. It's almost exactly like my big grey Eddie Baur sweater that I adore and wear all the time, which is exactly what I was going for.

It took a while to find the perfect buttons, but I loved this yarn and the finished sweater so much that I had no intention of half-assing the buttons, and I found these cream and blue beauties from ButtonHive and they're perfect.

Ravelry Page: Vianne

Pattern: Vianne by Andi Satterlund

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Tonos Worsted "3 TW"

New Pattern: Bone Cabin

Happy Monday! I have a new pattern out today, my second one inspired by North American fossil beds.

Bone Cabin is a snug cap worked in a simple textured stripe pattern. Bone Cabin is named for the Bone Cabin Quarry in Wyoming, which was a rich source of Jurassic fossils during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The quarry was so named because of a nearby shepherd’s cabin, which had been almost entirely constructed out of the Jurassic-era bones that littered this area.

Bone Cabin is available in four sizes, and it's $1 off through Sunday, December 17th!

Linking up with Crafting On

Stripes Upon Stripes

I'm still working steadily on my Leventry for the GAL. This is my dedicated lunch/choir knitting, so it's growing pretty steadily. The one gift that I'm working on as part of the GAL is more complex, so that's relegated to the evenings, when I can hide in my room and work on it with conspiracy theory documentaries in the background.

I have about eight more stripes before I can start the lace border here, and I keep trying to convince myself that shawl rows don't get longer and it'll be no problem to have the striped section done this weekend. It's going to be a busy weekend for me- my choir's carol service is Sunday morning, and we have a two-hour rehearsal on Saturday to prepare for it, plus we're singing again at the town carol service on Sunday night. Plus I have auditions for the community theater dinner theater show on Saturday afternoon, so I'll be lucky to get much knitting done at all.

Are you participating in the GAL? What are you working on now?

Announcing the 2018 Easy A-long!

New year, new sweater! 

Easy A is perfect for the dead of winter- it's an easy knit, it works up quickly, and the finished project is super cozy. To usher in the new year, and help us get through some of the doldrums of winter, I am happy to run the Easy A-long in my Ravelry Group! 

The Easy A-long will start January 1st, so there's plenty of time to pick our your yarn. Easy A is a blank canvas, so it's a great project to try out variegated yarns or play with stripes.

The KAL will run through February 28th, which gives you just over eight weeks to finish your sweater. Knit at 14 stitches and 24 rows to 4 inches, this sweater goes by pretty quickly!

Easy A is knit in pieces and seamed, and the whole thing is finished with an i-cord neckline. Easy A also has tons of options: two body lengths, two sleeve lengths, afterthought pockets, split hem, longer back, and you can mix and match to your heart's content. Easy A comes in twelve sizes to fit busts 28-61 in / 71-155 cm and is designed with four inches of positive ease.

The pattern is 20% off leading up to the KAL using code EASYALONG at checkout on Ravelry. There's also a thread in my Ravelry Group for chatter, and be sure to use the hashtag #EASYALONG on social media!

Happy planning!

GAL the First: Gentle On My Mind

Over the weekend was a baby shower for one of my friends, and I finished my first GAL project for the incoming little guy. I debated what I should knit for a couple of weeks, and I'm so glad that I decided on Gentle on My Mind by Lee Meredith. It's modeled here by Skelly, because I don't really have a lot of things that are newborn-head sized, and Skelly is a good sport.

This hat has such an interesting construction, and it really challenged and entertained me. I was super confused for a while at the beginning, but I decided to just trust the instructions and follow them line by line, and of course it worked out perfectly.

I used some Knit Picks Swish that I had in my leftovers bin- this is probably going to be a January baby, so he needs a wool hat, and it's superwash in case it gets thrown in the laundry due to mom/dad brain.

Ravelry Page: Gentle on My Mind

Pattern: Gentle on My Mind by Lee Meredith

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted "Squirrel Heather" and Swish Brights Worsted "Hot Tamale"

Linking up with Crafting On

All GAL, All the Time

For those of you following along at home, I did manage to finish my NaKniSweMo sweater with two days to spare! Buttons are en route, and I'm planning on blocking it this weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to share real pictures of it soon.

Now that that's done, I can really dive in and focus on GAL fun. Last night I finished the Top Sekrit baby knit for my friend, and I'll be able to share that with you next week, and I've been going to town on my Leventry. I've been in love with this pattern for ages, and I'm having such a blast knitting it up in the GAL forums.

I have one actual xmas present that I'm knitting, and I started that one last night. I am a little bit nervous about finishing it on time, but as long as I work on it for at least an hour or two every day I should have no problem getting it finished.