Recuperation
What an incredibly busy past three months it has been! Now that all of the holiday craziness is over and dealt with, I find I suddenly have the time to sit back and relax… at least for a little while. I know my shoulder certainly appreciates the down time!
I didn’t realize just how much I had taken on this year until I was racing the clock, trying to finish everything on time. Originally I had only planned to knit five gifts and had allocated my time in accordance. Things were going swimmingly until the beginning of December when I found myself needing to add an additional two projects onto my workload. I increased my pace to something close to frantic and my husband helped out immensely by taking over my portion of the household chores. In the end, I managed to get my last project off of the needles and onto the blocking board on the morning of Christmas eve. That was cutting it quite close, but I was simply happy to be able to have a gift under the tree for everyone.
My right shoulder and elbow are still sore and I think I’ve begun to go through the motions of knitting in my sleep, but it was worth it. I must admit that until the first box was opened I was afraid that no one would appreciate their gifts. That turned out not to be the case, however, and each person seemed quite excited to open their box to see what I had made especially for them. While I don’t think I’m up to repeating the whole process again next year, I will certainly consider doing it again soon.
Here’s a quick summary of each of the gifts I knit this year:
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1. Chevron Scarf
Pattern: Chevron Scarf by Brenda of Molecular Knitting
Yarn: Lana Grossa Cento
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Started: September 15th, 2009
Finished: September 21st, 2009
2. Rupert Cabled Scarf
Pattern: Rupe by Annie Bell
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Tweeds
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Started: October 3rd, 2009
Finished: November 16th, 2009
3. Toasty Cabled Scarf
Pattern: Toasty Winter Scarf by the J. Knits Design Team
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Started: November 16th, 2009
Finished: November 28th, 2009
4. Raindrops & Rivulets Scarf
Pattern: Luscious Lace Scarf by Knitting Pixie
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Started: November 26th, 2009
Finished: December 9th, 2009
5. Mistake Rib Scarf
Pattern: Mistake Rib Scarf by Wendy D. Johnson
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Wool
Needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm
Started: December 11th, 2009
Finished: December 15th, 2009
6. Sunray Scarf
Pattern: Sunray by Ulli S. Shibuya
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Wool
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Started: December 16th, 2009
Finished: December 18th, 2009
7. Lauma Scarf
Pattern: Scarf with No Name by Samantha Edgerly
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Started: November 7th, 2009
Finished: December 23rd, 2009
For a more detailed look at each project, feel free to visit my Ravelry projects page (you’ll need a membership to view the site, but it’s free and worth it).
During all the hustle and bustle, I did find some time to work on some personal knitting as well (mostly while traveling in the car or late at night when I was too tired to risk working on a gift). I started a pair of socks out of some Online Supersocke Holiday yarn I had tucked away in my stash and I also made myself a pair of much needed fingerless gloves.
Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm
Started: December 6th, 2009
Finished: December 8th, 2009
These were super fast to do and were a welcome treat for myself. I dislike wearing gloves as I find the fingers to be needlessly annoying and uncomfortable, but I was in desperate need of something to keep my hands warm as the weather here turns cold and wet. The Shepherd’s Wool is delightful to work with – extra soft, well-spun, good stitch definition – and for 10$ for 250 yards, it’s hard to resist. I was able to get two gloves out of approximately half a skein of it and still have another skein on top of that to knit into something else.
Now that I can knit solely for myself again, I have a few scarf designs I need to swatch and write the patterns for, there’s a design for some fingerless gloves kicking around in my head, and I am looking into historical fashion books to work up a shawl design. I plan to offer those on the main site just as soon as I have them ready for consumption.
I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season!
