Happy New Year

December 31, 2012December 31, 2012 | Sonia Knits

There is something magical about beginning a new year. It can be a time for reflection and a time for some goal setting. Let me share my Knitting reflections and resolutions with you.

The Knitting Reflections part

I knit 17 things last year (not counting ‘group projects’).

7 of the ‘things’ were knit for other people. Granted they were mostly baby items; I’m happy I was more ‘giving’ this year and didn’t realise that.

I knit 3 garments for myself and only one of them doesn’t fit me (for now).

I knit 4 pairs of socks, 2 were knee-high, with one being 8 plyish in hand-spun. I knit only one other thing with my hand spun right at the end of last year (my scowl: shawl/cowl), which I’m unfortunately less than pleased with, just too many colours around my neck… if the gift-box concept worked for me, it would find itself there. But how can someone love, what I don’t?

I knit for Marilyn lots, and I loved every minute of it.

The Resolutions part

I don’t really set myself strict goals, more like a direction. If I don’t get there, I figure I probably didn’t want to go that way anyway. I want to spin more, knit more, blog more and knit more socks.

Spin more: I’m at capacity with my fibre (stop laughing) and I need to make room for the Bendigo Sheep Show, it’s only 6 months away you know. I’d also like to knit more with my handspun, because it still amazes me that I can make it.

Knit more: Well I’ve always want to knit more (with friends like Sharon), but I’m trying something different. I’m going to knit more projects at once, knit at a whim, knit fearlessly. Therefore improving my knitting mojo overall by not being stuck knitting one thing for 3 months (knee-high socks I’m looking at you).

Blog more: I enjoy reading the blogs of my friends and other knitters and spinners. I do feel like I’ve let the team down a bit this year by not blogging as regularly. I would be sad if my bloggers stopped blogging, I would have nothing to read! I was pretty chuffed at having 1,700 views to my blog last year, until I found Damian had more views than me!

Knit more socks: I’ve joined the Cookie A sock club for this year, so I’ll be knitting along socks with hundreds of people all over the world. I also plan to continue with the Vesper sock club too. I’m a little addicted to stripy socks. There were a number of sock fatalities last year, so the few socks I made really only replace the sock count.

I don’t know about you, but it’s the new year and I have Still Light to cast-on.

2012 in review

December 31, 2012January 5, 2013 | Sonia Knits

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,700 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Christmas

December 30, 2012January 5, 2013 | Sonia Knits

The best part of Christmas is spending time with little ones, here’s some digital photos of Marilyn on her first Christmas day. I think she already has an appreciation for knitted gifts, may it always be so. Damian took a few more serious photos with a film camera, so they’ll take longer to materialise.

Make hay while the sun shines

December 23, 2012January 5, 2013 | Sonia Knits

I woke up this morning knowing there would be something new to cast-on, I could feel it.

I’ve spun quite a bit of fibre into yarn, but thus far I’ve knit very little of my hand spun. My 200 grams of GaGa Bunny had already being wound into a ball months ago, it was an obvious choice. I’ve been eyeing off the pattern ‘Zuzu’s Petals’ for a while now. It is a rather clever pattern and looks great by all accounts of the people who have made it on Ravelry. It’s a cowl/shawl! I love pretty shawls, but I get a bit fussy about how to wrap the things to make them stay on; this is a great solution because it is a cowl that looks like a shawl wrapped around your neck.

I love holidays!

Turning over a new leaf

December 22, 2012January 5, 2013 | Sonia Knits

I’m going to try something new, starting now.

I’m going to knit what I want, when I want. Goodbye project monogamy! I thought you could make me happy, but you are seriously disappointing my knitting dreams.

It is a bit of an obstacle of the mind, to not be working on just one project at a time. But some recent large projects have made me realise, I need to branch out a little. I want to knit everything now. If I wait too long to knit what I want to knit now, inevitably I am not all that excited about what I’m knitting at any time, because I’ve thought about it for too long! Does that make sense? What is the point of it all, if knitting doesn’t make me happy?!

Here’s the beginnings of project 2, a pair of stripy socks. The yarn is my very first shipment of Vesper sock club. I wasn’t too crazy about this colour way, but decided that knitting the cuff, heel and toes in some leftover wollmeise mint would make this pair of socks look super snappy. I’ve loved every colour way since, so I’m sure I’ll grow to love these too.

What will I cast on next?!

Culling

December 20, 2012January 5, 2013 | Sonia Knits

I don’t know what has come over me. Maybe it’s the end of the year, or maybe I just got a bit worried after watching an episode of ‘Hoarders’. I’ve been sorting through all the sorts of collections I have at home. It’s amazing how easy it was to rid myself of things I haven’t used in years. There is of course more to go, I haven’t stopped yet. I eagerly await the arrival of a skip, so I can really have at it!

I’ve also been ‘culling’ my Ravelry queue… 25 pages down to 22! Ok, so maybe that needs a bit more work. Whilst it’s not taking up physical space in my life, my knitting dreams can be a bit of a burden. I tried to be honest with myself; no I’m really not going to knit those lacy Opera gloves… but 200 pairs of socks? Sure no problem!

Right now, I’m working feverishly on my ‘Plain and Simple’ top. I’ve resisted the temptation of casting-on some socks so far, but I don’t know for how much longer I can hold out. The ‘Still-light’ a-long begins on January 1… so much knitting, so little time.

On a happier note, I’m all set for Christmas and I’ve avoided much of the ugly crowds. All that is left now is to soak up the season. I hope yours is a happy one.

A feast for the senses

December 8, 2012December 8, 2012 | Sonia Knits

Today I attended a craft market put on by some of my friends (Robyn came too and was equally excited). It was held at Jo’s beautiful home, which was made over for the purpose.

These are some of my oldest friends, i.e. we’ve known each other since we worked together over 10 years ago. They are multi craftual and incredibly talented, and when I walked into Jo’s home this morning, I wanted to buy everything!

I went away on a crafting weekend with a few of them less than a month ago, so I had a little taste of things to come, and I made sure I got there early today!

I got a little bit of Christmas shopping done, but let’s be honest, I got some beautiful things for me as well. When I entered the first room, I spotted my name embroidered on a sweet little project bag; why of course I had forgotten about placing a pre-order with Bek whilst away on our weekend. Luckily, no other ‘Sonia’s’ had snapped it up!

I was rather pleased to find Karen had completed the baby playmat I saw her work on and I quickly picked that up for yes you guessed it… Marilyn. She did her first deliberate rollover this week, I got a cute video emailed to me to prove it, I was impressed by her acrobatics.

I loved the padded coat hangers by Rae, and the screen printed teas towels by Jo. I also bought ‘one of each’ of Jo’s desserts to take home for my sweet (not pictured here for good reason!). So many beautiful things and I didn’t buy it all. I feel so happy to be able to keep (some) of these things and I know the hands that made them. I hope they do it again next year.