So, it's a new year! Due to all the holiday days that we have off from work, I've only worked three days so far this year, which has been very nice. We spent New Year's Eve with a couple of friends and their 7 month old baby, Arvid, so we got a little practice for the future. It was very nice, we had some very good food and played a board game, and even though Arvid did NOT want to sleep, he was very cheerful and happy the whole evening.
A few days before New Year's I finished my Gnarled Oak cardigan, so I got to wear it to the dinner. It actually fits me very well right now, I can even button it if I strain it a little, so that makes me wonder how big it will be once the baby has arrived...
I really like it though, and I don't think I'll mind a bit of an over-sized cardigan anyway. It's made with Wollmeise DK yarn, so it's very nice and soft, and it was a fun knit too.
That left me with one single project on the needle, which is the Mandala II shawl. I've finished more than half of the last chart before the edging, but it has actually been resting for a couple of days now. You see, I've realized that March (and, hence, the baby) is coming soon, so I've started making baby stuff. These past few days I've finished a hat, a pair of booties and a pair of mittens...
These are the Kid at Any Age hat, the Dreamy Baby booties and the Easy Knit Baby mittens (although I changed that pattern quite a bit). I used the same yarn for all three projects, my skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label Cashmere Sock yarn that I got as the December shipment in the Cookie A sock club, and it really is super soft. All of these projects went super fast, as they are so small! Next up is probably some kind of baby cardigan, I just have to decide which yarn to use.
Once all those projects were going I also needed some projects for myself, so these past few days I've cast on for three different socks for myself. Maybe I went a little overboard... The first pair is a pair of Stricken socks, by Cookie A:
I'm using a skein of The Knitting Goddess sock yarn that I got in the 7 Degrees of Kevin Bacon sock club last year (I don't remember which month), in the colourway Where the Sun Doesn't Shine (which is from the Dark Shadows movie. I think it might be a little on the dark side for this pattern, but I'm still enjoying making them so I don't mind. It's nice to have a pair of semi-solid socks going again!
Next up are the Watermelon Slice socks that I got both pattern and yarn as a kit from The Knitters Brewing Company at the start of the summer. I decided not to use the beads that came with it, because I find beaded socks a bit uncomfortable to wear.
I'm enjoying these too, the pattern is pretty easy so I plan on using these as my coffee break knitting. The yarn is The Knitters Brewing Company Sock-aholic, in the colourways Watermelon Fizz, Sour Apple Twist and Heavy Cream. The yarn isn't the softest, but it should be very durable.
Finally today I started a plain vanilla pair of socks, in some self-striping Crazy Zauberball yarn that has been in my stash for a while, in the colourway Charisma:
I wasn't certain that I'd be able to remember the pattern for the Watermelon Slice socks at work, and I don't want to bring the pattern (I haven't printed it, it's only on my iPad), so I needed something really easy. I'm making them toe-up, so I can use up most of the yarn, and as the Stockinette Zombies are continuing the Stripy KAL for another year, these will probably be my January entry. I don't have twelve skeins of self-striping in my stash any more, and as I plan on not buying any more yarn for a while I don't think I'll be able to finish twelve striping projects this year too. But I'll make some and enter them as they are finished.
Oh, and speaking of yarn. I actually decided to spend a little bit of my Christmas money on yarn, as I found out that one of my favourite dyers, Chili Gredelin, has opened her store again! So first I ordered a skein of sock yarn, Cassiopeia (75 % superwash merino/20 % nylon/5 % stellina), in the colourway It's Oh So Quiet:
Then she did another update, and I got three skeins of her lace yarn Madame (55 % silk/45 % cashmere), but that hasn't arrived yet so I'll show it to you once it does. I think that my next lace project, once the giant shawl is done, will be in some Madame.
Ok, I think that's it for today. Lots and lots of knitting! I'll try to be back soon, but it's all depending on how well I feel. But now it's only two more months, then the baby will be here!
/ Jenny
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