Looking back

Another year has come to an end. I've been looking over my projects on Ravelry, and have picked out a favourite project for each month of the year.

Starting off in January (top left) are my Monkey socks. These were the first patterned pair of socks I knitted where I had to modify the pattern to fit my big feet! February and March are also pairs of socks. February saw me knitting my first toe-up pair, using the Yarn over Cable pattern from Charlene Schurch. March was another foray into pattern adaptation, using the Spring Forward pattern from Knitty. In April I knitted some baby clothes, and loved knitting those cute little booties designed by Saartje. In May I had a go at some simple lace, joining in the KAL on the Phoenix Knitting Forum, and was delighted with my Ishbel. It's had lots of wear, and won first place in the handicrafts section of our local show! In June I finally finished a garment for me! Salsa had been on the needles since the previous summer. It's a lovely snuggly cardi, perfect for these chilly winter days we're having at the moment. I discovered the Zauberball in July, and made these fantastically bright RPM socks. Socks again in August - this time Jaywalkers. They are one of my favourite pairs at the moment. It took me three attempts to actually get this pattern to fit. I'm so glad I persisted. In September I knitted lots of little hats for The Big Knit, to raise money for Help the Aged and Age Concern. This hat was one of my favourites. I'm hoping to knit a few little hats each month so that I get plenty knitted next year. In October I went on a workshop run by Debbie Abrahams, where I learnt how to knit with beads, and also how to work with several colours at the same time. It was a great day, and skills that I'd been quite intimidated by, proved to be surprisingly straightforward. In November I used one of my favourite yarns, Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend, to knit a drop stitch scarf for a friend. I think that I'll be knitting myself one in 2010. The year ends with a surprisingly summery looking bag, from the wonderful blog of Lucy at Attic 24. I was inspired to give crochet a go after visiting Lucy's blog, and this bag was the result! The largest picture in the centre shows the knits I've made for my knitting club at school. I'm starting this next week, and I hope that I'll be inspiring a whole new generation of knitters.

My resolution to knit from stash hasn't quite worked out as planned! I was very good at the start of the year, but it's sooooo hard when I see some beautiful, squishy, colourful yarn! How can I resist?! I do have two favourite yarns; the first was from a swap with a Canadian knitter, Cathy, and is a skein of Casbah sock yarn by Handmaiden, in beautiful berry shades. It's going to be one of the first yarns I use next year, and I think beads will be involved too! The second is a skein that I bought at the I Knit weekender, from the Skein Queen. It's called Wisp and is a mixture of silk and cashmere. Mmmmmmm, luxurious.

There's a lot to look forward to in 2010. Snoopydog and I are heading to London in July for Knit Nation, where we'll be attending a couple of classes and no doubt doing a spot of stash enhancement! (Better start saving now!) I'm giving myself some much broader aims next year, so that I can attempt a greater variety of projects without pressure to meet a deadline. I'd like to be able to spin yarn worthy of knitting and to improve my crochet skills. I'd like to knit something lacy with beads, and to work on my blankets (and maybe start another one or two!)

Thank you for visiting my blog this year. I hope that you have a very happy, healthy and yarn filled new year! See you in 2010! xxx