Off with the old and on with the new!

Hello again! Time for a quick round up of projects that got finished at the end of last year! I set myself the crazy target of five finished items by Christmas Eve! You'd have thought that I'd have learnt from the previous year's experience, wouldn't you?! I imagine that I'm going to have all this free knitting time, when actually, preparations for Christmas take far longer! Never mind, I'll try to be better organised next Christmas so that I don't have so many bits to finish at the last minute!

First off the needles were Michael's stripy socks, made with Regia yarn and the Violet Green sock generator pattern. He uses them as bed socks, and must have the brightest toes in North Norfolk!

I finished my purply ruffles spiral scarf, knitted using the Koigu yarn that Erin kindly gave me at KnitNation last summer. I learnt how to knit backwards using this video, and it really speeded things up, knitting all those short rows. I shall definitely do that when I knit my 10 stitch blanket, so that I don't spend lots of time turning the needles back and forth.

I finished knitting Sheepish, the lovely little baby cardigan that I won from Yarn on the House. I'm really pleased with how the finished garment looks. It was fun to knit, and I just love the little sheep buttons! It's going to be winging its way up to Sophie this week.

Here's a closer look at those buttons!

I also knitted a little hat for PD, using some leftover sock yarn. He looks very cute in it!

My Innocent Smoothie hats of the week for weeks 8 and 9 both have a festive feel to them. Betty is sporting a Santa hat, while Belinda shows us what Santa wears off-duty!

I was in a ruthless mood last week, tidying up my craft room. There were some projects that hadn't been touched all year, so they were frogged! I have just one project in hibernation - my crocheted summer stripy bag - it's all done bar the lining. So time for some new projects!

I cast on Peasy, and have just started the vine pattern on the yoke. It's knitted all in one, top down. The yarn is a bluey-grey colour - the light was terrible for the photos!

I've also cast on a pair of socks as my portable project. This pair are for Charlotte, using the Circles pattern. It works well with this Regia Deign Line yarn. I've barely started them!

My third project is a test knit for Lily France. She's just designed a gorgeous hat, and was looking for test knitters. I volunteered, and got the pattern yesterday. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK (from my stash!), and have only done the ribbing so far. I hope to have more to show you next week.

As well as these three new projects, I've got my 10 stitch Silk Garden blanket, my sock yarn blanket and my Innocent Smoothie hats on the go from last year. Hopefully the blankets will get more of a look-in this year! I'm hoping that my desire for instant gratification will be satisified with the socks and blankets, while I push on with the bigger knits. Will it work? There's only one way to find out! Keep on calling in - you can be sure that I'll let you know! Have a good week! xx