Late night musings on the knitting year ahead...

Because who doesn't need a gratuitous cupcake picture? For the record, this is what my work-mates get when they behave themselves...


Perhaps it's just a beginning-of-the-year thing, but over the last few days, I've found myself thinking more about the things I'd like to knit this year (why yes, I am a little obsessed, thank you for asking, and help yourself to tea and biscuits on the way out). Obviously we knitter-type-people do this a lot in terms of seeing patterns online, or garments worn by people on the street, which then cause us to get inspired and start trying to knit or replicate the design. But this time I've found myself thinking less of specific patterns and more about themes/basic elements.

So for the record, in the year ahead I'd really like to try and knit:

More cables.
Or more to the point, more traditional cables. While I did dabble in cablework over the course of last year (my Gathered Pullover being the most recent example, and who can forget the never-ending saga that was my Sylvi), it was not exactly conventional cablework. I adore both of these designs, but I think that I'd really like to try something a little more basic. I have an entire book of aran and cable patterns on my knitting shelf - it's really about time I cracked it open and got stuck in.

Stripes.
I worked a bit with stripes last year, but it was generally in a minor way, an uninteresting way, or with a self-striping yarn which to me isn't really entirely the same thing. None of these really scratched my itch at any rate, so I see more stripes in my future. *sigh* Better start perfecting that whole jogless stripes in the round thing, Anna...

Shawls.
As I mentioned during the write up for my Wandering the Moor, shawls and I didn't see eye to eye for a very long time. I had knitted a couple of shawls before, and although I'd put quite a lot of work into them (*cough* my Luna Moth Shawl *cough*), I never really wore them all that much. Mostly because I couldn't figure out how to wear them, or because I didn't have anything that went with them, and so on. But over the last few months I have actually found myself wearing both of the above mentioned shawls, so a part of me is itching to explore this area a little further, now that I know that the fruits of my hard work aren't just going to languish in my cupboard.

More Basics:
Wonderfully coloured knitwear is all well and good, but sometimes you just don't feel like cranking out something as vivid as a lot of my garments seem to be. Sometimes it's just a little too early in the morning. Given my bleedingly obvious penchant for making clothes, it's kind of galling to end up resorting to some dodgy black jacket that I bought from Target, just because I want something neutral and un-attention-grabbing. So, in order to alleviate this, I would very much like to knit some nice, wearable pieces in greys, blacks, subdued blues and greens, maroons, and so on. With an emphasis on the wearable: I'm not going to start a new paragraph for this because I am seriously thinking about devoting an entire post to it in the near future, but I want to knit more wearable things. Most of the things that I knitted last year I have worn, and worn a lot, and I would like to continue that way. I enjoy the knitting process, really I do, but I equally, I want to knit things that I will love wearing, and not look at guility every time I open my drawers, only to pass over it for the fiftieth time.

There are other priorities - more handknitted socks because my existing pairs are falling apart, more hats, more gifts for other people (because really I'm not sure I actually need as many knitted garments as I am ending up with as a result of this hobby!), and so on. But those are the big four. Let's see how I go!




In conclusion, here is a project that I finished before I went away but forgot to blog about earlier. It's a mildly ridiculous hat that I made from the wool/alpaca blend yarns that I acquired at the Bendigo Sheep Show last July (purple and brown stripes, but the picture completely and utterly fails to convey this fact). I'm quite happy with how it turned out - originally I was going to do something original, but in the end I got complacent and basically just turned it into a Felicity style hat. I don't regret this. And please excuse the sunglasses - I don't know why I'm wearing them indoors (and for that matter, I don't know why I decided to take a picture in the bathroom either). Go ahead, mock away...

Another year...

Behold, faithful readers, I have returned from my aforementioned holiday. Actually, I've been back for nearly a week now, but have been (unsurprisingly) too swamped by Real Life to have had time to update the blog. There has been a potential new uni course to consider (a mere year long, before anyone starts making jokes about professional students), a boyfriend to wrangle, and bags to unpack, as well as all of those other random things that spring up and bite you when you come home from holidays intending to hold onto the relaxed state of mind that you've managed to cultivate while you've been away. Oh well, such is life.

The trip itself, for the record, was wonderful (as usual). I went with my brother, and in the second half of the holiday we were joined by some of his friends. We just went to the same place that we always do - a tiny seaside town on the northern coast of New South Wales - but I will never, ever get sick of it. There was lots of relaxing, beach-going, walking, and some truly awesome wildlife-related moments (seeing thousands of baby soldier crabs scuttling across creek banks at low tide, walking through the bush in a rainstorm only to be surprised by hundreds of tiny green tree frogs crossing our path, and many more). I finally got a chance to try out my new, less-dodgy camera on some scenery worth shooting!




And of course, I did some knitting (surprise, surprise - it takes more than tropical sun and the lure of beach to make me put down the yarn completely). Actually, truth be told, I'm one of those really tiresome people who spends their holidays doing all of the things that they haven't had time to do during the year - I also did some writing, lots of reading, drawing, and worked on my Japanese vocab (still dreadful, for what it's worth). But I digress - back to the knitting! Firstly, I worked on another version of the pattern I wrote up a while back, mainly just to test it for errors and tweak it slightly:




I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I like the way that it looks in a solid yarn - and although Bendigo Woollen Mills is my go-to for budget yarn, I really loved the Rustic 8ply I used for this one - Midnight Tweed is a beautiful colour (purple with a hint of green, as improbable as that sounds). I made slight changes to the neckline to stop the corners being quite so angular, and I didn't change needle sizes for the sleeves this time (and I'm thinking that it's better that way). I'm quite proud of this pattern, and have every intention of posting it up here in the near future. Now it's just a matter of deciding whether to just post the one size, or to brave the maths (not my strong suit!) involved in giving instructions for other sizes. Stay tuned!

Once I finished the short sleeved pullover (which went pleasingly fast too, for the record), I cast on some of my beloved Sanguine Gryphon yarn with the intention of making a summery top.



Kindly note that the yarn is actually a much darker green than this (kindly disregard the fact that I was too lazy to move to a place with better lighting). The yarn is Sanguine Gryphon 'Dance' in the Stomp colourway. The original plan was to make a halter style top, but I'm now most of the way through the body, and am considering changing to a tank. I love halters, and they're quite flattering on my body type, but I'm concerned that this piece might end up being a bit loose fitting around the bust, and I definitely want to avoid the gaping back that seems to plague so many halter tops. So we shall see. The yarn is gorgeous anyway, as is the fabric that it is making - the silk noil drapes beautifully.


That's where I'm currently at, as far as knitting goes. I have more to say (and a tale to tell about a wonderful octopus), but I'll save that for the next post. I'll conclude with this: as I've mentioned previously, I never really feel like my new year is beginning until I return from my summer holiday - it's my demarcation point between one year and next, even if I actually end up taking the holiday in January. Given this, it seems that this is the appropriate time to say that I'm really looking forward to this year. 2008 was so difficult for me, what with my personal life basically going to hell in a handbasket and all. 2009 was wonderful - it was hard work at times, and I was incredibly busy, but I really felt like I got back on the proverbial horse, as far as life was concerned. I'm really hoping that 2010 will be the year when I start to get on with things. Fingers crossed.

Sweet sweltering Melbourney home

Well, I have officially returned from my blissful soujourn into New South Wales. Thankfully I returned just after the weather was vile and hot - pulling into Melbourne just as the cool change set in properly. I win.

Mmmm... beach. Crescent Head, to be precise. Holiday was blissful, as it always is when we go to this particular spot. It's one that I'm very fond of, to say the least. Only thing is that it's so nice up there that I always get very little by way of knitting done while I'm holidaying. This time I developed a very naughty habit of parking myself under a frangipane tree during the heat of the day, lugging all of my books and yarn down there (plus all the tea I could drink, and a Nutella sandwich for good measure), and then reclining in my delectable spot for hours, not knitting or reading. Constructive? No. Blissful? Yes.

However, there was some knitting done. I finally finished the summery type top thing (why yes, I am very articulate this evening, thank you for asking) that I started before going away. I basically made it up as I went along - it ended up being a halter top worked in an eyelet rib to the bust, with some waist shaping to avoid the dreaded empire waist shape that I dislike so much. I was quite pleased with it (not to mention my younger brother's friends who were along for part of the trip seemed genuinely impressed by the fact that I'd made it, after previously regarding my hours of knitting with a mixture of amusement and disdain).

I still need to do some crochet around the edges to neaten it up (I tried this morning, and can only say that I failed dismally - at first I was too tired and couldn't focus, and then the cat came and plonked himself down on top of the book that was reminding me how to do it), but other then that, it's pretty much done. And there's still plenty of summer weather in which to wear it - finally, Anna manages to successfully knit something seasonal!

Actual knitting aside, I did a lot of plotting while I was away. The place I went away to is the place that I nearly always make my way to around the new year, and it occurred to me on my last night there that while I don't tend to make New Year's resolutions, I do tend to decide to do things when I get home after visiting this place. Crescent Head sort of marks the point of demarcation between one year and the next for me. Anyway, so while I don't have anything by way of New Year's knitting resolutions, I do have lots of post-holiday resolutions... More about that when I'm not so tired though... My social life was... interesting... today and methinks I need sleep to recover from the rigours of it all...

That time again...

Whew. Well, I survived binge knitting those hats for my two friends, but only just! I swear - one more hour of beavering away at fair isle on tiny yarn and my eyeballs would have started to bleed... It nearly killed me. Never again will I attempt something like that in such a small amount of time. Actually, who am I kidding; I'll always be a terminal procrastinator, until the day I die. Or the day that I intend to die, but don't quite get around to it.

There's the culprit behind my eyestrain, at any rate (being modelled by yours truly and her scraggly hair). Also, you can see the reason why I don't wear berets - I think that they look stupid, or they do on my head anyway (how are you supposed to keep the things on?). Thankfully they look very cute on my dear friend Zia. I was tearing my hair out on this one, trying to find a style and colour that she would like, because her tastes and mine are pretty much mutually exclusive. It's not that I think she has bad taste, it's just that we don't like any of the same things. So blue and purple-ish pink (shudder) is not normally in my repertoire. Still, despite all of the angst, she seemed happy enough with it. Which is good. Oh, and since this is my knitting blog and all, here are details: this is the Selbu Modern hat (free pdf on Ravelry), made with Grignasco Bambi (a 4ply merino wool), on a 2.75mm circular needle (did I tell you all that I discovered the wonders of magic loop while I was in Europe?).

I actually finished Nick's hat (a Jacques Cousteau hat - great easy pattern, by the way - made with Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed) while I was sitting and drinking wine with them on the verandah (and apparently getting mauled by mosquitos too, the bathroom mirror informed me this morning). Had planned to get it done earlier of course, but I hadn't counted on the other one taking quite so long. It turned out well too, at any rate. I was warned by everyone that Nick had an enormous head (or more to the point, somewhat indominatable hair), so I made the large size, and was freaking out at how big it was. Though all was well in the end: it came off the needles fitting fine (and I should know, because I rammed it on his head to check before I'd even woven the ends in). Poor long suffering friends. At least they're long suffering friends with handknitted hats...

Anyway, it's New Years Day, so I should probably say something pretentiously reflective about that. 2008 was, well, frankly the worst and most difficult year I've had the pleasure of living through. For the obvious reasons (you know, the sleep deprivation and the anxiety attacks and the living below the poverty line and the my-counsellor-tells-me-not-as-borderline-as-I-think abusive relationship and its subsequent breakdown, and all of those other fun things...). Frankly, the less said about these things the better. 2008: well, I'll remember what I learned from it, because that's all I can do. It's all anyone can ever really do.

That said, the last third of 2008, when I finally began to leave these things behind, was awesome in about a million different kinds of ways. Incredibly hard at times, yes, but awesome nonetheless. And even the really rotten parts showed me that I can be as tough as I need to be, when push comes to shove, and that is reassuring indeed. Anyway, I have a good feeling about 2009. So bring it on! (and yes, I remain, despite everything, the most relentlessly optimistic cynical person in the universe)

Fair Denizens of the Internet: Happy New Year from Anna and her immense pile of yarn!!!