As 2013 comes to a close, the frenzy is on for knitting. Its cool, its hip, its appropriate to wear scarves, hats and crazy knitted items. And yet... I still knit reasonable, predictable items. Things you might find at a store in the mall. Things that aren't boutique-y. I just love the regular, normal way of doing things.
But as a knitter, I still like to do something new every now and again. I am in the process of learning more about cabling and trying to learn about left and right twist. This is a method to achieve a cable "look" without actually using a cable needle. Actually it was way easier than I thought it would be, and I definitely plan to use the technique again.
Recently I cast on some socks (six sox knit along twisted diamond) with some wool that I spun during the Tour de Fleece on my spindles - a grab bag of yarns that would have made some interesting socks. Except that the yarn/needle combo was just not right. The yarn proved to be too dense for the frail bamboo needles, and after a bit, I decided that the project was just not meant to be.
Today at the library I happened upon a great book from Clara Parkes that has more sock patterns than I can handle! I can't wait to pick at least one pair of socks from the book to try. Her stuff always looks good when its knit up.
I've done a little bit of spinning lately on my Kuchulu. I love this spindle. Its my favorite, hands down. Small, light, cute and easy to use. #You'reWelcome
For Christmas, I got some very meaningful gifts, and that's pretty special to me. One was a lovely bracelet from my daughter and son in law. My parents gave a gift card that enabled me to buy the camera that has replaced my poor, taped-up, rubber-banded Nikon. And my son and daughter in law are upgrading my website so that I can blog in style. I love my family and they mean the world to me. And we are certainly blessed with a very warm and comfy home, reliable transportation, plenty of food to eat every single day, and lots of fresh clean water for every thing we'd ever need it for. I am very blessed indeed.
As we look into the New Year, I'm super excited to be re-organizing my old planner, making my list of goals and resolutions (aren't they the same thing?) and dreaming of things to come in 2014. There are so many things to be thinking about, that I had a hard time sleeping in today. I can't wait to meet the new year, and get to know all about what things it has in store!