Resolutions

...don't have any.

Goals?

...none!

Ideas?

...a million and a half

2013's gonna be GRAND! 

Fuelled in part by a few recent knitting acquisitions...

A copy of  The Principles of Knitting - a Christmas Gift from (very!) Darling Daughter. What an interesting stance the author takes...essentially even experienced knitters best read the thing cover to cover. Her assertion being if you cherry pick the book for "how to"'s you'll miss the opportunity her comprehensive explanations provide to refine and improve your technique through a thorough understanding of the craft.

At 650 pages of instructional text before the 60 page appendix that's a whole lot of understanding...I'm intrigued...no promises but I'm going to try actually reading it! I've really no excuse not to - I even have these clever Christmas tags my cousin made to use as book marks!...

There was a printed pattern for Jared Flood's Guernsey Wrap was under the tree for me from My Beloved. I was loath to buy this - thinking instead I could just figure it out myself - 'feels like a luxury to have it here in my hands on paper and ready to shop for yarn!

This magical stuff...'picked up at Lettuce Knit on a two hour, three LYS, tour downtown and back. (No lingering to look at yarn that day!) It looks exactly like highlighter when applied but movable and (so far), unlikely to be knocked off the page as can happen with post it notes.

And suddenly there is yarn aplenty around here too!

In his innocence about knitting and using his own hard earned $$ to buy Christmas Gifts solo, Number One Son bought his mother some very extravagant skeins for Christmas...

Cream Illimani Baby Llama and Silk...'thinking Jared's :"Ptarmigan" . This one in particular!

Zen Garden Superwash Worsted in "Fire Red"...The yardage is tight but I'm going to try to stretch it into a pair of "Detour Mitts" by Rebecca Blair.

2 skeins "Black Pearl" Zen Garden Serenity Worsted...I plan to knit the "Amerind Cowl" by Sarah Wilson once the pattern's out in February. When I saw the price of this stuff at Lettuce Knit  hand written on the label I thought it was a reference to the dye lot!  One skein cost as much as I paid at Romni for all the yarn plus two insurance balls to make a "Deco" cardigan!

...The yarn for which I now finally have on hand...

Its pure wool, sport weight "Tove" by Sandnesgarn. The colour and wooley wool texture is what I've been trying to source for a couple of years! It feels scratchy and unrefined. The really cool looking young knitting whizzes behind the counter at Romni complemented me on my purchase - especially since they had to order it in specially - 'said I had a good eye for great yarn and by the way had I noticed they now carry the whole line of Briggs and Little? As the saying goes, "Everything old is new again"!

Meanwhile I've been working away at swatch/sleeves for My Beloved's Ranger.

My own recent "memo to self" about "tension" has come in handy.  Working several pairs of Twined Mittens in a row and hosting an insane number of big dinners over the holidays seems to have replaced "gauge" with straight up "tension" in my hands, and so, on my needles. I've moved from 5mm up to to 7mm (trying all the sizes in between) in search of approaching gauge. I may finally have it but if the 7's won't do it I'll next try knitting with my looser Continental technique.

A Sweater on the needles, yummy wee projects ahead, two more cardi yarn/pattern combos waiting in the wings and many hundreds of pages of knitting reading...See what I mean? Doesn't it all just seem GRAND?

As I try to catch up with blog reading missed over the holiday I'm sensing many knitters out there are feeling as good about their 2013 knitting prospects as I am. 'Hope you're among them! Thanks for dropping by.