New Years. New Projects. New Yarn!

'Scrambling to get all caught up here and can't believe I've yet to get through Christmas or touch on New Years, both of which featured knitting-related stuff! 

Over the course of Christmas morning my knitting library expanded to include a much coveted copy of "Ultimate Mittens" by Robin Hansen...

And two balls of Scottish Angora/Merino DK from the Orkney Islands in a tote bag from Loop of London!

While I looked forward to diving into both those treasures in 2015 the days between Christmas and New Years were full of comings and goings, fun outings in our fabulous city and fantastic eating thanks to 2 new cook books from Darling Daughter. January days lay ahead that would perfectly suit hunkering down to enjoy my knitting to the fullest.

New Years Eve itself was a grand example. I made a big, delicious dinner that the four of us sat and enjoyed with a gorgeous bottle of wine then the kids set off to celebrate while My Beloved and I retired to the fire and a movie and I hauled out my mending basket full of hand knits! That's right, As 2014 came to a close I was darning! I fixed more than a dozen pairs of socks, a pair of hand knit gloves and a cardigan with a small moth hole in one sleeve.

By the time of our gourmet brunch on the morning of January 1st the darning was done and my rather depleted sock drawer looked positively crammed. 

Nice to have a full complement of socks again but also nice to get them without dedicating knitting time to making more. I've a list of other things I'm keen to get onto my needles in the coming weeks so it was great to have the decks almost cleared as the New Year began.

"Almost" because Hawser's status is still "in progress".

This past week I was happy to get back to working on it because its pleasant knitting but also because I want to be wearing it on these chilly January days!

As January days go, yesterday was a fantastically "chilly" one. Bright sunshine with cold temperatures and a biting wind it was ripe with need to layer on the knits. Which is what I did as I headed downtown bright and early for a hair cut followed by 2 fantastic hours wandering around Romni Wools. I was through the doors moments after they opened with a list of projects to shop for and no need to rush or worry about anyone else but this knitter. Ahhhhhh!

Still I was home in time for lunch with new hair and yarn. With My Beloved away I spent the afternoon and evening alone (with a poodle) playing with my new treasures, filing patterns and needles and knitting-related stuff pulled out over the holidays and assembling project bags for the first of my 2015 knitting.

Back in my "bad old" pre-poodle days that would have been the totality of my activity. With my "personal trainer" Hudson, however, the yarn play was necessarily punctuated by a very brisk hour's walk down into a nearby ravine (warmer down there out of the wind but we won't speak about walking back up the hill towards home into the gusts!) That exercise then demands eating a proper dinner even if I am on my own but then all of it together means I have more energy to work longer into the evening to a degree that more than makes up for the time they demanded away from tinkering with yarn and patterns in the first place.

I'd love to post about my new yarn but I'm determined to do my 2014 Roundup before indulging in writing on plans for 2015. I never got a summary organized for 2013 and I miss not having that kind of a reference point.

Fingers crossed I nail that one tomorrow! Meanwhile happy Sunday everybody!