Happy New Year to all! What a year this has been. One family member departed this life (my husband’s father) and another entered (little Isobel). We traveled to far off places which were quite different – England and Missouri. And my husband completed his first full year of retirement (the verdict – GOOD!). In tallying up my production this year, I was shocked at how many projects I actually completed: 5 shawls, 3 sweaters, 7 scarves, 3 baby hats, 6 baby sweaters, 4 pairs of CIC socks and 5 pairs of adult socks. All but one sweater and one shawl were also started in 2005. Wow! I’m exhausted. All of that is in addition to holding down a job, volunteering at church, going to school part-time (I’m now a senior – WHOO HOO!) and doing enough of my share around the house to keep my husband reasonably content.

My favorite project of the year – Peacock Feathers (gifted to my mother for Christmas):

Cutest project? No contest:

Most repeated pattern? I got stuck on Estonian Scarves and made 5! Here’s a picture of 4:

I must have been doing pretty well – I gave one as a thank you to a friend who had given me her copy of Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller. She wore it to Seattle to have a lunch with a friend who admired the knitting and the choice of color. The friend? Evelyn Clarke. The designer!

Last completed project of the year:

More Fun Than Cables Socks – pattern courtesy of Marguerite. Thank you Marguerite for sharing your lovely patterns with us. These really were fun to make. I will definitely do them again. The yarn is Essentials by Knit Picks. Although the yarn was fine to work with, I am not sure I will use it again. After wearing only one day, the toes and instep (where my clogs hit them) are starting to felt a little.

Last yarn purchase of the year:

We went up to Bellingham today and thanks to Li found this great new yarn shop – Marilyn’s. Good selection, good prices and nice people. Well worth the trip, even if we weren’t going for something else. The yarn is “Socks That Rock” in the Azurite colorway. It feels wonderful and reminds me a little of Koigu. I wound the yarn at the shop because I just couldn’t wait to start. But then I reminded myself that I always start a new project on New Year’s Day and decided to wait until tomorrow. I love, love, love this book! I like my library of sock books, but I think this is the one I will use the most. Multiple patterns that you can do in any yarn, any size.

I am thinking over my resolutions for the New Year. I am a big believer in resolutions. Even if you end up breaking most of them, there’s something about the eternal quest to better yourself. The New Year is such a great time to take stock and consider what you really want to do in the coming year. I’ll keep you posted!