January Stats

January was a good knitting month. I knit up just shy of 1,000 yards, which is what I was hoping to reach. I finished one lace stole and one baby blanket.

Knit up: 4.5 skeins of yarn/ 937 yards

WIP Wednesday: Blooming Stitch Shawl

Looking through the photos of the projects I finished last year, I realized most of them were lacking color. Mostly it was shades of grey or brown or really dark. I'm so ready for Spring and Summer right now! I really want to knit with yarns with more color this year!

I started the Blooming Stitch Shawl last week in a bright cheery pink. This is an Estonian lace shawl. I looked through the pattern and thought this shawl was going to be a breeze. It's an Estonian lace shawl without any nupps in it! The Blooming Stitch didn't seem too difficult. I was wrong. The blooming stitch is crazy fussy. Making sure my stitches stay in line and don't stray out of order requires careful attention. It also shows and is quite noticable if you don't get it right. I'm hoping that the more blooming stitches I get through, the easier and quicker this process will become, but I have my doubts about that. Good thing they are so pretty or I wouldn't even bother with all their fussiness.

FO Friday: Pine Forest Blanket

Pattern: Pine Forest Baby Blanket

Yarn: Bernat Satin in Lapis

Needles: US Size 8

Started on: Dec. 29, 2013

Finished on: Jan 21, 2014

Modifications/Comments: I started with 144 stitches. I knit this for a family friend who's having a baby in February. This is my go-to baby blanket. The pattern is easy to memorize and is great mindless knitting. The blanket turned out just how I pictured it would.

WIP Wednesday - Cathedral

I started Cathedral last week. I haven't made too much progress on it yet. The yarn is Knitpicks Shadow in Jewels Heather, which I've had in my stash since 2007. I'm glad that I'm finally using it up.

Last Club Yarn

This is my last yarn from the FIFC Club. It's Sincere Sheep in DK weight in a pretty green color. The kit came with some lovely buttons.
It came with a pattern with options for a hat, cowl, and fingerless mitts.

Celes

Pattern: Celes from Brooklyn Tweed

Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Briar

Needles: US Size 6

Started on: Nov. 12th

Finished on: Jan. 4th

Modifications: This is my first finished object of 2014. This is also my first project finished from my bin.

I added an extra repeat to each half. This was a challenging knit with an interesting construction. The body is knit in two halves and then grafted together. Then the stitches are picked up all around and the border is knitted on.

WIP Wednesday: Baby Blue Blanket

I'm plugging away on a baby blanket for a family friend's baby boy who's due in February. It's knitting up quite quickly as I'm using my default baby blanket pattern. I've already finished the first ball of yarn. Sorry the photo isn't great, as I took it at nighttime. The true color is a shiny baby blue.

Blocking Pins

I already finished item # 1 from my bin!  I even got around to soaking and prepping my finished Celes- Briar scarf for blocking, only to find that I don't have enough blocking pins. I've never had this issue before. So I guess the blocking and FO shots will have to wait until my new pins arrive in the mail.

Meanwhile, I started winding up the yarn for my next project. This Knitpicks yarn is one of the oldest yarns in my stash. I purchased it in 2007.

My Bin

I have revised and planned out my next eight knitting projects. My goal is to knit my way out of the bin and bag.

                                              Here it is all neatly packed away.

                  Here is a better look at what's inside the bin and bag. In total there are 15.5 skeins of yarn.

The eight projects are:

1) Celes scarf - Briar

2) Pine Forest Baby Blanket

3) Cathedral - The "C" in my Lace A-Z project

4) Celes scarf - Blue Gingham

5) Desdemona - The "D" in my Lace A-Z project

6) Crooked Little Scarf

7) Elizabeth Shawl - The "E" in my Lace A-Z project

8) Morning Glory

Knitting Goals

How is it the 3rd already?!? Nevermind, I have formulated and come up with my 2014 Knitting Goals.
I know that 2014 will be much busier and crazier than 2013 was, so my goals are not lofty.

1) Knit up/use up at least 30 skeins of yarn from stash.

2) Knit up 10,000 yards of yarn from stash.

3) Knit up more than I purchase. Well, really my goal is to cold sheep. I do have some yarn coming in this month. I did make one last hurrah purchase to the tune of two skeins of yarn. There's also the last skein from the yarn club that ends this month. Then there's the three skeins from the test knit. All in all it should be 6 skeins of yarn coming in this month. Today marks what is hopefully my last yarn purchase for the year.