Why hello there. Didn't think you'd ever hear from me again, did you.
Well 2009 was fairly eventful, though not necessarily in the knitting realm of things. I did finally get a new computer in the end of March, but a severe case of tendonitis struck shortly after in my right wrist, leaving me barely ablet o type on a computer, let alone write or knit. I finally was abel to get the pain under control again in August.
Of course, the months in between were not without news. Caleb broke his arm biking a week and a couple days before we were to leave on an exciting 2 week trip to Europe. Luckily he was able to have surgery immediately and once off his painkillers was in good enough shape to still make the trip. Though more low key than planned due to 2 unusable right arms, we still had a fantastic time exploring Dublin and London and visiting friends and familiar places in France and Germany. The trip was not without excitement as Caleb proposed while we were hiking on Howth Head, just north of Dublin.
Knitting did resume in August once the pain was back in control (my wrist was at points in so much paint that they feared I had fractured it or torn ligaments). The first projects I cast on was the Gail (aka Nightsongs) Shawl in Wollmeise Lace Garn (Gewitterhimmel colorway).
Of course I didn't start with something simple - I hadn't been able to knit for 5 months! I then finished some long marinating socks and knit my first pairs of mittens (yes there's an s. The first mitten turned out way too small, so I knit two more in the correct size, then knit the mate for the first one because I still had enough yarn left)
The Christmas season found the completion of another long marinating project - the Swallowtail Shawl I was knitting for my great aunt.
So that's a brief synopsis of what has happened since I last left you. But of course the beginning of each new year requires not only a look back at what has happened, but a look forward to what is to come.
2010 already has some big stuff planned, the biggest (knitting-wise) of which is the wedding knitting for my October wedding. I am planning on knitting my wedding veil (details are on Ravelry - I have a swatch listed. I don't want to post here in case Caleb goes looking, haha). I also have a few other projects planned. Bouquet wraps for me and my bridesmaids - like this:
Only better :o). Also, the ring bearer's pillow and some leaves perhaps as decoration.
The next big resolution is to "cold sheep" it. Though I'm not very good at self-restraint, so perhaps I'll do $20 for every 10 "balls" (50g) knit that some other people are doing. That way I can still get some things at the Knit In my knitting guild puts on or at the WI Sheep & Wool festival. Of course, all of this came about because I totaled my yarn up on Ravelry (and we moved, so I got to see it all in one place).
I have over 100k yards worth of yarn!! That is more that 50
miles (and I'm actually closer to 60 that 50)!! YIKES! It is a real eye-opener. Especially with the tendonitis when I shouldn't push so hard to knit a lot or fast. So I am going to try to knit only from stash this year and not buy
too much, at least :o).
A final 2010 resolution was to restart my 101 in 1001 Challenge. I re-wrote a list (as I already had a few checked off the last one). I also re-worded many of the tasks so that nothing was "Do X once a week/month." If I wanted to do something weekly, I simply said "Do X 150 times" (the approximate number of weeks in 1001 days). This way I still have a chance to succeed even if I miss a week or 2. The new list can be found
here. I hope to update over there somewhat weekly with accomplishments, photos, etc. One of the goals is of course to blog here more often as well, so you'll be hearing more from me!
That's about all the catch up I have for now. Hope you all are well and Happy New Year!
