What happened to last year's New Year Resolutions?

It is the same every year, lots of self examination and many good intentions to do better this time around.  I am no different and this year I began by reviewing my post on the eve of 2015 to see how I have done.  In some ways I have done quite well, in others failed miserably, but despite the failures I would argue in favour of this sort of once a year mental stock taking.

Just like everything else knitting wise the results were mixed.  I have been exceptionally productive* but have failed miserably in my intention to reduce my stash.  To help my resolve I joined a group on Ravelry called Pre-process Knitters and signed up for the Spread Sheet of Doom (SoD).  The idea is to add all yardage into stash and all out (knitted up) and end the year in negative balance.  The rot set in early, and it all began with this

This

And this

 
All a bought in the sale between Christmas and New year 2014.  I thought as I bought it in 2014 it would not count - not so, as it arrived in 2015 it had to be entered into the SoD.  Over the weeks I hovered in and out of negative balance.  Then I fell off the wagon so badly I gave up admitting to my lack of self control and stopped filling in my page on the SoD.

This year is going to be different.  I know it's only 8 Jan but I have bought nothing yarn related yet.  In January and February I am aiming to finish about 4 WIPS and then I can begin some new stuff but all to be made from stash.  I have listed all the projects (sewing too) in a little note book

So, what have I finished so far?  Although not finished in 2016 I just completed this in time to wear on Christmas Day

Angelus Novus pattern by East London Knits

And this in time to wear on New Year's Eve

AdventKALender Shawl by Anna Dalvi

And then since 1 January I have finished a pair of gloves and a top, (begun when the weather was warm enough to wear it!)

There will be many opportunities for failing in my stash-down quest again this year (there is Unravel  and the Joeli's Kitchen Retreat weekend for a start both in February) but I am once again resolved...

xx

c

*my 2015 tally is as follows
socks - 3 pairs
hats - 3
shawls - 4
Afghan - 2
sweaters  - 6 (including 2 child sized)
top - 1
baby layette - 1

The commonality of Knitters' New Year's Resolutions

Each January the knitting blogs and tweets are full of woolly New Year's resolutions, top of the lists, To Complete All Those Unfinished Objects. And coming in at a very close second place, Knit From Stash.   I am no different.  In September last year I took this beautiful Juno Fibre Arts, Buffy in Grassland on holiday with me.

Juno among the pelagoniums

After the tricky task of winding a skein into a ball without swift or wool winder (yes I did have JTH but he hates holding skeins, I always get exasperated and its much better if I tackle it alone) I knitted a large swatch incorporating all the stitches in the pattern

swatch in the sun under the plumbago

I am making the Princess Twinset Cardigan from Susan Crawford's book Coronation Knits.  Although the yarn the pattern calls for is 4 ply and so is the Juno no two makes of yarn are the same. You know I am not a very good swatcher (if truth be told I hate it and avoid when ever I can) but I do swatch when I am diverging from the pattern instructions, and that includes testing any pattern stitches.  

The project was an all round stash buster, I bought the yarn at a Unravel at the Farnham Maltings earlier in the year (the next Unravel is 21-13 Feb) and the pattern book while on a knitting day out with friends in Oxford in the summer.

While we were away in September I cast on.

first button hole at 6 rows in

Anyone who is a regular reader will know that I avoid sewing up as much as I can by one piece knitting wherever possible.   In this case I cast on the fronts and back in one piece knitting up to the armholes then dividing and knitting the three pieces separately.  The front bands are knitted in the twisted stitch pattern (I love the way the button holes sit neatly in the centre of the twists).  The twisted pattern features on the shoulders, cuffs and in a large panel on the back

cabled bar code

I reached the underarm while still on holiday and then stopped...  Family stuff and Christmas knitting intervened so it was put away in The Knitting Black Hole, under a table that sits beside our sofa.

And so it became no1 on my list of UFOs to finish in 2014.  Despite the little diversion into vintage knitting patterns (and that's not over yet) I am making good progress.  I am very grateful for the warning in the instructions for the fronts that the knitter should read to the end of the instructions before embarking on the front shaping.  

It seemed confusing at first, "cast off this and that at the armhole  at the same time the other on the front edge then all change to a different rate of decreasing".  Lots of changes and lots of row counting.  Then I hit on the idea of marking the place at which the decreases end - so all I had to do was forge ahead decreasing both ends of the row on the fronts until I hit the markers.  That way I could also check the stitch count in advance.  Is there nothing worse than  getting to the end of the decreases (so you think!) and have the wrong number of stitches.

PM to mark end of decs

 I finished the back and fronts at knitting group last night

the body all done

And cast on the sleeves.  This is rather more tricky as continuing my non-seaming technique I am knitting both sleeves at the same time, much in the way you would for top down two at a time socks.  

two at a time tangled sleeves

It's a bit tangled at the moment but it should straighten out as the knitting lengthens.  

Now I know I usually only blog about items I have finished (in fact I apologise if I give the impression of being 'more knitterly than thou' ) and this is far from finished but given that I can knit a pair of socks in two weeks and sleeves are roughly similar in work involved (take away heel turning and add length and width)  I am hoping to have the cardi done by the end of January, fingers crossed.

xx

C

PS do you have a knitting black hole (or several)?  If you do please do tell in the comments

juno