And We’re Off...

It’s been a busy but fun holiday season here at Nana’s. 

On Christmas Eve, I got the best gift ever when DH arrived in Milwaukee to begin his final leave before finishing up in January.  We attended the service at church and then snuggled in front of the fireplace at home, having exactly the kind of Christmas we’d both been dreaming of.  On Christmas day we headed down to Central IL for Christmas with my parents and brother.  My Brother was also on leave after preparing for a year of Army service and imminent departure to Iraq (he returned to base the next day and departed on the 30^th – prayers will be appreciated!). 

Both I and the kitties are very happy to have DH home.  Zelda is having a hard time figuring out which lap to sleep on. 

For New Years we headed to MI to see our daughter there and catch up with the MI grandkids.  My how they have grown!

And knitting?  Well, there was some scheduled and some unscheduled projects.  I’ve made too small of progress on the sweater to take up space with a picture.  I did finish the left squirrel mitten:

If you notice the thumb is on a holder still.  I love this pattern and am enjoying getting the two handed stranding technique down.  This pattern is extremely well written and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a nice Fair Isle mitten pattern (except of course the Yarn Harlot).

The only problem I have actually encountered so far is with the thumb.  My fault not the pattern; I am finding it tricky to get the tension right at the needle change point.  I’m magic looping and perhaps should have switched to dpns for the thumb, but a) I was being too lazy to find my matching dpns for the project and b) stubborn, so I continued to knit the whole thumb even after I realized that I was not being consistent in making adjustments.   

 (can you tell?  The bottom is tight and the top is loose... ugh!)

So realistically, I will probably frog this thumb and reknit it once the right mitten is done. 


In a little unscheduled knitting, I decided I needed something simpler than the mittens to work on while I waited for hub’s flight to arrive and something less complicated than the sweater, less boring than the plain white anklets I already had on the needles…. So I cast on for a pair of Noro striped socks (this time for ME).  Just enough happiness with the color changes but nothing so complex that would succumb to errors caused by the distraction of excitement and anxiety that I was feeling that day.  I got through the heel of the first sock while knitting at the airport since I arrived early (it was rainy and blech and I get nervous driving in those conditions so I allowed myself plenty of drive time).  No biggie when you have knitting to keep you company.  I worked on these off and on and finished two socks, but the colors are so different that I immediately started another pair which I think will end up being totally mix and match. 

I’m using colors S233 and S102 this time.  I’m up to the toe shaping on sock #3, since these knit really quickly and make excellent travel knitting. 


So 2010 is off to a good start and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens as this year unfolds.  I’m also looking forward to many fun planned and unplanned knitting projects. 

I’ll leave you with this shot of Zelda taken shortly after the New Year dawned:

Happy 2010!

May your knitting adventures take you many places this year and may the detours be just as fruitful.
Happy Knitting!  

Nana