Re-committment to Knitter's Almanac

I had no idea that I would be so swamped with “work knitting” the last few months. The result has been what I consider terribly disappointing participation in our year long adventure with Elizabeth. Disappointing both in terms of keeping company with you and with learning from Elizabeth’s monthly lessons.

Re-commitment can be taken two ways in this particular context. Last weekend I went over The Knitter’s Almanac and committed to working through several more projects that were lost to my hectic schedule. The other way to look at it is that maybe I need to BE committed for continuing with the challenge. :)

The only project that I actually have on the needles now is my Aran Cardigan from JANUARY! The good thing is that the neglect does not stem from dislike or frustration. Now that my time is my own again, I am quite anxious to finish my little cardigan.

February’s Project was meant to be a Suri Dream shawl for Xena’s breeder. I have the yarn so as soon as I finish my cardigan, I will cast-on for the shawl.

Given all the baby blankets I am planning to knit, April’s Mystery Blanket is very appealing. Actually, I’m still haunted by a customer’s comment about my not having a knit throw on my sofa in my office. Well, she is absolutely right! Since then I’ve “stolen” a throw from our photography stash but I would like one for the sofa at home. Since I am so in love with the Moderne Baby Blanket, I think I may use Elizabeth’s Mystery Blanket to make a throw for myself!

I’ve already made myself a pair of Latvian mittens so I will pass on EZ’s Norwegian mittens. But, I do want to try the mitered mittens! I would love to use a hand-dyed yarn to see how the colors worked with the angles.

The hat I want to make from June is the Three-Cornered Hat. I love tams so I suspect I will love this unique style of tam.

That brings me back to July which is where we all started last year. Right from the beginning I don’t think any of us thought we would be finishing up in just a year so I’m officially planning to continue on for another year. It may be less linear as we will all be filling in missing projects but that could actually be a good thing. There will probably be someone who finished a project last year who can help a knitter who is tackling it this year.

So, here’s to a three-weekend dedicated to Aran Cardigan knitting!!

Hugs to all,
Kelley

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by KKBacon on May 21, 2008 at 9:00pm: Kelley,

Yes, we needed you as our fearless leader. I am working on the summer cardigan that I'm doing EZ style. You will be thrilled to know that I am working on this while the temp is 101 outside. No lie!! Also working on an EZ baby blanket. Just started training with Ambrose. At 3.5 lbs he is the smallest and the cutest.

Let's keep knitting.

Karen Bacon in Texas; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mandy on May 29, 2008 at 6:51am: Hello Kelley, I'm still continuing with my Mystery Blanket from April. It's a lovely mindless kind of project that just suits my needs at the present - too tired through work to do anything really demanding at present.
My blanket now has sixteen squares knitted together and is 26inches square. Yes, I used double knitting (worsted weight?) instead of the chunky yarn. I have no idea what size this blanket will be by the time I complete it. The dimensions will depend on the amount of yarn I have available, and I have plenty left...
Best wishes,
Mandy:); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mandy on May 29, 2008 at 7:11am: Sorry about this, I tried to add a photo, but it doesn't seem to have appeared. There is a photo of the blanket in my photos on my own page. I think its going to look good on the sofa...... A perfect item to snuggle up into in the winter.
Mandy:); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Domestic Arts on June 6, 2008 at 4:42pm: the tam does look intriguing. I may have to do one soon. Perhaps some mindless knitting as a break from the Pi shawl. The shawl is progressing wonderfully. Though I didn't get chart 3 done before I started the weekend of printing frenzy. (Good news is that it is more than half done.) Iwill look for my cookie pillow and see if I can get a wip photo of the shawl so far. Really didn't want to take it off the needles onto a lifeline for a big photo. Just something to show how the lace is looking.

Dianna; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by mouse on July 2, 2008 at 3:40pm: i think i could spend this year finishing my unfinished projects from last year. let's see - i have the lace tights, based on the leggings from september, the chainmail sweater (was that february) and oh yeah - you inspired me to do a square shawl with some suri _i_ have...i know that's around somewhere, because it certainly isn't finished...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by fiberlinda on July 11, 2008 at 8:01pm: I have just joined this knitalong, but like you, Kelley, it's a recommitment for me. I have made several of the monthly projects from the book over the years and have had vague thoughts of someday doing it for a whole year, so now is a good time to do that. I will start with the pi shawl, this month's project. I love shawls and I love lace. I just ordered some lace and fingering yarns for shawls from the site, and I'll see which i like best for this (but I can't get into my account without losing this post so can't give the details--details go through my memory like a sieve anymore).

It will be a little while before I can get started on the pi shawl. I just ordered the yarns and I'm finishing up one of my custom-designed lace shawls on commission (made mostly with Knit Picks yarns). Between that and work/life, it may be a couple of weeks before I join you all. But something nice to look forward to.

Happy knitting.

Linda Rodriguez in Kansas City; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by KellesBelles on July 15, 2008 at 8:30am: Kelley,

I've started late listening to your podcast, and I know you started this when you were in a knitting slump. We'll I've entered my first knitting slump, and I just placed an order for this book so that I can get out of the slump before it gets too bad.

I know I'm joining the group late, but better late than never! I'm so glad that you've decided to continue on with the Elizabeth's Year group!

Although you may be behind in your EZ knitting, I'm sure we can all forgive you. I mean, if you didn't do work for KP, then we wouldn't have all the wonderful new things to drool over!

*hugs*
Kelly; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by kemulvey on July 25, 2008 at 11:48am: I've missed you Kelley.
I haven't finished my aran either....
I will check in soon
KarenM; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by cogknitter on August 8, 2008 at 7:53pm: Hi everyone,
I accidently posted my message under comments rather than in this discuss area.

Hello,
I'm new to the group. I have completed some patterns from the Almanac, and am just getting re-committed to completing all the patterns. My next project will be mittens (yep. Mittens in May, in August).

There used to be a list of the yarn requirements (based on Knitpicks yarns) for the patterns on Kelley's blog. However, I can't seem to find it now. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mandy on August 9, 2008 at 12:31am: Yes, its still there on Kelley's Blog. Just click on Kelley's link at the top of this page (beside her image). Next click on the link to her Blog from Kelley's page. If you look down the left hand side there are some subsections. I forget what the second section is called, but you will find Kelley's suggestions there.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by cogknitter on August 11, 2008 at 7:35pm: Of course! There's the list I was looking for. I kept looking on her page in the community, not on the original blog.

One comment about the requirement for the Open-Collar pullover (in case someone else is wondering about how much yarn to use). I made it out of Andean Treasure and used 12 balls (for a rather large size -- about XXL in ready-to-wear sizes).; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by fiberlinda on August 12, 2008 at 8:23am: Mandy, I couldn't find this. On Kelley's blog, it's only the most recent blog entries down the left-hand side of the page.; ▶ Reply to This