January Round-up - Knitting

January felt good.  Productive but in a way that felt creative rather than deadline-driven.  I did a lot of knitting and rekindled my reading life.   More on the reading in the next post, but here's the knitting!

Lots of knitting due to my focus on only working on one or two projects at a time and giving each a designated time or location.  By this I mean that I worked on socks during the day or while dinner cooked (when possible) as they required a bit of focus and are more fiddly for me (at this point.  I'm a new sock knitter, so they aren't 'throw in my bag' kinds of projects yet).   I worked on sweaters in the evening as they are less portable and usually require less concentration for me right now.   I am knitting shawls/cowls/hats on the go as they are portable and relatively easy to do in congested locations (like on the bleachers at a sports event or practice). 

My finished objects this month:
Lyndon socks by Alicia Plummer knit in Patons Alpaca Blend - I'm trying to balance economical yarns and more expensive yarns this year - see the post at Knitted Bliss for a more eloquent explanation of how to incorporate different yarns into projects.

Lesley by Hannah Fettig in Cascade Eco+ (just learning about some issues related to Cascade Yarn, but I don't know enough to say more here yet - this has been in my stash for a couple of years) and the pattern was knit in pieces and seamed because I love seaming and like that knitting in pieces makes it less bulky to work on.

I also finally finished Bindrune by Amy Christoffers using the yarn I won from Berroco over a year ago.  It's super-warm and perfect for the Polar Vortex cold spell we just had this week:

This month I've also done some significant reading.  I finished

New Year - more knitting, less planning

I'm not going to make too many plans for 2019.  I choose projects, change my mind, and then feel anxious that I've deviated from the 'plan'.  Silly, when the only person who cares about this is me!  So I'm going to join a couple of KALs to start the new year off while focusing on a few simple goals:

1.  Knit from the books I own - I own many knitting books and magazines (Ravelry says I have 48  books and 56 magazines) and want to knit from them.  I love books, having the hard copy in my hands and looking at the pages.

2.  Knit from the stash I have - this is a repeat of previous years' goals but still holds true.  I don't have a huge stash but I'd like to use the yarn I have already, and purchase for specific projects rather than just accumulating.  Not a hard goal for me to meet but it will help me make decisions about what to knit next.

3.  Build up my gift bin - I deplete this every winter for holiday gifts but love having a variety of cowls, mitts, and hats to gift when I need to.  This reduces that 'holiday gift' knitting stress tremendously.

That's it.  I have started off with these in mind and cast on a pair of bulky socks (for around the house) by Alicia Plummer from PlumDandi Knits and a bulky sweater from Hannah Fettig's Home and Away book.  Both are bulky so they will be quick and give some not-quite-instant gratification.  A hat from each book will be up next!