January 2008 knitting goals

Here are some knitting goals for January of 2008:

1. Finish 1 unfinished item. (Maybe socks)
2. Buy no yarn.
3. Make myself a hat.
4. Make Hailey knucks.
5. Finish Caroline's knucks.
6. Knit a mile by February 19th. (1760 yards!) I'd like to spin some of those yards, too.

All but number 6 are very doable goals. The mile might be a bit of a stretch, but it is a challenge off of Ravelry and I thought it could be fun to say I knit a mile in 7 weeks. We'll see how that one goes!

Fabric Stash put to use!

I am pleased with this latest project. It is made from fabric picked up at SCRAP and, with a few modifications, following the directions for the pouch in "Last Minute Fabric Gifts". It took me about 2 hours, start to finish. I really like how it turned out and may make a few more for gifts.

Hexagon Shawl

I almost forgot...I couldn't post this until after Christmas, but I finally finished the hexagon shawl! This one is my own design based on the hexagon shape directions in Unexpected Knitting by Debbie New. It is not as labor intensive as it looks, as I cast each hexagon onto the previously knit one rather than sewing them all together later. I used random balls of mohair and mohair blends that I had lying around and added the lavendar as my sole purchase to tie the other colors together. I crocheted a border at the end and wound up using about 7 balls of yarn, I think. It got shipped off to a friend as a prayer shawl after knitting on it and praying for her throughout the year.

Here I am!

After a busy December, here I am with a couple more things. First, some details on "My So Called Scarf". I found many versions online and pulled out 2-100 gram balls of multi-colored Mondial la lana merino plus 247. It is 52% merino and 48% acrylic, therefore washable. I don't know where I got this and to tell the truth, I thought it looked pretty hideous on the ball (I should've taken a "before" picture of it). It was a quick knit on size 11 needles. The yarn is a worsted weight, but the stitch pattern requires the use of the large needles. This stitch pattern worked wonders for this yarn and I really like this scarf. It is undesignated so far, but is sure to find a home!
The crochet hook was hand carved for me as a Christmas gift by Noah (age 12). It is beautifully smooth and quite a nice gift in my estimation. He has a lot of patience for this kind of work and I'm pretty proud of him!