pepperknit

Hey, it’s still January, a perfectly acceptable time to look back at 2008. In my personal life, 2008 was HUGE—and positive. And now that I’m looking at it, it was a pretty darn big year for me for knitting! I produced more sweaters than ever, more “big” projects, more well-fitting projects, and just plain old more projects than ever.

I’m overall really pleased with everything. The Drops cardigan is perhaps my least favorite of the garments. It has a swingy shape that is not what I wanted, and the yarn is so so so so scratchy. But hitting on the idea of doing a clone shot as an FO shot? Well that certainly was inspired.

My favorite? Probably the Swirled Pentagon Pullover. I wear it all the time and have been told more than once that it looks like something I purchased. And we all know there’s, sadly, no better compliment to a handknit, right?

There are some other knits that don’t appear here. Some were finished but are awaiting true debuts (like the next Mintyfresh original pattern!), and some are totally unfinished and no one even knows about them. Coraline? I totally knit like 90% of that. When I get back to the States I think I’ll need to round up all the UFOs and srsly think about next steps.

But let’s not dwell on the abandoned projects! Let’s look ahead to 2009! I want more sweaters, more actual garments. Less tiny things—I always do so many tiny things. Those last-minute tiny things that I cranked out for Christmas (also on tap for 2009: Not knitting anyone Xmas gifts) upped my numbers, though, so I can call 2008 my most productive year ever (SIX more projects than last year!).

Here’s to great things in 2009, for all of us!

Happy New Year, all! The past month has been an absolute whirlwind of travel, fun, visits, and parties, and I’m just now finally starting to settle down. I’m back in Singapore for the month of January (the switch to Food Blog will commence!), but first we need to weave in some loose ends.

Christmas really really snuck up on me this year, as I know it did a lot of you. Stupid late Thanksgiving! Also, this was the first year I have done Xmas with anyone other than my nuclear family. Which meant I needed gifts for a whole branch of my family. Somehow, I whipped them all out in the two weeks before the holiday—three of them in the three DAYS before Christmas.

After finishing that 2×2 hat in Manos, I just ignored knitting for a while. But in a spurt of productivity, I knit a Koolhaas in two nights. The more complex pattern was always intended for my Uncle Mark, of course, host of our holiday gathering:

Note the deep-fryer in the background! Christmas dinner was a deep-fried turkey. I may have found the sole reason to move to the suburbs.

And then I hit this downward spiral of bad planning and even worse time management. Ultimately I did manage two more FOs, both completed on December 24 (one started that morning!).

This 2×2 hat was for my cousin Patrick, whose head is huge. The fact that it goes on his head is accomplishment enough for me!

My cousin Meaghan got a bulky moebius cowl in seed stitch. Back after Thanksgiving I’d seen Carrie knit one off a pattern, and I liked it enough that I “unvented” it for myself. I estimated about 22″ around, put in a twist, and knit until it looked tall enough. I never even measured it. It’s not as wide as Carrie’s, but it fits nicely.

Also knit but ultimately a total FAIL was a pair of fingerless gloves for my aunt, whose hands didn’t fit in them. Luckily (?) I only finished one of them. So I’m back to square one there. I have them with me and have already made progress on reknitting them.

Still, all in all, I couldn’t believe I finished ANYTHING in time! Go me! This brings my total FO count for 2008 up to new highs. I’m pretty thrilled. Recap for the year to be posted soon!