Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 to all! You wouldn't recognize this as my blog if I didn't start my post off by saying how lazy a blogger I've been recently, so I won't disappoint. I've been knitting plenty, just haven't had the time or inclination to blog about it. I just re-read my last entry, and think I like the way I wrote it with a few categories, so I'm going with that again for this one.

What I've completed: A pair of socks that started out for myself, but wanted to go home with my sister. I LOVED them, but alas, the new heel technique I tried (afterthought, with a round/target heel), though it worked wonderfully and I will most definitely be using it again, didn't come out long enough for my feet. As Sarah wears about a size and a half smaller than me, they became her Christmas gift. They're KnitPicks Felici yarn in the Meridian colorway, and yes, the yarn must have had a join that I missed somehow, because the heels are mis-matched. I say it just adds to their charm though!

I also knitted a pair of socks for a friend's baby, from my own sock leftovers, in pink and green stripes; a mini hat and scarf set sized for a beer bottle in Pittsburgh Steelers colors for a friend; 2 shrugs for gifts for little girls in my life, and a scarflet for my Mom.

What I'm working on: Right now, a lot! I decided at Christmas that I had altogether too many unfinished projects laying around, weighing me down and holding a lot of my needles hostage, and that I needed to finish them up, stat. So starting today (New Years Day), I've been knitting only on those 11 UFOs. I've given myself a deadline of March 26th, which is 12 weeks - one week per project with a bit of extra time. AND I haven't started a single new project since Christmas Eve, actually! While I'd love to say that my plan is to not start anything new until all the UFOs are done, I do know myself a bit better than that, so it won't be a rule. I actually have completed three projects just today! A pair of rainbow socks for Lucas (my 7yr old), the Multnomah shawl for my Grandma, and a striped to-be-felted bag that I'd had on the needles since last January. If you'd like to see my progress and what I'm working on, check it out on Ravelry, I've started a new project page to show my "2010 UFO Crawl".

A few of my current works-in-progress:

Gwen slouchy beret, Stripey socks for Dillon (11), and Water bottle carrier (will be felted)

As of right now, I'm mostly working on my Seashore socks, the first of which was started while on vacation at the beach in August. I'm in the middle of the heel turn on the second sock.

My unfinished projects include: 2 pairs of socks, 1 hat, 2 bags to be felted, 1 baby sweater, 1 sweater for my son, 1 pair of slippers to be felted (am thinking of just frogging these though!). Seems do-able in the next 12 weeks, right??

Where I've visited: I went back to Fibre Space in Alexandria, VA this week, to meet up with a Ravelry/Facebook friend (Hi Patty!) and do some shopping. I ended up returning the sweater worth of Malabrigo, got a chunk of store credit and brought home some great finds - Cat Bordhi's newest sock book, Malabrigo Sock in a lovely orange that I'd been coveting, Miss Babs sock yarn, Louet Gems in Ravens colors, a skein of Mal in off-white to do another neckwarmer for my mom, and some Berocco Vintage in 3 great colors for a few accessories for cousins/kids.

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday season, and is looking forward to a safe and wonderful new year! Here's a gratuitous cutie-shot of my little boys from Christmas - Dillon is 11, and Lucas is 7.

Happy Knitting!!