I finished my first project of 2014 on January 1st, which sounds good until you realise it was a first birthday hat for my niece, and the 1st was her birthday. Still I did finish it before her birthday party 🙂

The pattern is Doodie by Woolly Wormhead, the yarn is Knit Picks Swish DK (superwash merino wool) in the very aptly named colour Hollyberry (my niece’s name is Holly), I used 3.5mm needles.

My next finished project was a pair of socks.

The pattern is Unicurves, and the yarn is some handspun merino and silk that I think I spun last year, I used 2.25mm needles. These were a fun knit although my yarn is quite dense so they have made a very firm fabric. This does mean that they should wear well, but they are quite hard to get on and off! I will be interested to see whether they soften and become more flexible with washing and wearing.

Next up are the loudest slippers you have ever met 🙂

The pattern is Stippers by Ashley Knowlton, and the yarn is some wonderfully bright Phildar I bought in France on the French Treats holiday in 2012. I used 5.5mm needles.

I did tinker with the pattern a little because in order to get a nice firm fabric with my yarn I needed to go down two needle sizes. Also as is often the case the largest size wasn’t actually wide enough for my feet. I am very pleased with how they have come out. They are wonderfully cosy and every time I catch a glimpse of them they make me smile 🙂 I was a little worried about how well the yarn would wear since it is fairly softly spun. However having knitted it quite tightly does seem to have helped, and I have been wearing them for a couple of weeks and they are still looking ok.

Next I was attempting to get ahead of the game with knitting an elephant for a baby who is due this summer.

The pattern is Elijah by Ysolda Teague. I used Artesano superwash merino, and 3mm needles. This is a very satisfying though slightly fiddly pattern to knit, and I think the finished elephant has a lot of character 🙂

Lastly for this bunch of finished projects was a shawl I finished a little while ago but had failed miserably to photograph. Finally its time has come 🙂

This was the diamond lace shawl by Fiona Morris, one of the projects from the French Treats 2013 holiday. The yarn is Jawoll Magic Degrade and I used 5mm needles. My knitting came out a little looser than the prototype so in order to maximise the amount of yarn used I missed out the garter stitch section between the main lace pattern and the edging, and I missed out the picots on the cast off. I broke and rejoined the yarn when working the central peak on the edging to try and make the colours a little more symmetrical too.

It suddenly seems to be March! How did that happen? Now that the sun is finally showing itself after all the recent rain it seems like a good time to do some tidying up and catching up.

Quite a lot has happened since I wrote last. Last year we did a lot of sorting and packing, and in November we moved house. We haven’t gone too far, just from one side of the county to the other, and are now nearer to my in-laws, to the other-half’s work, and to knitting and spinning groups! A win all round 🙂 The new house is lovely and I even have a craft room which is absolutely wonderful 🙂 We are still in the process of bringing everything back from storage and sorting it out. I have got all my knitting books back on the shelves already and nearly all of the magazines and other folders, and am looking forward to having a nice big sort out of all my yarn and fibre – that may well be quite a mammoth project!

I have been doing a little bit of knitting over the winter though there hasn’t been anything too brain-taxing. That is another thing I am looking forward to getting back into, I would like to do a nice big slightly complicated project but I haven’t quite decided what yet.

So for a little bit of a round-up of what I have been up to. First there was an elephant for baby Rufus:

The pattern is Elijah by Ysolda Teague, it is a very pleasing pattern to knit. The yarn is Artesano Superwash Merino, a DK weight, and I used 3mm needles. As you can see he is a very erudite elephant 🙂

Next were some socks. I started these before we went to France in June and finally finished in November:

The pattern is Back to Basics by Deb Barnhill, and the yarn is Fortissima Colori – I think the yarn was a present from Mummy, and I used 2.25mm needles. The construction was very interesting, although I had to tinker with the pattern a bit because my yarn was a little thinner than that recommended and my feet are wider than the largest size. The shape has come out not quite right for my feet – the toes are too narrow and the instep a little baggy, but they were an interesting knit.

I finished off the year with some things for Christmas. First a series of hats, these are all made from the Quynn pattern by Woolly Wormhead, using Knit Picks Chroma yarn in different colours, and 4.5mm needles. My tension was a little tighter than that called for in the pattern so I made a larger size for each to have it come out big enough. This pattern makes a lovely cosy hat, the integral ear-flaps are great, and it stays on your head even when it is windy 🙂

First for my eldest niece Jenny:

Next for my nephew Aaron:

Then for my younger niece Holly:

And finally one for me 🙂

Here are the collection:

I also made a Christmas stocking for Holly for her first Christmas.

I used Cascade 220 yarn and 3mm needles to give a nice firm fabric.

I have finished a couple of other projects so far this year, but I need to get my act together and photograph them. Also this seems a suitable time to pause since this post is already getting unmanageably huge!