Happy New Yarn!

er... New Year. Yeah, that's it. :)

Happy New Year, Bloglanders; I think that 2006 is going to be very good, knitwise (and purlwise, too!). All the Christmas-knit presents were well received and my neice is even making interested noises about learning to knit. Spread the skill, spread the love, thinks I! There are pictures but they're all on Peter's camera and I forgot to get the download/disc burning-thing done today but I will post photos soon. So yeah, Christmas rocked.

Christmas night I started my first sweater (first for me, and first for me, if you know what I mean)... it's a sweatshirt-style in Patons Shetland Chunky variegated and so far I love it - the back is done and the front about 1/3 done. Although I must admit that the sleeve shaping has me a little nervous because it seems a HUGE curve. Which begs the question: What the heck is a raglan sleeve anyway? 'cuz that's what these will be, apparently. Anyway, I'm not going to worry until it comes time to put it all together. Cool thing with the sweater - I learned a new decrease method involving slipping to and then knitting off a cable needle, so I'm thinking cables are not too far off in my future. Maybe. There's this vest I want to do that's got rows and rows of wee cables in it...

Also OTN during this holiday break, a hat for my good buddy Yumi (she of the Gryffindor scarf and great cleavage), which I finished today after knitting New Year's Eve happy/tipsy vibes into it at her party last night. Where, weirdly, I saw a fellow-knitter who I hadn't seen in years. World spins oddly but well, I say!

AND (drumroll please), I have started Peter's Socks. Yes, I am forgoing the "prototype pair" for me and doing his first. They're going much quicker than I thought and he loves the look of them so far. Still on the calf-ribbing, but who knows, maybe I'll turn my first heel this week. Cross your fingers. The fun part of the socks is that he is very impressed with watching me knit on DPN's, which I told him is called "wrestling the porcupine" and he agreed that was what it looks like. I like impressing him. :)

Finally, in a fit of pre-New Year's organization, I sorted the stash and made up a project list of everything that's promised, planned, and just plain looks like fun, knitwise (and purlwise) for 2006. I have 28 projects listed and yarn in hand for all but about three of them. So yarn diet starts NOW (which goes hand-in-hand with the "save money for buying the house this year) plan).

I did, however, HAVE to (no, really, I HAD to) buy 4 skeins of Tosca by Lang for a new hat/scarf combo for me, which I knit up on the day after Boxing Day. See, Peter bought me this stunning (and very very warm) new red/black winter coat, and I had no hat/scarf combo that worked with it. So I knit one. Had to be done, you understand. But seriously, that's it for buying yarn for a while... in addition to the 2 bins full of project-specific yarn, I have 2 bins full of non-project-specific yarn. Stash-shopping is the plan, methinks.

Oh, and I got a ballwinder for Christmas - YAY! (to quote Louise from Yarn Forward, who greets every statement with YAY! Louise rocks.) So all the eBay yarn and other odds 'n' sods are slowly getting unwound, untangled, undone and neatly wound up into lovely little flat cakes - which store very very nicely, BTW. Ballwinders rock.