stash, knit, repeat

What an intensely busy, mostly wonderful year. I know 2009 was rough for many, and we certainly had ups and downs Chez Stashknitrepeat, but overall it’s been a pretty amazing year. Most of all, I’m thankful that we’ve gone from here:

To here:

Without too much trouble, even. We’re very grateful to have such enjoyable children.

Knitting-wise, my mosaic looks a lot less impressive than my knitting year actually was.

Let’s go in order, shall we? First up, some socks for Jacob. Then, a a cowl for me. A sweater for Jacob, followed quickly by a sweater for Daniel. I test-knit some mittens, knit another sweater for Jacob… and then the secret knitting started, the designing bug bit, the secret knitting continued, and… well, there went the blog. I’ve been working steadily, and managed to finish a sweater for Beth and some socks for Danielle, and a sweater for me. Very recently I cast off on some socks I started in March.

I was able to share one piece of secret knitting, and will soon share another (that last photo in the mosaic). But let me tell you, my needles have been flying this year. There are three more entire sweaters that I’ve designed and knit this year, and another that’s designed and halfway knit. It’s nuts.

The design process is reminding me a little of the academic publishing cycle. You get a good idea, and it can anywhere from a few months to a year or two after the work is done for the work to actually see the light of day. It’s sometimes frustrating, but now that my “pipeline” of projects is full, I hope to see a more steady stream of content around these parts.

Speaking of which, I finished some socks.

Pattern: Cookie A’s Devon socks, from her book

Yarn: Sundara sock, Deadly Nightshade

Time Elapsed: Something like 9 months.

Notes/Modifications: None. These socks are perfect.

Happy new year! May 2010 shine brightly and happily on all of you and yours.

A test-knit is finished and released, so I have yet another FO to share!

Pattern: Mintyfresh’s Merion Mitts, hot off the presses

Yarn: MadelineTosh Worsted, color “Celadon Pottery” (from initial run of Magnolia Society)

Time to Knit: A couple of weeks–these are very quick.

Notes/Modifications: No modifications, since this was a test-knit. I’m not even sure if I really have notes for you, but I love these mittens so much that I want to at least share some pictures with you.

These mittens are chock full of very clever details. Seed stitch palms (including the inside of the thumb!), a slightly curved shape, and twisted rib.

They fit very well, and even though I test-knit the small size for my sister-in-law I wished I could keep them for myself. Jacob loved them too, as he loves everything hand-knitted.

The yarn, too, is fantastic:

Amy named this color “Celadon Pottery”, and you can see for yourself what an amazing job she did. It’s a dream to work with, soft but sturdy, and one can’t really say enough about how great MadTosh colors are.

Two enthusiastic thumbs up!