Happy 2009

toasty leg warmers

Whew…even bloggers need a holiday. It’s been awhile, but I’m excited about 2009 and all the new projects it brings.

Thanks to an unheard of amount of snow this holiday that kept me housebound for a few days, the leg warmers are finished, buttons and all. As I said before, I was surprised at the challenge of writing my own pattern, despite the simplicity. After wearing them for a day, I’ve discovered a few things that I would do differently – more overlap at the buttons and smaller button holes for sure. But they were true to their name and kept my legs toasty warm all day.

While I’m still working on the never-ending cardigan, I’ve been spinning like crazy in preparation for a dyeing workshop I’ll be taking at the end of January. I’ve also signed up for a second round of spinning at Place des Arts and await the arrival of my lovely new spinning wheel. After a trip to the amazing Weaving Works in Seattle over the holiday, I’ll need it to spin up all the wool and silk I now have.

My number one resolution this year? Buy less, make more!

Slow poke

I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged lately…I’m pretty sure I must be a slow knitter. I just don’t get how all you knitters are producing so damn much stuff! I think I spend an almost unnatural amount of time knitting these days, but between working, eating, sleeping, dancing, and keeping things tidy I can’t knit enough to actually finish anything.

Admittedly, part of the problem is my love for fingering weight yarn and the time I’ve been devoting to spinning it. But I have managed to start a fun new project. I’ve been curious about but completely at a loss as to how to design/write a pattern, so I started with the easiest thing I could think of: leg warmers. They’re not even knit in the round! – but that’s by design. I’ve had two balls of lovely soft brown tweed lying around for awhile, and I’ve had the image of nicely textured button up leg warmers in my head ever since I saw a pair last year. What a perfect opportunity to figure out sizing, button hole placement, and pattern!

the legwarmers begin

I’m sure there’s a magic formula out there that takes into consideration the stretch of your stockinette stitch, but I don’t know it. Yet I’ve only restarted once, after realizing my sizing error, and I’m hoping it will be smooth sailing from here. It’s been satisfying doing the little calculations and figuring out where the button holes go, how much ribbing is enough, and how to write it up in the least confusing way. I chose stockinette stitch because that’s the look I wanted, but it’s getting a little bit boring. If only I could knit faster…