the comfort of socks

pattern: charades yarn: end of the row

Happy Year of the Rooster! I can't believe how fast this month has flown by. Lately, I've been having a hard time keeping up with everything that needs to get done. Housework and grocery shopping are unfortunately not as appealing and fun as knitting or reading a good book. Actually, I would rather clean the house than go grocery shopping any day. In fact, I have been pestering the hubby into buying an extra freezer but the confounded man thinks that it will end up storing more yarn than food. Hah, he sure knows me well after all these years :)

One area that thankfully is not lacking in effort is my knitting. I am currently making an attempt to organize my to-knit list for this year by grouping yarn and pattern together into project bags. I have about four sweaters worth of yarn ready and waiting for when the mood strikes. Next up is to organize the sock yarn stash into future projects but that task is proving more difficult because there are so many wonderful sock patterns out there! Here is just a smattering of beauties just waiting to be knit up this year:

*charades are similar to my beloved skyp socks but without the purling (currently on the needles)
*whiskey and rye looks so stunning in autumn colors
*this beautiful version of the father's new socks (I even have the exact colors in my stash)
*flying north socks with a variegated yarn (love this pair)
*this gorgeous version of a twist of fair isle
*fun texture with bright pops of color for the (froot loop) win
*one of my favorite stitch patterns reincarnated into the lovely tulsi socks
*quick warm cozy sporty hyak
*bright & colorful jelly rolls
*rye would make a toasty pair of bedsocks
*pretty laule'a proves that simple is far from boring when knit in a pretty color
*every flavor stripy socks make perfect use of leftover sock yarn

my 2016 box of sox

I could go on & on but my current socks on the needles are patiently waiting for some attention. After having a heavy heart all weekend while watching events unfold here in America, I woke up on Monday determined to focus my energy on positive action. I went on Ravelry and found a wonderfully active and welcoming group called hats and more for war-torn Syria. They are collecting warm items and other necessities for those displaced by the war in Syria and the region. It seems that wool socks are in short supply and much needed. Since I love to knit socks but rarely ever wear them, I will be sending my box of sox (with the exception of the stripy monster ones) along with an assortment of hats and mittens. It lightens my heart to know that these items will offer some comfort. And motivates me to knit more socks to donate.

Hope that you are finding even a little bit of time each day to do what you love!

winter fade

Really excited to show you the progress on one of my shiny new projects for the new year. It's the Find Your Fade shawl by Andrea Mowry. I am sure that many of you who go on Instagram have seen a number of knitters who are either planning out their fade or knitting on this right now. I love looking at all the yarn/color combinations going on out there. For mine, I was really inspired by the colors of the winter season, mainly greys and blues. I wanted a very subtle fade and so decided on a gradient effect:

the uncommon thread everyday singles

I am just loving this project right now. So soothing and relaxing to knit. The yarn is a single ply merino and is heavenly to work with. I've been watching a lot of video podcasts lately and this project is the perfect accompaniment along with a hot cup of tea and holiday chocolates. One of my favorite knitting podcast right now is a homespun house. I can listen to Molly talk about yarn and fiber all day long.

What kinds of shiny new projects are currently on your needles? Are there any particular knits that you would like to focus on this year? I can remember being so excited to knit socks at the beginning of last year. I am hoping to mix it up more this year, with socks, cowls, shawls and sweaters all getting equal attention.

reflections

Thank you for all of your well wishes. Happy to report that my back is slowly getting better. I ended up taking all of last week off from work after not being able to get out of bed the day after New Year's Day. I overdid it the week before and ended up with a ruptured disc in my lower back which was pressing down on a nerve. It had gotten so painful that I couldn't sit up and could barely walk. So the first week of 2017 ended up being a pretty dull affair with no knitting accomplished. On the bright side, I managed to get a head start on my reading goals. 4 books in one week!

Now that my back is truly on the mend, I'm excited to cast on some new projects. But before looking ahead to what this year will bring, I wanted to briefly reflect on some things that I learned in 2016:

15 pairs of socks, 3 cowls, 2 sweaters, 1 shawl, 1 ornament

Socks Socks and more Socks: I will fondly remember 2016 as the year that I got bit with the sock knitting bug. It has been so much fun learning a couple of different heel techniques (Afterthought & Strong heels) besides the traditional heel flap. Plus I gave toe-up socks a try. Designing a pair of tabi socks was also a highlight. But the number one most satisfying thing that I learned from a year of sock knitting is being able to do the Kitchener stitch without having to refer to written instructions or diagrams ever again.

Improvising a top-down sweater: This was a huge accomplishment for me. Still can't believe that I managed to pull it off. I learned so much in the process, such as the importance of planning but also being flexible when certain parts of the plan didn't work or needed to be changed.

Thank you for all of your support and kindness! Even though my blogging has been sporadic at best this past year, I still treasure all of the wonderful connections that I have made here. Looking forward to what this new year will bring for all of us! Hopefully lots of love, good health, beautiful yarn and shiny new projects :)