I looked in my closet the other day and had realized all of my warm knitwear was either in the laundry pile or at the dry cleaners (yeah, I know what some of you might say, but depending on the item I have most of my items dry cleaned… different stores for different folk people, and I just don’t have the time and I am okay with it). I couldn’t believe that I was low on knitwear. I actually began knitting to make hand knits for my daughter but one of the amazing things about being a knitter is being able to have sweaters that fit… The issue that really got me excited for hand knitting was being able to adjust the sleeve length (I typically shorten by at least 2 inches from the pattern) and I have loved being able to throw something on where I don’t have to roll sleeves back.

I am on the third of the three cast ons that I did on New Year’s day, which is a sweater. This one will be slower because it is a sweater. I haven’t been knitting sweaters that frequently and to be honest adjusting my  mindset to reading a sweater pattern was a bit of a change…. but with Brooklyn Tweed publishing the Michele Wang’s  Capsule collection I am having a change of heart on picking up the needles for a sweater. The collection is simply gorgeous and it has me seriously considering that I need to turn my focus to making a few of these beautiful patterns.

My only hesitation on the one I want to knit is that it is 4400 yards of fingering weight yarn…. the commitment to make this sweater is longer than some people’s marriages.

All I can do lately when I have a free moment is knit I want to knit “one more row” and do nothing else. It could be the mindless knit that I have on my needles or that I have kind of “unplugged of late. I am still pretty active on Instagram,  but have found myself focused on being more present in the moment( IRL) and less about watching the threads on Ravelry   or texting friends.  It really is amazing what one can get  done when they take away some of the distractions. We are in middle of  January and I am taking stock of all of the things that I want to do.

It is easy to get overwhelmed, I confess the only thing I am trying to do is look to my immediate surroundings and not get distracted.  The last few years I was buying a lot of yarn and and now that I have kind of gotten out of the “accumulating” mentality and it is nice to be making the things. It feels really healing to be just focused on working with fiber and learning more about the fiber arts. I am making a lot of headway on my ” Hollows”  by Mandrines and am getting ready to make my Shepard and Shearer Hoody by Kate Davies. It has been a while since I have made a sweater and if you know me you know I can’t just make one without modifying the pattern.

It is a well recognized fact that the measurements from the American Craft Council  do not fit most most body types many designers use… I would say that it took a three years for this to sink in, and to be be honest I am still not that comfortable making modifications but like with anything it is something that gets easier and better with time…. so if I am a little more quiet than usual you will know what I am up to, even if I am not chatting about it.

I have been knitting more than I have been spinning lately, maybe be it is the whole knitting with cashmere that is getting my needles going… or procrastinating on another sweater.  The cashmere and the procrasintating feel soooo good. I have been  trying to tune everything else out lately…. just enjoying  knitting and making when I want to.

It was a little bit of a surprise that my daughter asked me to make her a pair  of mittens last night my heart melted and I said yes. I mean I kinda sorta had to..  She was really cute to ask…   The normal script goes something like this:

Daughter: Momma?

Me: Yes?

Daughter: What are are you knitting?

Me: I am knitting a _____.

Daughter: For me?

It was a real thrill to have her ask and I now scouting out patterns… When I told her I need to find a pattern she said.. ” You mean on the bulletin board on your computer?” I scratched my head at that one and realized she was talking about the “pattern library” in Ravelry. At this point I don’t think my daughter has any choice of not being a future knitter…. or at least someone who enjoys hand knits.

It is only 7 days in to 2017 and I would say that it is not off to a great start. I won’t go into it but rather than keep on with the trend from 2016  I thought I would try to make lemonades out of lemonade. So… when I went a little nuts on a recent order of Republic of Wool the other day this afforded me the perfect opportunity to do something that might start off the year on a good foot or at least make it a little better for myself and other knitters. I am giving away a skein of the Twist Sock in the Freckleface colorway on Instagram. I will be picking a random winner next week on Friday, January the 13th… The catch… the only thing that you need to do is leave a comment on the Instagram post about what you do to stay positive or what you plan to to to be positive in 2017.

There have been some really fantastic ideas and it injects a little more hope in to my everyday and I hope that other people read them to and it gives them a little some ideas of coping when things are crappy. I  have been thrilled to see how many people do something on a daily basis to make their day a little better or have a tool to shut down the negativitiy.

On a personal note. I haven’t responded to everyone’s Instagram posts because I am trying to keep it easy to count the entry  for the drawing, but I am really touched by your kind words and suggestions.

It has been a tough year and I think many people are looking to put 2016 firmly behind them and look to what is new on the horizon. I find myself not as focused as last year with my crafting goals as last yea  and I am going to give myself a break. I think I will may still keep up with some of the challenges I really enjoyed this year like “Mad Hatter March” and “Christmas in July” but I think I am going to try to have a go with the flow approach this year with a major goal being my trip to Scotland and making some hand knits for that trip.

Madrona is also  around the corner and I signed up for 1 class, and I am excited to hang out and just knit and spin, I am making plans to do give myself less goals this year and not be so driven by my goals but rather enjoy more of the process( it will be interested to see if this will actually happen:).

I want to love what I knit and spin but also love using it. I feel really good about my last finished object my Exploration Station by Stephen West  in Viola Fingering yarn.