Hello 2014!

Yes, I know it’s February and we are well into 2014 but I feel like I’m still getting acclimated to it. So it still feels like the start of a new year to me.

I haven’t posted since October! Yikes. I got completely sucked into the chaos of the holidays. My grandmother passed away in November (at the young age of 102!) so between that and Thanksgiving and Christmas, we fit in three road trips to South Carolina (600 miles one way) in the span of about 5 weeks. I seriously felt like I was living in our car. I am thankful to be home and able to stay put for a while.

In my last post about my Halona pattern, I mentioned how I had designed it to use in lieu of a winter coat since winters down here in Mississippi “are really not too bad.” Oh boy. By uttering those words I had unknowingly sealed our fate. This has been the worst. winter. ever. Apologies to everyone in America! It’s all my fault! Even as I write this, it’s doing some sort of combo snow/sleet/rain thing outside. I’m wearing wool socks, two pairs of pajama bottoms, three shirts and a scarf. Layers, people. It’s what’s keeping me alive right now.

Just last week it sleeted for probably 18 hours straight. The roads were a mess and walking outside was done at your own risk. Our front yard looked like a winter wonderland except that it wasn’t snow! It was pure sleet. Gross.

So I did the only thing I knew to do! I hunkered down with plenty of knitting and kept myself warm with copious amounts of coffee… 

Those are my marigold socks that I started two years ago. I was going through my hibernating projects and decided these need to be finished. That’s true for a lot of other projects. Maybe 2014 will be my year of finishing stuff.

I did start (and finish!) several things over the past few months! Since practically everyone I know had a baby, there was a lot of baby knitting and crocheting, including several hats and this blanket, which was my favorite, by far…

The pattern is Girasole by Jared Flood and I really loved knitting it. I hadn’t knit lace in a long time so it was great to get back to it.

I also designed a cowl that I just need to tweak a bit and then write up the pattern! So hopefully I can do that soon! Then I’ll need test knitters! {hint hint}

I hope you are staying warm where you are! And if you’re reading this in the southern hemisphere, please send the warmer seasons our way! I am D-O-N-E with winter.