Out with the Old and In with the New

Happy New Year to you, my lovely reader – thank you for stopping by.

Last year, around this time, I wrote a post all about my plans for 2010. I’m sure you’re curious as to how it all turned out. So, as befits the day that’s in it, join me as I look back over the past year: the highs and lows; the successess and the “almost-ran”s.

My 2010 Knitting Plans (and what really happened!)

• For January, I allowed myself 4 weeks to finish Glenvar-Agin for DH. While I did finish Glenvar-Agin, it wasn’t at the allotted time in January. Instead, I got distracted with finishing a pair of socks for a Sock-a-Month credit and making a pair of coffee-mug cozies for my Secret Pal’s birthday. The whole Secret Pal Swap fiasco – where I fell foul of the organiser and was subjected to verbal abuse and bullying – affected me quite badly; or at least, it affected my knitting mojo!
• For the Ravelympics I aimed to finish my Adirondack Socks; knit an Ishbel; and design and knit a hat for a co-worker. As it turned out, I got a bit greedy for medals and thought I could lash-out a blanket for the Henry Bear Blanketeers at the same time. I also learned the hard-way the I need to reach a zen-like state of complete nothing-else-to-do-ness before I will sit down and properly design anything. In the end the hat didn’t get knit and the blanket got two squares before it was abandonned. However, I used the WIP-dancing excuse to finally make my Not-So-Frou-Frou cardigan more wearable by working a wide collar and plackets onto the edges. Meanwhile, the Ishbel was a delight to knit and wear; and the Adirondack socks were selected as prize winners by other members of the Irish Knitters Ravelympics Team. I was very taken aback and so flattered by this.
• It was around then that I started to fall behind in my knnitting plan.  My plan was a Top-down cardigan for DD in variagated blue Lamb’s Pride in March. Instead I took part in the St. Patrick’s Day Competition and knit a pair of Rainbow socks in yarn I dyed previously to reflect the landscape of my local beach. After that, I snuck in a present for my mother’s 70th birthday – a brioche-lace shawl in two colours of Drops Kidsilk. The finished shawl went down very well with my Mum, though.
• By the time April rolled by I was already three projects behind programme and the planned Brown cotton jumper for DS1 did not get off the ground until much later in the year.  I tried to keep on track with the Sock-a-Month KAL in April by lashing out a thick pair of socks with double-stranded sock-weight yarn. I was on a 3/3 success-rate so far in the year, so pressure was high! I started well – the first sock flew up but then I tried to get clever and got in my own way progress-wise in the process. When we learned the news that one of my co-workers had been diagnosed with an in-operable tumour, a few of us in work decided to hand-make some items to put in a hamper for her. The thick and speedy socks were abandonned as I spent a long time trying to whip up a quick hat in crochet and only succeeded on my third attempt.
• Much time in April was also taken up with knitting a sooper-sekrit baby-blanket for one of my Swords Knitting Group. That didn’t appear either on my blog or on my Ravelry project page (due to the secrecy of the project and the avid-readership by the recipient of my blog!) so I have to remind myself that I wasn’t just entirely on the doss for April! 
• My main memory of April was the eruption of that unspellable volcano in Iceland that trapped DH in San Fransisco for an extra five days. The fall-out from this was more than the dust-laden Ash-cloud. DH’s prolonged absence wore on me as I kept things afloat at home. Posting on my blog; checking my email-inbox and keeping up with reading other blogs all went on hold. Like many things, if you don’t keep on top of them, they get on top of you. Furthermore, DH failed to return with a single scrap of yarn. I felt justified in going on a spree online. Not only did this seriously damage my plans for a stash-down in 2010; it opened the flood-gates and put pay to any notions of yarn-diet for the rest of the year too.
•  By the time May rolled around, my plans for starting a Cropped wrap-cardigan for me, in the Purple Manos del Uruguay I got for Christmas 2009, were a distant memory. Indeed I don’t appear to have many FOs at all for this month. I finished the socks that I’d planned for April and made progress on Glenvar-Again; all very pedestrian. Instead, I had a complete ball meeting fellow-members of the Irish Knitters Group for the first time; attending a work-shop by Annie Modesitt; getting to grips with spinning. I also got serious about training for the Women’s Mini-Marathon – not that that eat into my knitting-time, since I mainly went training in the early morning.
• I got back to the original Plan in June with Presents for my kids’ teachers. More than the two I planned, I added their German teacher also; as well as a hat and toy for my knitting buddy’s new arrival.
• I fell kinda off the wagon again though in July. In the first place I got a bit excited about practicing my spinning skills by getting involved in the Tour de Fleece. Secondly, I opted to take part in This Is Knit’s Summer KAL and knit Annis. All of this meant that, of the 2 pairs of socks planned for DH birthday (in early August), only one of them was started – note I say “started”! At this juncture, I can’t recall my reasoning for joining TIK’s Summer KAL, but I’m delighted with the finished shawl that I have to show for it.
• Needless to say, my next two planned-projects were non-starters: Stash-bust to make a shrug in Tunisan Crochet with Koigu or Malabrigo in August; a Top-down coat from Fitted Knits in Colinette Prism in September. In fact, I don’t know what I was doing with my knitting time in August except, maybe, trying to progress Glenvar-Again further still. Those four weeks I’d planned to complete it in January just seem so laughable, don’t they? My hard work paid-off , though, and I finally finished it in September – a month after his birthday and three years after I’d make the first ill-fated version. It fits him very well and he wears it all the time; the boost this gave me was immence! Around the same time, I also finished the socks that I’d planned for his birthday.
• I spent the end of September / beginning of October making a tea-cozy for another co-worker’s daughter’s birthday present – it was a commission!
• The reason I started Glenvar for the third time was because of finding wool in the perfect colour purple at the Dublin Knitting and Stitching (DK&S) show at the end of October ’09. At the same show, I also bought enough brown cotton to make a jumper for my son. With the thought of DK&S 2010 looming at the end of October all thoughts of getting cracking with the planned Oroborus were dispelled in lieu of finished DS1’s jumper as planned in March! I also cast-on for a pair of tabi-anklets to be my quick-knit socks for my October credit while I was on the plane to Rhinebeck – you remember I went there, don’t you? (Heh! heh!).
• While I was at Rhinebeck, I got myself a wheel. This was a major distraction to my knitting and the jumper for DS1 got shelved.
• My time at DK&S was mainly spent trying to gather supplies for a sudden new love/lust – quilting! More specifically, the Tokyo Subway Map Quilt. I spent a bit of time on quilting during November. So much so that, instead of getting involved in contributing to the Charity Craft-fair – as I had last year – I fell behind with progress on my son’s jumper. It took longer, and was more challenging, than I’d anticipated. I finished it a little late for his birthday and he was delighted with it. It’s in cotton silk by Rowan / RCY so he loves the fact that it’s not scratchy.
• I tried to do some Christmas Gift-knitting in December but was mainly met with resistance. I did manage to run-up a quick pair of mittens as a test-knit and – when I finally found enough wool to complete them, gifted them to my neice. They were well recieved. Other than that, I made progress on and finally finished the Pilates socks I started in October. I forgot to post them on the Sock-a-Month KAL blog before the end of December though – doh! The last few days of December have been taken up with a manic WIPdown and many things that I allowed myself to be distracted with during the year – that I subsequently shelved – have now been vanquised!

That’s the sum-up of the year – you couldn’t call it a summary, could you – might take you a year to read it all! Similarly, I’ve drawn-up knitting plans for 2011 but writing the above has given me an insight into how easily distracted I am. I may have to stress-test the plan before I let you in on it.

Amongst my 2010 knitting plan I had “Go to a Knitting Meet-up in Stirling or London or Estonia and meet some online knitting friends”. Now while I didn’t get to Knit Nation, or Knit Camp – and the proposed trip to Estonia never emerged – I more than made up for this by meeting several online-knitting people through sporadic meetings through-out the year. If I start listing those whom I met I’m sure to omit – and inadvertently hurt – someone from the list. Instead I’ll mention some of the various meetings:

• Saturday Knitting meet-up at Café Bell in early February;
• February Spin-in;
• March’s Crafty Market
• a new Swords knitting buddy thanks to the Treasure Hunt I ran on my blog at Easter;
• Fibre Fun Friday in April;
• Tunisian Crochet Class @ The Yarn Room in April;
• April Spin-in;
• Annie Modesitt’s Work-shop in May;
• Café Bell meet-up with Averil with Iontach and ChicWithStix in May;
• Avoca, Kilmacanogue, meet-up with Doogarry/FourBoys and BionicLaura in August;
• The Constant Knitter’s Open day in September;
• Rhinebeck – need I say more?!?
• More Spin-ins though I’m not sure of what months – November anyway
• TwitKnit Reality Meet-up last week (vs TwitKnit online – the virtual Knit-night we had via Twitter when we were all snowed in!)