(mis)adventures of spindlerose: 12 Projects of 2008, Part 1: A's Blanket

I actually accomplished quite a bit of knitting in 2008. I finished 9 pairs of socks, a sweater for myself, four small sweaters, a blanket, a lace stole, and a few scarves. Very few of those projects actually got their day on the blog. In the spirit of sharing and documenting my accomplishments for the year, I will post 12 of the unblogged projects here during the 12 days of Christmas.

I will start with the two kid gifts, then show off many pairs of socks, and end with some scarves and that lonely sweater. Here is some evidence that I figured out how to get pictures off of the D90 and onto the blog.

A's Blanket
Pattern: Rambling Rows Afghan from Cottage Creations
Size: Medium (72 stitches for the large squares)
Yarn: Brown Sheep's Serendipity Tweed in Teal Orchid (ST20), Black Iris (ST92), Nebraska Wheat (ST84), Rosy Paintbrush (ST76), and Sunflower (ST08) purchased with A's help at Lakeside Fibers in Madison
Notions: 4.5 mm bamboo circular needles
Time: August 21 to November 30, 2008
Comments: This is the second time I've knit this blanket, and in a few months, I may be ready to knit a full-sized one for my own sofa. First, I need to recover from the 125 or so ends (thank you again Elspeth for helping me finish those). I also enjoyed the Serendipity Tweed; it makes a very chushy fabric in garter stitch. I used red (A's favorite color) for the border and ended up knitting 3 red garter ridges. I wanted to knit a wider border, but I had enough red yarn for exactly 3 ridges and the bind off. Because it is so beautiful, here is a picture of the blanket spread out on the table at Knit Happens taken a few days before I finished it.

While I think it would be an interesting challenge, I do not plan to join the crazy people planning to knit 12 sweaters in 2009. If I apply myself and do not get distracted by fun projects for small people, I may finish 12 sweaters next year. Of course, almost all of of those sweaters are in progress, and most of them are nearly finished. I am not setting any knitting goals, though, because I want to look svelte when we go on vacation in May. Translation: much of my prime knitting time in the next 4 months will be spent at the gym.

I do plan to try once again to knit 12 pairs of socks. That goal is achievable even if my only sock knitting time is on airplanes. 2009 looks to have even more crazy travel than 2008 did.