Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Happy New Year!

Sunday morning, New Year's Eve morning, I read an article written by a knitter/yarn store owner who said she ends the old year by frogging (rip it, rip it) old knitting projects for which she has lost interest or those with which she has become bored, or she just doesn't like so she can start the new year off with a fresh outlook on her knitting horizon. It made me think back to this Yarmouth Fair Isle Watch Cap which I started over 2 years ago and have struggled ever since to enjoy my journey through the pattern. It's a lovely pattern but I don't like knitting from charts and you can't avoid it with Fair Isle knitting. Now I don't know if I ever told you that one of my favorite mottos is,
"If it's not fun, don't do it." After reading about this knitter's tradition, I felt I could give myself permission to rip out the hat, even though I was only about 8 rows away from finishing the Fair Isle portion. It wasn't worth it to me to take the joy out of the project and infuse it with so much negativity. I ripped it back to the ribbed section so I wouldn't have to reknit the cuff and....
now it's this cozy warm cap! I zipped through the top portion in a day and felt so much happier about it. This hat now has lots of loving stitches and positive emotions knitted into it. Moral of the story is don't knit what isn't fun! This isn't school like when you were a kid and HAD to do your homework. Knit what makes you happy. And rip out the stuff that doesn't!
 I'm on a bender with this Throwback Pixie Hood. This marks the 10th one I've knitted so far and today I started the 11th. You'll see it later on.
 Debbie made a sweet little Teddy, just the right size for little hands. He'll make some little munchkin very happy.
 Cinzia's daughter, Elena, finished her lovely crocheted scarf to add to our inventory. The yarn is a lovely soft fiber, sure to keep someone fashionably warm.
 We should celebrate that Maureen finished her baby blanket. It took her quite a while but then her only free time to knit is the 2 hours every Tuesday evening when we meet. It finished beautifully and doesn't even need blocking.
 Margaret added a sweet little striped baby hat...
 and so did Carole. It was just the right size to use up the end of a ball of yarn.
 Cinzia worked on the sleeves of a sweater, both at the same time on one needle. She's like me, if she doesn't do them together, it might sit around with a body and one sleeve for a very long time. ;)
 Dorah made a lot of progress since we last met and you can really see the chevron pattern now on her cute little pullover.
  Carole worked on her Sunnyside cardigan. She has a few more inches to go on the body and then the sleeves can be picked up and knitted.
 She was inspired by the Pixie hoods I knitted and started one during a long car trip.
 Margaret started another little hat with this lively chartreuse cotton yarn. I can't wait to see it finished. I love the color!
 And finally, here is number 11 of my series of Throwback Pixie Hood. When I think back to all the trouble I got myself into by misinterpreting the instructions, I shake my head and scold myself for thinking too much. Now that I have the hang of it, I could practically knit these in my sleep!
Wishing you all a new year filled with good health, happiness, and prosperity.
And keep those needles clicking!

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