growing leaves cowl

When I was at NIPS in December, I knitted this cowl start to finish--conferences involve a lot of sitting a listening, which is prime knitting time. (For those of you who don't know what a cowl is, it's tube-like neck warmer.)  I found it harder to pay attention after I was done with it since I'm not very good at sitting and listening for hours on end, no matter how interesting the topic.

When I started this project, I realized that I knit in a funny way.  The way I learned to knit was as follows: I learned just the knit stitch as a teenager (but not the purl) and made a scarf with just the one stitch.  Then, I decided to relearn for a shawl two summers ago.  That involved purling, and when I was taught how at the yarn store, I didn't like it.  So I spent fifteen minutes at home trying to figure out a smoother way to purl, and went with that.  Since then, I've realized that what I worked out is called combination knitting.  There are a few oddities, but it's much faster and smoother for the stitches you use most frequently.

For this (my third!) knitting project, I had to learn how to decrease stitches where orientation of the slant matters, which is the main peculiarity of the combination method.  That mastered, I feel like I can take anything!  Anyway, I love wearing my cowl and I've gotten a few compliments for it.  It's by no means perfect, but I think I'm ready to start knitting gifts for folks now.

shawl to scarf

I started a red shawl mid-2012, and worked on it when I commuted into the city that summer. I had been a hour from finishing for several months, but today I finally finished it off.

It's looking to be more of a thick scarf, just due to the way the yarn hangs--it curls in on itself, giving a bit of a scroll effect.  Despite this identity crisis, I think it turned out quite well, especially for someone who can never remember the difference between knitting and purling.

With 2014 looming, I'm very far from keeping my craftiganza rules, but at least it's some progress.  I'd forgotten how much I enjoy working with yarn, and I need make it more of a habit.  (Without becoming a yarn hoarder.)