Gung Hai Fat Choi!

It's not really a resolution but I decided this year I was going to try very hard to finish one project at a time and not start anything new until whatever I'm working on is finished.

I started the Kim Hargreave cardigan over the Christmas/New Year break. It was going well. The sweater was supposed to be done in seed stitch but after doing half the back, I didn't like the look. Ripped it back & did only 16 rows of seed stitch for the border. It was much better. The rest of the back took 2 days to finish. I knitted both fronts together. Forgot to mirror the shaping and ripped back. Got to the shoulder shaping and decided the measurements from the pattern would give me a small armhole. I like my sweaters roomy. Ripped back & added a few centimetres to the armhole. Ripped back the back to match the addition to the armhole. Started both sleeves and that went well. Got to the top shaping for the sleeve cap & realized I didn't add any extra length to compensate for the larger armhole. Ripped back & re-knitted the cap. Just about to cast off both sleeves when I re-read the pattern. I'm 20 stitches short at cast on so the sleeves are very narrow. Ripped back to seed stitch band to add stitches as side increases. That's where I'm at now.

So when my son said he wouldn't mind a nice warm scarf to wear, I jumped at the chance to do something else. As much as I love this sweater, I need a break from it. It also meant a trip to Black Sheep Yarns today. Guess what he picked? The same yarn in the same colour as my doomed sweater! I managed to convinced him to go with a different colour finally. The scarf pattern is the Henry scarf on Knitty. I didn't realized (because I didn't read the pattern) that it's knitted lengthwise. That means 452 stithces!

Row 1 is basically knit 1, yarn over all the way across and row 2 is slip 1, knit 1. For some reason, I slipped 1 knitwise instead of purl. I knew it would sit backwards on my needle but thought it would be a good idea. So the next row, I had to turn every second stitch around so it was facing the right way. That's a lot of stithces to turn around. My brain is still on holidays.

It's Chinese New Year here and this weekend was full of family get-togethers with lots of eating rich food. That's my only excuse.

Good fortune to everyone!

Thankful for:
1. Flannel sheets - really love crawling into bed with warm fuzzy sheets.
2. A mom that cooks like nothing you've ever seen!
3. A family that loves anything seafood. Every family gathering is a feast of seafood of some discription.
4. No snow this weekend - the forecast was for "flurries" but it was sunny all weekend.

A White Christmas and then some

I think this year, the weather has been trying very hard to make up for all those green Christmases! I can't remember seeing this much snow in one year before. Love snow but glad I had the past couple of weeks off (and next week as well).

Despite the pain-in-the-butt factor of icy roads and having to shovel the snow, I love it! It appeals to the kid in me. We stayed at home more than we would otherwise. It was really nice to spend quiet evenings cozy at home. Definitely a plus!

This year has gone by so fast! It has been a good and bad year for me. When I look back, most of the "bad" was from work. That's something that I'm thankful for...strange as it sounds.

Son graduated from high school with honours and a couple of scholarships. The Asian part in me played that down but I'm a really proud mom! :D He started university and seems to be doing well. He's healthy and happy...a bit messy but that's a teenager.

Hubby slipped in the snow a few weeks ago & ended up with back problems. He's going to the physio right now. Considering how hard he fell, I'm glad it wasn't worse. Another reason for a quiet Christmas this year. He's not moving around very fast.

Work had been very stressful this past year. I won't go into it again. The new year is not looking any better. For the past couple of months, I've been seriously rethinking my options but have decided to tough it out here. Olympics are coming and the opportunity to be part of it is too much to give up now. I made a decision to stay at least until the end of the Olympics...after that, we'll see. It's easy to look back when you're in a quiet time and think maybe it wasn't so bad. I'm sure reality will slap me in the face when I get back to work. When I get stressed at work, I buy yarn. I predict a lot of yarn buying this year.

Things to be thankful for:
1. Taking an extra week of holidays and actually finding myself relaxed and happy.
2. No one I knew got into any car accidents because of the snow.
3. My family.

And things that makes me happy:
1. Found a box of Halloween chocolate I forgot about.
2. Snow - it has been a beautiful White Christmas.
3. Ten balls of Rowan Felted Tweed to make into a nice soft sweater.