A Christmas round-up and resolutions post in one.

We had a relatively quiet Christmas. I tried very hard not to overdo it and try to make a million different things to eat, but somehow it ended up being seven people for dinner and me producing a mountain of food. Then Rose proceeded to cry throughout the meal, meaning we ended up eating in shifts, Mr B and I. Though I find that I never eat much Christmas dinner anyway as I’m half-sick of the sight of food after cooking all morning! Next year, she’ll be 15 months old and able to tuck in with us all, at least.

I got some gorgeous knitted gifts from Kai and Diane which I will photograph for the next post (currently have a baby attached to me!) and Mr B loved his annual Christmas socks, of course. Other than that, it wasn’t a very yarny sort of Christmas this year.

So onward to 2010. I resolved this time last year to be very selfish, which didn’t exactly pan out the way I’d planned, did it? Though it started well with my Deep-V Argyle Sweater, pretty much as soon as that was off the needles, morning sickness arrived and I made nothing for myself afterwards.

This coming year, I don’t know whether I can plan to achieve anything as it can be days between me putting down and picking up the needles again. But that hasn’t stopped me plotting. I’ve got ideas and charts and notes for new designs and all I need is a 40 hour day and I might just get them done!

Hoping you all have a very peaceful and happy 2010 and the new year brings you whatever you want it to.

Not surprisingly, things are a bit disorganised here at the moment, and I missed posting on Saturday, which was the day that Rose became exactly three months old.

Looking back over the previous photos, I can see how much she’s changed. She’s now incredibly alert and interested in what’s going on, although obviously in the above photo she looks a bit perplexed. She normally smiles a lot, but not at a bunny in a carrot-shaped car, apparently. She is also starting to make little cooing noises which is adorable. Her big brothers think she’s much more interesting now, as she will smile at them and wave her arms about in an encouraging manner and isn’t just obsessed with when her next meal is coming . I’m really looking forward to what changes will happen over the coming month.

* * * * *

The snow has almost disappeared this morning. There was a brief snowfall yesterday afternoon, but it didn’t settle and now there’s just a few icy bits left on the garden from last week. Though there’s still a chance we could get a white Christmas here, I’m not holding my breath!

Two – two!! – snow posts in the same year! Admittedly, it’s nothing like the snow we had here in February, but it still counts. The boys are disgusted that we have so little, as today is the last day of school for the year, and they were hoping that their holiday would start half a day early. Yes, they only have to go in for a couple of hours and play games and they still complain.

I’m hoping that it won’t all melt or, if it does, it comes back this time next week. A white Christmas would be something really special.

Especially when it comes to manly socks. When I read on Rubbishknitter’s blog that Kemp’s had Regia sock yarn reduced to £1.20 a ball, I snapped up enough for a couple of pairs. This should keep me going for manly sock knitting for the next year, based on my current production rate.

The multicoloured yarn is self-striping, so will be nice mindless sock knitting for a bit. The other yarn, however, will need a pattern of some sort and I’m hoping inspiration will strike…

Pattern: Evangeline by Michelle Szeghalmi-Shirley
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Wool, ½ x 100g skein in colour: #9404 Ruby
Needles: 4mm Brittany Birch dpns of loveliness

Nothing like a bit of bright red to cheer a person up on a grotty December morning! I “promised” myself these armwarmers if I managed to get the Christmas socks finished. I’d been finding wearing my mittens and gloves awkward when I had to keep taking them off every five seconds to adjust baby hats or wipe baby drool and so on, and I was getting cold hands each the time. So armwarmers were the perfect solution.

The pattern was nicely simple and it was easy to fit in a pattern repeat or two during baby naps. I made mine shorter than the elbow length given in the pattern, but there were no other modifications. There seem to be zillions of cabled wristwarmer patterns out there, but I chose these just because I liked the cable and it wasn’t too complicated (but not boring, either!).

The yarn I bought back in the summer for another baby project that never materialised, and it’s perfect; very snug but not overly soft so it should wear well. The colour is a complete change for me with my purple obsession, but I rather like it.

The sun is gone, it’s cold and miserable outside, so to be completely unseasonal, my summery Clover sock pattern is now available as a free Ravelry download.

At least, that’s the conclusion I’ve reached after my poor baby has twice been assumed to be a boy. She was wearing purple both times; the second time it was a purple and pink striped top which looks completely girly to me, but apparently the stripes confused matters. Are stripes only for a boy as well, then? *rolls eyes* Heh. I should be used to it, as I now remember DS2 being called a girl, despite wearing head-to-toe blue. Maybe my conclusion should be that people just don’t look properly.

But whether it’s boyish or not, I couldn’t resist this pattern. It’s the Baby’s First Fair Isle sweater pattern, which is knitted on tiny needles and steeked and I am probably never going to finish it before Rose outgrows it. I blame the hours I spend surfing one-handed. I’m full of plans and ideas for knitting projects, but can’t actually make any of them.

The yarn is the exact same as used in the original pattern, which is something I almost never achieve. Being Trekking and Opal, though, means it’s easy to find, relatively speaking. The Opal was no problem, but the Trekking eluded me til I thought to check people’s stashes on Ravelry. When, thanks to Lesley, I finally got hold of some.

I’m saving this as a post-Christmas project. Once all the visits and cooking and being sociable is over, I intend to hibernate in my pyjamas and knit as long as I can while I have both hands free.

Pattern: Basic sock pattern, used millions of times
Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi, 2 x 50g in colour: Neptune Rainbow
Needles: 2.25mm dpns

Christmas knitting all done. I can’t really feel smug when there wasn’t actually that much to do compared to previous years, but during the times when I’d pick up the sock to only have to put in down a few stitches later I did wonder if I’d ever get them done.

There’s nothing to say about the “pattern”, so I’ll just mention the yarn. As I said previously, it’s slightly splitty and a bit hairy, but the colours are gorgeous. It washes nicely with no colour run and they’ve blocked really well.

The colour sequence on the foot of the sock at the top of the photo went completely loopy, though. There’s a huge wodge of turquoise for half of the foot, then it settles down and then a chunk of dark blue to the toe. And this was without there being knots in the yarn, which of course can make colour runs go screwy. If it wasn’t for the fact that I don’t have the time to fiddle, I’d have frogged the foot, cut and rejoined the yarn. But on the positive side, it’ll be hidden by shoes for much of the time.

I’ve never had that happen with any commercial sock yarn before and it’s pretty disappointing, but perhaps it was bound to happen just because I *had* always had such good experiences. Will be sticking to Trekking and Opal from now on, though, for my manly sock requirements. If Opal would make another thickly striped yarn like the “Feelings” range a couple of years ago, that would be just perfect, thankyouverymuch.

Purple, bunny-shaped buttons. How could I resist? Available from Delish Beads on Etsy, just in case anyone else has the urge for cute buttonage. Now I just have to knit something for them to be sewn on to…

BTW, speaking of irresistible things, the Drops Christmas Calendar is back again with a new free pattern every day ’til the big event. I love today’s pattern.