Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2012 will be a wonderful year for all of you.
I ended the year with a lot of knitting, so it may take me a little while to catch up. At the end of November I released the sixth pattern in the Seven Fingerless Mittens collection – Zenwald.
Zenwald is designed to be knit with variegated sock yarn. The design itself is relatively simple in order to let the yarn shine. This particular version is knit in Shepherds Sock! from Lorna’s Laces, and is a deep forest green mixed with blacks.
They are a fun knit, and quite versatile. So much that when my son asked for some fingerless mittens for Christmas (four days before Christmas, to be exact), I knew just what to make. I did modify them a bit for him, since he’s only 8, and his hands are (naturally) a lot smaller than mine. On top of that, he requested “no fingers”, as in gauntlet style. So instead of knitting half-fingers like I did for mine, I just continued the hand a little longer, and then worked a few rows of garter stitch prior to bind-off.
I did manage to finish them on time – on Christmas eve, only minutes before our guests arrived. So….. perfect timing. They have been much appreciated and worn already. But then yesterday it got really cold (-23C), so he might have to wait for a while until he can wear them again.
Aside from that, the La Toupie KAL officially started on January 1. I’ve already seen a bunch of pretty pictures of shawls in progress and am looking forward to many more over time. 
Me, I started the year with a new design using Eidos from the Verdant Gryphon. Eidos is lovely as always, and the colour is one of my favourites – deep red (Charybdis, for those who really want to know). It’s one of the designs for the new book, so I can’t show too much.
The book is coming along slowly but surely, and more than half of the designs are complete and just waiting for the rest to join them.
Well, fingerless gloves, double-knitting and lace just about sums it up, I think. You’ll see more of everything in 2012. All the best!
