For full project details, check my rav page for all projects completed in 2008.

#1 – I hadn’t knit in a couple of decades, and this was my ‘welcome back to knitting’ project. This pattern was written as a shawl, but I used a heavier yarn so I could use it as an afghan. Since I completed it, I’ve probably used it every single day. It lies over the arm of the couch, where I sit, and if I don’t drape it over my feet in the mornings while I drink my coffee and read the paper, I drape it over my legs in the evenings while I knit. I love it. Rav project page here.

Kimono Shawl, by Cheryl Oberle (in Folk Shawls, by Interweave Press)

#2 – I wandered into Knitty City and saw this orange malabrigo sock yarn. I loved it so much I bought way too many skeins – 6 or 7, I think. It made a beautiful Lace Ribbon Scarf; I get compliments every time I wear it. It’s a lovely combination of wonderful yarn, fabulous color, and fascinating design. Nonknitters look at my hands in awe…you made that?…but the rest of us who knit know it’s a simple and great fun to knit pattern. Here’s mine [rav here]:

Lace Ribbon Scarf, by Veronik Avery (in malabrigo sock, terracotta)

the pattern is easy to memorize and fun to knit!

#3 and #4 – I had some beautiful Blue Sky Alpaca Suri Merino in this icy blue color, and wanted to make a scarf for a very dear friend. I had enough left over to knit a beret, which I have since lost! WHY! WHERE? So disappointing. The Reverse Cable and Eyelet Scarf was interesting to knit, since it seemed to be creating a diagonal. I loved the scalloped edge, which had a nice depth to it. I’d planned to make one for myself after giving this one away, but I got distracted!

Reverse Cable and Eyelet Scarf, by Jeni Chase

And here’s the long-lost beret, which I don’t think I ever wore except for the moment it came off the needles. I think I wasn’t all that satisfied with it, because it was too floppy and I should’ve used smaller needles. Anyway, here it was, my Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, by Natalie Larson [rav here]:

Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, by Natalie Larson

#5 – The Beaded Braided Hat by Lee Ann Bonson. I did mine sans bead, but this is a pattern I love, and have knit several times. The braiding around the band is very simple to do, even if it looks complicated, if you’ve never done it before. Really, easy peasy. Rav here.

Beaded Braided Hat, by Lee Ann Bonson

the hat before blocking - you can see the pattern on the band.

#6 – I made this cashmere neckwarmer (by Sarah Keller) for another very dear friend. The yarn is amazing: ArtYarns Cashmere 5, and fun to knit even if it’s splitty, so you have to pay attention. It does interesting things with pooling, which can be OK. What I didn’t know, and here’s where swatching would’ve saved me, is that I should not have wet blocked it. It completely lost its body. It became a limp, structureless rectangle. I have another skein, so I’ll try again one of these days. Rav here.

ArtYarns Cashmere5 - Cashmere Neckwarmer by Sarah Keller

#7 – This was a case of walking into Yarntopia, looking for something interesting, and falling in love with a yarn. We were going on a trip, as I recall, and I wanted something to knit but I didn’t have a clear idea. Before I knew it, I’d bought 9 skeins, and I still have a bunch in my stash. I made the Nancy Pygora Merino Lace Scarf by Myrna A.I. Stahman, and promptly gave the scarf away to my daughter Marnie when she was visiting, and needed something warm. My rav page here.

Nancy Pygora Merino Lace Scarf by Myrna A.I. Stahman, in Berroco Jasper

#8 – This Airy Scarf was another holiday present. My friend Yvonne is extremely feminine, girly, and I thought this little scarf would look great on her….and it does! I used KnitPicks Shimmer, hand-dyed lace yarn, and the only photo I have is pre-blocked. [rav here]

Airy Scarf by Brenda Overstrom (from Last Minute Knitted Gifts)

#9 and 10 – I participated in a neckwarmer swap here in New York City, and made this Celtic Cable Neckwarmer by Lindsay Henricks, using Berroco Jasper. The perfect buttons were purchased at Knitty City.  Again, picture pre-blocking. This was before I got some discipline with both photography and blocking! I enjoyed the cabling, so I made a scarf with the same yarn and pattern, and just kept going past the neckwarmer length. First, the neckwarmer:

Celtic Cable Neckwarmer by Lindsay Henricks - cables are fun!

And now the scarf:

same yarn and pattern, but in longer scarf form

#11 – and now I got on a neckwarmer jag. I’d just moved here from Texas so I was new to the whole needing-to-warm-your-neck business. Here’s the same pattern, but in malabrigo. And again, absolutely perfect buttons courtesy of Knitty City [rav page here]:

Celtic Cable Neckwarmer by Lindsay Henricks, in malabrigo worsted

#12 – It was a tradition in my former husband’s family that each person who came into the family received a stocking, knitted by his mother. She had 6 children and 20 grandchildren by the time I came along, and she made a stocking for me, and for all 3 of my kids, just as she did for all the others. My kids still use theirs every year, so it’s up to me to make stockings for the newcomers in my clan. This was made for the 1st new entry to my family, my son-in-law Trey, who married my daughter Katie in June of 2008. The pattern is available, amazingly enough: Personalized Christmas Stocking From 1945 by Rae P. Burbank. [my rav page here]

Trey's stocking

By the end of this year, I’d become a full-fledged addict. I became a better knitter, a better photographer, and I had a LOT of fun.

Go forward to FO2009 –>