The year is drawing to a close . . . time for one last blog post of 2014.

Guess what I finally finished? Woodfords!

I am very pleased with the finished product and think I’ll actually wear it. To recap, I knit this from Madelinetosh Merino Light in the “paper” colorway on a U.S. size 3, 5, 6, and 7 needle.

Other than that, it has been hats, hats, hats. Here is one I knit in stealth:

This is a simple watch cap (no pattern) I made for the King of All Remote controls as a holiday gift. I used Madelinetosh Pashmina Worsted in the “black tie” colorway (I believe that’s a limited editions colorway available at Jimmy Bean’s Wool only) on a U.S. size 7 needle. I knit a deep ribbed cuff that can be turned up or pulled down, depending on how cold it is outside.

Another hat:

This is the extraordinarily clever Tensfield, designed by Martina Behm, knit from Jade Sapphire dk weight cashmere in the “bluestone” colorway on a U.S. size 4 needle. It’s a fast and easy knit and such a clever design. You can use any weight of yarn to knit it.

Unfortunately, this cap is knit as a chemo cap for a friend about to start chemotherapy. Since she is starting treatment in January, I thought she could use a warm outdoor cap. But I also wanted to knit her an indoor cap. So I am working on this:

This is a plain ribbed beanie being knit from Bee Sweet Bamboo in the “sea green” colorway on a U.S. size 4 needle. The yarn is a gorgeous color and very soft, but is extremely splitty! I have to pay close attention while knitting to ensure I haven’t split it. My Signature Needle Arts stiletto tip needle is a big help with this.

I’m hoping to finish this before midnight tonight, so it will be my last FO of 2014.

Loki, the King of All Remote Controls, and I are celebrating the New Year quietly at home tonight, so I’ll have some good knitting time, albeit tempered with champagne. Loki is resting up for later.

Happy New Year to all! 2014 was a tough year for a lot of people I love, filled with tragedy and loss. On the plus side, it has given me a finer appreciation for all that I have, including dear friends. Thank you all for reading and knitting along with me thus past year. I’ll see you next year! 🙂

Finally, I see a light at the end of the Woodfords tunnel!

I am nearly done with the first sleeve, so I can reasonably predict that this cardi will be done before the end of 2014.

I started it on November 30, so it will have taken me a month to knit. Given that it is an oversized sweater knit from fingering weight yarn, that’s not too bad. It just seems like I’ve been working on it forever. 🙂

Loki would like you to know that he did not try on the booties I knit, but he did pose for a photo with them.

It is interesting to me that I am able to knit four 100-stitch rows much more quickly than I can knit one 400-stitch row.

The lower body of Woodfords consists of very long rows indeed and they are not terribly exciting. I need 12″ of knitting and I am at 4.5″ at this point.

But on the bright side, once I finish this part, the sleeves will seem all the quicker since they consist of far fewer stitches.

I need to suspend work on Woodfords for a bit this week. I need to whip out a pair of baby booties for someone I will see this Friday. I did make a start:

That’s mint green Koigu.

As I knit, I will repeat to myself:

“Must not try these booties on Loki. Must not try these booties on Loki.”

I am slowly making progress on my Woodfords Cardigan. I apologize for the quality of the photos that follow — the piece is not as yellow in real life, but the photos were taken at night in artificial light. Here is Woodfords spread out as much as I can with the bottom stitches mooshed up on the needle:

I have just finished working the braided “welt” on the lower back:

Here it is with the braid completed:

Next I need to work the lower body. This will be 12 inches of relatively mindless knitting. After that, all that remains are the sleeves. but the lower body is an impressively large number of stitches, so that will take a goodly chunk of time to complete.

I flipped the piece over — here it is with one side front smoothed out:

I think this will be a very wearable cardigan. While it is wool, it’s not too warm because it is fingering weight knit at a loose gauge. The knitting has been/is time-consuming, but so far has been very entertaining.

While I was taking those photos, Loki was supervising from atop the jewelry armoire:

Note that the armoire is turned around so the front of it is facing the wall. That is because a certain furry little somebody was reaching down, prying open a drawer with a chubby little paw, and removing pieces of jewelry.

It’s never a dull moment around here.

I recently was sent a lovely little gift bag of Cleckheaton yarn:

This a special new yarn, Australian Superfine Merino by Cleckheaton. This yarn is made in Australia from 100% Australian superfine merino sheep.

Inside the bag was a cute hat kit and the yarn to knit it:

The yarn is, as advertised, incredibly soft.

I did a quick gauge swatch, and it is not only a dream to knit, it has wonderful stitch definition as well. It is an 8-ply yarn and is DK weight. The yarn is put up in 65-gram skeins with 130 meters per skein, and it comes in a very nice range of colors, which can be seen on the Cleckheaton website here. You can purchase the yarn online from that site for $10.37 (I assume these are Australian dollars, so at current conversion rates that’s $8.64 U.S. dollars), and you can also download the cute beanie pattern, free. That would make a great, quick holiday gift, doncha think?

Current Work in Progress

I am knitting along on my Woodfords Cardigan. I don’t have a recent WIP photo for you, but here is one from the other day:

I am now at the point of joining the front to back at the bottom of the armhole, so I’ve done a bit more since that photo was taken. I am also working on a number of small projects, so I’m not being 100% faithful to this project.

Loki is helping, as usual.