I'll be happy to put 2009 behind us. Unemployment in this area has been around 15%, and there have been a number of deaths lately. Not immediately close to me, but close enough to knock the wind out of me a little. Three friends/classmates from h.s., and our maintenance man at the library was murdered by his wife a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully 2010 will be better.
I am excited about the Knit a Norwegian KAL that starts tonight (midnight Oslo time). I'm returning to the long neglected Ingeborg. I knit about 30 rows before I put it aside to knit VK's moose sweater 3 YEARS ago. I dug it out yesterday and figured out where in the chart I left off. I added an embarrassing number of stitch markers to help me stay on pattern.
I didn't get quite as far on Irish Moss as I wanted to because I got distracted by a sock. Here's the Irish Moss progress.
The little white spots are because I photographed it over snow. It's actually knit pretty tightly.
And here's the distracting sock.
The pattern is Window Pane socks. The more I do them, the more I love little twisted, traveling stitches. I have some Di-ve Zenith in stash for a couple of Bavarian vests and I used some Christmas money to get a sweaters worth of the stuff on closeout at Webs. Now that I have Maria Erlbacher's fabulous book in English, I really need to get moving on those. (I have the German books, but my German consists of "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht." Surprisingly unhelpful for knitting.)
We've had some swans on the lake for a couple of weeks. Even a black one!
Pretty cool, isn't he? Or she. (The lake is starting to ice over lest anyone think the swans are walking on water.)
I'm off to knit a few more rows on Irish Moss before it's Ingeborg time. I hope everyone has a healthy and happy new year. I've made some wonderful friendships through blogging and Ravelry that are truly special to me.
Happy New Year!
Yay for pulling out Ingeborg but I can see your fascination w/traveling stitches. Those socks are wonderful.
Irish Moss looks pretty impressive too. Sooner or later it'll be done.
Swan Lake! Love the black swan.
Posted by: Carrie K | December 31, 2009 at 04:01 PM
Beautiful Work! Love the socks. One day I'll consider a sweater....
Posted by: Jeanne | December 31, 2009 at 08:38 PM
I love all those cables.
And a black swan... how cool!
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Miyamojo | January 01, 2010 at 09:16 PM
Sonya- I agree about 2009, it could have been better.
But here's to a new decade, new projects and lot's of fun together.
Posted by: Lorraine | January 04, 2010 at 10:06 AM
2009 has been a difficult year here too and I'm glad for a chance to start fresh. I hope things improve in your area.
Irish moss looks amazing, as does that black swan! You must enjoy watching him/her out the windows. What do the cats and dogs think?? :)
Posted by: Debby | January 05, 2010 at 08:36 PM
2009 for me was okay, 2010 has started out badly with too much work, a horrendous occurrence which directly effected what i'm working on out here in Kansas City. I'm hoping February-December is much better.
Love Irish Moss! Its gorgeous.
Posted by: Rebekah | January 10, 2010 at 12:29 PM
Your Irish Moss is otherworldly--LOVE it:)
Posted by: Heather | January 24, 2010 at 01:48 PM