2006 Knitting Review

2007 is already whipping by with alarming speed. Before it gets too deep into mid-January, I thought I'd do a brief, self-congratulatory review of my 2006 projects. I've been knitting for about eight years, but it was this year that I made an effort to cultivate greater knitting skills, and it definitely feels good to review it.

I was most proud of diving into lace knitting. I'd never previously finished a lace project, but this year I knit my wedding shawl - a 'print o' the wave' stole in ivory alpaca - as well as a flared lace smoke ring for my sister and a fuzzy mohair scarf.
Socks was another area in which I gritted my teeth and made progress. I was most pleased with a pair of Jaywalkers for my sister, and I learned more about sock construction with my blue Elizabeth Zimmerman socks.
And I finally finished a sweater! Four, actually. Granted, three were baby sweaters and one was only half a sweater, but they add up to at least a whole real sweater! Seriously, though, I made a conscious effort to experiment with different methods of sweater constuction: the froggie and truffle sweaters were done in the round from the bottom up, the cabled bookworm sweater was more traditional with separate, seamed pieces, and my purple 'banishing dark thoughts' cardigan was knit in a single piece from the top down.
My true love, as always, remains hat knitting: alpaca/silk 'Odessa', bulky burgundy ribbed, cashmerino mini-cabled, malabrigo ribbed cap, lamb's pride horseshoe lace, cashmere-merino 'Shedir', bluefaced leicester soft beret (seen folded), mohair/wool toque.
It's all wrapped up with an ipod cozy and an alpaca/silk neckwarmer for my mom.
I rarely take stock of my accomplishments, since it's more in my nature to be critical and self-deprecating (such is the lot of a graduate student). But I think that wrapping up the year in this way is a very positive practice!