It feels like I’ve accomplished a lot of knitting this week. I finished two projects, my St. Patrick’s Day socks and the birthday party hat. It has been a long time since I have felt like I’ve accomplished a lot with my knitting.

The hat is the favorite knit slouchy by Jamie Sande. It is the third time I’ve made this hat, and it won’t be the last. It’s really easy, and you end up with a hat that is fashionable. Often what I like to knit and what is hip are two totally different things, but in this case they actually intersect.

I made that hat for my friend’s birthday party. She put the hat on after she opened it and wore it for the rest of the night. I love it when it is clear that my knitted gift is appreciated.

I also finished my St. Patrick’s Day socks. I used Born in a Barn Fiber Arts yarn, which is some of my favorite yarn I have ever worked with. I’m excited to go to Fiberpalooza again in a couple of weeks, as I get to check out her stuff again. I was playing around with my own design when I was knitting them, and I’m really happy with how they turned out. I am thinking about writing up the pattern.

My goal for the week was to finish the hat and the socks before I started on Elliot’s cardigan again. I thought I would a sleeve knit by now, but that hasn’t happened. Because I have to keep track of the decreases on the sleeves it isn’t something I want to work on when I’m knitting with others or when the kids are awake.
I started two new projects this week. Both projects are good for knitting when hanging out with friends.

I’m making a cowl out of super bulky yarn. My sister recently told me she wanted a cowl, so when I discovered some super bulky in my stash I decided to make her one. I did not consult her on the pattern or the yarn. She might hate it. That is OK, because if I’m being honest, I just want to have a project that helps me burn through 100 g of yarn very quickly. Fiberpalooza is only a few weeks away, and I would like to earn as much yarn as possible (I’m taking my yarn diet very seriously this year).

I also started a pair of kind of vanilla socks. They are vanilla socks, but with a small rib detail so they aren’t quite so boring to knit. I am using Felici, which always seems to knit up quickly. There is something about self striping yarn – it makes me keep going and going to see what the next stripe will bring. I love it.

I always have a pair of socks on the needles, and I’ve developed a plan for this year when approaching socks. I am going to alternate between indie dyers and cheaper sock yarn. I have enough in my stash that I should be able to get through this year without buying more (even though I’m totally going to buy more when my yarn diet allows for it). I would love to knit exclusively with indie dyers, but my budget does not allow for it. I think knitting every other pair with extra fancy yarn will be a nice treat. I imagine it will also get me to slow down and enjoy the fancy yarn and quickly knit through the mass-produced yarn. I look forward to seeing if my hypothesis holds true.

For the next week I’m hoping to finish Elliot’s sweater. I would like to finish the cowl too. If I’m really lucky I’ll also finish a sock. That is a lot of knitting though, so I might be setting unattainable knitting goals for the week. What do you hope to knit this week?