End of Year Wrap Up and a Final FO

In preparation for this year end post, I took a look at my Ravelry notebook and realized that I’d done a lot more knitting then I thought this year. I completed 42 knit or crochet projects this year!

Project breakdown for 2009:

– Thirteen pairs of socks
– Five sweaters
– Five hats
– Four doll clothing items
– Three amigurumi toys
– Three shawls
– Three pairs of fingerless gloves
– Two scarves
– Two cowls
– One pair of gloves
– One par of mittens

Projects Completed in 2009

You’ll notice one project is missing from this picture. That’s because the recipient of that item hasn’t received it yet and I don’t want to spoil the surprise by posting a picture too soon. I knit more everything then I thought I had this year! Last year I knit a total of 19 projects, so in comparison, I knit over double the amount I did in 2008 and felt like I knit less in 2009 then I did in 2008. Funny how that works out, isn’t it?

As for the one goal I set myself last year about reading 12 books… I didn’t come close. I read 4: Fun Home, Enchantment, The 19th Wife, and Fordlandia. All of them were good, though. I had a hard time getting into a number of books and I don’t think it helped that I didn’t really have a set time for reading aside from lunchtime during the work week. I’m going to try and read more this year by giving myself a set time to read before bed. I won’t set a goal for it, just going to do it and see how it goes.

I did, however, do quite well with 365 this year! Today is the last day of it, so it’s not complete yet as I haven’t posted a picture for today, but I’m really pleased that I was able to keep up with it. I learned a lot about taking pictures throughout 2009 and even have a DLSR now, thanks to Matt. Here’s my Flickr set for 2009’s 365.

I think I did so-so with knitting goals. I wanted to do more fair isle, but aside from the Rainy Day fingerless gloves, I didn’t do much. I wanted to knit more sweaters and I finished a total of 5, so I’m happy with that. I wanted to try steeking, but didn’t get to it because I ended up not being too thrilled with the colors I picked for the Little Birds cardigan and didn’t get around to ordering new colors until pretty late in the year. I wanted to wear more of my handknit socks and I have. Not too bad overall.

I don’t think I mentioned this much on my blog, but paying off my credit cards was a big goal and I did manage that this year. I’m really pleased that I got it done and I don’t think I could have done it without Matt’s help and encouragement! Thank you, sweetie. 🙂

I’ve been thinking of this upcoming year and things I want to set goals for. I already know two big ones that are non-knitting related and a few knitting related things that I’m still working on figuring out. I’ll post about those tomorrow.

One last FO before the new year! My long sleeved Liesl.

Long Sleeve Liesl

Long Sleeve Liesl, folded

Pattern: Liesl (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: November 12, 2009
Completed: December 20, 2009
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy, 2.5 skeins in Spring Tickle
Needles: US 10.5 bamboo circular and DPNs
Notes: Making the same modifications as the first one. Cast on for the wide neckline. Knit 4 rows of garter stitch then started row 1 of the wide neckline, working the first buttonhole on this row as knit to 4 stitches from the end, k2tog, yo, k2. Tried to go for 3/4 length sleeves, which ended up more like long sleeves, but I’m still happy with how it turned out. I haven’t decided on buttons or a clasp yet. It does have button holes, though. I’m still calling it done since I don’t usually button up sweaters when I wear them anyhow.

Last blog post of 2009! Hope everyone had a good year and has a safe New Years Eve celebration. See you all next year!