2KCBWDAY2 - Skill + 1UP

So for the second blog post for the week, the idea is to have a bit of a walk down memory lane and evaluate what we've learnt over the past year.

I think one of the things that I have learnt the most during the past 365 days is just how to come through with my projects, y'know? I think that when I was in Finland a couple of years ago, and I wanted that extra hat, pair of mittens or warm blankie for school-time (or on the bus, those things were COLD in the morning), I had some kind of motivator for me to get the job finished quite quickly, and for that I am eternally grateful. Whereas before, I would be lucky to get a sweater done in the time span of a year.

Generally, though, I have really been about trying a lot of new things and techniques this year, without even really thinking about it. I went through a whole cable-phase with the Point Gammon Pullover :

Which was a whole lot of fun, and one of my first cable-sweaters, and along with my copy of Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting, I am sure that there is going to be a lot more zany cable action to come.

Then, of course, I've been plugging along with my Dale of Norway of the moment, Osterdalen. And in fact, there is a little bit of a learning curve for this year, I have no safety steek stitches this time with my DoN, which is something new and not-so-intimidating, but still blogworthy, I would say. Here is a picture of the sleeve which I recently finished, of the nifty motif up the top:

 I've always loved a lot of colourwork, being able to see these wonderful pictures forming out from the charts on to your canvas of multicoloured yarn. And, although I may look at this and laugh when I eventually come to doing Starmore's Oregon cardi, it is even worth all those pesky yarn ends.


Crochet skills have also been on the forefront at the moment, and while I do like crochet for certain things, like doilies and a fast afghan here and there, I haven't really dabbled much in crocheted attire, I think that knitting shall always be my go-to guy, so to speak.

For the year coming, I really want to do some lace. I've always been a bit naive with what I've made before, in terms of finishing up to a high standard, so I think that lace would be the perfect opportunity to get it all accomplished. In terms of skills, I think that if you can follow a basic pattern, theoretically you should be able  to get a decent finished object. Although a lot of us out there know that this is necessarily always the case, that philosophy hasn't failed me yet. It got me through steeking and a bulk of my colourwork and cables, so I hope that I can get through lace this year in a nice, calm manner.

And after that, I want to try the Wedding Ring Shawl.

We'll see how that goes ;)

x peace folks