Hand Knits Are a Bright Spot in a Cold Winter

It's been unusually cold here in NJ as well as throughout the US, as I don't have to tell most of you. I was struck the other night, when I mustered all  of my motivation to walk out the door in sub-10-degree-weather and a foot of snow and drive to my book group meeting. When I walked in, our hostess asked me to take my boots off at the door, and when I walked into the meeting, where some of my fellow readers are also knitters, I was greeted with admiration about the number of hand-knits I wore and carried:

• a hand-knit, mohair sweater (knit pre-Ravelry, so no photos or links!)
• hand-knit socks
• a hand-knit cowl and matching mitts from one of my favorite cold-weather yarns, Misti Alpaca Chunky
• and I carried a hand-knit, felted bag, which contained my current WIP, a beautiful men's scarf for my daughter's boyfriend

It struck me that, although I hate the cold, it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to wear so many of my knits at once and to know that they are the best antidote to being cold. My husband and daughter have been wearing their hand-knit socks every day during this cold spell, and my son, braving his first winter at college in Michigan, is grateful for the bulky scarf and hat I made him.

I even made a sale of a warm, bulky hat in my Etsy shop! This makes me want to drop everything and knit 24/7 (so does the fact that I don't want to go outside!) This makes me even more determined to do something to make knitting more of a part of my life--and find a work solution that will allow me to devote more time to this craft that I love so much. I hope 2014 will be the year that I finally make it happen.

Stay warm, everyone!

Happy 2014!

It's been a little while since I've posted--I've been enjoying time with my children who are home from college, and have been putting regularly scheduled knitting projects on hold to make them some warm slippers to take back to school. Their friends are next. I really take a lot of pleasure in knitting for my kids and their friends--they appreciate the items and I feel like I'm enveloping them in love and warmth.

In perusing my Ravelry projects page, it looks like I completed 16 projects in 2013--including an afghan for my son to take to college, several scarves and cowls, and a sweater for my daughter. I also knit several projects that were sold in my Etsy shop, although I would have liked the number of projects sold to be higher than it was.

For 2014, I am committed to taking some Craftsy classes and hopefully the Craft Yarn Council Certified Instructors program so I can begin to realize my goal of incorporating knitting into my next career stage. I had hoped to take the leap in 2013, and to devote more time to preparing over the holidays, but it just hasn't happened yet. I'm not giving up--I'll use this forum to keep me on goal and I'm committed to reporting to you, my readers, about my progress. Help me stay motivated to realize my dream if you can!

Wishing a Happy, Healthy, productive and peaceful new year to all.