Hello there, and Happy New Year!
Crochet
Josje
Lo and behold! Josje is finished, and she is adorable.
I took some time and embroidered her eye-surrounding features. I spent a bit on the eyelashes and how to make her look cute and not crooked.
With that in place, I gave up on other parts of her face because I was afraid to screw it up.
That relates to the blush I talked about the last time. I decided not to add any because of her braids - I was afraid the braids would get “dirty” during transport.
Here is a little in-progress picture (For some reason, the process felt brutal but necessary):
She has already been gifted, and the recipient enjoyed it quite a lot. And she asked many questions, for example: did you starch it? How come it holds its shape so well? And so on.
During my next visit, she told me her daughter claimed Josje as hers. Fine by me, at least the doll has a home.
Rainbow blanket
I worked on this project a lot, but I am not sure it’s visible. The stitch marker shows an increase of 19 rows. I love it, it’s so warm and beautiful. But it’s still too short.
Knitting
Garter blanket
This blanket got some love as well, I kiiiinda finished increasing on one side, but I want to make a few more rows. It takes a lot of time as knitting grows slowly, but the garter stitch makes this yarn ultra-squishy. I want to work on it a lot more.
Abby socks
My second hospital sock finally got a heel! I am currently doing the gusset decreases.
Fortaleza socks
This sock is at the same stage as the Abby sock. I think I even ended at the same round. I did not work on it as much because the yarn is not fuzzy, but the dog sheds like crazy. So, I want to keep my project clean and have both socks the same, not one with dog fur.
Baking
Cinnamon rolls
I attempted cinnamon rolls, and they… survived. I was afraid to put too much sugar in them, so I, ahem, did not put in enough. They were good, but more sugar the next time.
Vanocka
On the other hand, Vanocka (I would describe it in English as a sweet braided bread) turned out beyond yummy. Traditionally, sugar powder should be on top of it, but I do not like it, so mine is shiny:
The braiding process is fiddly because the dough stretches and the strands stick to each other…
And the structure to hold it together during baking is rather funny:
Acquisition
I do not have pictures, but I got a BIG box of Drops yarn. I wanted to try it out and went a bit wild. I got their alpaca, baby alpaca, cotton, mercerized cotton, linen, silk, and some sock blends.
And one hank of Malabrigo, because that is a rule. At least in my kingdom, it is.
I don’t regret it and cannot wait to knit or crochet a fancy garment. I was even considering a pillow cover using some of the cotton.
Not so yarny chit-chat: Plans for 2024
Last time, I evaluated my NYRs from 2023; now it’s time to set new targets. I thought about those, but really, it was easy to come up with them.
I will also share most of my personal goals because I know I need to chill a bit more, and putting it here makes me more accountable.
- Read 10 books. Seriously. Ten books a year is a laughable goal for people who read regularly, but my idiotic self refuses to sit down and read a book. One cannot really multitask during that. Hmpf.
- Watch 50 movies (episodes in shows do not count). The same as above. My watchlist is overflowing with recommendations. I pay for two streaming services and don’t use any of them. Before COVID, I was at a cinema at least bi-weekly. What happened?
- Send 50 postcards to the world (domestic post does not count). Last year, I failed this one intentionally. I forgot that it is possible to send cards and not get any. I want to do at least that.
Now, the relevant one:
- Make 10 amis. I did not make many amis during 2023 and feel bad about it. I want to make them; they make my soul happy.
- Sort all patterns in the download folder. There is forming a new universe around the chaos in my patterns. I need to properly name all the PDFs and maybe categorize them somehow. To give you an idea of how BAD it really is: there are around 460 patterns in my download folder alone. I also have a dedicated folder for patterns. I don’t think I can tackle everything this year, so the download folder it is.
- Knit from linen. I got linen yarn from Rosarios4 and now from Drops as well; I want a garment from that!
- Make a yarn shirt. This one is a generic plan. Currently, I have in mind a crochet shirt I saw online, but it could be anything else.
- Finish or frog all current wips. There are too many wips, and I do not want to carry any of them into 2025. Here they are:
- sunflower
- diamond painting house
- rainbow ripple blanket
- garter blanket
- elsa
- fortaleza socks
- abby socks
- rainbow sweater
- all half-assed projects upstairs
- chic beanie - started and frogged, so this is 99% going to the frog pile.
- (cowl) - not yet started, but I want this to happen. I have the yarn, pattern, I just need more WIP space for it.
I don’t think any of them are unreachable. Although the diamond painting is challenging, it is doable. One week is gone already; time flies so quickly.
Also, have you noticed? No yarn restrictions!
See ya in two weeks~