Wipdown No. 2 and End of Year Review

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2011 is filled with health and happiness for everyone.

Let's start with my second wipdown, shall we?

Pattern: Summit by Mandy Harrington, from Knitty.
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace, 1 skein in Ravelry Red
Needles: 3.5mm KnitPicks Options
Mods: Well, I'll be frank. I cast this on April 3rd. Shocking. I put it down for several months as to be honest, I got bored with it. It's a very tedious pattern. I tried knitting back backwards to lessen the turning, but my stitches were far too loose, so I was stuck with knitting 6 or 11 stitches and turning over and over. What a pain. Although there's no doubting the end result is pretty cool. My compromise was to just use one skein of the Malabrigo and finish it. The final dimensions are 40" long and 22" wide after blocking it to within an inch of its life. I'm quite pleased with it.

So, this means WipDown 2010 was a total success! The only project I had left on the needles on New Years Day was the cardigan for Alice, which I reckon wouldn't have fit her anyway, she's had such a big growth spurt recently. I'll make her another one soon.

Now I can get back to my toe up knee high Spiral Boot Socks I cast on Christmas Eve. I am filled with satisfied smugness at my efficiency. :)

So, on to my end of year round up. How did I do this year? Well, I completed 36 projects, an average of 3 per month! I'm up 7 projects on last year too. Not bad! The breakdown:

Hats - 4
Lace/Shawls - 4 (I'm pleasantly surprised at this)
Socks - 7 (Very disappointed)
Mittens - 2
Scarves - 4
Blanket - 1
Baby cardigans - 2
Jumpers - 3
Booties - 1
Charity Knitting - 1 hot water bottle cover, 6 Dishcloths and 1 brioche scarf.

While I'm thrilled at my lace success, I'm disappointed with my sock output. This must be remedied in 2011. However, my jumper results are quite good, I think. Two out of the three jumpers are self designed, a goal I have wanted to achieve for a while now. My next target is to get these written up. I'm also pleased with my colourwork forays. Two pairs of mittens and a jumper.

So my knitty resolutions for 2011 are:
Write and publish my two patterns so far
Learn proper knitting back backwards
Learn to knit continental purl
Make more socks
Make more lace
Knit myself a proper fitting jumper, or a cardigan
Steek more (it rocks!)

That should keep me busy for a while. I've also a huge desire to knit EZ's Almanac, but January always puts me off. An aran sweater straight away? After hubbys Christmas jumper, I've had enough of sweaters for a while.

Good knitting!