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Just two WIPs with anything new to report this week – my Melville sweater and a new project. Still on the yoke of Melville ( Ravelry link ), which really does go on and on and does not end. However, I do like the fabric and the color so far. I’m just excited to get to the colorwork! I think there are about a dozen more rows of yoke before I can split off the sleeves. And then I get to the fun part! And I started a pair of socks for DH. Though those may go on hold briefly. But at least they are started! Hopefully this weekend I will have time to do another one of my nifty jewelry kits and maybe a blanket square. We shall see! What are you working on (crafty or not)?

I got a few things done this week and last I haven’t shared yet. First – my Mom’s Rooftop Landing hat ( Ravelry Link )! The yarn is Polka Dot Sheep Ski Town Sport in the Nessie (green) and Beargrass (natural) colorways. This is a very nice pattern and a pretty easy knit. It has a folded brim so it’s nice and warm around the ears. The colorwork is very well charted, so it’s very clear. I enjoyed this hat and would make it again! The other items I finished are some Laura Nelkin knitted jewelry kits my Mom got me for my birthday. I love these kits so much I have to ration myself and just do one every once in a while. Otherwise they would all be knitted by now. The ones I have finished are the Cassio necklace, and the Kairos and Mingle cuffs. The Cassio necklace is very pretty and comfortable to wear, and also is useful as an eyeglass hanger! The Kairos cuff is somewhat broader and has beads knitted in all over. The Mingle cuff is narrower and has a band of beads in the center. ...

All my projects are moving right along! I’m pretty well along on my Melville sweater yoke. I don’t have many more rows to do, but the rows are so long now! It will be good to get the sleeves separated out and get going on the colorwork! Good progress on my Mom’s Rooftop Landing hat – this might be done later this week. And, going along with my word of the year – Finish – I have pulled my National Parks afghan out of time out. I honestly don’t even know when I started this thing, but I do have some squares already done from before and have gotten some squares done over the last two weekends as well. There’s a fair amount left to do on this afghan. I have maybe 40 more blocks to do, they all need to be blocked to consistent size, and then it all needs to be put together. I am hoping to finish this by the end of the year. So I’m not going to push myself too hard on it, but do want to keep moving with it. All in all, reasonable progress! How about you – what are you working on an...

We have had a lot of extra visitors to the back yard recently, including two deer that visit almost daily! They mainly eat seeds and corn off the ground, but will bonk their heads on the feeders to make more food fall on the ground We knew they were coming around because there are a LOT of droppings back there, but in the last week or so they have been visiting in the afternoons. They are so lovely, and it is such a treat to watch them! We also have quite a few squirrels who visit the feeders, including one who has figured out how to jump into a platform feeder we put out for the bigger birds. We do also get a lot of birds but they are kind of hard to photograph, as they are fairly far away and pretty active. But hopefully I’ll get a decent picture soon! It’s also hard to get a shot of both deer together, as they tend to graze on different areas of the lawn. However, I will keep trying!

I haven’t done a word of the year before, mainly because I couldn’t think of a word that really grabbed me as a guide for a year. However, I’m giving it a try this year, and my word is Finish. I left a lot of things undone over the last few years – WIPs, online classes started and not completed, half-read books still on my bedstand – that sort of thing. So this year I am going to get back to finishing things. That doesn’t necessarily mean following through on every single thing I start to completion. I may well start something and realize it isn’t for me. But in those cases, I will give the book away, unravel the project, whatever it is that finishes it. This is a new thing for me, but it will be helpful. Will I be able to keep up with this and build a new habit? I hope so! For those who have done a word of the year, how did it go for you? Would you do it again?

I’ve got two projects going right now, and making decent progress on both! This is a hat I’m making for my Mom – the pattern is Rooftop Landing ( Ravelry link ). I bought this kit from my LYS. The pattern came with the yarn from Polka Dot Sheep – it is Ski Town Sport, and the colorways are Beargrass (natural) and Nessie (green). It has a nifty folded brim, and is knitting up pretty nicely! The other is Melville ( Ravelry link ). I’m still on the yoke, and excited to get to the colorwork! It’s mostly boring except for the Morse code on the raglan increase section. It’s going pretty well so far. The yarn is Knit Picks Gloss fingering in Captain. How about you? What are you working on, and how is it going?

I had a little FO this week, my Cetraria Islandica cowl! The pattern and kit are by Helene Magnusson, aka The Icelandic Knitter. The main yarn (the brown) is unspun plotulopi, which is interesting to knit with. I had to be a lot more delicate with it than I generally am with yarn. The resulting fabric is very fluffy and light, compared to the same weight in spun yarn. It is supposed to end with a picot bindoff, which I didn’t do. My Mom has already claimed this, as it is extra warm and also her colors Now that this project is over, I cast on a hat, also for my Mom. Good to have just two projects going again!

This has been a busy week in crafting! I started a new pullover, Melville ( Ravelry link ). I like a lot about this pattern. First of all, I love Moby Dick, which it is referencing a lot. I love the colorwork pattern of the waves and the whale (though the pattern shows a baleen whale and Moby Dick is a sperm whale, but whatever). I love that there is some subtle coding throughout. There is a pattern band on the raglan increase line that spells out SOS in sort of knitty morse code. There is a pattern band on the sleeves that repeats on the Fibonacci sequence. My sort of nerdiness! The same designer has a similar sweater based on Nancy Drew mysteries, and I bought that pattern too. But that is a sweater for another time. So I’m off to a start! I’m using Knit Picks Gloss Fingering yarn, which is what the pattern calls for. The main colorway is Captain, and I got Clarity for the colorwork. So far very happy with the yarn. It is nice to knit with and the fabric has a nice feel as well. ...

OMG – Powdermill is finally done! I started this cardigan 1/1/2023 as a KAL with Alissa of Alissa Makes , so it’s been in the works for a little over 2 years now. It spent part of that time in time-out while I worked on other stuff, but still. That’s a long time to work on a sweater And now it’s done! The pattern is designed by Kate Davies, and was part of her Argyll’s Secret Coast pattern club and book. I used Kate Davies Millarochy Tweed in the suggested colors, other than I switched out the Hirst (oatmeal color) for Birkin (light gray). The only modification I made is instead of the puffy sleeves the pattern includes, I did slight decreases as I went for a more straight sleeve. I could have gone a little shorter with the sleeves, and also could have been a little more aggressive in the decreases, as they are still a bit big at the cuffs. But other than that, I am pretty happy with it!

One of the fun things I did late in 2024 was take an online class with Felix Ford on journaling your year. It involves doing a journal wrap up of your year, which could be just a simple listing of all the things you did each month to something a lot more elaborate. I’ve been working on that year end journal, which has given me a lot of insight on 2024. I got a reasonable number of craft projects done: – 3 sweaters – 1 crochet afghan – 2 pairs of socks – 2 sunhats – 1 cowl – 1 pair of mittens – 1 shawl – 1 coven of 4 little witches, 4 little cats, and 4 little pumpkins I went to one yarn/fiber event with some wonderful friends Visited a bunch of new yarn stores, explored my new home state, and got quite a few house projects done too. So all in all, not a bad year. Looking forward to 2025!