Happy New Year!

Happy new year and happy new blog! It's a new year and I decided it is time to start this blog I've been contemplating for some time. I'll share current knitting or other fiber art projects that I am working on and occasionally free patterns.

Most recently I have been knitting piles of hats for Christmas presents. The always useful (but

quick to knit) hat! There has been a particular need for hats with ear flaps to keep out the cold Midwest winds and I have just finished a kid's version with a pocket on the back holding a tiny coordinating doll. The picture to the left is of the back of the hats. My daughter and I each knit one so they're a bit different. Mine has a rounded striped pocket while hers has a more pointy embroidered pocket.

Presently I am working on very cute children's mittens . The mittens began as a request from a local Irish kintwear shop for a customer but they are such a fun little project that I could knit baskets of them. Knitting time is under three hours a pair. And they have an optional crocheted "coat cord" to run through the sleeves of the youngster's coat.

Another project is to use up as much yarn from my stash as possible (so's I can buy more). There are lots of interesting yarns in my "studio-in-a-closet" as I call it, but some of them are becoming, well, stale. They're good yarns -they just need a new purpose in life. Sadly, I have forgotten what the original purpose was for some of them. I have more experience to go on now so I'm sure I will come up with a better purpose for them than the original.

Well back to knitting mittens and stash re-evaluating! Happy new year.