Today is the last day of the year, so in keeping with last year, this post will document the year in knits.  I knit 6 sweaters, two cowls, two hats and three pairs of fingerless mitts this year; two of which I have somehow failed to document on the blog, but will remedy that today.  I haven’t managed quite as much knitting this year as last, perhaps because I now spend considerable time on this blog that might have been spent knitting (but more likely as a result of a big reading spree the last few months).

I knit the hats in the fall to send to my friend Maria who has been undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.  These were the Zelda Cloche by Alexis Winslow:

and the Odessa Hat, by Grumperina:

(Please note that for convenience sake – my convenience that is – I am using the Ravelry links for the patterns in this post.)

In August, I knit a cowl for my sister-in-law Vivian.  It is knit in seed stitch with three shades of Kid Silk Haze held together.  I am told that she wears it often.  It is light as a cloud, and soft and fluffy.  I decided to make a second one, exactly the same, for Emma as a Christmas gift.  I didn’t use a pattern for this; I used big needles, three strands of Kidsilk Haze, cast on an odd number of stitches (I used 149 stitches for Emma’s cowl), and then knit until it felt long enough (about 11″-12″).  So, this cowl counts as two:

I made the cowl with the leftover yarn from Emma’s Smoulder sweater, which I blogged about here (it’s a great sweater, check it out).  I bought a bag of Kidsilk Haze (10 balls) on sale at the end of the year a few years ago; I think I paid about £20 for the bag.  With it, I made Emma’s Smoulder sweater and both cowls.  That was definitely one of my better yarn bargains!

The first sweater of the year was by far my favorite; I love everything about it!  This is the Brick pullover, designed by Hanne Falkenberg, that I knit for Doug:

Next up, I knit the Backward Cabled Pullover for Leah.  This sweater, designed by Wendy Bernard, is called that because the scoop is supposed to be in the back; I knit the Backward Cabled sweater backward, thus having the scoop forward!  I knit it in Madelinetosh Pashmina in the luscious colour Flashdance.  Leah wears it all the time:

I then made three sweaters for myself.  First was the cool and breezy summer sweater, Laresca, designed by Corrina Ferguson:

I then knit two cardigans, both designed by Carol Feller.  The absolutely marvelous Killybegs, which I wear constantly:

And then the very classy Ravi, which I knit as part of Carol’s Ravi knit-along this summer (with 800 plus other knitters):

I love these both so much.  And having just seen Carol’s new design for Brooklyn Tweed, I have to say that there is another Carol Feller design in my future (stay tuned this spring).

The last sweater of the year, which I just finished a few weeks ago, is the pullover I call Medieval Gems, that I designed for my daughter Leah (based on patterns by Marnie MacLean and Lauren Osborne; see this post for details).

Perhaps some of you have noticed that there were no sweaters for Emma this year?  Oh dear!  How could this have happened?  But, never fear dear readers, my needles have been smoking all week as I race away on a beautiful sweater for Emma; you will have to stay tuned for details in the New Year.

Last, but not least, I knit three pairs of fingerless mitts this year.  The first pair I knit in August for Emma, to match her Carnaby skirt. These are the Optimistic Mitts, by Devin Joesting:

This is a really great pattern, and it gives you an excuse to use up any cool buttons you have (or, even better, go button shopping)!  I wrote a post about these in September (and about various trials and tribulations I encountered while knitting them), but I never published it because I waited in vain for a photo of Emma wearing them with the skirt.  (Emma’s excuse is that she doesn’t have a camera at university and that she won’t allow an inferior phone photo on the blog.)  Perhaps just for fun, I’ll post it up next month – sans photos.

I knit the Nalu Mitts by Leila Raabe for Leah:

and the Green Thumb Mitts by Diana Foss for me:

Today, on this warm, rainy last day of December 2012, we are all here at home, healthy and happy.  We braved the rain to have Doug snap some photos of the three of us – Emma, Leah, and me, Kelly –  in our knitted fingerless mitts.

Happy New Year to you all!