I will follow in the tradition (rather grandiously claimed as I started last year) of posting on the final day of December a review of my year in knits.  I only post here projects which were actually finished in 2013, which leaves out quite a bit of lovely knitting on some unfinished projects like the Soumak wrap, my Exeter jacket and Leah’s Lord of the Rings-inspired pillow.  (With any luck these will be included in the 2014 review.)  I made two pairs of fingerless mitts this year.  First, I knit the Flecktone Mitts, designed by Susan Moskwa, for Leah:

I also knit a pair of mitts for Emma in Noro yarn, using the Campout Fingerless Mitt pattern by tante ehm.  Both of these patterns are available for free from Ravelry (follow the links).

Way back in February, I knit the amazing February Scarf, designed by Beth Weaver, for Leah.  This is a very long, thick, cushy cabled scarf, knit in Quince & Co Osprey in Winesap.

I spent four solid months knitting the seemingly endless Viajante.  This pattern, designed by Martina Behm, is a sort of poncho/cowl/shawl, and is knit in the round from laceweight Wollweise.  It goes from head to toe, and is an excruciatingly long knit.  It is hard to capture in one photo, so head to this post to see it in its glory.

I knit three cowls this year, which were all destined as Christams gifts.  Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of the recipients modelling the first two.  I knit a cabled cowl from Rowan Cocoon for my neice Lydia in a pattern I designed:

I also knit a cowl for my sister-in-law, Vivian, in Cocoon.  For this one, I used the Infinitude pattern, designed by Jeni Chase:

And the third cowl I designed for Emma’s best friend, Indi, and knit out of BC Garn’s Allino blend of cotton and linen:

Despite the above evidence to the contrary, I am primarily a sweater knitter.  I love knitting sweaters and am passionate about fit.  This year has been a lamentably slow year for sweaters – I only finished four.  The first was the best, the amazing Audrey sweater I knit for Emma.  I modified the pattern, designed by Kim Hargreaves, quite a bit (all of it documented here on this blog; search for the tag Audrey).

This was without a doubt my favorite project of the year.  It is knit in the fabulous Madelinetosh DK in Venetian.  For lots of beautiful shots of this one, see this post.

In March I knit a very fast sweater using the pattern Arleen, by Dona Knits (this pattern is available for free.)  It took just 10 days to knit, and I made it from Cascade 220 recycled from my frogged Levenwick cardigan.  For such a quick and simple pattern, it is surprisingly pleasing:

Following on this, I knit another blue sweater for myself, using the Livvy pattern designed by Tori Gurbisz.  I modified it a bit, making it more fitted and changing some details, particularly the waistband.  It is knit in The Uncommon Thread Lush Worsted, which is a truly lush yarn.

The last sweater I knit this year (finished way back in June – what has happened to the year?) is the fabulous Neon, designed by Joji Locatelli.  I knit this in Plucky Sweater in the colour called Kissin’ Valentino; I love the name as much as I love this brilliant shade of red.  (I also love how it matches my shoes!)

Of everything I have knit this year, this is the thing that gets worn the most.  I wear this all the time.  In fact, I am sure that everyone (but me) is well and truly tired of it.

So that is the year in review.  There was a lot going on this year – both girls going off to university, me starting business school, work being hectic, lots of travel.  These things combined to mean less knitting.  I thought about ending with the phrase “I had hoped to knit more, but life got in the way.”  But, as we all know, life doesn’t get in the way of knitting or anything else for that matter.  Life is just what happens, the good and the bad, the knitting and not knitting, and being swept along on the journey is good enough for me.

I wish you all the best for the New Year.