At the end of last year I lost my knitting mojo. I did knit gloves for Mum as she requested for her Christmas gift, but nothing else.
These gloves are inspired by the gloves in the latest Knitty. I loved the stitch pattern, but not the fit, so I used my own basic glove pattern and applied the stitch pattern to it. Mum was happy with them, so they are a success.
I suspect that the reason for loss of knitting mojo was partly thanks to Cold Sheep. In January last year I made a commitment not to buy any yarn for at least six months, and I didn't. I did buy some red for the Red and Black Jailbird in August, and then a skein of sock yarn in October and that was it until December. The trouble was that my style is changing and the yarn I have is not it any more. (Pink! WTF, brain? I've never liked pink. Ever. So, why buy pink yarn?!) Cold Sheep was supposed to help me take stock of what I have and help me fall in love with it again.
That didn't happen. Instead, I stopped knitting. This year I have made no such commitment, but I'm trying to be more mindful of the yarn I do buy. So far I have made purchases that I like and have plan for. Except one. That Regia North Pole ice blue/green/white yarn is absolutely gorgeous, but also something that I know I won't wear. When I bought it I had a vague plan to knit a shawlette/big cowl and give it away to someone. Now I'm starting to think I should have left it behind. Yes, I'd still like to knit with it because it's a fabulous colourway, but who should I knit it for? I have no idea.
While I was visiting my family over the holidays, Mum took me to a new (to us) yarn store and not Cold Sheeping this year, I made a few purchases. Yarn for a spring/autumn shawlette (black), pair of winter mitts for layering over thin gloves (burgundy), pair of spring/autumn mitts (red), pair of winter gloves (burgundy). You see the theme here? The yarn that I want to knit into stuff for me is either red or black. Red and black that were lacking from my stash, or marked for another projects, or only scraps.
At the end of last year I was sent to a customer outside Stockholm a lot and once when I stayed overnight I took a window shopping walk in the city. I discovered a yarn store and bought that gorgeous Regia yarn, but also two balls of wine red alpaca yarn. I'd planned to make mitts for layering out of the alpaca, but I found a better yarn for that in Estonia.
The alpaca became a hat instead and with it I've got the first goal from my list completed. I have worn it already and it's just as warm for winter as I wanted it to be. It's also the colour that I want to wear.
The layering mitts came out just as I wanted them and are also the colour I'm happy to wear. Sona insists on photobombing everything, I've given up on trying to remove him or trying to angle the shot so that he's not in it.
This is how the mitts look layered over my gloves. I wanted something cushy and simple and textured. I also wanted to use up the whole 50 g skein, but I stopped knitting when the mitts were the right length. There is no point in creating something I'm not happy with and thus won't wear, is there?
Winter essentials taken care of, I picked up the Red and Black Jailbird again, but it's very slow going, so not much visible progress there. There's still only one sleeve and it's taking for-ev-er. Why did I pick sock yarn to knit a jacket with? Why? I am contemplating knitting a sweater out of Cascade 220 first, just so that I'd have a hope of having something warm this winter.