January

Now January is well under way I have a few projects on the go and my plans for the month are made and written down in my planner so I have no excuse!  So today I'm just doing a quick run down of what's on the needles, be they of the knitting or sewing variety and what I might start once those projects are completed.

First up is this month's main project, Chasing Rainbows by Boo Knits.  This is my first project for this year's Boo Challenge and I feel like I'm starting the year with something of a bang!  I've wanted to make a great big, very bright Chasing Rainbows for a while and this Juniper Moon Farm Findley Lace yarn is just bright enough as far as I'm concerned.  The beading on this shawl is only on the lace border and it's a while until I hit that section seeing as how I want this shawl to be nice and big but I've picked out some nice subtle beads to add a hint of class to proceedings...

Only kidding, these beads are ridiculous neon yellow and I freaking well love them.  The combination of beads and yarn is almost painful to the eyes and will be great for days when I look like crap because no one will be looking at my face!

Now lets calm this down a bit and talk about my second knit project that I have going on.  It is a green man jumper in endless broken rib that is stealing my will to live.  Stu wanted a jumper, I've been putting him off for years because I thought it would be boring.  I finally gave in because he was starting to grumble, he picked a pattern and yarn, I started knitting and you know what?  It's boring.

The pattern he chose was DROPS 174-22 otherwise known as Riley.  As usual with DROPS this pattern is a wall of almost nonsense which my previous DROPS experience allowed me to translate in to something approaching sensible directions.  At least I think I think I have, I won't be too confident until I've finished the neckline because that bit was extra perplexing.  I've got about 12 feet of boring khaki ribbing to suffer through until I get to that point though so I'm not going to worry about it any time soon.

Sewing wise I've just cut out all of the pieces for a Deer and Doe Bleuet dress.  I'd had my eye on this pattern for a while because I was completely in love with the little bow at the back, but something about the sleeves was putting me off.

A few months ago the pattern disappeared from the website and then a reworked version was released with completely different sleeves.  The new version was right up my alley so I snapped it up and hope to have it sewn up soon.

As well as these projects I'm hoping to knit myself another winter hat because it's super chilly right now and maybe get a start on another shawl.  I'm also hoping to sew another Sew Over It Heather dress in fleece backed jersey really soon, in fact I'm super cold right now and I'm wishing I'd already sewn that up.  Have a word with yourself past Hannah!