It was just a year ago that I set a knitting direction that would change my learnings, techniques, skills and mind set. It was just a year ago that I declared 2019 My Year Of Fearless Knitting. I declared I would be taking risks and step off the ledge, I would focus on challenging patterns and amazing colors and I would stretch myself. I love New Year’s Eve because I love reflecting on the year. When I read over Knitting: A Love Story 2019, I even impressed myself with what I accomplished. Please don’t think I’m being arrogant but I am just so proud and amazed at my fearless accomplishments.

My first attempt at knitting fearlessly was Mosaic Mania. I loved this so much. I gave away some of my fearless treasures as Christmas gifts but I couldn’t part with this.

Next was Secrets and Storms. I learned the Aster Stitch in this beauty.

I designed this baby blanket for baby Rosie, my knitting buddy Michelle’s new baby. Rosie isn’t new any more, she’s almost a year old. I couldn’t find a pattern that I thought did justice to the beautiful yarn I chose.

I’d been waiting a very long time to tackle Optical Delusion. My Year Of Fearless Knitting seemed like the perfect time to take the plunge. I loved knitting this and ended up giving it to Linda for her birthday. Tess also got to wear it for her birthday.

I started Jane Thornley’s Curvature but in the middle of a complicated pattern my circular needle broke and I threw it in a tub. I will go back to it in 2020.

In honor of one of the most amazing women who has ever lived, I fearlessly tackled The Dissent Cowl just as Ruth Bader Ginsberg fearlessly tackles injustice. I even taught a class.

And then there is Fan-Tastic one of my favorite treasures ever. I loved the yarn, I loved the pattern and I loved figuring out a tough knitting sequence. It is so beautiful.

Then there is the mind blowing Jacaranda. Did I say Fan-Tastic was my favorite ever? Well, move over Fan-Tastic, you have just been replaced by Jacaranda. I loved this so much I immediately started a second.

Last but certainly not least is updating Marcia Wright’s Christmas stocking for her son’s fiancé.

Ok, this is what I accomplished, what did I learn?

1) I learned that fearless knitting takes commitment and a long time.

2) I learned that when you don’t get a pattern, reach out to the designer. They love making your knitting experience positive. They want you to enjoy and cherish their work.

3) I learned to ALWAYS read the entire pattern before you begin. Something deep in the pattern may effect your start.

4) I learned to practice new techniques until I am confident in my skill level.

5) I learned to read comments from previous knitters about the pattern.

6) I learned the zen of counting and knitting.

7) I learned the danger of knitting and subtitles.

8) I learned that sports programming and intricate knitting are a great combo.

9) I learned to have some mindless knitting on hand when your mind needs to relax.

10) I learned I LOVE fearless knitting.

It’s been a big year. Just like My Year of Selfish Knitting changed my approach to knitting, so did My Year of Fearless Knitting. I will unveil what knitting in 2020 will be soon. Until then Happy New Year and may all of your knitting dreams come true.

We are at the Coastal Condo waiting for Kathy and Ken, my sister and her husband, to come. It was a challenge to develop new holiday traditions after my Mom died but I think we’ve nailed it. Thanksgiving at Kathy’s in Cartersville, GA and Christmas at the Coastal Condo., The car was packed to the gills. There were even a couple of important things we couldn’t fit in. Knitting projects are always easy to fit in. You just put a few skeins in a small knitting bag and you can tuck it into the smallest spaces in the car. Suffice it to say, I put in many little bags. Dick just doesn’t get why I need to take so many different projects. It’s just like books. You need several of those too because you just don’t know what you’re going to feel like. Let’s take a peak at what I brought.,

This is Waterside Shawl the 2018 Rose City Yarn Crawl kit Linda bought for me. It was designed by Kat Archer of Twisted, one of my favorite LYS in the Rose City Yarn Crawl. Just listen to the description of Waterside Shawl. “Like light reflecting water, the colors of this shawl ripple and fade from one to the next. A perfect canvas for your favorite color palette, choose one that evokes sunrise over a river, mid-day on the coast or any other waterside locale.” Wait until you see the Blue Moon Super Sparkle Linda chose for me.

Aren’t they amazing!?!? And so me. Linda knows what I love.

I also brought my rendition of Spice Market.

Jane, Viv and Linda my Myrtle Beach knitting buddies took a class at Knit ‘N Purl last January. I’ve had the pattern in my iBooks for quite a while and hadn’t gotten around to choose colors. Does it surprise you that mine ended up being a Roy G Biv with dark gray? It didn’t surprise me. So I decided to bring this incase this was what floated my boat. Then there is S Curve.

I bought this last Christmas at The Yarn Barn of Kansas. I heard my name being called across the room. I looked up and there it was. I love it. How about Olga Buraya-Kefelian’s new Winter Suns?

I saw this and immediately fell in love. I may need to find more perfect yarn than I brought with me. Well, there you have it. My cornucopia of knitting choices for the Coastal Condo. I can't wait to get absorbed in one or all of these beauties. New Year’s Eve I will reveal how I did with My Year Of Fearless Knitting. For now Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Here I am and I’m so excited. I started to knit specific things for specific people just before Thanksgiving. You know that isn’t my normal Christmas knitting. I thought I’d try something different. I was just getting a little bored with “half to” knitting when I got this amazing phone call from my long time friend Marcia. She said she needed to ask me something which she thought I’d probably never been asked. We met at Ann’s By Design and Marcia showed me a Christmas stocking. The stocking was knit for Marcia by her ex-mother-in-law. When Marcia was first married all members of her new family received Christmas stocking, males received Santas and females received Christmas Trees. Here is Marcia’s Stocking.

What Marcia was asking, could I change the name from “Marcia” to “Kristen” ? Kristen is her son Zac’s serious girlfriend. I was up for a challenge and bored with Christmas knitting so I said, “Let me try.” From that minute, I began searching for yarn that would fit in with this amazing stocking. I went to Ann’s By Design where I found one yarn that might work but needed two more. I decided I wanted all three yarns to be the same brand so decided to take some more trips. I went to Joann’s but found nothing. I went to Hobby Lobby but found nothing. I was sad but not giving up. I decided to go to The Stash Studio where I found this.

Is this perfect or what !?!?!?! The green was left over from an afghan I made for Kathy several years ago.

I think it is amazing even if I do say so myself. Look at the second row from the bottom, the second square from the left. The yarn of the little green tree is the color I chose. I decided to get the stocking out to see how the 3 yarns worked with the yarns in the stocking. I looked in the knitting bag where I kept the project. No stocking. I looked in other knitting bags. No stocking. I looked in my car. No stocking. I looked in my closet. No stocking. With each new look, my heart was racing in a higher gear and my anxiety was climbing. I sat down and refrained from getting a glass of wine as I didn’t think that would help my problem solving. I decided to trace my steps. Where had I been? Where was the last place I remembered seeing it? How was I going to tell Marcia I lost her priceless heirloom stocking? Finally, as a last resort, I decided to call Hobby Lobby. I wasn’t in tears but almost. After being put on hold for what felt like forever, someone finally said it was waiting for me at one of the registers. I did burst into tears then and immediately got in my car. Relief is too mild a word for what I felt. I got the stocking and I was ready to roll. I began looking for patterns for letters.

None worked because they all were 2 stitch lines. Then I decided to create my own using the letters on Marcia’s stocking as a guide. But that didn’t work because Kristen had one more letter than Marcia which made the first and last letter disappear. So I revised the 5 stitch letter and made it a 4 stitch. I was ready to rumble. I cast-on for the ribbing and I was off. At the end of the ribbing, I compared the original with my knitting. EEKS! The knitter of the stocking was a very tight knitter, my sample wouldn’t work at all. I went down to a size 4 needle for a worsted yarn. It worked perfectly! I kind of felt like the 3 bears as I worked through this challenge.

I had one more problem to solve. I needed to find a way to attach my new piece to the original stocking. The obvious solution was the dreaded Kitchener Stitch but I hate the Kitchener Stitch! There are many knitting techniques I have mastered but that isn’t one of them. I worked for almost a day. Weaving the stitches, taking them out. Weaving the stitches, taking them out. It looked horrible and very amateurish. After all of my hard work, I wasn’t about to let the dreaded Kitchener Stitch dampen my efforts. I finally decided to try a 3-needle bind off on the wrong side. Let me make the big reveal.

Marcia and I were going to Opera Uptown together so that was the scene of the unveiling. We both cried a bit. I must say, this was one of my best ever Christmas gifts. It is what Christmas is all about. Little money, lots of love and a piece of my heart. It truly was a grown up Christmas gift.

Tomorrow we leave for the Coastal Condo so my next post will be from there. To all of you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Don’t forget to put a piece of your heart in your Christmas knitting.