Year-end Knitting and Other Hobbies Review, including Outlander and John Howe

art two of the year end reviews, this time for all other hobbies!



I had a very short recap last year of my knitting in 2014, and posted these goals:

1. Finish knitting three more cowls
2. Think about buying expensive wool to make, slowly, methodically, and properly, a gorgeous design by Kate Davies
3. Organise all our photos and print a few, especially for our grandparents
4. Bake more!

I completed 3, got a start on 4, and am still doing 2! The first goal got derailed a bit as the second cowl fell to pieces (I attempted to use a set of very thick circular needles, which didn't work in my hands at all. I need to tink (undo; knit spelled backwards!) that cowl and restart).

Items that I completed were a square for a joint project, a baby tuque, a second tuque, and two baby blankets.

The second tuque started as a pair of leg warmers, promised to Diana Gabaldon when she was up in Scotland, and cold... 

...it reached this height...

...and somehow turned into a hat instead!

If I had started both leg warmers at the same time, they might have stayed leg warmers (also if I had been able to finish them in any decent length of time), but one of the reasons why I use the Magic Loop method when (and if) I make socks is because I can't stand knitting something then having to turn around and make a matching second item. Much better to knit both at once!

 

 This is the start of the baby tuque; I shared a photo of the completed tuque in October.

Blankets one and two. Funny, I guess I didn't take a photo of the first one after I completed it. Will try to remember to take one after baby comes!

I only had a handful of blog posts last year, some featuring interesting knitting links, one related to Outlander, one featuring Geek Knits, and one on Tolkien Reading Day.

I also became a patron of Knitty magazine, and kept up my collection of knitting-in-public-and-literature references. Here's one more:

Edith Piaf knitting

A collection of other-hobby items:

Blog contests

Crystal's always featuring new authors! Back in December she showcased Jules Smith, and I won a signed copy of Sophie's Throughway!

A new author each time; see who she's featuring this week at Crystal Collier.

Illustrations

It was the anniversary of Charles Perrault's birthday last Tuesday, and Google had some lovely doodles:

And I got an Outlander colouring book and a signed (!) page of a Pauline Baynes illustration for The Chronicles of Narnia!

Travelling

I just learned that one of my favourite Tolkien illustrators, John Howe, lives in Switzerland!

Poetry

This weekend is Burns supper night, held to celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns.

Here's a track that features a line from Tam O' Shanter:

Gratuitous baby photo

What projects are you focusing on?