Hello 2014!

It’s January 3rd, 2014 and I’m diagnosing myself with first-page syndrome. Artists and writers will know what I’m talking about. You buy yourself a new sketchbook, planner, or journal and stare at the first page, almost afraid to make that first mark because you might ruin your shot at this new wonderful fresh start.

It was at this point today that I realized that this is exactly the thing new years goals are for—this is the fear I need to practice conquering daily, so instead of staring at false start after false start hoping for the ‘perfect’ entry to happen, I’ll just go right ahead and get to writing to you about what’s happened lately.

First of all—Hello to 2014! The big news here is that I’m living in England for the first half of this year with Jason for a semi-sabbatical.

Expect more:

• “Places” posts: I plan to visit some lovely places around here in the UK, and would love to share photos with you.

• Personal knitting projects: Knitmeter tells me that I’ve knit a total of about 10.3 miles in 2013, and imo not enough of that knitting was for me. 2014 can do to be a year of more selfish knitting.

• Reviews/handmade appreciation I’ve been catching a lot of really beautiful handmade show and small businesses around the internet and locally! One personal resolution this year was to buy handmade, and giving props to crafters could be a good part of that too. :]

What this semi-sabbatical means for Bapsicrafts shoppers is that for now, only ready-made items will be available for purchase. We’re looking at about 80+ items available to be shipped to you from my little shop. I will steadily stock up on different color variations of existing made-to-order designs as I can. It will take time to send finished knits home but it will happen, so check back soon or drop a line if you don't mind the long order turn-around!

Oh, and my brother was nice enough to take the time to handle shipping for Bapsicrafts back home, so orders should continue to work smoothly as before!

Thanks for being such wonderful readers everyone. I hope you had a great holiday season and new year's celebration, and I hope your resolutions for 2014 stick! I'll write a bit about how my 2013 resolutions went and this year's plans next time. :]

fo: her hunter socks

And they're finally done! These are probably the quickest mid-calf socks I've finished, clocking in at two and a half days. I'm so proud!

pattern : Hunter Socks by Freshisle Fibers
yarn : Patons North America Classic Wool Worsted in Grey Mix, Dark Grey Mix, and Mercury
needle : US 3[3.25 mm]
size : 9.5

These are my "her" Hunter Socks, the second half of my set of two--the first part made about eight (!) months ago for Jason. The socks are meant to hold a meaning to me in how and with what they're made, and I'm happy to see that my plan worked out.

The socks were made with three shades of grey (grey being our agreed-upon favorite er, non-color to wear): Mercury, out of the skein used to knit his fingerless gloves and used as an accent color for both our socks, with Grey Mix and Dark Grey Mix bought and used as main colors for our socks.

I matched the minimal cuff striping as well as the accented toe for each pair, though there are a few differences between his and mine:

• His has a reinforced heel and toe, both accented, while

• My socks have a plain toe without the contrasted heel (mostly because I didn't have enough accent yarn left over x:)

• Also my cuff stripe and toe yarns are two different shades of the grey, which looks quite cute, despite it being done because I was working with the tiniest wads of leftover yarn and a worry that I'd run out.

We can go ahead and pretend this was all done on purpose and not half-improvised like, let's face, most of my projects are. Anyway, still proud, and still excited with how these socks look and feel. I'm another pair closer to a fully handmade sock drawer, for my love Jason and me both. :]

This will definitely not be the last time I work with this pattern. The directions are perfectly simple, easy to follow and hits just the right balance between plain and interesting to keep around. If you want a bit of a break from knitting plain vanilla socks, find some worsted weight yarn in your stash (if you have one) and cast on a pair for yourself or a loved one for the cold months ahead.

..augh it's so beautiful guys! KNITTING IS SO AWESOME!

my tiny sock repair

I found a tiny little hole in one of my hand knit socks and was pretty excited to repair it! Preeetty sure i won't feel the same way about any damage done to my socks in the future, but right now I'll go right ahead and embrace this feeling of opportunity.

It's such a tiny little hole too! Normally I'd just loop a bit of yarn on the purl side of the thing, tie a knot and leave it at that, but a little while ago I found that Jason's Hunter Socks came loose around the heel and is on the shelf waiting to be fixed and worn again. It feels like a good idea to put in some practice with my own pieces.

repairing socks reminds me that I don't need to worry about unexpected events or problems that may lie ahead in my life. as someone with an at times overwhelming problem with anxiety and withdrawal, it's a small but very important bit of assurance that sticking to and fixing things that you've spent a lot of time building and making with love is almost always a better option than just jumping ship or throwing it all away. The result is also often even more beautiful or meaningful than something that's gone on with no snags or problems.

tl;dr knitting is pretty cool, and repairing knits is pretty cool too.

fo: john's short footies

I took so long to blog about this mini sock project because I was just too damn busy wearing them around the house. Now they're all pilly and extra wooly and a little felted, just how they should be.

pattern : John's Short Footies by Rosemary Chapman
yarn : Patons North America Classic Wool Worsted in Dark Grey Mix
needle : US 4[3.5 mm]
size : 9.5

I am definitely planning to make about a billion more pairs of these. The pattern is clear and easy to follow, the project itself very quick and satisfying. Patons Classic Wool is a FANTASTIC yarn for warm socks and other accessories. So awesome in fact that I bought two more skeins for my "her" pair of Hunter's Socks to go with the ones I made for my boyfriend. :]

There's gonna be a whole lot of sock knitting going on this season. I've got 2013 resolutions to achieve!