Oh, so many things to which I may be referring, from the year 2011 to my rather watery bowl of oatmeal. But no, I refer only to the commissioned Weasley sweater.

It’s done, guys. 1197 yards of pure stockinette knitting, all done and dusted and sewn up and blocked. All that remains is to clip the dangling yarn ends, wind up some darning cards, and pop it in the mail.

I am beyond excited.

This project has taught me something: I don’t much care for knitting to expectations.

I love knitting for other people. I love knitting gifts. I really, really dislike feeling like my every procrastination is letting someone down. I also find that the idea that the product of my hands and time is going to be living somewhere that I will probably never see it in action is quite unhappy-making. I guess all these things bugged me a bit when I was knitting all those gloves a couple years back, but since those were so small it seemed less important. With this sweater, the game sort of changed. I did such nice three-needle bind-offs, and my intarsia was so neat and even, and I charted the letter perfectly, and…

And it’s just sad for me to know that, despite the near-certainty that the recipient of this sweater is going to be delighted with it, I won’t get to see her love it. There’s something very personal about this craft, and taking some of that personal element out of it kind of sucks the joy out of the process. Granted, knitting acres of stockinette isn’t thrill-inducing at the best of times, but there is little else that can explain the near-dread that kept me from picking up the needles for this thing time and again.

So, the verdict? No more commissions. At least not such large ones, and certainly not for quite awhile. I’m going to get to work on the more personal kind of give-away knitting… stuff for the people I love. But first…

Me things!

I’ve picked up the ever-so-lovely fair isle scarf I started on a whim a few weeks ago. I’m hoping I can get it about halfway done before the new year. Mr. Boyfriend and I will be driving to Philadelphia tomorrow morning, then taking the train back, which should allow for lots of knitting time. We’re also planning to spend this New Year’s Eve in a semi-quiet fashion, going over to our friends’/neighbors’ place for drinks and food and company. This might also be knitting-friendly.

The Weasley sweater also left copious leftovers of sturdy, worsted-weight black wool. The yardage it left is, in fact, just perfect for an Angostura (ravlink), which I’ve decided is going to be the next undertaking for The Little Red Project. I’m going to swatch it tonight.

And once January arrives, I can cast on the first pair of socks in the 2012 Self-Imposed Sock Club! I’ve only queued up ten pairs, to allow a little wiggle room and space for “I’m sick of socks” syndrome, but they are all ready to go, and I’m ready for a fresh start. First up are the Leyburn Socks (ravlink) in a decidedly spastic hand-dyed yarn I picked up a year or two ago in Portland. Nice and colorful to shake up the doldrums of New York January!

So that’s the me-stuff. For gift-stuff, we have:

Miguel’s hat. I will finish it, I will. Especially since I’m apparently on a wild streak of colorwork, and it’s the only other contender in the pile at the moment.

Mr. Boyfriend’s sweater. So far, I only have one ball of the yarn, with the remaining 10 yet to be purchased. But, thanks to a most generous gift from the regular ladies at Annie’s, I have the means to grab up the whole whack of it the next time I’m in. I need to swatch, and I want to have a game plan by the end of the month.

Miss Isabelle Rose has been joined by a most precious little sister, Evangeline. And what sort of person would I be if I didn’t send along a sweet little knitted animal posthaste?!

My boss’s girlfriend got me a very sweet and appropriate Christmas gift rather unexpectedly, so I want to make her a little something as a thank-you. This hat (ravlink) is right up her alley.

When we made out last visit home, the Banana was quite taken with my Akoya (ravlink) sweater. Therefore, it’s only fitting that I kit one up for her.  I haven’t even picked out yarn for it yet, so this is definitely a more future-type thing.

So yeah. That’s enough knitting for A YEAR, right?