HRYC

It is a bit odd to compose a blog post on a Thursday night between the hours of 7 and 9. Usually, I'd be perched on a chair, chatting and knitting.

But, tonight.

I had an email during the week letting me know a car load of knitters would be heading out from town. A couple other emails and a phone call had me bringing cushions from home so that people wouldn't be uncomfortable....

As you can see, it's a bit busy. And there's more people *behind* me in this photo

And as I hate to turn anyone away, from next week we'll also have a lounge upstairs to cater for anyone and everyone that would like to hang out, meet new people, knit, chat, drink tea and eat LOTS of cake.

The best part of Holland Road is far and away all the people - it's an absolute pleasure to meet you all - to get excited over your projects, squish your yarn, and puzzle over problems. And, of course, share all sorts of knitting and life-related gossip.

There's going to be a new blog post series that features you, the customer. So if I smile at you oddly, and ask sweetly, please say yes - to answer some questions and take some photos. That way everyone can get to know everyone, and it will be wonderful.

xx Tash

GAH.

It all started last night, when I finished this pair of socks:

(YES. A PAIR! Who would have thought.)

There is a ball of Malabrigo Persia that has been burning a hole in my stash for, oh, FOREVER. Immediately after finishing the crazy stripy socks (started at least 6 months ago), I want to knit it into a pair of beautiful, lacy socks. So I pull out a couple of the sock books I have at home, and have a leisurely browse. Not finding quite the right pattern, I open up Ravelry.

MISTAKE.

So many beautiful things to knit, not enough time. This year is all about making my life easier, more organised, less stressful. Deciding at a whim to start a new project - well, having lots of WIPs all over the shop isn't exactly a life of simplicity and harmony. The fewer decisions I have to make about what to knit, the better.

Which leads me to the point. The magical, splendid idea that is the Ravelry queue.

Here is my queue. Look at it, please. Because I am going to knit each and every item on the queue as it stands this year. With you as witness.

The rules:

1. I can have one garment and one accessory on the needles at a time.

2. There can be no more than 2 WIPs (work in progress) at any one time

3. The 2012 dress project is the exception - it will be going all year so doesn't count.

Totally manageable, right?

RIGHT.

First project is Manu. The yarn is Cascade 220 sport, which has been sitting in the stash for freaking ages a long time.

Manu by Kate Davies (click on the image to go to the pattern)

This shall be cast on today (hooray!). There's a sock design that must be finished before Interlocking Leaves is cast on, but it shouldn't take long to finish.

I'm excited! Would you like to join me in the Queue Project? There's a thread on Ravelry to keep me honest. I may need cheerleaders.

Hello!

I am so crazy excited for 2012. Is that silly? There are so many exciting things on the horizon. Including a MEGA shipment of Malabrigo...mmmm Malabrigo.

In the meantime, the shop is open again on Thursday - hooray! I'm so looking forward to hanging in the shop again. It's been wonderful to have some time away to refocus - but now my hands are itching to get back in there and hang out with lots of great people.

And what better way to start the year than with a sale? Yep, that's right - a SALE! I'll pop details up tomorrow.

So, tell me: what have you been up to over Christmas/New Year? Do you see 2012 in with a pop of fizz?

x tash

A couple of weeks ago I was listening to the Electric Sheep podcast, and Katie inspired me to have a nosey around for slightly more tasteful festive patterns than, say, the one below modelled on a rather dapper Colin Firth.

Thanks to the magical www I can even show you how Katie's is coming along:

A subtle yet merry design which is infinitely more wearable (and less embarrassing) than a red nosed reindeer.

Down here in the Southern Hemisphere it tends to be a smidge warm to wear heavy fair isle jerseys for Christmas, but I'm going to share some ideas anyway. Why not?!

Trust Susan Crawford to come up with a novel pattern with style and class.

The Perfect Christmas Jumper (click on the image to go to the pattern)

If you were after something a little less full on, this would work just as well without all the motifs. In fact, all of the patterns in this post would be wonderful without the colour work.

Boreal by Kate Davies isn't quite so obviously Christmassy but has all the other traditional Scandinavian components - tree motifs, snowflakes,  colourwork, and worked from the top down. Her post about achieving the best results in heavier yarn colour work is worth a read as well.

Boreal by Kate Davies (click on the image to go to the pattern)

And because it so SO CUTE, here is one for the kidlets:

Reindeer pullover by Jill Wick (click on the image to go to the pattern)

How is your Christmas knitting going, now that we are only a few days away? Do you have any remote inclination to knit a festive jersey? I'm still not sure...