Knitted Hat and Progress on The Birdkeeper

I have another finish for 2014.

I finished up the hat that matches the self-striping scarf I made for Keith.

It is a very basic, easy free pattern, that I found here.

Here is the finished set:

I also made some progress on my bird girl. She is actually finished, but I will be a while longer in the trees!

I always under-estimate how long it takes to stitch a tree, any tree, in any pattern. They always look so easy!

Playing Catch-up, and the 1st TUSAL of 2014

Here it is, still in the early days of January, and I am already playing catch-up!

Here is my TUSAL jar the way it looked on Jan 1st.:

I always dump out all the orts on Dec 31st and keep them in a bag. On or around the first day in Spring, I scatter them about outside for the birds to use them for their nest-building.

New Years day I finished up Keith's scarf. It was an easy knit.
Here is my reluctant model:

For my next stitch, I wanted to pick something light-hearted. This one has always made me smile.

I had to make a few color changes here because the suggested colors did not show well on my linen.

I am working on her hat. This is what I have so far:

I will also be continuing with the Scarlet Letter Challenge for 2014. I have several charts in my stash. I need to pick one out today and get it kitted up.

Last but not least, I want to thank everyone for their well wishes for Keith. He is doing very well now in his recovery after surgery, and is starting to get his energy back.

Back soon.
Erica

Happy New Year!

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season!

Our holidays were a bit subdued this year, Keith had surgery on December 21st, so we were mostly preoccupied with that.
The surgery went well, and he is now slowly recovering.

I did finish the Cardinal Sampler, my final finish of 2013.

The Cardinal Sampler - Patricia Andrle
32 ct antique linen, DMC, and metallic threads

I combined some metallic thread with the DMC for the border and illuminated initial to give it a little sparkle.
It didn't show up too well, but you can see a little of the shine in this close-up.

I want to get it framed for next Christmas!

My next project had to be something really simple. I decided to knit Keith a scarf. I worked on this in the waiting room during his surgery. It had to be a really mindless pattern because I was totally mindless that day!
I picked a "self striping" yarn that I saw on ebay. It is a "slow stripe", and is just suited for things like scarves.
I am knitting the scarf longways so the pattern is more subtle.
The pattern is really easy. First knit in a garter stitch for 4 rows, then purl 2 rows, knit 2 rows all the way across. Finish with 4 rows of garter stitch.
I believe the color is called "Sherwood Forest". The colors. greens, browns, grays, are favorites of Keith's. I hope he will like it.

I have a ways to go, so I doubt that is will be finished in 2013. I was also thinking about knitting a matching hat.

When I get a chance, I will be back to re-cap the 2013 finishes.

Hope everyone has a very Happy, Healthy New Year!