It has been a cold, dark, and icy winter so far, but I have been making knitting progress. It seems that the color theme for the month of December was blue: All of my FO’s are blue. Until I pulled out my camera to take pictures, I did not even realize there was a running color theme with my projects. Since I finally had enough light today to take some photos, I thought I would do a little show and tell.

I’ll start with my favorite first: My December Shadows Shawl. It is a variation of the Sunshine and Shadows shawl from Knitting Lace Triangles. The yarn is (of course) Yarn Chef’s buttercream in Thunder Showers. Her colors are always spectacular! The geometric pattern and play of positive and negative space in this pattern, as well as the color, reminds me of the shadows tree branches make on the snow on a frosty winter afternoon. I thought this shawl would be the perfect wrap to pair with casual top and a pair of jeans. I like to wear my triangle shawls sideways, with the central seam running down one arm and a shawl pin securing the ends that are tossed over the opposite shoulder.

I also completed two pairs of socks. The first was a basic pair of stockinette socks. They were boring to knit, but look quite nice finished. I like the subtle color transitions that this Trekking yarn provides.

The other pair of socks was knitted from Cascade Heritage. I really like this yarn. It is a 70/25 merino/nylon blend and is very smooth to knit with. Though I liked the yarn, these socks were also boring to knit, and they took me 6 months from start to finish. This was not due to boredom, however. These socks were knit from the pattern I use when teaching my basic sock class, so I knit the first one as a visual aid for a class last spring and the second one was knit during the fall session. I am glad to finally have a finished pair, especially since this has been such a cold winter!

Coming soon: I spent a lot of time making baked goodies over the holidays. I will be sharing my favorite family recipes and some new ones I discovered!