
2011 has been quite the awesome year hasn’t it? Hard work, yes, but a year with so much more optimism and hope than the previous years I do believe.
Raymond has enjoyed the year, despite a gruelling trip up North he has discovered an entirely new life, one which involves a roof to climb on and a big backyard to explore. He had a large territory back in Wellington but most of it was neighbours backyards and the streets. Here, he has a whole half acre to play on and is outside most of the day.
I’ve had a few days off and have spent most of it at home, relaxing, trying to settle into a new groove. I’ve been making baby hats for shop samples…

I love making these, they only take a couple of hours and the instant gratification is great…. One in green and one in blue and a lime green one in the pipeline.

The pattern is over on ravelry so put “baby cabled hat” into the pattern search and up it will come. Normally I would do it for you but I can’t be bothered today!
A few weeks ago I had a letter in the mail all the way from America with a crochet hook inside it. Jessica from Sharp Crochet Hook asked me if I would like to review her hook on my blog so of course I said yes… poor Jessica has been so patient waiting for me to get myself together and review her hook! First I had to find something to make it with, then get the cotton to edge it with, then I finally get around to it, so here we go!
Jessica’s Sharp Crochet Hook has a pointy end so you can crochet through fabric. Pretty flash right? I wanted to make a frilly edging on a baby jumpsuit but sadly the hook won’t stab through the doubled up edgings of sleeves, so in the end I did a little picot trim on a pillowcase.

It’s quite fabulous and I can definitely see myself using this hook in the future to trim things like little cotton dresses and pillowcases. As you can see from the above picture, the hook is very sharp and works like a dream. I’ve had people ask me how they might crochet borders on commercial items and finally I’ll be able to say “well….!” I think that someone who sews would get a lot of use out of it. If you want to try one for yourself, Jessica’s online shop is HERE and she has a lot of photos of what you can do with the hook so it is well worth checking out her website. Thank you again Jessica!
So 2011. It’s coming to an end and I thought I might review here my mosaics from the year. I love looking through them sometimes to see what was going on for me during the month, so humor me as we take a trip through the last 12 months.

January was a fun month I must say, I did the Tongariro Crossing with my Lovely Mum which was a totally life changing experience. I started to dabble in dyeing and hooked myself silly!
Febuary was the month I honed my skills in knitting on DPNs! And learned to read a knitting pattern! previously terrified of patterns my knitting wasn’t really advancing… while I’m not exactly a dare-devil knitter now, I’m much more willing to give it a try than I was back then!

March I must say was such a beautiful month, we were coming into Autumn and as I’m looking at the mosaics I remember walking through the Botannical Gardens with KB… oooh I must say, sometimes I get very homesick for our life back in Wellington!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand… I learned to knit SOCKS! What a life changing month that was!
April was all about winter coming on it’s way… knitting cowls and other warm gear

May was about socks. Sooooooooooooooo many pairs of socks. I do believe I knitted three pairs that month… Plus I had my one year blogaversary all the way back then too!

And June… aaaah June. June is my most favourite mosaic I do believe, it is so colourful and bright. It was the month I learned to spin and I’m telling you, my world brightened up when I learned to spin, sooooooooooooooooooooooo much new potential for colourful happiness opened up and I am still loving the spinning journey six months later.

July of course was all about spinning! Being that it was a new skill it’s all I wanted to do (other than knit socks) and was luckily the month of the Tour de Fleece so I had a good excuse to spin every day. I can’t WAIT until next years TDF….

August was my birthday and on that day we met Richie who had just entered the world a few days before…. I love that wee boy so much. I learned how to dye and woah, there was no stopping me- I went on a two month dyeing bender and now have an enormous box of fleece to spin my way through sitting in my spare bedroom!

Oh yes, and let me not forget the Gypsy Caravan Blanket!
September was still about dyeing and not much else… the Circus Baby Blanket was gifted to my sister for her baby who was still two months away from the world at that stage…

October= spinning, dyeing and socks! Big surprises there! New skills however, I leaned to cable and navajo ply, two things I thought I’d never do!

November was ace because not only did I finish studying and get a job I adore, but my niece was born. Total love at first sight, I adore her and can’t wait to see her in May 2012 when I next go home….

And as for December! December has been all about change and settling in… A very quiet Christmas and excitement about 2012. Unfortunately I can’t upload my December mosaic! Aaaaah! It is too big for Facebook, Flickr and WordPress so we will have to go without. *insert sad face here*
And as for my resolutions for 2011? I had three of them. 1. To learn to knit on circular needles- tick! 2. To knit a cable something- tick! And my third was to only purchase NZ handmade for gifts all year. Aside from a few charity things from Nepal and India for our local wondershop The Himilayan rading Post for KB, I managed it.
Resolutions for next year? OK, lets go:
1. Knit the Tappan Zee
2. Knit a lace scarf (not in lace weight, that can be for 2013) without throwing a massive tantrum!
3. 12 pairs of socks in 2012. No more than 12, one pair per month is enough.
4. Start doing some knit grafitti in my new town. There is none, nothing at all and I want to remedy this and excite the knitters and crocheters I am yet to meet.
Wishing you all a wonderful end to 2011 and a promising start to 2012. Raymond and I are going to close our doors on the world for a wee while, we’ve been blogging for 18 months now and need a bit of a rest. Plus I’m needing a bit of space to find my rhythm in a very different home, we’re sure you understand, and if you don’t, we hope that you respect our need to take a wee break. So enjoy your January and see you soon!!!
Wishing you much love,
from Alice and Raymond XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX