Happy New Year!

(Sorry about the photoless post - I promise there'll be loads of links instead!)

On the last day of 2012, I want to wish you all a happy 2013! Thank you for reading; I treasure each and every comment you leave here.

Currently, my Google Reader has 105 unread items, so I don't really know what's going on out there at the moment, but I'm guessing that I'm not the only one spending a blog post on looking back at 2012 and into 2013. Anyway, here we go!

Which were the best knits of 2012?

Starting with knits my size, the Raven Dress, the Swallow Cardigan, the Parrot Shawl, my Sarah Lund sweater, and finally my Christmas Sweater No. 23 are the most successful and most used knits. All but the one I designed myself by the same designer? Not a coincidence. If you're growing tired of seeing Helga Isager knits only and listening to me wax poetic about her designs, this is probably not the place to be in 2013.

On January 20, the little one said hello to the world for the first time. It's been a wonderful year, and many baby knits have been produced. Here success is measured in terms of times a garment has been/will be worn, and in that way the Brick Pants, the Lark vest, the two pairs of winter trousers, the two Pebble vests, the moss stitch sweater, the pixie hats, and the cabled vest are all winners. You may have guessed that the little one wears a lot of wool.

And the worst? 

Hmm, there are a few, but I think the Fuse cardigan has been the greatest disappointment since my expectations were quite high, I wanted to use the yarn for something good, but it's actually quite hard to wear and maybe a bit too short, meaning that I actually only wore it once or twice.

So, what will I be knitting in 2013?

As always, I have many plans, but my knitting time will be limited, so I'm quite sure they won't all be realized. Anyway, I love making plans!

For myself, I'd like to knit:
Another No. 23 sweater by Helga Isager in anthracite grey
Starling sweater by Helga Isager
Daffodil cardigan by Helga Isager
Leise cardigan by Lene Holme Samsøe (from the new book Suveræn Strik)
An unnamed sweater from Marianne Isager's new Strik a la carte II (the one used in the calculation example for a raglan sweater)

On the 'maybe'-list are:
Wetwang sweater by Ann Kingstone
Dresden vest by Kirsten Johnstone
Rosa sweater by Lene Holme Samsøe
Praline cardigan by Gudrun Johnston

I also have some WIPs I need to find the will to frog...

For the little one, I need to create the winter wardrobe for the winter of 2013/2014. This will include:
At least 3-4 vests (I still need to figure out which designs)
A number of sweaters and cardigans, possibly including:
Islænder by Susie Haumann
Trøje med striber by Susie Haumann
September cardigan by Line of Rare Rusk
A thin sweater of unknown pattern
Garland sweater by Pickles
A self-designed reindeer sweater
A hunter's sweater similar to his father's
- some of these will be postponed and knit in a larger size...

FO: No. 23, my Christmas Sweater

While there is still hope that I will finish one more knit this year, this is surely the last one to be presented on the blog before it's 2013. I don't usually knit a Christmas Sweater, but this year I did. 

I first noticed this sweater when I met its designer, Helga Isager, wearing it at the launch of her recent book, Finstickat. The sweater pattern is published in a different book, the Danish pattern booklet No. 21, No. 22, No. 23... containing 9 different patterns designed by 9 designers connected to the Isager company. In the book it doesn't look too interesting, but in real life I liked it a lot.

It is knit in one strand of Isager Viscolin (50% linen, 50% viscose/rayon) and one strand of Silk Mohair (I used Rowan's Kidsilk Haze since that was already in my stash), giving it a wonderful drape and an oh-so-soft fabric. The Viscolin is a clear red, the kidmohair a coral-y pink. This mix provides for an interesting, lively colour. As you can tell, I'm rather pleased with it! The design is easy to wear and just my style. So much that I wished for (and got! yay!) yarn to make another one in my new favourite Isager colour, the anthracite grey 47. I think I'll make it 2-3 cm longer but otherwise stick to the pattern. I just need to finish off a few other knits first.

Pattern: No. 23 by Helga Isager (Rav link), published in No. 21, no. 22, no. 23..., size S/M.
Yarn: Isager Viscolin, colour 32 (red) + Rowan Kidsilk Haze, colour 650 Killer Red, approx. 3-3.5 skeins of each.
Mods: Only a few minor ones: I knit the garter stitch hem back and forth (why not), and attached the neck edging while binding off rather than sewing it on afterwards. Otherwise I followed the pattern completely.
My Ravelry project page is here.
Verdict? I love it!

FO: Cabled Baby Vest

This vest is a real winner: It's a stash buster, it looks pretty, and it fits the little one perfectly.

Like many of the knits I've presented recently, the pattern is from a Danish patten booklet with baby knits by Susie Haumann called All You Knit is Love. When I first saw it I wasn't impressed, but over time I've warmed to it, and now I'm really pleased with a lot of the patterns in it: easy to wear, versatile knits. In fact so impressed that I wished for (and got) the next booklet in the series - Knit for Your Kid (patterns for 2-6 year old childen) - for my birthday earlier this month.

Pattern: Vest med snoning by Susie Haumann, size 6-12 months. I modified it by knitting it a bit longer (longer vest are better) and starting the front neck bind off later.
Yarn: Blackhill Highland Wool from Garnudsalg.dk in Oprørt Hav (40 g), and Isager Alpaca 1, 47/antracit (27 g).
More details on my Ravelry project page.

FO: Coral & Grey Scarf

A little something for myself: a small scarf in the colours of the (last?) season, coral, grey, and black - my favourite colours at the moment.

It took forever to knit, but then what would you expect from a plain stockinette scarf on 3.0 mm needles? I won't do it again, that's for sure, but sometimes you just want the product and so you have to keep knitting, right?

Pattern: Inspired by a scarf by Rachel Søgaard I saw at Rasmilla, but it was only available as a kit in colours I didn't like.
Yarn: Rasmillas Yndlingsgarn, Sort, Koks, and Koral. 64 g in total.
More details on my Ravelry project page.

FO: Vestosaurus

I bought the Vestosaurus pattern ages ago because it's such a dear little design. At the time I didn't put much thought into the mismatch between small fingers and very long stretches of one colour in the dinosaur pattern. The pattern itself is nice and well-written, but for some reason it didn't fulfill my (quite high) expectations. I think it's a matter of choosing the wrong background colour and not really putting my heart into knitting it. Anyway, here it is - it keeps the little one warm and he looks cute in it. As you can see right away, I didn't continue the dinosaur pattern throughout the vest as written in the pattern; I got tired of the long stretches and twisting the yarns on the halfway was too visible in this heavy yarn.

Pattern: Vestosaurus by Signe S. Simonsen, size 1 year.
Yarn: Blackhill Highland Wool from Garnudsalg.dk, Indigo and Blommetomat, and Holst Garn Supersoft, Poppy. 82 g in total.
More details on my Ravelry project page.