Putting things in order

Round about the first of year I'm always in a mood to put everything I can in order. To that end, I've been running errands all day, doing laundry, cleaning, organizing, I even managed to go for a jog, though it was damn cold.

I'm feeling like things are pretty well in order to kick off 2013. How long they will stay that way... no one can say.

In the spirit of clearing the books, I went through and re-updated my Ravelry stash. I like to keep it cataloged so that I can't delude myself. It doesn't stop me from buying more, but I like to keep track of what I've got. Turns out, it's a lot. I'm not going to say "too much" because I'd like to believe there's no such thing. But it's a lot. 191,682.2 yards according to Ravelry. A lot.

I'm not one for making resolutions. Never keep them. Plus, I think people get in the habit of making New Year's resolutions and it sort of allows them to think that the only time they have to try to change is at the new year, and if it doesn't work they can wait till the next year to try again. But I will say this, it would be pretty great if I could get through 2013 without adding any yardage to the stash. That doesn't mean no buying, just keep buying in check as compared to what's being used. Seems reasonable?

Now to continue my Christmas wrap up.

I wanted to make a hostess gift for the woman who always hosts my family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She is an amazing cook and thinks nothing of having 20 people show up at her house for dinner. These are what I came up with.

They are the Countess Mitts from Blue Sky Alpaca. They are sold in these adorable little kits. You get two balls of heavenly soft Royal Alpaca, the pattern, and a cute little box. I got my kit in the colorway Vermillion. It's a lovely dusty antique rose color. These pictures actually show it really accurately.

Sadly, as it turns out, Kim has rather above-average sized hands for a woman and they were too small for her. I promised to remake them in a bigger size, so I'll be casting on a second pair soon. Luckily they go really fast. First project of the new year maybe?