Forgotten Resolutions, WIPing along, and an fo (not an FO)

I have a few more resolutions for 2011 that I forgot to list in the last post.

• Knit at least one item for charity each month. In January, I made the five Special Olympics scarves plus I delivered some baby hats to Green Planet Yarn to send off to Save the Children's Caps for Good program (the hats were knit in December).

• Complete at least one pair of socks per month. Since I'm not as organized as the Yarn Harlot, I have not pre-kitted any projects, but I would like to decrease my sock yarn stash a bit. Again, I did well in January with three pair finished.

In both of the above cases, my version of the resolution does not allow for knitting ahead, so every month is a fresh start.

I was happily knitting away on a WIP from late last year, the Sag Harbor Cardigan (a

Tahki design) in Berrocco's Blackstone Tweed, when I got the urge to finish off the Barn Raiser Quilt Square (see last post) in Tofutsie. It then occurred to me that I could probably make an entire BRQ square from the emergency sock yarn samples Blue Moon sent with the 2010 Rockin' Sock Club shipments. I was just finishing with the last bit of that yarn (short by a few rounds) when the January 2011 shipment arrived. The first kit of the year is colorwork socks, so there were TWO mini-skeins -- just enough for the rest of the square! This is my "fo" (as opposed to FO).

As for the lovely Sag Harbor, it has been tossed aside

(temporarily, I hope, since I could really use it). The colorwork socks were just too hard to resist (and I DO have that sock knitting resolution), so I started those a few nights ago. There were two patterns provided; I chose "Social Network" by Lucy Neatby. I think it works particularly well with the colors (unfortunately, they don't reproduce well in photos), and it uses slightly less yarn than the other option (given my size 10 feet, that was definitely a concern). I've finished the first cuff, which you can see here.

The Trekking February Knitalong has begun, so I have now completed step #1 for the first of

the fingerless gloves. I learned the German Twist cast on (I've done this once before, but I think incorrectly, as I was trying to follow written instructions translated from German), and really like the way it looks and feels. The cables are attractive and quick to memorize. Here's my cuff.