Let me start off by saying Happy New Year to all! I haven't been able to blog recently, due to some minor health issues as well as being busy, so I know I'm super late, but I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and new year. I know I did.

I decided to write this post because I have something to say about acrylic yarn. I learned on acrylic, I think acrylic has it's place, and I'm certainly not going to look down upon anyone who wants to use acrylic. That said,  simply cannot do it anymore. I'm working on a hat for charity, and I'm about a quarter of the way through it. The texture of the yarn is alright (Caron Sayelle, in case anyone's curious), it's not rough or scratchy, and the stitch definition isn't all that bad. My issue is the lack of stretch. I'm a tight knitter, and this hat KILLED my hands after working on it for about an hour, which is an issue I've never had with natural fibers. Admittedly, cotton will kill my hands after a while too, but not like that. Not after an hour. I've knit dishcloths from start to finish in one sitting and my hands never hurt. I'm on the fence about what to do with the hat. On the one hand, I really want to frog it and do something else. On the other hand, I spent a bit of time on it, and I feel like it'd be a waste to go through all that pain for nothing.

I've been on a hat binge recently. The work up so fast! Except, of course, the hat pattern I chose. I chose the Druidess Beret, and I'm on round..... six of it? Maybe. Make one purlwise is a really frustrating stitch. I've been looking at other hat patterns, wondering if I can find one that satisfies me, but nothing quite does it for me like this beret does. It's got cables and bobbles, neither of which I'm particularly fond of, but for some reason... I love this hat. I can't explain it. It will be mine, I don't care how long it takes me.

I've been working a lot on my seed stitch kitchen towel, as that's really all my attention span can handle. I've had some major issues concentrating recently. My second sock sits in my needle drawer, along with it's friend the Druidess Beret. I also started a pair of plain fingerless gloves out of some Mini Mochi, but they're on hold because I haven't felt like counting. I dunno what my deal is. So not only have I had an attention span issue, clearly I've had some start-itis going on. I've been casting on, knitting for a bit, leaving it and casting on something else. Fail. I did finish one thing, however, and that was my first hat for charity. It was gratifying in the sense that it went to someone less fortunate and in need of a hat, and it was also nice because I cast something on and actually finished it. In one night, no less. Twas the Hat Fit For a Boyfriend, and I'm sort of in love with that pattern. It makes nice, stretchy hats and it's super simple and super fast. It's so wrong, as I'm sitting here typing this, I'm thinking, "Hmm... I really want to start a dishcloth..." But no! I will not. Not until I finish one of my many, many WIPs. That's going to be really hard to keep to when my two new books come in the mail. I ordered two, Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter as well as Knitting Lingerie Style. I am especially excited about the latter. I had been searching on Ravelry for tops that I could knit for the summer (like I need any more tops..) and I came across three or four that were from that book. So I looked at all the patterns in the book and I looooooove them! Out of the 34 patterns in it, I want to knit at least 15 of them.

That's about all in the knitting world. I'm still playing LOTRO, which just finished up the Yule Fest. I spent most of my time doing that while it was going on and not much else. Baking wise, I haven't done any. Budget doesn't permit it. However, I did get an interesting tool for Christmas that takes the center out of cupcakes so you can fill them with.. whatever, and I'm looking forward to using that. Right after I get my new KitchenAid standmixer, which I will be purchasing once budget permits me to do so. I've been saving up giftcards from Kohls for the past two years so I could get it, and I'm about 100 dollars short. You can't argue with 100 bucks for a KitchenAid.

That's all for now. Til next time!