This month I completed five projects:  four knitting projects totaling 255 g of yarn and one Ph.D.!!! Thank you, knitting, for keeping me sane these past few months of finishing my dissertation. (Ok, my friends and family also helped on that count!) Let’s see what I made:

1) I modified the toe-up sock pattern that I cobbled together last month to make a pair of boot socks, using 100 g of Plymouth Happy Feet yarn.. To make the pattern more interesting, I used an openwork diamond stitch that I found in the 400 Knitting Stitches book by Potter Craft. The other difference from last month‘s socks is that I added several increases for the calf. I didn’t check this until taking the photos below, but the size of the socks turned out perfectly for my boots, just peeking out over the tops.

2) A few months ago, I bought a stack of old knitting magazines from my local yarn shop. In an Interweave Knits magazine I found the Koolhaas Hat by Jared Flood and was taken with its interesting architectural pattern. I decided to knit it in a pretty red Mirasol K’acha yarn, using 55 g. My hat turned out to be plush, warm, and beautiful!

3) The Darkside Cowl by Sarah Fama uses a combination of vertical ribbing and horizontal welting to create a cool reversible zigzag stitch. My cowl is made from 100 g of Malabrigo Rios in the Paris Night colorway. I found this to be a quick and easy knit that beautifully showcases the subtle color variations in the yarn. Plus, the stitch pattern causes the fabric to naturally contract so the cowl stays nice and tight for warmth.

4) I finally finished my poncho! On Ravelry, I called it a Summer Poncho, which accurately describes how long it took me to make it. This month, I sewed together the two halves and added fringe along the bottom. In total, it took about 475 g of Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn. I am really pleased with how it turned out, and surprisingly I’m right on trend – I have been seeing ponchos everywhere!

5) The project I am most proud of is finishing my Ph.D. It has been a long time coming. It was surreal to find myself this month completing my last edits and getting my reading committee to sign off on it. But it’s finished, hooray!

YEAR-TO-DATE STATISTICS

• 61 different yarns remaining
• 3319 g remaining (66.38%)
• 22 projects completed in 2015