knits for a new year

Happy New Year!  I hope you all have had a lovely holiday and that 2014 started well for you.  My year has involved so far a good bit of knitting, some cooking, a lot of snow, and plenty of time hanging out with friends and dancing.  I also played broomball for the first time ever (think ice hockey but without skates and with brooms instead of hockey sticks) - I ended up falling, hitting my head quite hard, and bending my wrist backwards, but it was so much fun that it was worth the pain ;)  What did you all do for New Year's Eve?

Here's another installment in the Christmas-knitting parade.  This is the scarf I made for my older brother.  He's hard to shop and knit for, but I hope he will use this a lot!

Knit lengthwise in the "transverse herringbone" pattern from one of Barbara Walker's pattern treasuries.  The long edges are done with a tubular cast-on and bind-off, and the slip-stitch pattern makes a fabric which almost looks woven, so it almost doesn't look like a knitted fabric.  Which is sometimes nice.  It's very dense, but still has a nice drape, and the yarn is a lovely silk/merino blend which is incredibly soft.  The knitting is a bit tedious, but the end result is worth it!

I've got lots of other new things to show you but my world is currently blanketed in snow, with more coming down - which is lovely but not so great for photography!  But more will come soon.