2011 has been good to me in many ways, but it’s also been crazy! If it wasn’t for these two little ones, I’d probably be questioning my ability to hold it together.

We moved.

I started a new job & Nathan ended his job to stay home with the kids.

Our car was recently stolen. (No resolution, still just waiting to see what happens.)

We’re trying to sell our old house (Under contract, waiting to close.)

While lots of the events above are terrific, they still add up to a lot of stress!

In fact, I took this online stress test and scored over 300 points.  That’s a lot of change.

SO, as the year rolls over to 2012, I hope for a peaceful, quiet, uneventful 2012.

Firstly, let me apologize for being such an infrequent poster! My “nice camera” died and I’ve been trying to see if I can have it fixed or figure out how to download all of the stuff to reset it, but haven’t had any luck.  The local shops don’t deal with digital stuff like this, and Canon wants to walk me through a whole troubleshooting process before they’ll let me send it in.  Canon has nice late hours, but I go home from work, get my kids in bath & bed, and it’s too late to call.  This has been going on for WEEKS.  Camera’s 4 years old and I may just end up writing it off and ordering a new one.  It’s a shame how disposable electronics seem to be these days!

Any way, I’ve made yet another Boyfriend Cardigan.  Since my camera’s broken, I wore it to work today and Jenn Tomaszewski (talented Customer Service Expert and Photographer) took a few pics.  Looking back at the photos felt like I was in the 360-degree mirror on What Not to Wear.  I will likely not wear this ensemble (shirt, skirt, tights) again.  BUT, the sweater looks good.

I made this one out of Cascade Ecological Wool, which is a great substitute for the O-wool that I made the original with.  (I actually have a sweater’s worth of Gorgeous O-wool in Saffron that I’m planning to knit a THIRD Boyfriend Cardigan with.)**

The only mods I made were to add bust darts, use contrasting wool on the trims, and to add a few more buttons up the front.  I LOVE how this came out.  Every time I wear it, I get SO many compliments!  It’s got a really nice, rustic look that I’m finding myself really drawn to this winter.

I’ve been trying out eco / organic wools on my last few projects because I have eczema on my fingertips, and I think that the dyes & stabilizers in non-eco wool are really making it worse.  Some yarns are so bad that my hands are bleeding after just a few hours of knitting.  I can use both O-wool and this Cascade Eco Wool without much issue.  I’m on the lookout for yarns that are truly wonderful & gentle on the hands, so if you have any suggestions, please comment and let me know!

**NOTE: This is a teaser for the upcoming Shapely Boyfriend Knit-Along that I’m planning for after the New Year!