Happy New Year 2021!

 Happy New Year!

Skip and I celebrated quietly at home.

At one point I didn't think either of us was going to stay awake 'til midnight but we soldiered on. Watching Rick Mercer on CBC, and Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen on CNN kept us laughing and awake. I recorded Don Lemon's show that was going to air at 1am Eastern and will watch it today - if only to see him in his black silk pyjamas with the purple pocket square.

I had celebretory snacks planned for the evening but we both were so full from the steaks I barbecued for dinner we decided to not bother. I don't believe we've ever used the barbecue grill this far into winter. Instead, we had the snacks for brunch after I finally got up at about 11am. 

Last week I knit the Bandana Cowl from Purl Soho. Here's the photo from their Ravelry page:

It's a free pattern and perfect for a small amount of yarn. I found a lone ball of Malabrigo worsted in the cuarzo colourway in my stash and whipped the cowl up in a couple of evenings.

It is so warm and cozy against my neck and because it is v-shaped, it covers anything above the zipper. If you have a random skein of lovely, soft worsted weight yarn, this would be a great pattern to do. I do recommend using yarn that is very soft - test the skein against your neck first.

I'm now rooting through my handspun for an appropriate skein to knit another one. 

I used German short rows instead of wrapping and turning. With German short rows you turn then wrap. However I think I misinterpreted the pattern so my bandana length is double what it should have been. I think I was supposed to knit one more stitch before turning and wrapping. This would have consumed an extra stitch in each row making it the length called for in the pattern. Oh well. And the back of my cowl isn't as long as the one in the photo. Regardless of my mistakes, it turned out great.

A couple of my stitching buddies are casting on socks for New Year's Day. Never one to miss out on a group trend, I will be doing the same. I will find a simple pattern so I don't have to concentrate too much whilst watching TV.