And two to end the year on.

First, here's a project I've never mentioned on the blog - probably out of fear that I wouldn't keep up with it, and then would have to publicly admit I'd given up. I surely didn't want to do that. But here it is, December 31, and I did keep up with it and now it's done and I love it!

Check it out: the 2012 Weather Scarf.

One garter ridge representing the weather for each day of the past year. I kept it simple and just recorded the predominant weather; if it was cloudy and windy, and then it started to rain, whichever of those  impressed me most got the weather stripe that day. The colors mostly made sense: white for snow, silvery-grey for wind, dark grey for overcast, blue for rain, yellow for sun, orange for hot (yes, hot is weather) (in my mind), purple for thunderstorms, pink for ice or freezing rain, pale blue for sleet or wintry mix, lavender for fog. And there were two days - one in January, one in December - where it was just straight-up foggy all day. I also set aside a nice kelly green for tornadoes, but am very happy to report I didn't have to use it, though we had a close call on March 2.

It all started with a knitalong on Ravelry - if you're a member, head on over and check out everyone's weather scarves. We each took the idea and ran in our own direction with it; some knitters recorded the temperature, some recorded the weather but in a different way than I did, all look terrific. This was a great project, and though I'm not doing it again for 2013, I will almost certainly do it again some year!

And, to round out the year, a bit of applique.

This is Poppy Treffrey's applique pattern, from Issue 19 of Mollie Makes magazine. She machine-appliqued hers, but y'all know about me and The Machine ... it intimidates me, so I decided to do this project by hand. It was a lot of fun to make, and there is definitely more applique in my future; I'm already thinking about what I need to do next. Typewriter! Camera! Aston Martin DB9!

I have the perfect spot for it, too. Here's an unattractive feature in my kitchen: the old phone jack, which is for some reason surrounded by miles and miles of plastic. It's right next to the spice rack, mocking me.

Not no more it ain't. You can still see the top of the plastic thingy, particularly if you're tall, or far away - I'd have needed an unnaturally large frame to cover the whole thing - but this is a huge improvement, and I'm very happy with it. I can cook tonight's year-ending meatloaf and mashed potatoes in peace.

Happy New Year, everyone!