Yarn Along - First Finished Object of the Year

Well, I did get what I wanted for Christmas, but not what I wanted for New Year's.  Instead of starting out the New Year with the intentions I wrote about in my last post, I started the year with a stomach virus and all the ickiness that goes along with that sort of sickness.  I'm simply going to call this a false start and begin again this coming weekend when hopefully we are all back to our normal selves, because, of course, it hit all three of us.  Only our poor black lab Easy escaped unscathed, unwalked sadly, but at least healthy with lots of family snuggle time.

I did manage to finish a knitting project as I was only half a dozen rows from completion.  Doing a couple rows a day in-between bouts of discomfort and 3 days later my first finished object of the year is done.  It's yet another, albeit now the last, set of 4 Cozy Coasters by Joelle Hoverson from her book More Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  I used Frog Tree Sport Melange Alpaca yarn held double and US 9/5.5mm needles to make a 4 inch/10 cm square, which I found to be a better size for our mugs than the much smaller size the pattern as written creates.  They will be the first addition to the knitted Christmas Gifts box for 2017 making them the absolute earliest knitted Christmas gift I ever completed which tickles me to no end.  The fact that I finally used up the yarn I purchased nearly four year's ago is just icing on the cake as the saying goes.

As for reading, this being Yarn Along and all, I just finished Sheepish:  Two Women, Fifty Sheep and Enough Wool to Save the Planet  by Catherine Friend.  I borrowed it from the Library on a whim and was I delighted with a wonderful story!  It's about a woman whose partner rather drags her into becoming a sheep farmer, the trials of being a writer and full time farmer and her finally understanding "Fiber Freaks" as she calls them in the beginning of the book.  It was a nice mix of reality (the romance of having my own sheep is now utterly gone), humor (animals are funny after all) and journey of discovery.  The fun fact that their farm is only a few hours from where I live was such an added treat to discover while reading, that we may actually go visit if they still do tours.  

Hopefully your beginning to 2017 went the way of your heart's desire and you are all healthy and well.  Are you finishing old projects or starting the year afresh?  I 'd love to hear all about it!