My sister has been on a big kick lately - figuring out personality types. It turns out (after having her ask me questions over the phone), I'm a blend of Type A & B, which sounds about right to me. The little blurb at the end of the test commented that I can be mellow, but appreciate the spice of a challenge in my life. This really does hit the nail on the head for me; one thing that I find important in my life is to live peacefully and accept what's going on around me, but also to find ways to challenge myself all the time. If I go too long without a challenge, I get restless and feel stagnant.
This, of course, is one of the things I most love about knitting. I love that there is always something more to learn, something new to try. Over the last year, I've kept busy with comfort knitting, but have recently begun to feel the need to push myself a bit again. With that in mind, I've cast on this week for the Almeara Gloves in the latest Vogue Knitting.

I chose a yarn that I thought would be hard wearing, and suitable with both of my winter coats; I ended up using Patons Classic Wool, in Black Tweed. This is a charcoal-ey yarn, with flecks of every bright colour you can think of. The yarn itself is very nice to work with, and I think will make soft, warm gloves.
This project involves several new-to-me elements. I have not tried knitting gloves before, nor have I ever knit such complicated cables, and especially not from a chart. Whew! I need kid-free knitting time to work on these, and find myself flexing my ankles and pointing my toes at the ceiling when I sit working on them. After an evening long session the night before last, I drove Stuart crazy tossing and turning in bed, dreaming about cable crossings. Still, the challenge is invigorating, and I love diving deep into a project like this.
What are you doing to challenge yourself this month?
PS - Just wanted to give you a heads up on a yarn giveaway - While Tangerine Dreams lives here in BC, and spins beautiful art yarn. She's giving a lovely Valentine-ish skein away right now! (She also has a scrumptious baby boy, if you like that sort of thing.)