A New Year and a New Decade… Wishing you an amazing knitting filled 2020!
Goodness but time seems to have flown by. It is hard to believe that it is mid-January already!
What are your knitting plans for 2020? I wonder if you have been casting on any new projects for the start of 2020? Or, have you set yourself a challenge to cast off some older WIP’s that have been hanging around for a couple of years? Perhaps, like me, you are continuing with your projects in hand rather than starting something new.
No matter what you’ve decided to do, there is nothing quite as soothing to the spirit as relaxing with your knitting in hand. It doesn’t really matter where you are, just the mindful repetition of knitting each individual stitch is a form of meditation.
Of course, some projects are more suitable for working on while chatting in a cafe with friends, while others are better kept for knitting at home in front of the fire while watching an episode of Vera on TV (the new season has started and Brenda Blethyn is as perfect as ever in the role). For some projects, I need a small table to hold the knitting pattern and my tracker notes so I know where I am in the pattern.
These aren’t the only WIP’s but they’re the ones that I’m most actively pursuing and really enjoying knitting at the moment.
The Shift
The Shift is a colourful slip stitch cowl designed by Andrea Mowry (DreaReneeKnits). I’m knitting mine using two colours of Lang Jawoll Magic Degrade. It is a slip stitch pattern so I’m only ever knitting one colour at a time. As my yarn is finer than the specified yarn I just keep going with the pattern repeats until I get to the correct measurement shown on the schematic. I love how this cowl is looking, I don’t need a heavier weight fabric as it really isn’t cold enough in Belfast to need it.
Pairfect Hat and Cowl
For my Pairfect Hat and Cowl, I wanted to explore what I could do with the contrasting stripe sections and the main colour foot sections in the Pairfect Sock Yarn. The 100g ball is divided into two 50g balls by the use of a yellow section of yarn. It was fun seeing what I could do with the Pairfect Sock Yarn other than knitting a pair of socks. I’ve only just completed these, although the ends haven’t been finished on the cowl yet. I’ve used 2 balls of Colour 7114, one for the cowl, and the other for the hat and pompom.
Robin Christmas Socks
In December I couldn’t resist casting on a pair of socks using Robin the lovely new WYS Signature 4ply Christmas Sock Yarn for 2019. I’m knitting vanilla socks which makes it an ideal project to take with me when I’m out and about. This lovely yarn will become part of the WYS Signature 4ply Country Birds Collection.
Mending Socks
I knit this lovely pair of Arne & Carlos Socks using Regia Design Line Arne & Carlos Colour 3653 Star Night back in 2015. I used WYS Signature 4ply Spice Rack Colour 157 Juniper for the contrasting heels and toes. One of the toes had finally worn into an actual hole (if I’d acted sooner I could have used duplicate stitch to strengthen the thin area before it was too late)… the toes are always where my socks wear through. I knit my socks top-down starting at the cuff and ending at the toe which actually makes it much easier to replace the toe. I picked up the stitches on the final round of the foot and then started unravelling the toe from where the hole and formed. This process is made easier by having a contrast colour for the heel and toe. I’m now ready to knit a new classic toe to replace the damaged one. I love mending socks. A couple of hours and it is like having a new pair of socks. These socks have been worn a lot. Both Regia and WYS Signature 4ply are tough sock yarns and stand up well to washing, wear and tear.
Tara’s Crochet Hat for Mum
My mum received a beautifully crocheted hat from her granddaughter Tara. Tara designed the hat and taught herself to crochet while making this project. I’m not sure what yarn she used but it feels like there is some cotton in it and of course, crochet doesn’t have much stretch to it. So when mum tried the hat on, I thought it would be more comfortable to wear if I knitted a 1×1 rib brim. I’m using Debbie Bliss Rialto DK colour 029 Camel which was the closest toning yarn I could find for the variegated hat. I’m going to knit a 10cm/4″ folded brim as I think it would look nicest as a contrasting texture to the crochet. Mum is really looking forward to wearing it.
Striped Blanket
It is surprising how quickly the scraps of leftover yarn build up. Some of these leftovers are longer than others. They are a bit of a hotchpotch of colours too. So I decided to make some magic balls of sock yarn. Doesn’t the myriad of colours look glorious together? I can see glimpses of shawls, hats, scarves and socks that I have made like a miniature colour history of my knitting.
I wanted a simple project that I could slip into my bag and take out with me which is why I am knitting separate stripes. I know I’m going to have to join them and I’ve been thinking about the easiest and neatest way of doing that. But I wanted to have a project that was small and portable. I’m now on the 6th stripe. I want this to be a snuggly lap-sized blanket when it is finished. Something that I can wrap around my shoulders or throw over my lap while I’m working on the laptop or listening to an audiobook.
Memories Sweater
While the Striped Blanket uses uncoordinated colours in a Magic Ball of leftover sock yarn, the Memories Sweater designed by Sally Melville uses coordinated shades in a selection of 25 different colours in a range of purples, blues, teals, and greys. I have been avoiding anything with earthy browns, golds or rust colours. I’m working on the 92nd square on the front. Sally was wearing her glorious green version of this lovely sweater when I watched her mybluprint.com class ‘Stashbusting Secrets for Sweaters and More’. I bought the pattern on Ravelry and set about collating a selection of coordinating leftover yarns. Some are hand-dyed while others are commercial yarns but all are 4ply and/or sock weight.
Helical Sock
Last year I bought the ebook Something New to Learn About Helical Knitting by Jen Arnall-Culliford. I wanted to try out the technique and decided to use the leftovers of the 12 shade colour wheel that I had dyed earlier in the year. I wanted high contrast and opted for using Opal Uni Solid Colour in 5191 Anthracite. I’m loving how these fun colourful socks are turning out. Can’t wait to wear them.
Drachenfels Shawl
This is the third Drachenfels Shawl that I have knit. The first one was given to my sister and was lost when she had a house fire last year. The second one was given to my mum and she wears it while she is doing Duolingo (mum loves learning French). This one will be a replacement for the first one that was given to Pip. It has been a lingering WIP for a while so I have added it to this list to remind myself that I really should finish it. I’m on the final section! It is going to be very pretty when it is completed.
Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to be a super organised monogamous knitter who finished the project she was working on before casting on the next. But it never really happens for me. I always have numerous projects on the go, for different occasions and different moods, that I can pick up and take with me or knit when I feel like it. Now and again, I’ll be inspired and cast-on a sweater and I’ll pretty much knit it from cast-on to cast-off without even touching my other projects. Then I go back to my normal multi-project ways…
What are your knitting plans for 2020?
What beautiful WIPs you are working on. When there is so much beautiful yarn out there and lovely patterns calling it is hard to not start another new project. I have been pretty
organized and try to only have two projects going at once – one large and one small, usually socks because they are so easy to carry with me. I loved the picture of your sock washing day!
That is such a good idea. I must admit to being dazzled at times by the lovely new patterns that show up. I do try periodically to finish some of the WIPs. Your method means you’ll actually get to wear your lovely projects while I spend a lot of time dreaming of the finished item.
I always start the New Year with the best of intentions. Then woosh! Things happen. I’m hoping to knit more sweaters this year. Last year, and previous year now that I think of it, was dedicated to socks.
You must have a lovely sock drawer to dip into (or perhaps you loved ones do?) Which sweater are you thinking of knitting first?