When I decided to line up all of my knits last year in a single post, I remember being chuffed that there were so many of them — more than I had realized. This year is the exact opposite! I mean, I’ve been aware of having a lot less knitting time available to me, and there’s the highly relevant matter of having worked on a single project for the past quarter, but I’m still floored to discover I apparently only finished six things this year. Six! And two of them barely count. But here’s what’s more important about them—
— My Acer cardigan was knitted throughout 2013 and only finished in January of this year. But I’m constantly aware of how much that sweater taught me about knitting. And what a sweater!
— Then came the quick pair of Super Simple Mitts I made for my sweet niece.
— The Gorro Montanhac was a peak experience. It’s Rosa Pomar’s amazing, amazing pattern and I knitted it Portuguese style, as taught by my friend Brooke, which was a total thrill to learn and do. Then there’s the fact that it was knitted partially in the pleasant environs of Claddagh yarn shop one afternoon in the company of Ann Shayne and begun on my roadtrip with Brooke and Saremy to Seattle for Vogue Knitting Live, where I also got to do the photo shoot for …
— My Trillium cardigan, which was my Tag Team Sweater Project sweater. A project that left me with a fantastic sweater, which I now wear all the time, and more important, with a very dear friend in Anna. That whole project (not least the hilarious photo shoot with Kathy Cadigan, another great friendship in the making) was definitely one of the highlights of my year.
— The garter-stitch hat I knitted from my friend Rebekka Seale’s incredible handspun alpaca she gave me, and one of her Camellia Fiber Company patterns — a really simple, soothing knit that accompanied me on my trip to Indianapolis for the summer trade show and onward to Nashville. My friend DG and I visited Rebekka in her studio on that trip, where I took this picture of Rebekka in the unfinished hat, and now DG does all of the Fringe Supply Co. shipping in our studio right across the hall from Rebekka’s.
— And last but not least, Togue Stripes, my Pam Allen mash-up, which I began at Squam with Anna and finished on my migratory drive with Bob from California to Nashville.
That’s pretty awesome, right — not an insignificant, tossed-off thing in the bunch. I don’t know about you, but I feel a lot better. (Even though my last finished knit was in July! Oy vey.)
I did do a token amount of weaving and mending this year, I should add. And then there’s the tale of all of the stuff that’s still in the ol’ knitting bag—
— Amanda, which is obviously epic as a project, a garment and a blog event. It’s been thoroughly amazing, and I should be wearing it very soon. (If it fits.)
— Channel, which promises to be another true gem to make and to wear, but which I sadly had to frog back to the ribbing. I’m so eager to get this going forward again!
— Fort (ish) for Bob is a bummer on so many levels. Taking away Fort’s beautiful texture has made this seem like a really sad project to me, on top of my existential sadness at not having supplied my husband with a sweater this year. I loved the swatch, but don’t like this color at all in stockinette. So it needs to be frogged and rethought.
— Perkins Cove, the worsted version, I fully expect to be a good and useful garment, if not the most thrilling thing to knit. But after Amanda and Channel, something a little less thrilling has its own sort of appeal.
All told, not a bad batch of work. Thank you all SO MUCH for reading, commenting, sharing, egging me on (and shopping!) this year. It’s been simultaneously one of the best and worst years of my life, and the “best” part of that equation is owed almost entirely to you and this blog and the community that’s cropped up around it. I wish you all a magnificent New Year’s Eve and the best possible 2015!
And now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some cabling to do …
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Happy New Knitting Year to you!
And to you!
Happy New Year! I declare 2015 the year I finally learn to knit… my mum did try to teach me on one of my visits to her this year but I left it a while before I picked it back up and forgot everything!
Awesome! Knittinghelp.com was an enormous help to me when I was just starting to learn.
You are an inspiration. I have known how to knit (and purl, but that’s the extent of my skills) for nearly 50 years, really. And you! You just learned to knit a few years ago and you just make those needles and stitches dance! I am amazed at how you and your friends can create such beautiful, meaningful pieces, how intentional you are about the tools and yarns you choose, how brave you are about making changes (and frogging!). This year, this is the year for me — I will take my training wheels off and become a knitter. Thank you for the motivation!
What a kind note, and I’m thrilled to have inspired you to push past the basics. You won’t regret it!
Karen I noticed you mentioned “if it fits” on your Amanda. Even after reading your post on knitting a sweater, I always have trouble deciding what size to make. It seems I fall between sizes most of the time. I wish you would do a post explaining what you do in that case.
Thanks for all your posts this year. You add to our knowledge and enthusiasm for the craft. I am looking foward to see what you do next year.
As far as choosing the right size to knit, there’s a lot of good information or food for thought in a couple of the episodes of knit.fm — the Amy Herzog one (ep 10) and also I think it’s ep 2 on sweater construction where Pam and Hannah talk a bit about sizing and ease. So I’d recommend that — http://knit.fm/
If you’re wanting to try to actually knit between sizes, I’ve written a bit about how I approach that here: http://fringeassociation.com/2014/05/01/how-to-knit-a-sweater-that-fits/
Good knits! When I feel like I’m not finishing projects, I find knitting a hat helps. A true palette cleanser! In 2014, I knit five pairs of socks, three hats, four jar cozies, and a giant scarf/shall thing. I also unsuccessfully knit a few other randoms. On balance, I probably bought more yarn than I knit (though not by much). On to my first adult sweater in 2015! Thanks for the inspiration, even if It would take four lifetimes to knit all our ambitious sweater dreams. I wish you a more happily centered 2015!
Ooh, good luck with your first sweater!
Well… life is not only knitting… no no it’s not (lol). So even if not as many as last year, your projects are only real success, be proud! Proud also on the very soon coming ones…. they are all soooooo well chosen, so well knitted! Thanks for your blog, advice, comments… keep going! Wishing you and your family all the best for the coming year… may all your projects be successfull!
Thank you so much, Naniluce — happy new year to you!
Well, you did sell off your possessions and move across the country, so a light year of knitting is understandable. Here’s to a 2015 full of FOs!
Thank you!
So wonderful! Your blog, and an assortment of others, have motivated me to focus on knitting garments for my wardrobe this year. The main struggle with that for me is saving up for the worthy yarn. ;)
It’s so important, though. If you spend a sweater’s worth of time making it out of crappy yarn, you’ll never forgive yourself. And I say that from experience! But there’s also a LOT of price variation in “worthy” yarns. I was saying to someone the other day that Cascade 220 might be made in China of wool from who knows where, but at least it’s wool!
But what epic projects! BTW, my brother and sister in law bought me rosewood dpns from Fringe, which they ordered approximately the final hour of Christmas. They arrived. I am delighted. My brother and SIL are delighted and said Fringe Supply Co was delightful. You’ve done it again: surpassed everyone’s expectations. Happy New Year!
Oh, yay! So glad it arrived on time. We definitely saw a lot of delays and oddities on the USPS side of the exchange this year. Happy new year, Michelle!
Happy New Year! Thanks for the fun!
You’re welcome — thank you for reading!
Sometimes life gets in the way of knitting. ;-)
That said, I think what you accomplished is wonderful. Beautiful, wearable and inspiring.
Work, travel and family put some distance between me and the needles this Fall and Winter. It was a good thing, such that my New Year’s Knitting Resolution is to pick more carefully and knit more leisurely.
Pretty much the same as mine. Here’s to that!
Your Amanda is looking wonderful! I love reading about your knitting (and everything else actually).
Oh and happy new year! It’s already mid-morning in Australia, mild and sunny and I’m still in my pjs with tea and toast. I can tell that 2015 is going to be great xx
Thank you — and same to you!
This is great collection of knits, and considering how much else you’ve accomplished this year, I think it’s doubly impressive! Happy New Year Karen, I can’t wait to see what you cook up in 2015.
Thank you, Angela, I appreciate that — happy new year!
What is an f o?
Finished object, sorry!
Thank you! I hadn’t seen that expression!
Awe, this is awesome! Now to get back to Amanda…..!!! :)
I’m so close!
Belated warmest wishes for an up-and-up 2015 to you and hubs – just got back into internet access….thanks for a great blog to follow and many more :)
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