It’s always big fun to dig into the stats at the end of the year and see if what I think was a hit really was a hit. And since a lot of people have a lot of leisure time during this last week of the year, it’s also a chance to highlight some things you might have missed! So with that—
Top 10 posts from previous years that continued to dominate the charts this year:
1. Q for You: What’s your peak knitting experience?
2. Pullovers for first-timers: Or, an introduction to sweater construction
3. How to improvise a top-down sweater, Part 1: Casting on and marking raglans
4. Joining sweater parts at the underarm: Here comes the fun!
5. Super Simple Mitts
6. Holiday knitting cheat sheet: A hat for every head
7. How to weave on a hand loom
8. Best summer sweater knitting patterns
9. Double Basketweave Cowl
10. Knit the Look: Mariska van der Zee’s EZ pullover
Full disclosure: That number one post is full of great responses — a really wonderful discussion — but it’s garnered so much traffic in part because the photo is an enormous hit with the Pinterest community. On top of which, someone somewhere along the line pinned it and put the words “free pattern” in their caption, which has been re-pinned like that a hundred thousand times. Gentian is an amazing pattern but not a free one.
Top 10 posts from 2015:
1. Fringe Hatalong No. 1: Audrey by Jessie Roselyn (pictured top right)
2. Fringe Hatalong No. 3: Hermaness Worsted by Gudrun Johnston
3. Slow Fashion October — get ready!
4. Fringe Hatalong No. 2: L’Arbre by Cirilia Rose
5. Fringe Hatalong No. 5: Seathwaite by Kate Gagnon Osborn
6. Fringe Hatalong No. 4: Laurus by Dianna Walla
7. Basted knitting: Or, how (and why) to seam a seamless sweater (pictured middle right)
8. Hot Tip: Let the knitting remember for you (pictured bottom left)
9. Fringe and Friends Knitalong 2015: Cowichan style (pictured bottom right)
10. Q for You: What’s the knit you couldn’t live without?
Notice a pattern (no pun intended) in that list? (Hatalong 6 hasn’t been live long enough to compete.) The most popular posts that didn’t include a free knitting pattern, in addition to the few sprinkled in the top ten, were the Hot Tip about minding your edge stitches, sewing pattern ideas for what to wear under cardigans, the Slow Fashion October post about my Gallery Dress (pictured middle left), my vintage waistcoat and modified Wiksten tank FO post; how to knit a hat; and my sleeveless turtleneck FO post (pictured top left) (and I swear, I swear, I swear I will have a pattern for it soon!). So that struck me as an unexpected mix.
Clearly everyone loved the big initiatives this year — the knitalongs and Slow Fashion October. And I did, too! But I’d love to hear from you all personally: What was your favorite thing on the blog this year? Could be a single memorable post, a series, a pattern, a tip, whatever the case may be.
p.s. There’s a wee year-end clearance sale going on over at Fringe Supply Co. You might want to take a look!
i loooooved slow fashion october.
i also really like the posts about your work – inspiration, planning, queue, progress, finished item.
I enjoyed reading all your thoughtful posts this year. Thanks for taking us along on your knitting adventure and sharing your ideas and inspiration!
Thanks for the link to your top-down tutorial; I’ve done bottom-up but have wanted to try top-down. Cheers, and Happy New Year.
Great Post! So much reading links this morning, and you’ve got my brain spinning with so many ideas, thoughts, and things to learn. Thanks Karen!
Because I knit hats, the hat-alongs were my favorite. New patterns, learning new stitches – wonderful! Past that, I want to add that because of the nature of this blog – fun, informative, thoughtful (I could go on) – people suggest the most interesting things in their responses. So not only do I happily go off on interesting Karen posts and links as I drink my morning coffee, I search through suggestions and links in the replies. Inspiring and a wonderful, creative way to start my day!
I love your Knit the Look posts, they always make me want to ditch my entire queue and cast-on for something new right away. I loved the whole Hatalong series too, I would love to see a different series next year, like Mitts or Cowls – along. And the tips are great too. Pretty much everything really.
I looove the knit a longs or anything that has a hashtag! It really brings a sense of community, and exposes a lot of different aesthetics!
I am a fan of your overall style. Your Slow October offering with all of its whole cloth, thought provoking links and challenges, gave a lot to chew on over and over. I love knit the look features. You make me want to visit Nashville. You are good at editing, on the blog, at Fringe Supply Co. and as you consider your own wardrobe and what you do as a maker. Recently, I have particularly liked your reassessment of what you will really make and your pragmatic reordering of your total maker’s queue. There are so many information platforms and I am withdrawing from lots of on-line/electronic input. You are not on the list of sources to delete. I like your reviews of what you have accomplished and just did a year end analysis of my knitting to find that my 3 completed sweaters were gifts for others. I need to plan more regarding my ongoing need for projects that help me politely bide my time rather than getting cranky. I also need to protect time for projects that require more focused attention. Thanks for being a regular, positive part of my screen time life. Your input expands my activities and thinking beyond the world of electronic communication.
I love the how-to posts with knitting tricks and techniques. I think my favorite from the past year was learning how to swatch for in-the-round projects like the L’Arbre hat!
My favorite thing was definitely Slow Fashion October- I loved, loved, loved all the posts. But I’ve gotta say, I’m a fan of everything you do here. It’s by far my most valued space on the internet (besides maybe Ravelry) and I appreciate your consistent, daily voice- providing food for thought, and providing beautiful things to look at. Don’t ever stop! So many bloggers have disappeared into the bite-sized world of Instagram (a world I don’t care to follow them into) and I love that you’re here doing your thing, on a plain old website.
My favorite thing about your blog this year was reading all the commentary. The discussions you inspired fostered so much growth within the creative community and I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt energized by this development!
I echo all that Rosemary said. I am a huge fan of the Slow October. You have inspired me to seek sustainable and handmade with a new zest. My sewing machine has had a tune up and I am knitting up a storm. Your blog has amazing photos, informative and interesting content, with thoughtful commentary. Thank you. I want more than a caption and you deliver.
I made — with a lot of assistance — an Endless Summer tunic this year after admiring yours extravagantly, and I love it.
I really appreciate the daily, thoughtful topics; I’m sure it takes more work that we realize.
Thank you for all the inspiration in 2015! Looking forward to reading you in 2016!
I have been a blog reader for some time and just recently started a new blog. As a new blogger, my favorite part about your blog is that your posts are so unique to your voice. I loved reading all the Slow Fashion October content because it is something that I have been slowly working toward since I learned how to knit (well many of the things I own are handmade so I haven’t relegated slowness to just fashion). Thank you for all the inspiration and tips, and especially for starting a conversation about slow fashion.
Slow Fashion October made me happy, and made me proud to show off all the old/thrifted clothes I still get a lot of use out of.
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