The Advent Mittens are Completely Finished

Last weekend I sewed in all the ends and this week I blocked the mitts so I can show them off at last.

These were an advent knit Along over the first 25 days of December, although you could start the cuff before that date. There was not much knitting each day and when I did get behind it was easy to catch up. Except for the final day when the tops and thumbs of both mittens were knit. If I had opted for the fingerless mitts they would have been finished as the last day was just for two short thumbs but the other two options – full mittens or flip-top mittens involved a lot of knitting.

Each day’s knitting up to this point was between five and nine rows but the last day had 17 rows for the mitten top and 20 rows for the thumb. I completed the tops on the 25^th and the two thumbs during the rest of the week to finally get all the knitting finished by the end of the year.

It was nice to have an interlude that wasn’t one of the WIPs I was desperately trying to finish before year end and a quick project that wouldn’t be a WIP for ever. And to have a fun project at the end.

 

The Last of 2024

 

Here are the last two projects I finished in 2024. Both hats. One is the project I keep in the car and is the same basic pattern I make, usually using left overs, for charity. As it is a project that stays in the car I did not need to finish it but there is something about the WIP along that makes me finish everything.

 

 

The other hat is a project I started before I went on vacation last year. I wanted something easy to work on during the plane journey but not something that would be finished quickly. And I wanted something with circular needles so no danger of dropping a needle or crochet hook. A double layer hat fit the bill.

For all the projects I took on vacation I started them at home first so that if there were any problems I could sort them out before leaving. And it turned out that was a good decision for the hat. I started with the same pattern that I used for this hat which starts with casting on all the stitches for the rib brim. But this turned out to be too big; the yarn I was using was thicker than my original project. I found another pattern that went all the way from one end to the other and I just worked the increases until it measured the same as my original hat. I then had round and round knitting for the journey. 

The pattern I chose was a free one from Purl Soho but I added the rib brim as in the pattern I had made previously. The yarn is Annapurna Cashmere from my friend's stash, a merino/cashmere blend in sport weight so it is going to be really warm.

2025 Crafting Plans

 

I am starting 2025 with six projects on the needles. That sounds like a lot but four of them are blankets and one of those is on going so cannot be finished yet. The other three will be finished this year. Two are from the year long make along and the knitting of the squares is complete but I have to join the strips. Thinking about this will take longer than the actual joining. The other one is the mitred square blanket. I have finished all the squares I want to make now I have to border and join them all. The other two projects are a pair of mitts and a pair of socks. All the knitting on the mitts is finished but there are a load of ends to sew in. Again thinking about it will take longer than doing it.

I do have plans for this year but today will not be cast on all the things day. I want to get four of the WIPs finished and started on the borders of the old blanket project before I think about anything new. Although that really isn’t true as none of them are really take along projects so I will have to start something easy.

I have a big trip coming up in the middle of the year so I would like all three blankets finished by then plus I will want to take some easy projects and bigger projects with me; all using yarn from my stash. So as the year progresses there will be cast ons without much movement as I prepare my makes for the trip.

2024 Round Up

 

It’s not quite the end of the day but any knitting I do is not going to produce another finished object so I need to knuckle down and just write about my year.

I started the year with five projects, two of which I finished, (a dress and a hat), one I frogged and the other two are blankets. During the year I started 28 projects and frogged only two of them. Of the remaining 26, five were crocheted and the rest knitted. I made six hats, 10 pairs of socks, plus one unfinished, one bag, one toy, one pair of mittens and another pair unfinished, one finished blanket and two unfinished, one adult garment and one baby garment.

The number of items I finished was slightly more than last year but the total yardage was less.

The amount of yarn in was still low. I bought one skein of yarn as souvenir shopping and I purchased yarn to finish the mitred square blanket in 2025. I was given a decent amount of yarn to knit the year long blanket and I received a few skeins as gifts. Otherwise the yarn in was again low which I am happy about.

I finished or frogged the projects from 2023and two blankets are my only projects more than a year old.

I am happy that I am not adding to my stash and not starting all the things before finishing all the other things.

 Just a quick edit. I noticed my plans for 2024 were:- use old yarn (I did), knit a blanket square each month in the knit along (not each month but I came through at the end of the year), finish all the mitred squares (achieved), use the minis I got in December (achieved - 3 projects). There was also a statement about knitting socks and using patterns I own. (Mostly, I did knit the mystery one month.) So pretty pleased with myself that I set achievable goals.

Happy 2025 to you all.