Last of 2025

 

I won’t be complaining about the patterns for my last two finishes of 2025 as they were both patterns I had knit previously.

As 2025 drew to a close I needed some easy knitting as the two projects I had on the go both required concentration but I didn’t want to start anything big because I didn’t want the new year to start with more projects. I got out my stash of dish wash cotton and there was half a ball of cotton that had been used to make a shower pouffe. So I used it up making one for myself.

 

Well that used up a day but I still needed something for the last two days of the year. I didn’t have much in the way of leftovers of dishwash cotton. I could have made a very scrappy item but it wasn’t exciting me. Amongst the leftovers was some cotton left over from a baby jacket. There was no rule that said I couldn’t use the yarn for a dishcloth and as there were also some leftovers in another colour from my friend’s big destash I chose to make an illusion cloth. Which might not be completely non-pattern reading, but ever other row was plain. I eked it out until late on New Year’s Eve when I had to resort to my crochet blanket.

 

After a flurry of finishes, it will be a while before I have more to show. Although I didn’t start all the things on the 1^st, I started two cardigans. Not overnight finishes like the ones in this post.

Another Problematic Pattern

 

I don’t know what it was about mystery patterns and the end of year, but I started a mystery knit along of a shawl in November and it also had mistakes. But this seemed more egregious because it was a paid for pattern from a well known designer. And once again there were people “shouting” down anyone who dared say anything that could be construed as not entirely positive and full of love. And when I say shouting someone did type in all caps!

This mystery knit along was billed as a simple crescent shaped shawl with clues spread out over four weeks and the cost being slightly lower than the price on final release when the mystery has been revealed. Although I am not a fan of paying for a mystery pattern, I do appreciate the work that goes into a pattern and will pay a small amount for a mystery.

There were mistakes in the first clue with stitch counts not being correct. And then people were complaining that there wasn’t a chart for the lace pattern so charts were added in the next clues but it was obvious that the charts hadn’t been checked. Initially the legend for SSK and K2TOG were transposed – a major error in a pattern. Also the transition rows between the lace and garter stitch were transposed between the written instructions and charted instructions. It was pretty obvious that this pattern had not been test knitted or tech edited. Now this is a very well known designer who could have had her pick of people to test knit and I do not know why she didn’t. Maybe she thought this pattern was so easy that it didn’t need testing. Yet she was willing to take our money for this.

The other complaint people had about this pattern was that it wasn’t really a mystery. It was a lace pattern interspersed with rows of garter stitch. The only difference in each clue was the number of rows of each that were knit. Although this was disappointing, it meant I did have an easy project on the needles and in the end I have a project that I think suits the yarn well. Although I will not knit another shawl pattern by this designer. Her crescent shaped shawls come out as a weird shape that require significant blocking to fix.

What I find the most surprising of this pattern is the designer’s own project. Once the mystery was over, she released the full pattern and posted pictures of her own shawl on the pattern page. But her project does not match the pattern. In the pattern there are sections of stocking stitch at the ends of the shawl on the lace sections but in the project on the pattern page these sections are in garter stitch.

 

A Problematic Pattern and a Problematic Ravelry Group

 

I wanted to make an Advent project this year using yarn remaining from a previous Advent. And as December came around I had just one project left in the WIP challenge so a new project was not going to prevent other projects being finished. I had already made a hat, socks and mittens from this particular set and I had considered making a cowl, although I had made two recently and I am not really cowl wearer. In scouring upcoming make-alongs I came across a mystery pair of socks with a different lace pattern over 24 days. This seemed ideal for me; I like knitting socks and I had enough yarn left from the advent for another pair. The problem with the pattern first started on day 3. A simple yarn over, decrease pattern that moved around the sock but the pattern did not line up. It seemed as if the designer had not taken into account shifting stitches. I picked this up on day 3 and other days and by the time we got to the second sock the designer had started putting a note on those patterns that shifted. One thing I have learned from knitting mysteries is that I don’t start a clue until the end of the day it is issued, hopefully any mistakes will have been found by then and in this case not only were there mistakes in the lace patterns but the designer published the heel pattern a day early. This was picked up by one of the participants as the designer had said on what days, cuffs, heels and toes would appear. So someone did question the clue that day and a revision was published. Luckily for me I hadn’t started on that day’s clue but many people had.

These mistakes were annoying but nothing I couldn’t handle, but what was supposed to be a relaxing 24 day knit now required checking of each section.

The knit-along for the socks was hosted in a group I did not know and one day a new person asked a simple question:- this was their first mystery knit-along and they wondered if they were usually this confusing? A not unfair question based on all the challenges so far. Somebody kindly responded that there can be errors but not to the extent experienced with this one. But then the moderator told off the poster and was rude to them and the poster ended up apologizing obviously befuddled in what she did wrong. (I have shown the exchange to other people and they cannot believe what was written by the group administrator.) The administrator also said in a separate post to just deal with it, enjoy living on the edge.

That ruined the group experience for me. I stopped looking at the posts and didn’t show my finished socks as the group did not feel welcoming to new members.

Despite the problems, I really like my finished socks but that is mostly because I like the yarn colours. And I still have yarn remaining.

 

Welcome 2026

 

I’m starting the year with two projects – the ongoing scrappy crochet blanket and a pair of colorwork mittens. It feels good to start the year with almost a clean slate. Neither of these projects are easy pick up projects so new projects were started on the first.

My plans for this year are to work from stash and to use up more of my scraps. I started the crochet scappy project to use yarn whose colours did not fit into the scheme of my mitred square blanket. Having completed that project I am going back to my old leftovers and adding them to the crochet blanket and I am starting a motif blanket to use up even more of the scraps that don’t get swallowed up in that blanket.

Working from stash, I am concentrating on yarn I have purchased and trying to use from oldest to newest and I hope to actually work some garments. I am going to save the fingering weight yarn for future travels as that will give me a few options of things to make with a range of difficulties.

I am really happy with keeping my number of WIPs low although I am having to get used to finishing things more often instead of a number all at once. So sorry, not very exciting but I am happy and relaxed with these small decisions.

2025 In Review

 

It’s a new year and I wanted to start it off with my plans but it seemed strange to do that without having written a roundup of 2025. So here it is.

I started the year with six projects – four blankets a pair of socks and a pair of mittens. The mittens and socks were finished very early on in the year, two of the blankets were finished, one was frogged and the other is an ongoing scrappy project.

During the year I started 19 projects, 17 were finished, one was frogged and one is an active project. Three of the finished projects were crocheted. I made four hats, four pairs of socks, three shawls, two cowls, two wash/dish cloths, one pair of mittens and one pair of slippers. I still have to post details of four of these finished items.

Finishing the mitred square blanket certainly helped with the amount of yarn I used this year. I also rehoused some yarn and purchased very little, so my total yarn went down significantly.

I didn’t have big plans for 2025. The main thing was to finish three of the blankets. I didn’t manage to do this in my planned timescale but I did finish two and frogged one at the end of the year, which I am very relieved about.

I’ll write a separate post about my plans and when I get some good photos I’ll post the last of 2025’s finished projects.

Happy New Year to you all.