Why I Hate the Self-Indulgent Knit Along

 

Today’s post is brought to you by a Substack essay. Disclaimer:- I do not know anything about the author; I was sent the link.

I have written at various times about groups on Ravelry and the make-alongs they run and I might participate in. It is no secret that in previous years until I got my WIPs under control, I loved the WIP make along. But one knit along I will not join is the Self-indulgent one. When it was first introduced it started on 1 January, and then it was moved to 24 December; the idea being that you had finished your gift making now to do something for yourself. (The start date has now been moved to middle of December to fit in with the end of another make-along.)

So why do I hate this make-along? Easy answer, crafting is a hobby and although I wouldn’t call hobbies self-indulgent per se, they are definitely for your own pleasure, in whatever form that takes. In other words, if you are not doing it for yourself, then it is a chore or unpaid work. That doesn’t mean making things for other people or for charity is wrong or shouldn’t be done but is still under the heading of doing it because you want to. And sometimes that “want to” might just be “because I love my sister”.

I keep records of what I have made, read, exercised. But I always have, before there was an app for that. I don’t do it to compare myself to others. Maybe I compare myself to myself but mostly it is a record to look back at for pleasure or to get information on what size needles I used or what route I ran.

Here is the link to the Substack. Tell me what you think, have hobbies been ruined?

The Latvian Mittens

After much mumbling – I mean was it teasing or hinting – or just plain deferment? I am now ready to show the Latvian Mittens. These were made from a kit I purchased on our trip last year and can be truly called the one true souvenir purchase.

The kit came with yarn and pattern, and assumes you have knit mittens before. The pattern says to use 1.5mm needles and although I got gauge with this size it was so uncomfortable to knit with them that I went up a size. Despite that these mittens only just fit me and I don’t have big hands. I do not know what other people do as the pattern comes in just one size. I added extra rows to the cuff as I felt it was not long enough, otherwise overall the mittens do fit.

This was not a pleasant knit. You are knitting a colourwork pattern on small needles at a type gauge which requires concentration but also I could not work on them for too long at anyone time as my hands would start to hurt. I would say to myself to finish these by the end of the month I need to work x rows per day – and then didn’t. In the end I told myself I had to work five rows a day to get them finished. It didn’t help that these are mittens that won’t be worn much so there was no incentive to get them finished apart from the finish itself.

I started them on 11 November 2025 and finished all the knitting on 5 February 2026 but spent just 43 days actually working on them.

Would I do this again? As a souvenir I would. But I would definitely think more about the process and make changes for fit rather than trust the pattern.

 

A Finished Item

 

With limiting my number of WIPs, I had to finish something eventually and I have finished the cardigan I started on the first of the year.

Although my aim is to use yarn in order of acquisition, the two projects I started in January both used yarn that I had previously tried to use but had been frogged part way through. One of the projects is the Tunisian crochet project which has been set aside for a while and the other is the one I completely finished this week. And by completely finished, I mean blocked, ends sewn in and buttons sewn on.

The yarn is Acadia from the Fiber Co.; a company that is no longer dyeing. There is still some yarn on their website at sale price but as I am using stash and not adding to it I refrained from purchasing any more of this particular yarn. The website calls it rustic but that is more in looks than feel as it felt soft to knit with and even more so after blocking. I purchased this yarn in the closing down sale of 2019, I tried one project in 2023 which didn’t work with gauge and then in September last year I tried a different pattern which also didn’t work out because I was trying to make changes that didn’t work. This year I tried again but without changes and it came out perfectly.

The only problem I thought I might have was buttons. My in person options were what was in my button jar and what Michael’s might have in stock. I did find five the right size and sewed them on as I wanted this a finished garment and not an almost finished garment. I have decided that instead of souvenir yarn I need to buy souvenir buttons.

The pattern is Yassen and is available for free. I didn’t have any problems with the pattern. The only discrepancy is the ribbing. The ribbing on the cuffs and bottom band is a 2x2 rib and the ribbing for the front band is 2x1 rib. I looked at the pattern pictures to check this and the designer’s original has 1x1 rib in all places. I was not bothered by this and continued the band as written, except I missed the last buttonhole which turned out to be a good thing because I didn’t have six buttons. Also I used a provisional cast on for the middle back (as seen in my how to post) instead of a standard cast on. For the front band I started the cast off in pattern but didn’t like how it looked so I worked an extra row and cast off knit wise from the wrong side.

It was 77 days from cast on to last button sewn on, I actually spent 52 days knitting and four days finishing. 

 

A Slow Start to the Blogging Year

 

I have been quiet on the blogging front and when I posted my last post, I noticed that my previous post was almost a month old. As that was a monthly round up for January, it seems like a good idea to do a round up for February, which includes a finished project and a new cast on although the second wasn’t a result of the first.

The finished project are the mittens. I finished them in the middle of February. All ends have been sewn in and they have been blocked but I am thinking of blocking them again, so no photos and thus no blog post yet.

The reason for needing a new cast on is that I had reached the buttonband on the cardigan I was knitting and as that had many stitches to pick up it was no longer easy knitting. As I was getting to this point I was more determined on finding a pattern for my oldest yarn but not a pattern for the sake of using the yarn and I am pleased to say that I found Winnie and it is straight forward knitting so nicely fills that gap. (Let’s not talk about how the lace edging will turn it into a concentrate pattern until it is time.)

I have been working on the new project I started last month, usually when I am out of the house and Saturdays have been earmarked as the day to work on scrappy projects. So there has been making but not to report. I will have to go back to my musings or more how to posts.

How To Unzip a Crochet Provisional Cast On

 

One of my favourite provisional cast ons is the crochet cast on where you crochet the stitches directly onto the needle with waste yarn. I like this method because it is easy to execute and your starting stitches are securely held until you need them. Although I also like Judy’s Magic Cast on as a provisional cast on, it has the disadvantage of a spare needle/cable etc flapping around plus this cast on is effectively creating two rows which is fine for stocking stitch but not if working in a pattern.

Knitters say they do not like the provisional crochet cast on because they have trouble taking it out and putting live stitches on the needle. Recently I was about to undo a crochet cast on and I decided to take photos to show how easy the unzipping is once you know how. I did not think to take pictures of me working the cast on which I will have to rectify if not on a real project but on a test piece.

The secret to making this easy is to know at which end to start. When you have completed your provisional cast on, start knitting with the main yarn at the same end as you finished the cast on. Then when it is time to unzip you will start at the end where your yarn tail for the main colour is. No tying knots or working additional chains to help remember which end is which and then trying to remember what those knots/chains indicated. 

Here is the first picture showing the provisional cast on and the knitting - and some errant cat hairs.

 

I think where knitters get confused is that they think they can just pull the end of the waste yarn and violà there are all the live stitches; when that doesn’t happen they go to the other end of the piece and try there and end up in knots. But if you think about it, it wouldn’t be a very secure cast on if one pull on the thread revealed live stitches. First you have to release the first stitch; in effect unknotting the yarn. You pull the end of the waste yarn out of the last loop. 

This picture shows where I am starting to do that and the next picture shows the end released and the first provisional stitch. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now all you have to do is pull on the end of the waste yarn and live stitches appear.

Here it is as I am about to reveal the first live stitches. With this type of provisional cast on, it is a two step process to get the loops of the main yarn. If you use a small gauge needle you can slide the needle in to the main stitch before the waste yarn is pulled out, creating a layer of security, especially useful if working with fine yarn.

 

Continue this way until the last provisional stitch; you don’t want to get so excited at the zipping that you miss your last live stitch. (The loose stitch in the photo is a yarn over as I was working a lace pattern.)

 

When you have dealt with the last stitch, your provisional yarn will be caught in your knitting as shown in the next photo. This is actually your last stitch and should be placed on the needle.

 

 

And that’s it. I hope this has demystified the provisional crochet cast on for those who were having trouble.

Monthly Roundup

 

As I hadn’t too much to report on the knitting front I was going to write a how-to post but I haven’t managed to do that yet, so here it a knitting update post.

It is not easy to talk about my knitting/crochet when I have one knitting project and the rest are scrappy crochet projects that are going to take many, many months to complete. If I had a video podcast would I be holding up each project with a progress keeper to show that I had actually worked on something?

And I’m not being honest on the one knitting project because I also have the Latvian mittens which are my concentrate knitting. My plan was to finish these by the end of January and then when I could see that wasn’t going to happen, to get both mittens complete except for thumbs by then. One mitten is completely finished including ends sewn in, the second one still needs the thumb, which won’t take long but is extremely fiddly.

The lace cardigan is coming along nicely; the sleeves just need cuffs but I am still working away on the body. As the yarn is in 50 gram balls it is a lovely incentive to see them diminish in size so quickly. This is now all easy knitting (apart from the picking up of stitches for the band) and has me thinking about my oldest yarn and what should I make with it. There is a reason this yarn has been in my stash for a long time which I will explain when I actually use it. In the meantime I am thinking of projects but will not swatch until I am closer to needing a new project.

Talking about new projects, I did start a new one as mentioned in my last post. While I was thinking about my oldest yarn, I was also thinking about my second oldest which was a single skein of gradient yarn. This was yarn I was going to use for the mystery shawl but didn’t like that it was crinkly and didn’t look good in garter stitch. I skeined and soaked it to get out some of the crinkles and I’m so glad I did because I could see the colours so much better in the skein and was excited to make something with it. While thinking what to make I had an aha moment and thought that would be the yarn to use for the crochet project. So I have a take along project and I am using my second oldest yarn.