First of 2023 and Last of 2022

And they are all hats.

On the last day of 2022 I finally finished two crochet hats. These were simple hats that I had worked on, on car journeys I wanted to finish both of them by the end of the year but as I concentrated on the blanket these projects were left to the end. They are patterns that I have made before and are good for using leftovers.

This is the Simple Seed Stitch Beanie. It is written for one colour but I like the effect when using two colours.

This is Better Late Than Never Beanie which I have made many times as it is easy to change colours although I do not recommend using a different colour on every round as it really does come out like clown bath.

I did start the charity hat on 1 January with no rush to finish it, planning to work on it throughout the month. That is until my friend suggested we started our Spincycle yarns. AsI plan to make a hat with mine I said I wanted to finish the hat already on my needles first. This weekend I made an effort to prioritize it and got it finished.

It is knit with YOTH Yarns Father (from my friend’s friend’s stash) and the pattern was the first of the bulky knit patterns from Kelbourne Woolens. I know this is a bad photo but it actually shows off the colour well.

 

A Round Up of 2022

I’m so excited about all the plans I have for new projects in 2023 because I did so well in completing projects in the WIP knitalong. I am starting the New Year with four WIPs but two of those are my scrappy blanket projects which do not have a planned end date and another project is a planned year long project. This means I start the year with one project that needs to be finished.

In 2022, I completed 36 projects:- 18 hats, 5 pairs of socks, 5 baby items, 2 blankets, 2 shawls, 3 cardigans and one tea cosy. Six of those were crocheted. There were also four items that were started and then frogged. This is a little bit lower than last year but there were some big completions and the total yarn I used was more than last year. Also my yarn out far exceeded my yarn in this year. There are a couple of reasons for the low amount of yarn being purchased and they both relate to the same thing – yarn stores closing. With a closing in 2019 and another one in 2021, I was able to build up my stash and with no really local yarn store, I can’t just pop out and buy something. This will still have an impact on my yarn purchasing in 2023.

I wanted to not make so many shawls and I achieved this by completing just two shawls and have another on the needles. But I did enjoy making socks and I will certainly continue to make them when the prompts in Sock Knitters Anonymous interest me.

Looking back at my plans at the start of 2022, they seemed quite simple and I was able to keep up, except I didn’t knit every one of the Year of Hats.

Hope you all have a good 2023.

Welcome 2023

Let’s start all the things.

I was very good at the end of the year by finishing up WIPs and not starting anything new apart from gifts. Now I am ready for a new year and new projects. After Christmas I made a list of all the projects I was planning to start in January and got the yarn and needles into project bags. I even gauge swatched for all the items that aren’t hats.

As in previous years I plan to have a charity knit each month. Last year Kelborne Woolens published a hat pattern each month for thicker yarn. I intend to make each month’s until I run out of aran weight yarn. Having got a nice set of interchangeable Tunisian crochet hooks for Christmas last year and made one project I will start the new year with a Tunisian Crochet project using yarn from a friend of a friend’s stash.

There are also some gifts I wish to make. As one is for a baby and another is for a February birthday I better get on with them. And then there is the yarn from the closing down sale in 2019 that is waiting patiently to be cast on. This year I have to do that. I also have got the yarn and beads ready to make the 2018 Advent shawl. I really want to make it but I might have to be realistic and not expect to get it finished this year. Plenty of projects to start the new year with and I still have plans for a hat using some Spincycle yarn I was given and a project using left over DK weight yarn.  And I am sure future months will see sock knitting.