January 2023 – Knitting Is So Fun

2023: Wk of 1/22-28; Reversible Hat FO, Sea Glass Tee Update, and Sock Cast-0n

January 29, 2023 by knittingissofun, posted in Knit, Knitting, Knitting Hats, Knitting Plan, Sweater Knitting

SEA GLASS TEE

Still loving this tee. I’ve separated for the sleeves. I’m about to go back to the sleeves so that I can try to have the sleeves coordinate with the body. That means I need to break my yarn into sleeve and body balls so that they match. Thankfully it’s short sleeves so I don’t have to do this very long. You obviously don’t have to have the sleeves match the body but I prefer when it does.

I’m happy that using the yarn ring forces me to knit continental and probably even looser than if I was knitting two handed. I like the looser gauge as I think it shows off the stitches more. I’m already using 3 needle sizes larger than the pattern calls for in addition to the continental knitting!! I’ll be dropping down needle sizes as I knit the body to give it some waist shaping. I am using the magic knot technique the pattern recommends. I did not make a magic ball as suggested but I think I will for my next one. Alternating between 2 minis has turned out more stripey than I had intended. You really do need to alternate every row!! I think it does look nice also as stripes like some of the projects did with 4-5 rows before changing colors.

REVERSIBLE HAT FO!!

I finished the reversible hat!! This was a stash buster project. The Christmas stripe yarn is leftover from the stocking I knit my granddaughter. Not sure what the other yarn is leftover from. I’ll be mailing it to my stepson this week. He will be able to get use out of the “winter” side of the hat. Knowing him, he’ll wear the Christmas stripes anyway.

VANILLA SOCK CAST-ON

I needed a new “walking” project so I cast-on a pair of socks. I love this yarn although sadly the dyer no longer dyes yarn. Fortunately there are a lot of good self striping yarn dyers out there so I’ll still be able to get my favorite type of sock yarn. It is my hope to give these socks as a gift to one of my daughter’s friends who is a brewmaster. He often gives us discounts on beers he brews when we visit Charleston so I’d like to give him something from me.

And that’s it for this week’s knitting. Can’t believe January is almost over already. We are halfway through our time in Florida and happy to be missing all the snow and ice back in Cincinnati. Wishing everyone a good week, knitting and otherwise.

This is a year of projects (YOP12) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP started it’s 12th year in July and I’m starting my third year in the group. You can find more detailed information about my projects on my Project Pages in Ravelry. I’ve been knitting for six years.

2023: Wk of 1/15-21; Hat FO and Sea Glass Tee

January 22, 2023January 26, 2023 by knittingissofun, posted in Knit, Knitting, Knitting Hats, Knitting Plan

MORE 2023 PLAN CHANGES 😉

I knew it wouldn’t take long but really??? Two weeks??? So I’ve already added a project to my 2023 plan that wasn’t there are the start of the year. Not a big deal. Made another hat for my son since the carryover WIP one turned out to be a bit too small. I had hoped to get it to him before another snowstorm hits Cincinnati but they got 6″ today. Oh well, for the next one.

SEA GLASS TEE

I was having so much fun knitting my Sea Glass tee and using the yarn ring last Sunday that apparently I stressed out the thumb on my right hand. Didn’t hurt while knitting but boy if I moved it a certain way – Yipes. I guess for me, if you are going to knit all day, do it over multiple projects. I’ve been massaging my thumb and hand and it’s doing much better. I think it’s because I’m knitting the tee continental when I’m usually an English style knitter. Anyway, it seems to be helping that I’m knitting my hat projects English while knitting the tee continental and making sure not to knit on the tee all day. The tee is a bit of slow go as it’s 400 stitches per row and the alternating colorwork also slows it down. I’m still enjoying it.

REVERSIBLE HAT

With the focus on getting my son’s hat done and making progress on the Sea Glass Tee, the reversible hat didn’t see a lot of knitting this week. This is definitely going to be a gift for one of my Cincinnati stepsons and I see knitting more or these Christmas/winter hats as gifts.

And that’s it for this week’s knitting. Wishing all a good week.

2023: Wk of 1/8-14; Plan Changes Already!! and Lessons Learned

January 15, 2023 by knittingissofun, posted in Knit, Knitting, Knitting Hats, Knitting Plan, Knitting tools, Sweater Knitting, Yarn Advent Calendars

CAST-ON, FROG, RECAST-ON; SEA GLASS TEE

Well, that didn’t take long. I already changed my mind on the yarn to use on a project although so far so good on pattern choice. I knew I needed a light colored yarn to use with my minis and I planned a cream colored yarn that I had bought years ago for a tee. But since my advent calendar from Emma’s yarn had a lot of light colored yarns, I decided that I would use the light colored minis from the Emma’s Yarn calendar with the dark colored minis from A Girl And Her Wool advent calendar for my Sea Glass Tee. I’m actually thrilled to be using only advent minis for the tee. So this is a change I’m happy with. I also didn’t realize the Sea Glass Tee is a “colorwork” sweater so I’ll be knocking off that goal too by knitting this tee.

I’m knitting the “light/dark” colorwork version. I love it!! I can see making more of these tops for my daughters. Colorwork means the fabric is double thick so it’s going to be warm. But we get cool days in the spring and fall. (Or I’ll just crank up the AC!!) I was given the yarn ring below for Christmas. I’ve never used one before but it’s perfect for this 1×1 colorwork!!

Full confession – I’ve already frogged the sweater shown below. It is my fault. I used the ring to knit my swatch but was having trouble learning how to use it. Much of the tee was knit with one yarn in my right hand the second in my left. This resulted in a MUCH tighter gauge. It tried on the tee (LOVE top down) and it was going to be more of a turtleneck!! In addition to the gauge being too tight, I think I need to do the increases more frequently than the pattern calls for. I’m making a smaller neck opening so I think that’s causing the need for faster increases. I’m not upset. I see the first attempt as learning how to use the ring and figuring out the neck. I’ve already recast it on and I’m finding it much easier to use the ring. I’m doing increases every 2-3 rows instead of 6 as the pattern calls for.

MORE LESSONS LEARNED 😦

Starting my 2023 plan took a one week hit as I hated the hem on hubby’s sweater so I ripped out the ribbed hem and put in a garter hem. I learned that the yarn does not “unzip” when pulled from the “bottom”. Since it was a bottom up sweater, I ripped out the cast-on and thought I’d easily be able to “unzip the ribbed rows”. A one day project. Instead I had to “unpluck” almost stitch by stitch pulling the yarn through each stitch. So ripping out 2″ of hem took a week!! I should have removed the hem from the first stripe like I did when I lengthen the sleeves. Since it took a week, this is likely a lesson I won’t forget.

A second “lesson” comes from a review of last year’s stitches per day analysis (thanks Backstage Knits). Turns out Sundays are often when I get the most knitting done. Not too surprising as I tend to knit while watching football games. Fridays on the other hand are when I get the least knitting done. Friday evenings are usually spent enjoying a pizza dinner with my son and his girlfriend followed by an evening of card playing. I will cherish these evenings for as long as they last. I don’t plan to make any changes based on this analysis. It was just interesting.

FO – HAT

WOW, what a quick knit a hat is!! Finished the rainbow hat for my son early this week. It was a very basic ribbed hat that was a free pattern on Ravelry, RibaRoni. He loves it although it’s a bit too short so it doesn’t completely cover his ears. I have enough leftover yarn to knit a second longer hat.

DOUBLE HAT WIP

This is now my “brain dead” project for social knitting and walking knitting. Similar to the Musselburgh but it starts in the center with a provisional cast-on. I haven’t done the decreases yet as I’m waiting to make sure I like the length before closing off each end. It’s Christmas stripes on one half and a “winter” stripes on the other. Not sure who is going to be the recipient. Maybe it will be stashed away for a future Advent gift.

Well, the year has had some initial stumbling but I’m happy with the changes and learning to use the yarn ring. Hubby likes his sweater much better with the garter hem. I love the projects I’m working on. I hope your 2023 is also off to a good start.

2023: Knitting Plan and Goals

January 8, 2023 by knittingissofun, posted in Brioche, Knit, Knitting, Knitting Plan, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone. Wishing you all the best. I love creating a new knitting plan and it’s companion spreadsheet calendar for the new year. Life is always full of possibilities at the beginning of the year and that includes my hopes for my knitting world. But for me my planned projects and goals are simply guidelines. Life happens, I change my mind, whatever. Still I prefer having a rough plan rather than bounce from pretty new pattern to the next pretty new pattern. I’m trying to be a bit more intentional with my gift knitting this year also. So here’s the plan:

PROJECTS FOR ’23

Whereas 2022 was the Year of the Sock/Shrug, 2023 will be more of the Year of the Sweater/Tee. This is driven in part by my desire to reduce my stash. I still plan to knit socks of course, just not as many.

Sweaters/Tee – 9
This is definitely an aggressive goal for me since tees take me about 2 months and sweaters take about 3. Have to admit Newspaper, the brioche sweater, is the most likely to be skipped as I also have to relearn how to fix brioche mistakes. Fortunately there is someone I can take a private class from at my LYS once I return to Ohio. Here are 6 that I hope to knit. (Sea Glass Tee, Party Cardy, Newspaper, Clifton Crop, Deschain, Night Blooms). Yes, I already own all the needed yarn.

Socks/Shrugs – 4

Knitting less socks will hopefully improve my ability to get sweaters/tees knit. These are mainly socks I want to gift.

WIPS – 3

I have 3 carryover projects, 2 hats and a pair of colorwork socks. One hat will probably become a Christmas gift so there’s no hurry to get it done. Same for the colorwork socks.

Misc – 3

These are low priority projects. I may knit a toy for my granddaughter and I may knit Christmas stockings for her parents.

The projects stay within my stitch goal so it should be possible to complete them with the exception of mastering brioche.

GOALS FOR ’23

Based on what I learned from my 2022 review, I’m reducing my goals in 2023. I want to keep that “improve/get better” pressure out of my knitting. Getting better should be a delight not an expectation. This year I have 5 Goals and 3 Ideas. The “ideas” are more a way to keep in mind some new things to make that I’ve never made before (toys, slippers, and felted gnomes).

GOAL #1 – Knit 600,000 Stitches

This year I’m tracking an annual stitch goal versus a daily stitch goal. Also I’m not increasing my stitch goal. 600,000 stitches is basically the same as the number of stitches I knit in 2022. I was starting to feel pressured by my stitch goal. I am recognizing there are travel times where I’m not going to get knitting done so my “goal” includes days off from knitting.

GOAL #2 – More Yarn Out than In

This is a carryover goal from 2022 since it was such an epic fail. Still it’s a good objective. I just need to resist “sales” so that I can enjoy splurges if I attend a wool festival or go on a “girls trip” to a yarn store. I’m not ready to give away any of my yarn yet as a way to reduce stash. I still love all my skeins.

GOAL #3 – Make Something Brioche

Another carryover goal from 2022 and most likely goal to be missed again. My project plan calls for knitting a brioche sweater. This may change to a hat as a more “doable” project.

GOAL #4 – Make a Mini Skein Sweater/Tee

I’m very confident I’ll meet this goal. I’ll be casting-on my Sea Glass Tee to use my 10g mini skeins hopefully today. I also have the Party Cardy in my project plan which will use many of my second advent calendar mini skeins.

GOAL #5 – Make Something Colorwork

Again, pretty confident I’ll meet this goal since one of my carryover WIPs is a colorwork sock. I also hope to make a fairly simple colorwork sweater.

IDEA #1 – Knit a Toy

My granddaughter will be getting old enough to enjoy a knitted toy so I’d like to do this for her birthday or Christmas.

IDEA #2 – Make Felted Slippers

I don’t really need more slippers but I think felted slippers would be a nice Christmas present so I want to learn how to make them.

IDEA #3 – Make a Felted Gnome

I love all the gnomes I see people make. When Grocery Girls featured a gnome that was knitting, I was unable to resist. It is my birthday present to myself. It will be a fun knick knack for my knitting area.

READY, SET, GO

I’m excited to start a new year and I’m excited by the projects I have planned for ’23. Since I was good in ’22 at completing the number of socks/sweaters I had planned, I’m optimistic that I’ll complete my ’23 projects. It will be interesting to see if I do a better job of knitting the pattern I planned though. I already keep oscillating between Night Blooms and Love Note. I have many more sweaters/tees in my queue so it wouldn’t be a big surprise if I change my mind on which ones to knit next.

2022: FO, Cast-on and KNITTING PLAN REVIEW – Happy Dance!

January 1, 2023January 3, 2023 by knittingissofun, posted in Baby Knitting, Knit, Knitting, Knitting Plan, Project Bags, Shawls, Sock Knitting, Stephen West, Sweater Knitting

Before I get to my 2022 knitting plan review, I’m happy to share I ended the year with an FO. These socks are winging their way as a New Year’s surprise gift. Also I casted on a hat for my son with “his” Christmas yarn. I’ve only knit one other hat so fingers crossed.

2022 KNITTING PLAN REVIEW

I write my knitting plan on the calendar year so as 2022 comes to a close it’s also time to review my 2022 Knitting Plan and see what I’ve learned. My plan is a combination of specific projects I want to knit as well as knitting goals. I view my knitting plan as a guide rather than a strict schedule. I’m happy to replace patterns or projects based on special requests or circumstances. I like to review though at the end of the year to see if I can learn from the changes I made.

PROJECTS

2022 was the year of the sock/cowl. My goal was to knit a pair of socks or a cowl/shrug every month. I started the year planning to knit 8 pairs of socks, 6 sweaters/tees/shawls, 3 shrugs/cowls, 2 baby items, 2 miscellaneous projects, and 4 WIPs for a total of ~585,000 stitches. Here’s how it worked out:

*JAN 1*	*DEC 31*
SOCKS I planned on 8 pairs.	YES Completed 9 pairs!!! I did not knit the gift socks but knitted a new to me bamboo yarn and a pair of stash bust yoga socks. I also started a colorwork pair of socks which is now a ’23 WIP.
SWEATER/TEE/SHAWL I planned 6 including a brioche, colorwork, and advent mini project	YES Completed 6. Although only 2 were on the original plan! I did knit the Stephen West Spiraling Cable shawl I planned and hubby’s sweater. I’m happy with my changes to the original plan – a second Spiraling Cable shawl my stepdaughter requested, participating in a test knit for Anne Hanssen, and my first Ranunculus. I did not complete my brioche online class so that sweater has moved to 2023.
SHRUG/COWL I “planned” 3 although 2 were tentative.	YES Completed 3!! 2 were on the original list. I added the colorwork autumn cowl. That allowed me to meet a goal of knitting a colorwork project and I got to wear it a lot this fall.
BABY I “planned” 2 projects but both were tentative.	YES Completed 3!! I did knit a baby sweater as planned but replaced the knitted toy with a Christmas stocking and had to add a baby blanket.
MISC 2 were planned with 1 “tentative”.	NOPE I didn’t do the tentative Christmas ornament project nor did I do the advent mini project in 2022. Only thing I regret is still not doing an advent mini project so I’m really motived in 2023 to do one. I’m going to drown in minis if I don’t set some projects started!!
WIPS 4 2021 projects got carried into 2022	YES Completed all 4!! I had a top, 2 pairs of socks, and a baby blanket that had to be completed.

GOALS

I believe back in 2020 there was this idea in my knitting group to have a 20 goals for ’20. I decided to try the idea in 2022. While I like the idea of setting goals in addition to specific patterns/projects, 20 is way too many!!

	Knitting Goals – 20 in ’23	Set less goals!! Max of 10.
1	Aver 1800+ stitches per day each month	No – I only ended up with an average of 1650/day. I love/hate the daily stitches goal. Meeting it creates a sense of satisfaction but missing it is disappointing. I don’t need that. I’m going to focus on an annual stitch goal instead of daily in ’23.
2	Make something Brioche (Newspaper)	Nope – but I do like this goal so it’s a carryover to ’23. I’ve already contacted my LYS and they have someone that can give me brioche lessons when I return in April.
3	Knit something Continential	Yes – While I can’t knit a whole item in Continential, I did knit most of hubby’s sweater Continential so I’m going to consider this met.
4	Yarn Out > Yarn In by 600 gr	Epic Fail!! – I ended up +1400g instead of down 600g! That 75% off sale last summer didn’t help. Also buying 3 advent calendars busted this goal although one is being saved for ’23 so does that yarn really count? Ending the year buying 700g of Fixation yarn because some colorways were being discontinued didn’t help.
5	Make something with colorwork (Clifton Crop)	Yes – I did complete my colorwork autumn cowl, just not the colorwork sweater I originally planned.
6	Review stash- queue into projects on hand	Yes – This was a good exercise just to appreciate how much yarn I already have on hand and how it will take me 6 years to knit it if I don’t buy any more yarn (hahaha).
7	Knit Baby Sweater	Yes – Actually did a test knit too!
8	Knit JoJi Pattern – new designer (Newspaper)’	Nope – I never finished the brioche online class hence I didn’t start the sweater. Still want to knit brioche and this sweater so it moves to a ’23 goal
9	Calc estimated stitches when start project	Kinda – not precise but an advantage of tracking my stitches per day by project is I have a lot better estimate of how many stitches it will take to knit a pair of socks, sweater, tee, etc. So while my original intention was to literally count the stitches following the pattern would require, I’m happy using an estimate.
10	Learn crochet – make baby blanket	Nope – wasn’t a high priority. I am working (minimally) on a crocheted prayer shawl instead.
11	Make Emma Pattern – new designer (Clifton Crop)	Nope – but I still want to knit this pattern so it’s on the ’23 plan.
12	Learn to knit without looking	Nope – I’m not going to set this as a goal in ’23 but I plan to still work on not looking at my knitting during my Florida morning walks.
13	Get mini Advent Calendar and knit Dec project??	Nope – Well, I got the “get mini Advent Calendar” part!! I bought 3!!! The knit a project with the minis will be on my ’23 plan.
14	Sew Charlie Harper Project Bag	Yes – I did finally use this fun material and I’m very happy with the little sock project bags I made with the fabric.
15	Knit animal toy??	Nope – this was questionable since my granddaughter is so young. I think this year will be a better age for a knitted toy so it’s on the ’23 plan.
16	Knit a pair of socks/shrug per month	Yes – I knit 9 pairs of socks and 3 shrug/cowls plus I completed 2 carryover WIP socks.
17	Make Stephen West Shawl- new designer (Spiraling Cables)	Yes – Actually made two.
18	Learn new technique – Portuguese Knitting	Nope – this wasn’t a high priority. Not sure at this time I need to set a “learn something new” goal. I’m still learning just from the projects I knit.
19	Track days worked on project	Yes – I modified my excel knitting plan so that I track the days worked on a project as well as the number of stitches I did on the project. This is working great to better understand how many days it takes me to complete a project and how many stitches the project entailed. I use this to set realistic expections for the following year’s knitting plan.
20	Make sweater by Petite Knits – new designer	Nope – I still want to knit a pattern by Petite Knits but it’s not really a goal.

I only met half my knitting goals. Clearly I have too many and the wrong ones. I need to focus on what’s most important. Even the important ones got missed as I took advantage of opportunities and special requests. I did learn that there are going to be days/weeks when I don’t get much knitting done. Thus I’m going to focus on the total year stitch goal in ’23 rather than a daily goal.

IN SUMMARY

I’m super happy with 2022. I basically met my planned projects although the actual pattern knit often changed. I got to take advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves. I wanted to do a test knit and I ended up doing 2. Now I know I don’t like the time pressure. I love the projects I added and have no major regrets for projects/goals I didn’t complete. The brioche sweater, colorwork sweater, and advent mini skein sweater will move to my 2023 plan as I still very much want to knit them.

A review of my stitches knit per month not surprisingly showed that the wedding months of May and September were low. Weddings will likely not be a factor in ’23. November and December were also low. In November a lot of time got spent in prepping for heading to Florida and having the house ready for our short Christmas return. December has been low as we settled into our condo and I picked up many more activities in our condo complex. Plus traveling home for Christmas.

I will set less “goals” in ’23 and try to focus on only ones I really want to meet. Tune in next week for my 2023 plan with specific projects and goals. I’m sure they will change over the course of 2023. Man plans, God laughs.