Socks and Stitches

• Posted on 9 January 2024
• By Anne
• 0

Advents in the rear view mirror. All things holiday tucked away in their boxes until next year. Time for some selfish knitting. And discovering new things!

I did it! Advents complete. Well, kind of. My embroidery box is perched next to me with my other projects. And I have peeked inside, as well as made a plan to spend some quiet, meditative time each day working a few stitches. It's a sampler collection of 12 holiday / winter themed designs. Looking forward to becoming proficient with needle and thread over the year.

My gnome - Mr. Gnightly - is all done, as is his snowman friend. I actually got a taste of embroidery with this project, embellishing the snowman's belly. What a fun advent adventure. And very doable, with every other day pauses between knitting for coloring, recipes, and a fun Grimblewoods story. Sarah (Imagined Landscapes) has reformatted the MKAL pattern, so if you missed out, you can still catch the gnome fever and knit your own little Grimblewoods duo. We even have a few kits left. Here's the link to the Snow Matter What pattern.

So what now? Well, another mystery - The 12 Days of Knitmas. Beginning on December 26th, a little bit of knitting, culminating on the 12th day in a colorful, fluffy cowl. Six colors (including two pretty pinks - yay!) against a cream colored mohair silk background yarn. But the real fun part was the stitches I learned along the way. Each day, designer Becky Beagell (Nomadic Knits) introduced a different stitch, many of which I'd not ever worked. There were stripes of color, texture, some stranded colorwork, as well as a few fancier stitches. My favorites (and new to me) were little bows, created by pulling up and knitting three carried threads with a stitch on the forth row, and a lovely stained glass windowpane design - 2 by 2 colored stitches separated by columns and rows of silk mohair. Really pretty! I'm already mulling over how to create a pair of socks or cowl with that stitch pattern.

Becky has done The 12 Days of Knitmas for several years now. And it's a free pattern that you can easily do with yarn scraps from your stash (that's what I did). I found it a wonderful way to move into January - my least favorite month of the year, as I have a really hard time moving past Christmas. The daily bits of the pattern gave me something to look forward to each morning. And the colorful play of yarns helped to brighten up the drizzly, gray Oregon days. Fingers crossed Becky will do it again next year.

And yet another project is in the wings, ready to pop on my needles - socks! I've found an intriguing pattern that has you hold a strand of mohair silk lace yarn along with your sock yarn while working the cuff, resulting in some awesome, fluffy socks. Just the ticket to keep our toes (and ankles) toasty warm as we move through winter. Check this pattern out - Lindsey Fowler's Hibernation House Socks. And stay tuned for updates in my February Forever Pink in Stitches post.