2022 – The Knitting Plans

I love setting crafting plans for a new year. I don’t know why. I know, logically, that December 31st and January 1st aren’t any different. Problems are magically solved and a “new you” doesn’t happen instantaneously at the stroke of midnight, and yet….at the same time it does feel like a fresh blank page. I am not very good at making and sticking to resolutions. If I was, well, I guess I and life would look a lot different lol But that is ok. I know I am not alone in this. It is one thing to make plans with a glass of wine in hand on a day off, and a completely different beast when you work a very demanding job and have a house to maintain and relationships to nurture. There simply isn’t time for it all, no matter how well meaning you are.

Bur crafting is different. I think it is fun to lay out plans. To hope for amazing finished objects. It just feels freeing and hopeful. So these are my knitting plans for this year!!!! I am sure I won’t get through them all and I will be distracted by both real life and some new pattern I just have to cast on immediately or the world will end, but that is ok because these are fun goal. I can celebrate them if I achieve them and laugh and write about them again next year if I don’t! No pressure. Just fun and enjoyment.

So first up, I want to focus on a few projects that I didn’t finish in 2021 but I am really close to finishing and would love to knock out before the end of Spring. I would say winter buuuuut who am I kidding!?

#1: The ADVENTuresome Wrap

This year I ordered and LOVED my first yarn advents. I joined a KAL for this but quickly fell behind (like…..the 2nd day….) due to other Christmas plans and a test knit and LIFE. But I love this project. It is made with the Sherry Iris 2021 Advent Calendar. Sherry Iris quickly, insanely quickly, became one of my top two yarn dyers the second I found her. Her color palettes just speak to me on all levels. I love her work. I don’t know how else to describe my love for her yarns, really. Just….love. Her advents were already sold out by the time I discovered her, but to my immense relief she had a small restock of them and I snapped on up so fast….as in….I was driving home from work and pulled off the free way on the wrong exit to pull over and order one the second they went on sale fast lol

I had knit a smaller shawl/wrap by Ambah O’Brien as a birthday gift to myself so I was super excited for this pattern! I am currently on stripe 12 of 24, so I have no fear this will finish up fairly soon.

#2: The Spruce Berries Shawl

This is my first test knit ever! The pattern is not out yet as of this blog post, but it is designed by the wonderfully talented Is Knit! i am so grateful I was chosen as a test knitter! The yarn is by Alexandra of the November Woods Fiber Co. Now this dyer is my other top two. She naturally dyes non-superwash yarns. The colors are amazing! The yarn is a sheepy, rustic wool that I personally don’t find scratchy at all. When I work with this yarn I feel a connection to all my ancestors who knit and dyed and spun. It is a true pleasure to work with. I may have bought more yarn from her than I can possibly knit with in the near future I love it that much. I just feel such a swell of joy when I look at it! This project will be done before January 19th because that is the deadline for the test knit lol

#3: The Rainbow Blanket

This is your typical Granny Stripe Blanket. The 2021 Lay Family Yarn Sock Club theme was Rainbow Chronicles. I am making this blanket with the months January through September. I am almost done with August’s colors and then I just have September’s 10 mini skeins and then the white boarder and I am done!!! Not sure when I will finish this one exactly but hopefully soon!

#4: The Adrift Shawl

I am so close to being done with this shawl. It is using the most amazing yarn again from the November Woods Fiber Co. This is the colorway Bog Goddess and I knew I had to have it as soon as I saw it. The colors are stunning. It reminds me of moody day up at the cabin with the dark water and all the pine trees. Love love LOVE it!

#5: The Winter Sky Slouchy Beanie

For the first couple of months last year I was part of the Woolberry Fiber Co yarn club. One of the January colorways was called Winter Sky. And it was love at first sight. I think one of the most beautiful sights in the world, as I am sure you have seen me talk about before, is the low sun in the winter sky. The perfect mixes of greys and blues and the hits of yellow from the sun hidden on a cloudy day but showing up just in time for the sun set. This is that sight all pooled into a yarn. I love it. I have to say I think it is one of my most favorite yarn colorways EVER. I so wish I would have bought a hundred skeins! Alas, I just have the one. So I decided to make a slouchy beanie that I know I will get a ton of wear of of!

And now for the new projects I hope to get done this year!!

#1: 2022 BOM CAL

These are the colors I picked for the Block of the Month Crochet Along blanket I want to make! I love making blankets. They are something that both myself and anyone who comes over can throw over their lab for a cozy afternoon visit together or a night cuddled up on the couch with tea and a book. I am planning on bringing this one to our cabin when it is complete! I already started the January block yesterday and I am already enjoying it so much!

#2: The Fairy Ring Cardigan

This is just a magical sweater. I knew as soon as I saw it I needed to make it. This is the project I am most excited about this year. I have the yarn on the way! However, it is also going to be a huge challenge for me with a ton of firsts. One, I have never knit any garments that actually fit me; always way too big or way too small or fits just right but with a neckline that chokes the hell out of me. Ok, so maybe this is my fault because I never gauge swatch. So I am going to be knitting my first gauge swatch to make 100% sure this beauty will fit me! Secondly, I have never made a sweater with stranded knitting. While I am worried about this, I hope my experience with colorwork mittens and hats will help a little bit….although I never seemed to have perfect tension with those either. Finally, and most importantly, This is a steeked cardigan. And that is just terrifying. What if I mess up and the whole thing unravels???? Well, I know there will be days and days of tears but I don’t know what else. So yeah. This will be a huge undertaking for me and hopefully I will do ok and have an amazing sweater that I will love to wear for the rest of my life.

#3: Meadow Moon Sweater

I am deeply in love with every Knit.Love.Wool sweater pattern. I hope to knit them all! I am going to start with this one because duh, it is beautiful, but also because I have a sweater’s quantity of sport weight wool to use up!

#4: Hiraeth Shawl

I love how this shawl look and I love the sentiment behind the name. I picked out some yarn from Lay Family Yarn in some autumnal shades that I think perfectly fit the feeling of Hiraeth for me! So excited to get started on this one!

#5: Hiedra Mitts

I have been wanting to knit a pattern by Fiber Tales for ages! I think this will be so amazing when they are done because they will be so functional for me and so beautiful! I have a lovely mustard yellow color or a lighter forest green color that I still have to decide between.

#6: Raining Revolution Wrap

Back in August when I visited my first yarn store Up North, my boyfriend bought me some yarn for my birthday in an amazing 3 skein fade set that was dyed exclusively for that store by dyer based in our state. I think this will be the perfect pattern to display that yarn!!

So there they all are! My 2022 knitting plans!! Of course I have other WIPs that I need to finish and a billion socks I want to knit, but those are the big ones for me this year. I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe even found as new pattern you want to try yourself!! I plan to do another post like this for my cross stitch plans and then a final post for my general crafty plans for 2022. Hopefully I have the time to taker pictures and get them all together soon!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a joyful rest of your day! XO