If there are two things I like, it is planning projects and things that feel like a fresh start. The beginning of the year is perfect for both of those! I love watching vlogs or reading blogs of people’s knitting and crafting plans at the start of each year, the ‘Make Nine’ trend one of them.
I decided to pick nine projects myself that I hope to see completed in 2025. My Make Nine, of course, comes with a few caveats. Firstly, it is more like a wish list, rather than something I actually think I will accomplish. I have six, count them SIX, sweaters on my Make Nine! There is *NO* way that is actually happening. I am just too slow of a knitter, and I know there are other things I will want to knit this year (I love a vanilla sock…) that will also take time… and that isn’t even considering all the other non-knitting crafty stuff I want to make (have I ever mentioned my interest in weaving, basket making, sewing, carving, and a billion other things?? No?). All that to say, these are my hopes and dreams of knitting plans in 2025, rather than a set in stone realistic goal.
Secondly, some of these are already WIP’s. I will be sure to mention which ones when I talk about them individually. I have a nasty habit of not finishing projects for very long periods of time… some of them not at all. So I thought this Make Nine would be a great way to finally finish some of those lingering WIP’s. Going along with not finishing a project is also buying yarn for a project and never starting it (I’m looking at you Fairy Ring projects….). So my 2025 Make Nine is a way for me to tackle the projects I love, but for some reason have never been able to start or finish.
Without further ado, here are my 2025 Make Nine Goals!
Arctica Jumper by saskie&co
Let me start by saying that this project was a gift. Both the pattern book and the yarn were a Christmas present from my knitting Fairy Godmother who is so kind and generous that it actually made me cry when I opened the box. Thank you Tracy!!!!!!! This sweater is going to be a cherished knit for the rest of my life.
I actually started knitting this sweater in December 2024 (the 22nd to be precise!), but didn’t manage to spend too much time with it then because of the holidays and some other projects I was trying to wrap up, so the majority of it will be knit in 2025. As of writing this, I just separated for the sleeves this morning, so hopefully by the end of February I will have it completed!
I love all the patterns by Saskie & Co. So many of them are, hopefully, in my future as well!
Nordkalotten (North Cap) by Linka Neumann
Technically, this will be a take 2. I knit the sweater, beginning to end in 2024. Then I blocked. And it grew about a mile longer. I was super disappointed. I shoved it in the closest and pondered what to do. My first thought was just to do some sweater surgery and shorten it. But then I realized I didn’t like the neck. Or the yoke. Or the ribbing. But I am so in love with the pattern that I didn’t want to give up. So, I decided I will just start over completely. I feel like I still learned so much from knitting this sweater that it was still worth it. The only thing I haven’t decided yet is if I want to attempt to modify it to knit top down. It is supposed to be knit bottom up, which I did the first time around…. But it is a round yoke sweater with no special stitch patterns or shaping, so i think it would be super easy to modify in that way. We shall see……
Flax Light by Tin Can Knits
The sock weight version of the popular Flax sweater. I actually knit this sweater before in a different yarn and love it! So in 2021 I bought some yarn from Woolberry Fiber Co in the most amazing Solstice colorway and decided to make another! And…. just never did. Story of my life. So this year I want to actually make this project! I actually cast on yesterday just to get the ball rolling. But it will probably just sit, now, until I finish the Arctica sweater first.
Jubin by saskie&co
This is another WIP. I bought yarn for it as soon as I saw this pattern. I LOVE the colors in it and wanted to make a version just like it, but with long sleeves. However, when I got the yarn, the main color was significantly darker in real life than what it looked like online. I started anyways. I don’t hate it, but it isn’t sparking the same joy that the original picture does. I set it aside to work on the other projects, and I think that space from the project has helped me decide that I am going to buy a new color for the main color. Fingers crossed.
Fairy Ring Cardigan by Katie Green
I bought the yarn kit for this when it first came out *years* ago, and I have been too scared to start. This would have been my first colorwork sweater/cardigan. PLUS it involves steaking, which I still have never done. I am still super scared to start, but this year I want to cast it on. Even if it doesn’t get finished. I don’t want it to be super big, but I think since it is a cardigan, there is a little stress removed from the project if it comes out a little bigger than I want, so there is that. I am still very nervous about steaking, but as a knitter, I guess it has to happen at some point!
Funfetti Raglan by Andrea Gaughan
I am a little burnt out on shawls and blankets made with yarn advents. Well, that is not really true, but I have wanted to make a sweater with one and have always thought it was too complicated for me, so I have forced myself to keep making shawls and blankets. My partner bought me a yarn advent I picked out last year, and I told him I really wanted to make a sweater with it. In fact, I was determined to! I had a pattern picked out and everything. Then I saw the pattern actually called for DK weight yarn. Being plus size, I was worried I wouldn’t have enough yarn to hold it double. Then I saw this pattern. It is also a DK weight pattern, but because there is so much of another main color, I don’t think I have to be worried about running out of yarn!
The advent I have is made up of bright pinks, blues, and purples. Very Synthwave, which you know I love. So I am going to pair them with a black main color and hopefully end up with a sweater I love!
Fairy Ring Socks by Katie Green
Like the Fairy Ring cardigan above, I bought the kit for these when it first came out. And again… never made them. Well, I balled up the yarn and cast on, but then got all worried about sizing and ripped them out. It is about time I finished them!! Especially since I have knit colorwork socks now and know what size needles I must use to ensure the colorwork doesn’t end up to tight!
Let me just say…. I also bought the kit for the Fair Ring hat and I DID knit that…. so, yeah. There is some success lol
Stockholm Hat by PetiteKnit
Another WIP. Started this one… two years ago I think. Then moved on to other things. But I love the yarn color (it is actually left over from the first Flax Light that I made, as mentioned above), and I really want the finished object. I only had about 3 inches of ribbing started, so I still have a lot to go but I think it will go fast when I actually sit down and work on it.
Hiedra Mitts by Fiber Tales
This a WIP, that I am going to frog, and then start over. I knit one mitt up, minus the thumb 2-3 years ago and then moved on to something else, as I do. Pulling the project back out, I think I want to go up a needle size and making the ribbing a it longer on both the wrist and fingers, hence the restart. But I love this pattern so it is worth it!
So there you go! My 2025 Make Nine plans!! I can’t wait to see how much progress I can actually make on this list. It will be fun to share what success I have here!
I hopefully will be blogging more frequently too. Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to say, but it is fun to document the daily, even if it can be a bit dull. It is always fun to look back, if nothing else. A little, digital time capsule. Even if blogging is “dead” and I am talking to myself, it is still fun 🙂
Until next time,
~ Alison
Old Pine Hollow 