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Do You Have Any Knitting-Related Resolutions?

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Organzing your stash this year? Tell me your crafty resolutionsAs we get ready to turn the page on 2014 and start fresh in 2015, I’d guess a lot of you are taking some time to come up with resolutions or goals for the new year. I have a lot of the usual ones: getting more exercise, eating healthier, finally cleaning up my pit of an office.

But I like to have crafty goals, too. This year, for real, is going to be the year I get better at sewing and actually break my serger out of the box. It might also be the year I try some more complicated lace — as much as I knit I still consider myself pretty beginner when it comes to lace knitting. Or it may be the year I finally start the Master Knitter program, which I’ve wanted to do for years.

How about you? I’d love to hear your crafty resolutions, particularly if they have anything to do with knitting (here’s a list of a few from About to get you started thinking about it, if you haven’t already). Your responses could shape my content choices in the coming year, so speak up!

And allow me to wish you a very happy, healthy and crafty new year. Thank you so much for reading, commenting and sharing. Knitters are the best people!

Comments

  4. I concur with Lyn… Problem is, our LYS is closing and I “might” not have enough yarn to make it through 2015. Happy New Year!!

Have you read?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.