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Finding Time to Knit or Crochet

December 27, 2023 by Sarah White

One common goal that a lot of knitters and crafters of all sorts have for each new year is finding more time to knit or do their craft, whatever it is.

I like to think that we make time rather than finding time, and if we decide it’s important to us to have time for making every day, we will find a way to make that happen, at least more often than not. For me, taking the time to learn to knit without looking at my work has been valuable, because I can easily knit most things while reading or watching TV.

A Box of Twine has some advice, not only on finding more time for knitting, but for choosing the right projects to make the most of the time you have.

They use the acronym PSSST as the key to a happy knitting life: choosing the right projects, having the right supplies available and accessible, being comfortable with the stitches you are using (and practicing until you are if you aren’t), making samples (aka swatches) to ensure a good result, and taking the time to practice regularly.

One of their recommendations for finding more time is to use a knitting planner, which we have already talked about a bit. Their version uses the PSSST system to help you figure out what’s slowing you down and making you less productive than you could be as a stitcher, but also includes planner printables, project worksheets and checklists, plus project time estimates that can help you plan if you’re gift knitting or otherwise have a deadline.

Tip: if you sign up for their newsletter at the top link above you can get the project estimate printable for free.

I do like the idea that your hobby belongs in your planner because it’s an important part of your life, and also that if you write things down you are more likely to do them. For me, if I put knitting on my to-do list it’s for sure one thing that will get crossed off as done on any given day!

[Photo via A Box of Twine]

22 Page Knitting Project Journal and Planner

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Knit a Hat with a Flock of Chickens

It’s well known (among knitters, anyway) that knitters seem to love chickens as a motif and a subject of our knitting projects. The Emotional Support Chicken and all the other chicken knitting patterns are just the beginning of our devotion to farmyard friends. 

For example, there’s Farmer Dennis’ Chicken Hat. This free pattern from Stacy Black is a simple worsted weight beanie sized for adults and decorate with a couple of little rounds of colorwork fences and a flock of chickens strutting around the body of the hat. 

You don’t need a lot of any of the colors for the chickens, their facial features or the fences, so this is a great project for using little leftover bits from other projects. The main color for the body of the hat is less than a skein using the yarn suggested, so you might just have everything you need in your house to start stitching up this hat right away. 

The colorwork is presented as a chart, with a 16 stitch section that repeats around the body of the hat. All the color changes are shown on the chart but I think it would be easier to knit the whole chicken in the chicken color and add the eye, beak and other features using duplicate stitch when the knitting is done. That way you don’t have to carry those yarns around the whole hat for just a few stitches. 

As the name suggests, the original hat was given to a farmer who shared their eggs, but anyone who raises chickens or just has a thing for the fowl is sure to love this cute hat. It wouldn’t be too difficult for someone new to stranded knitting or reading charts to make, either, so if that’s you, give it a try. 

The pattern is available for free on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Stacy Black]

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