Knit in the New Year

I’m not sure there’s a lot of call for knitting things to commemorate the new year, but if you’re hosting (or attending) a New Year’s Even party it might be fun to have something stitched up — like a washcloth or cup cozy — that has the new year on it for a bit of extra handmade fun.

A search on Ravelry didn’t reveal any patterns worked with 2015 yet, but it’s simple enough to change the last number on a chart to make it correspond with the coming year. Here are a few projects you might want to add to your holiday stitch list.

This little 2009 cloth form Kris Knits is really cute and relatively simple, with a seed stitch border and garter stitch numbers. It’s 5.5 inches square, so it will knit up really quickly, just remember when you change the numbers that the chart shows them worked backwards (you could also just redraw the chart and have them facing the other way, if you’d like).

If you like an iced coffee throughout the year, this extra large cup cozy, originally worked for 2011 by Sandy Davis, would be a great choice. It uses five different colors and says KH for “Knitting Help” (because it was knit for a Knitting Help New Year’s Eve Party) but you could easily change that to your initials, leave that part blank or repeat the little ball and needles design that’s also featured.

For 2012, she also worked up a simple stitcher’s wallet or pocket to hold tools. Again it includes KH on one side and the year on the other, but you could easily change it up in any way you wante.

One Crafty Mama worked a 2012 dishcloth (which she also updated for 2013, and a 3 is almost a 5) that’s super simple and would be great to use all year.

Lisa Millan had a 2008 New Year’s dishcloth in her store that includes the year and a pair of clinking champagne glasses. If it’s still sold, it runs $2.

Have you ever knit something that marked the new year? I’d love to hear about it.

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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