I can’t believe another year has gone. In an effort to be more aware of the things I am making, I gathered all the projects I worked on the past year to reflect. This is an overview of the past, my thoughts on current WIPS and plans for the new year.

I cast on 19 projects in 2018. Finished 16. 1 sweater, 3 shawls, 2 hats, 6 pairs of socks and 4 pairs of mittens. Out of these 16 items, 5 were for my family. Not bad! Let’s break it down:

MY FO’s:

1 sweater – Freja cardigan

3 shawls – Rivulet wrap, Nordic Wind Shawl, Laylow Shawl (for Vanessa)

2 hats – Tiilda and High Pines Hat

6 socks – 1 pair for my husband, 5 for me: Kinda Magic Socks, Galiano socks, I used my sock recipe for the other 3 pairs

4 mittens – the matching Tiilda mittens for me and x3 Tinsel Mittens for my kids

MY WIPS:

I have 3 sweaters still on the needles:

The oldest one is living in my Cake & Knit Tote bag – the Amalgam Hoodie. I haven’t touched this in months. It’s too bad because I’m so close to finishing but I just can’t bring myself to work on it. In fact, I recently transferred the stitches to scrap yarn because I needed the needles for another project. Not sure when I’ll work on this again but as I write this I’m realizing I still want the FO so I don’t think I’ll be frogging it. I’m fine with it taking a longer time out for now.

Next is the Orime sweater living in my Blue Knitterati project bag. This one is about 90% complete but sadly I think my style has changed since casting this on and I don’t see getting much use out of this garment. I do love the yarn and would like to use it towards something else. This will get frogged soon and you know what? I’m ok with that.

The last sweater WIP is my beloved Treysta living in my toffee Fringe Field bag. This is heavily on my knitting rotation and I can not wait to wear it! However, the next few months is going to be super busy for me. I’ll be spending long hours in the studio again so I’m not sure if I’ll get this done in time to wear before Spring but I’m ok with that too. I finished the yoke so it’s smooth sailing now.

As I’m writing this, I realized there are 3 other WIPS that I cast on in 2018 that I forgot to include in the photo above:

The Summer Feelin’ Sweater, the Stripified Shawl and the Coffee Talk socks. The latter 2 are still on heavy rotation but sadly I think I lost my mojo on the sweater. I love the idea behind the yarn but it stains my hand when I knit with it which is why I haven’t picked it up. I still love the garment though and can see myself wearing it so no plans to frog that one anytime soon. It’ll just sit there for now beside my Amalgam until further notice.

My overall thoughts on my making in 2018 and plans for 2019:

I’m disappointed that I only finished 1 garment the whole year! As you can see, I had every intention of making more but somehow got distracted with accessories. I still love to knit hats and socks so I will continue making those but I think for shawls, I want to make at least one big rectangular one in 2019.

I’ve had my eye on the Tokyo Shawl for forever – in fact, I got my sister to pick up the printed pattern for me when she visited Loop London a while back. And during a recent trip to my LYS, The Knitting Loft, I finally picked up all the yarn for it. It’s been a super stressful couple of weeks for me and I have been doing a lot of knitting as therapy. I think that’s why I decided to go for the Tokyo shawl. All that knitting will be good for my soul.

I also want to knit more garments in 2019. Aside from finishing Treysta, I’ve swatched for 2 new sweaters:

Top: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Narwhal for The Weekender by Andrea Mowry.

Bottom: De Rerum Natura Gilliat in Fauve for Citrine by Emily Greene.

Both are knit in worsted weight which I’m finding is my go-to for sweater knitting. The Weekender’s seamless construction will be a super fast knit that I plan to leave by my bedside. Citrine is knit in pieces which will be more my on the go project knitting.

And there you have it! Finish 3, cast on 3. I think I can manage that!

What about you? What are you most excited to make in 2019?