Best Year Ever CKAL: April–June 2017

This year I am taking part in the Best Year Ever CKAL hosted by Nikki of the Tea and Possibilities podcast, and as we're half of the way through the year, here's how I'm getting on so far.

The aim of the KAL is to knit or crochet four things that you love over the course of the year. I had a definite plan at the start of the year, but as you'll see from this post, that plan may have wandered a little...

1. Sara Elin socks

When I last updated you on my progress I had already finihsed one KAL item: my pink socks, which I christened my Sara Elin socks after my blog-reading friend Sara Elin (hello!), and wrote up the pattern for shortly afterwards (the pattern is available from my Ravelry store). I loved knitting these, even though they presented many challenges along the way. And the colour?! How could they not make you smile!

2. A squishy purple shawl
Not the shawl I set out to knit at the start of the year, but I do now have a squishy purple shawl: Dotted Rays by Stephen West. This shawl was a triumph and I adore it! I am still to photograph it properly (the weather warmed up as soon as I cast it off), but will do before autumn, and then it will be added to my regular wardrobe.

3. Sincerely Louise reindeer head
I have wanted a Sincerely Louise faux taxidermy head for a long time, and finally it is going to happen! I signed up to the Sincerely Louise mailing list a few months ago, and when she had a sitewide sale on a little while ago I jumped at the chance to grab a kit. So at some point over the next few months I will be knitting a reindeer head. Woo hoo!

4. A garment for me
There are a few options for this category.

First up we have the Antler jumper. Actually this isn't an option any more. My Antler jumper was a total fail. The gauge was wrong, the yarn was too itchy, and last month I sold all the yarn on eBay. Goodbye Antler.

A Pavement sweater. Amy of the Stranded Podcast knitted a Pavement sweater a few months ago, and it is gorgeous: lightweight, seamfree and a nice shape, this jumper is a top contender. I have three and a half skeins of Araucania Ranco in my stash that is a perfect cornflower blue, but will that be enough, and will the yarn be toon scratchy? Hmm...

A Lush cardigan. This cardigan has been on my to-knit list since the pattern was in testing. I have the yarn (Rowan Baby Merino Silk DK*), but it might be too lovely as I am feeling a little intimidated. Maybe I should grab some less precious yarn (possibly something merino by Drops) and just get on with it.

Something new. The final garment option is something else that may be a little out of my comfort zone: my first adult garment design. I have the yarn (Cascade Superwash 220*), I have the idea, and I know how to write the pattern. But that doesn't mean I'm not nervous about it.

Watch this space to see what I finally decide on...

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Have you been joining in with the Best Year Ever KAL? How are you getting on? It's not too late to join in the fun; if you want to know more, head over to the thread in Nikki's Ravelry group.**

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**Ravelry link, you must be signed in to Ravelry for the link to work.

The Knit Night Collection: The people behind the designs

Just before Easter I launched my Knit Night Collection: three pairs of socks named after some of my favourite knitty people. And thankfully it has been really well-received, so thank you to everyone who has purchased the patterns and is currently knitting a pair of Lyndas, Amys or Sara Elins!

Today I thought I'd tell you a bit about the people I named the socks after.

Lynda

Lynda socks

First up, Lynda. I met my friend Lynda at a newly-launched local knit night a few years ago. I'd been looking for more local people to knit with as, strangely, the people I worked with weren't all that interested in my knitting. Every week Lynda would come along, chat and knit socks. I had always vowed not to knit socks (I have huge feet and was concerned that they would take forever; that I wouldn't like wearing them when they were done; and that I would never be able to knit tightly enough to make a viable sock), but there was clearly something enticing about watching someone knit socks. So one day I found myself in a local yarn shop holding a ball of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply in the Blue Tit colourway and some tiny knitting needles; I immediately sent Lynda a text to ask if she would help me knit my first socks.

The following Monday night at our regular knit night, Lynda arrived and handed me two books on sock knitting: Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd and Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oates. Over the course of the following week I read the whole of the Ann Budd book, knitted a swatch for my first socks and cast on. Within a couple of weeks, with a lot of encouragement from Lynda, I had my first pair of socks. And with that I was hooked! I now always have a pair of socks on the needles (and the accompanying sock yarn stash accumulation issue...), and I have Lynda to thank for that.

Amy

Amy socks

I met Amy early on in my PhD; I had just moved back to Durham having been away for a few years, and in the interim all my old friends had moved away. Whatever the course was on wasn't terribly interesting, so it rapdily became an opportunity to get to know a few more people at the university. Amy was heavily involved in GirlGuiding, and invited me to come and help at a local Brownie unit, something I had done when I lived in Cambridge, but hadn't thought to continue doing when I moved. Over the course of the following few months we got to know each other and realised we had a mutual love of crafts.

A few years ago, Amy moved away (she finished her PhD a lot faster than I did!), but our friendship continued and we sent photos of our crafts back and forth, both really appreciating having someone to 'talk' to about whatever it was we were working on. At some point we both learnt to knit socks and shared our frustrations with whatever yarn/needle/pattern we were working on. I knew as soon as I started writing my collection of sock patterns that I would want to name one of the patterns after Amy and was delighted when she said yes! Thank you Amy for coming on my knitty adventures!

Sara Elin

Sara Elin is one of those knitting friends that I haven't actually met, and instead know solely through the internet. When I first started writing a blog, Sara Elin was a frequent commenter, referred to the blog via my brother who knew that Sara Elin liked knitting, and is now my most frequent commenter, and we routinely send emails back and forth too! There are lot of knitters that I have never met, but count as friends, mostly through Instagram. While these socks are named Sara Elin, they are for all the knitters I know but have not met; the people who I most frequently chat to about whatever I'm working on, the people who understand what it is to be a knitter. Thank you all.

I have a KAL for the collection* going on in my Ravelry group, which finishes at the end of May, so you have plenty of time to join in if you'd like to. And you'll be eligible for prizes if you finish just one sock!

*Ravelry link, you'll need to be logged in for this link to work.

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I'm writing a blog post every day in May. If you'd like to read them all, follow this link.