Time hardly means anything anymore, it seems, but one anniversary that feels more tangible than even my birthday these days is when I first started knitting. It’s impossible to overstate how much my knitting practice means to my mental health, which is perhaps one reason it occupies so much of my brainspace and time.
I’ve never been a “country counter” when I travel, and I’m not especially fond of tallies that seem purposefully designed to rank people in competition with one another. This annual tally, however, isn’t a comparison at all, it’s just a look in the rearview mirror on my own makes before I continue into a new year.
So, here’s my annual review of my knitting life this past year.
Hours spent knitting per day: I think this is roughly the same as it was last year, around 5-6 hours per day.
Bins of yarn under my desk: 5 (same as last year!); each with cedar in the bottom and locking lids; yarn separated by color. I am planning to expand this year, however, to pull out all the black, gray, and white yarn that falls in the “background yarn for something colorful or color-changing” category so that it’s easier to find the somewhat more interesting black/gray/white-ish yarns in that bin. I have no idea where I’m going to put a sixth bin yet, however.
2022 projects completed: 47
- hats: 9, most of which got sent to the Pine Ridge Reservation before the winter
- socks: 8 pairs, of which two were for me
- stuffies: 7, all at the request of my nibling
- Santa hats for JK Simmons to wear in a big Hollywood movie: 6, and yes, I’m as surprised as you are
- cowls: 4, of which one was for me
- dishcloths: 4 crochet, 1 knit
- pullovers: 3, two of which were cotton/linen blends for my first “summer knits”
- ponchos: 1
- slippers: 1 pair, to replace the falling-apart pair I made for Mark a few years ago
- tiny xmas tree ornament sweaters: 1
- cardigans: 1, a WIP that had been on my needles for too damned long because the yarn bled dye all over my hands every time I worked on it (the cardigan got numerous rinses and has not bled on me or my clothing while wearing it, though)
- mitts: 1 pair
And some non-number notes from the past year:
- The Santa hat project was an absolute riot to work on, thanks to local knitting pal Lee, whose brother’s girlfriend works in Hollywood as a costume designer. Lee, another local knitting friend, Anna, and I knitted 11-12 hats between us in two patterns that Lee and I came up with to fit the costume design team’s brief. I have never met an xmas movie that I would go out of my way to watch, but you can bet I’ll be watching this one when it debuts. I was, I’ll admit, a smidge disappointed it wasn’t The Rock playing Santa, but when I found out it was to be JK Simmons in the role, disappointment vanished.
- When my car needed some totally routine (and nonetheless expensive) maintenance done this summer, I decided to try a knitting fundraiser raffle thing. To my absolute shock, I was able to pay the entire mechanic’s bill, and I ended up making the sole poncho on the list above, two cowls, and two pairs of socks for the folks whose names I drew.
- I still haven’t gotten back to redesigning my first sweater with spreadsheet sizing, since I kind of have to rework the entire shape, and doing all of that math again feels daunting. I think I need to finalize a hat or something smaller using the spreadsheet system first, as a confidence booster. Perhaps 2023 is the year for that project.
- I know essentially nothing about crochet, but realized this year that I know enough to make a square-ish shape using the same stitch over and over again, so I made several dishcloths that way. For some reason, the crochet movements are soothing to me in ways knitting movements aren’t. I dug out the link for an online crochet beginner’s class I bought a couple of years ago and would like to learn to make a granny square this year.
- Two of the dishcloths were made during September’s road trip with my mother, and along the way she gamely went along with all of my yarn shop itinerary stops. I brought home far more yarn than I intended to, including a sweater quantity from the last yarn shop, The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers.
- Which made me realize that I have several sweater quantities in my stash now, and it’s time to do something about that. I only made one last year from my stash (the cardigan I had started before 2022), and that went to my step-daughter. This year, I’ve got some sweaters in my queue for myself, and I’m excited to add to my sweater wardrobe.
To glance at previous installments of this series, click here.