I didn’t finish many knitting projects in 2023. My main knitting project this year, which has been in my stash / slowly in progress for a few years, was a Moomin jumper, using a Novita pattern and yarn. I’m on, approximately, my fourth attempt at knitting it, a combination of getting to grips with intarsia, and a previous attempt being far too large. I’m hopeful this time will be the charm, but I’m not too concerned if I need to take a few more steps back before eventually getting it just right.
Two other knitting projects which I worked on this year were also trial and error. I made a little bit of progress on a knitted swimsuit, from a 1949 pattern, which I started in 2022, and which I need to resize slightly as the bodice is knitting up too long, and I started a jumper in cotton yarn, from an 80s pattern book, which needs frogging and sizing down. I’m not concerned about frogging the three projects, as I’m enjoying the process of knitting and improving, although I would like to make more of a dent in my yarn stash.
Distracted by my work-in-progress projects, I had almost forgotten that I did finish three knitting projects this year. A The Winter Crop jumper by Jessie Maed Designs back in January, using stash yarn, and two pairs of socks over the summer, using yarn I dyed at my Guild’s dyers day this year.
Last Christmas break I sorted and catalogued my yarn stash, with the aspiration of working through it, and the Winter Crop was a project chosen to use up one of the stash yarns, three balls of West Yorkshire Spinners Re:treat Chunky Roving in the Bliss colourway, and as a relaxing easy project over Christmas 2022.
The roving yarn is a bit delicate for a jumper yarn, and pills easily, but the jumper is soft and cosy to wear, and used up yarn which had been in my stash since 2019. Having remembered that I made it, I’ve been getting lots of wear out of the jumper over the last few weeks.