January is “knit and crochet 4 me” month
It’s January. The Christmas crafting season is over and (hopefully) all of the handmade gifts have been presented to their recipients. What to do now? Well, pick something for yourself and make it!
My LYS (and many others, I suspect) has set aside the month of January for knitting for yourself. They call it “Knit4Me”. I say we add crochet to that and call it “KnitandCrochet4Me” month.
Like many other crafters, I make many of the gifts I give. I have so much fun choosing or designing the projects, finding just the right color of yarn for the recipient, and diving into making them. Usually I begin planning for Christmas gifts in the summer when I’m off from teaching because it gives me plenty of time to complete everything. The last couple of years have been a little tougher for some reason, leaving me to finish things at the eleventh hour. Sometimes it’s almost a relief to have Christmas done. You know what I mean… That makes switching back to personal projects so sweet.
I have a couple of WIP’s that are for little ole me! One of them I’ve been working on since June of last year, mostly because it’s a project I pick up from time to time instead of working on constantly. “Sous Sous” by Loop of London is a sweater that looks complicated but follows an easily memorized 16 row repeat. During my visit to London in October, I got to see the original in the shop. I have the back done and just started the front last week…
I’m knitting this one with the same yarn the pattern calls for – MadelineTosh “Tosh DK” in Antique Lace. I’m absolutely gah gah over MadelineTosh and my LYS happens to have an entire wall dedicated to it. Score!
This is what it’ll look like when I’m finished.
The other project I started this week is the Downton Abbey MCAL 2016. I did a knit one a couple of years ago. The shawl turned out beautifully and I wear it often. This time around Jimmy Beans Wool had a crochet version so I decided to give it a try. Each week a new episode of Downton Abbey airs and a new clue is released that morning. I’m on my way to finishing the first clue.
The yarn is absolutely gorgeous – Lorna’s Laces “Solemate”. Jimmy Beans Wool creates a special color for the project, in this case Yorkshire Skies, and sells the yarn to go with the MCAL. The fun part is that I won’t know what the finished project looks like until the final episode has aired; I don’t even know what my project is. It really is a mystery! I’m not gonna lie…the first clue has been a challenge and a little bit of frogging has occurred. But, I think I finally have it right and I’m ready for Clue #2!
So, these are the 2 projects I’ve picked for myself. Pick up those needles and hooks and get busy on yours 😎
