Greetings dear Unravelers! We have arrived at the very last Unraveled post of 2024!

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. — Paul Theroux

Welcome to my 2024 Knitting Making Review… and yes, that quote is perfect for remembering what I made this year and for doing some preparation for how I want to go next year.

I had some significant failures in my knitting this year… particularly Sweater Failure… not once, but twice. This has made me “knit-shy” when I contemplate trying to knit another sweater. At least I learned to stop with the second sweater failure rather than completely forging ahead and getting further along in the process… but knitting failure is not enjoyable at any stage of knitting. And yet… there must be a spark of Sweater Hope inside me because I have not been able to stop thinking about this sweater. I even bought the yarn to make it… but I can’t even bring myself to begin the swatching process. I think a bit more recovery time is needed… and I have a bit of penance to complete with the two sweaters awaiting “frogging” … sigh. But I feel this is a necessity because those yarns deserve to become something wearable!

But I did have some successes… 2024 was the year of socks for me and although I lost my “sock steam” with the arrival of a new puppy, I did manage to add 8 pairs of socks to our house! This is the most socks I have ever knit in a year and I really enjoyed having a “sock in process” it made it easy at the end of the day to have a project that did not require much thinking, just familiar knitting… round and round and round. In other words, a habit I need to get back to!

Of course, I knit more Gnomes this year! I even knit a couple of Gnome Trees to perk up the Gnome House for The Gnome Season of Love (FYI this is much longer than a day in February… Gnomes think love is the most important thing ever and celebrate the Season of Love year around!) I close out the year with five new gnomes for The Great Blue Cupboard and two that will hold space on the mantle, and one that is in process… slowly becoming. The Mantel Duo… have become my favorites despite not caring for Gnock (the mystery gnome) much at all when he was in process. However, since his finish he has very much grown on me! He is the OIG (the Original Introvert Gnome) and he much prefers his own company to any others, but he has found joy in quiet evenings reading a cozy mystery out loud as he smokes his pipe. Gnock has a ready audience with Gnelson (the marled gnome) who having spent the day fishing is happy to just sit quietly, listening to Gnock read. Gnelson savors the sweet smell of cherry tobacco as it burns slowly from Gnock’s pipe! Although he occasionally does drift off as he thinks about the fish that got away, he mostly is attentive! I have hopes to make him a worthy fishing creel and soon. But I love his chop stick turned fishing pole! I think he also needs a couple of “flies” tucked in the knots at the top of his cap! And there are months of inspiration in Sarah Schirra’s book, The Gnomes of Grimblewood… and while I have not “jumped” on the bandwagon for another Year of Gnomes, I will absolutely be knitting more because Steve’s mom has asked if she could grow her collection…

I knit with handspun yarn… not once but four times! A pair of socks (which have not held up well and have had heel repairs x2… sigh), two Honey Cowl’s – which I wear on the regular, and a sweater for Frankie! I would like to think that I will do more spinning in 2025, but I am not sure I will follow through on that… at least for the time being spinning is on the shelf.

I knit a Christmas gift with a brand new yarn. (No images of this gift until after Christmas… but the yarn is one of the nicest yarns! I even have some inspiration for another project using this yarn and what fantastic inspiration it is!)

What do you mean, it’s time to get in bed… I am in bed!

Speaking of Frankie… I knit him a starter sweater, which he rapidly outgrew…but looking at how little he was when he came here is just too funny. He has rapidly outgrown his puppy shyness and his personality is just so fun to watch develop. My favorite time of the day is when he “asks to snuggle” in the morning and “whispers” softly in my cheek. He owns my heart and I am just so happy he came to live with us.

Carole asked how big Frankie is getting… 24″ IKEA pillow for scale… Frankie is about 18″ long from his nose to his backside, tail not included! Haha!

Stitching was a big part of my year again… and it will remain so in 2025. I absolutely love my daily stitching and I have found a way to work it in around Frankie’s puppy busy-ness! I am doing something different this year, I am following Karen Turner’s suggestion this year of a whole-cloth versus 12 individual pieces… and I am excited to get the year “set up”… the tracing will begin soon and likely will happen in spurts between now and the new year!

I also am keeping my membership with Ann Wood’s stitchy group. She is leading another 100 Day Stitching project, which was truly the best thing I made all year! I am excited to begin another 100 day book… especially with the things I learned while doing the last one! (and yes, I still have my Fall book to finish… which will happen, I promise!)

I took advantage of an online class in 2024… and I plan to keep utilizing online classes as an inspiration in 2025. The class I took with Cecelia Campochiaro was the best knitting class I have ever taken… hands down. I think her genius of color theory paired with a simply repeating pattern sequence to be the thing that made me realize that sometimes, simple is best (Fail Sweaters, I am looking directly at you!) I did not get my scarf completed, but I am well past the half way point and I think with some focused time this winter, I could have it done in time for spring!

One thing I miss… desperately… is painting and I need to get back to it… I just need to figure out how it can work in my day. I am hopeful that once wee Frankie has the “snip” he will calm down a bit… right now he has energy – on steroids! HA! There is no middle for him right now, he is either sleeping or going full speed! It makes painting impossible right now. But, my hope is that in the first quarter of next year, I find a way to ease painting back in!

Now for a bit of housekeeping, there will not be an Unraveled Wednesday next week… but I wish you all the happiest holiday… whatever you celebrate! There will be a New Year’s Day Unraveled and, if you want to join me, I will be sharing my 2024 Reading… and it was a very good year!

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