It’s already mid-November – just a few weeks left until Christmas.
Honestly, I have no idea where this year has gone.
Much of my year was influenced by health issues with my eye. They often forced me to pause and to slow down.
Over the months, I collected several different diagnoses, and I’m now recovering from a stay in the hospital and eye surgery. Further treatment will accompany me for another three months, and a small hole in my retina will likely remain.
Still, I’m hopeful that by spring, with new glasses, I’ll be able to see reasonably well again.
As difficult as all of this sounds, it also allowed me to discover and learn completely new things.
I have developed a new fondness for audiobooks – very calming companions! And I learned that knitting is far less demanding on my eyes than crocheting. So I picked up my needles again and began searching for a suitable project.
Squares – this time knitted not crocheted
Some time ago, I ordered a beautiful gradient yarn from Wool Warehouse in the UK: Yarnsmiths Lagoon. I had originally planned to crochet a blanket made of differently sized squares, but I had never quite settled on a pattern that would do the colours justice. Now I wondered whether knitting might bring out the gradient even better.
I used to knit a lot – mostly socks and fine doilies, in a kind of lace knitting known as Kunststricken here in Germany. Back then, I mostly followed patterns, without thinking too much about the basic techniques. Only now did I realise how little I actually knew about increasing, decreasing, or constructing simple shapes like squares.
So I researched and experimented a bit … I finally decided on a relatively simple variant: diagonally knitted in garter stitch. I think this best shows the gradient of the yarn. Besides, knitting garter stitch is very relaxing for me.
Aren‘t these colours beautiful?
Along the way, my search for different techniques and tutorials took me in another direction: colourwork, especially stranded knitting. I’ve always wanted to try it, but I never have…
My first Christmas Stocking
I discovered – or better re-discovered – Arne & Carlos, two Norwegian textile designers. Their work is full of charm and tradition. Every year, they have new Christmas-themed designs: a Christmas stocking and 24 Julekuler (baubles).
Right now they’re hosting a mystery knit-along (KAL) for their 2025 stocking. If you enjoy knitting, the KAL is free – and it‘s still time to join. Just have a look at their site.
I did not join the KAL so far, but I treated myself to the pattern for their 2024 Christmas KAL, Jingle Bells Stocking. A lovely design!
Now I just hope my stocking will be finished in time for Christmas – there is much to learn! And my progress is very slow!
A Christmas Stocking is just a single sock ?
No! It‘s a completely new challenge!
The stocking is worked from toe to cuff, something I’ve never done before. I tried Judy’s Magic Cast On and the Turkish Cast On; after a bit of practice, both worked beautifully. But knitting the first rounds with only 16 stitches proved fiddly, so I ended up using a long cast-on and will close it later.
Next will be the heel, which is a so-called afterthought heel that is knitted in afterwards — another ‚first‘ for me.
In the meantime, I’m still experimenting with how to hold the yarns. I usually knit continental style, holding one strand of yarn in my left hand. Two strands, however, feel quite strange. Trying to keep both colours in position and not mix up the threads affects my tension. It becomes too loose.
A view inside
If, like me, you have never done colourwork knitting before, here you can see the little strands, called floats, that emerge when the unused yarn is carried. They need to be held at the correct tension – not too loose and not too tight.
So I tried a mixture of continental and English style: holding the main colour in my left hand and ‚throwing’ the contrasting colour with my right. Not my style either – my tension becomes too tight.
Well, it’s probably only a matter of practice.
Still, I’m quite pleased with the result so far. For a first attempt, it doesn’t look that bad at all.
So I’ll keep knitting a little each day — without pressure, just for the fun of it. Sometimes that’s exactly what a creative hobby should be!
