2025 Year in Yarn

Happy New Year!

Thought I’d pop in to share some highlights of my knitting this year to get me back into blogging in 2026.

This year I completed 19 total projects and made a total of 740,876 stitches. While I did do some crocheting over the course of the year, all my finished projects were knitting. I made 1 sweater, 2 tees, 5 shawls, 1 hat, and 10 socks! A few years ago I created a “project score” which I use to track the size and complexity of the projects I make. Basically something like a tee has a higher score than a sock, and color work or lace have a higher score than just knit/purls. My average score this year was 6.2, which was driven by the 3 tops and 3 color work socks I made.

The stitch goal I gave myself for the year was 700,000 stitches, and this was pretty accurate for the year I had. I only did 1 show which gave me lots of time for knitting! I met my goal in the middle of December, which is always a good test of how achievable my goal is. Next year I’m going with the same goal, I want to devote a bit more time to other things like reading, working out, cooking, and shows (though not too many of those!).

My these for the year was definitely stranded color work, as I said I made 3 socks with stranded colorwork. I had been a little turned off to this technique after making a colorowork yoke sweater in the fall of 2024 that I’ve never actually worn because I definitely made it too tight, especially in the areas where I needed 3 colors per row. But after making a few things this year, I think it’s really a technique I need to do more in order to become more consistent with it. I had a similar problem with the Pokemon socks above, I actually need to remake those because they don’t get over my sister’s heel. I do want to make a color work vest and I have the yarn for it, so more practice is good!

I also really enjoyed getting to explore the Seattle Yarn scene a bit this year! I found some great yarn stores and knitting groups, and really enjoyed my time at Flock Fiber Festival. I did have to take a break from knitting groups for the past several months between the show I was working on and travel back east, but I’m looking forward to getting back into those this year!

I don’t really have any knitting related goals for the year. I’d like to make that vest I mentioned and work through some sweater stashes I still have, but nothing too specific. I’m looking forward to doing a bit more travel on my own this year to places other than back to CT so hoping to get some more fun souvenir yarn.

Wishing you a happy, safe, and yarn-filled 2026!

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5 responses to “2025 Year in Yarn”

  1. Soooo good to hear from you!! Glad all is going well in Seattle! It’s almost scary how our math brains are so similar. I LOVE the scores for projects based on size and complexity. I haven’t really incorporated a scale yet but it is something I consider as I create a knitting plan that is doable versus wishful thinking. So far I’ve mainly focused on stitch count to set/limit my knitting projects. But I realized this year that charts and texture greatly slow down how fast I can complete a project, not just stitch count. Hence I’ve stop setting a goal to increase my stitches knit/year. I too I’m having problems with colorwork socks fitting over the heel. I’m going to try knitting them “inside out” so that the floats are carried on the outside instead of the inside in the hopes of knitting them longer. Clearly my attempts to knit longer floats currently is not working. Love your pokemon socks. At first I thought the pokemon balls were Charlie Harper cardinals.

    1. Yes I find the same! It’s not just a # of stitches it’s how long those stitches take to make and think about.
      My gauge has gotten a little more relaxed over the years, but I’m generally a pretty tight knitter so I think my problem with color work is I want it to be too tight, especially with the background yarn I hold in my right hand since I normally knit English. I think I’m going to try re-making the socks with a 9 inch circular in hopes of at least reducing the tightness at the sides. I have also found that a color work ring really does help even though I don’t always enjoy knitting with one.

  2. Happy New Year! Those are some gorgeous makes!

  3. Happy New Year! That’s a lot of stitches! Whew! (and I love those shawls you have included images of here… they are all gorgeous!) I think sweater knitting is going to be A Thing this year, I have a sweater planned to start me off right this year!

  4. Nicely done! Those are some wonderful projects. Here’s to a great 2026!

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