2024 knit & crochet recap

I love a good crafty round-up, don’t you?

This year, I knit approximately 2,000 more metres than I did last year, for a grand total of 7,158 metres. I cast-on and completed 4 garments for myself, 2 pairs of socks for me, 1 pair of socks for Damian, 4 hats for other people and a few Christmas decorations to top it all off.

Had I completed my Nimue blanket this year, my project yardage would have blown out of the water! Something to look forward to 2025, I make the rules 🙂

Apart from my blanket, I’m only left with one other UFO, my Painting Honeycomb socks by Stephen West. I’ve begun the second sock, and have made the double thick cuff, so now onto the fun parts. For keen observers, I’ve put my flower socks by Summer Lee into Hibernation Zzz (a Ravelry term). I’m going to restart these in a larger size sometime in the future, so that they can get over my heels more comfortably.

I have not done a stash count of yarn for a few years. Since March of 2019 to be exact. This is where you use Ravelry to total up your stash entries. I don’t think mine is going to be 100 per cent accurate, but doing a stocktake of odd balls and left-over yarns is not my idea of a fun time.

In 2019 it was:

Today it is:

397,809 Metres

Give or take a few thousand metres. Where do I put it all?! A number is just a number, and I’m totally not freaked out by it. Wondering how long I can keep my advent yarns displayed in my living room is where my mind is at right now. I think, I’ve settled on 3 projects for the 3 advents, and that’s a relief!

2024 has been an interesting year, mostly a good year for which I’m grateful. I look forward to beginning a new year with hope and exciting new (self-imposed) challenges, none of the bad ones please.

Here’s a photo of my mum and my Melbourne siblings celebrating Christmas together

Happy New Year!

Alpaca Road Trip, Crafty Weekend & Sock Knitting

A couple of weeks ago, I took a Tuesday off from work and joined a ‘Road Trip’ organised by my local yarn store Sunspun to go to my favourite Alpaca Farm and Woollen Mill, Great Ocean Road Woollen Mill! Do not be fooled by the name, they are now known as GORWM since relocating inland to Burrumbeet (near Ballarat).

It was a lovely way to spend a day. Virginia, the owner of Sunspun had it all very well organised, and chatting to Nick and Isabel (from GORWM) is always a fun time, they’re so cool.

The highlight for me was meeting some of the Alpacas, they had just been shorn not too long ago. They are so cute. I bought some yarn, of course I bought some yarn! For a summer knit, hopefully once my Calm Down cardigan is finished.

Then last weekend, I headed to Rye for a crafty retreat with girlfriends, it was such a lovely relaxing time. None of us quite know how long we’ve been going away together for, but we might work it out one day!

I’ve just finished these ‘Canberra’ socks, in Halfbaked Hand-dyed’s DK sock. These are my favourite socks yet.

Now back to knitting my Calm Down cardigan before my weekend is over.