skill + 1UP, or: it’s no secret, I love color

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

So with regards to this post, and really so many other things, thank GOD for ravelry. Without that site I would have no idea what I had made in the last year. While it wasn't a new technique in the last year, the one I definitely got very involved with was stranded colorwork. And I'm still in that place of loving it. While it's sometimes a little mentally taxing at the end of the day, I *always* have a stranded project waiting in the wings. Somehow in the last year I completed SEVEN pairs of stranded mittens? How did that happen?! Related to these mittens, one new-to-me technique was the Latvian braid.

Sure, they're technically an embellishment, but I think they provide nice structure to a stranded design. They're like punctuation - but in knitting! Makes perfect sense, right? I love them; hence they're on each of the three stranded mitten patterns I designed last year. I hear a lot of "I hated doing the braid!," "the braid is so awkward!," etc. about these designs, which - fair enough. This may come as a shock since I love the look of them so much - I, too, hate knitting Latvian braids. But I think they look great so I continue to use them.

The other technique that was new to me this year was intarsia. I'm not going to lie, I don't LOVE it, but the results can be nice. I knit up this Willie Sweater for the friend of a friend:

I've also been working on an as-of-yet-to-be-revealed test knit for a friend that involves intarsia. So intarsia and I - we have made our peace. So much so, in fact, that I just ordered this sweater kit on superclearance from Knit Picks. There are some things about that design that I know will definitely not work for me - the length, the belt, some of the charts. But the beauty of it is - besides the fact that I paid a mere $30 for it - the pattern clearly states that you can mess with/substitute charts of the same number of stitches as you please. I can't wait to cast on for this sweater and, 5 minutes later, cast off and wear it.

So what's next for me, technique-wise? I'd love to revisit double knitting, first of all. My Tapestry Cowl of a couple years ago is still my most often worn knit, hands down!

I'd love to re-learn the technique to make some doublefun socks (seriously, how rad are those knee-high ones? clearly I am a sucker for the bright colors.) and maybe a TPHPE or two.

And as long as the word "tapestry" is floating around, I'd love to expand my crochet repertoire with some tapestry crochet - check out these mittens! I need those - stat.