It’s not long at all now to wait now for the next Confident Knitting pattern release, and, with my Flux Hand Warmers finished, I’ve been keeping my needles busy with a few other projects that all feel a bit Confident Knitting-adjacent … there’s lots of learning new things happening! Like Jen, I tend, er, not to be a monogamous knitter. But I have been trying to keep focussed on fewer WIPs and, I’ve got to say, my three current ones are bringing me lots of joy!

First up, some simple, cuff-down stocking stitch socks … no new learning here, but I’m using up the leftover Zauberball Crazy from my Flux Hand Warmers:

It’s been a while since I’ve had a plain sock on the needles, and I forgot how much I love having one to pick up and put down! I’m especially enjoying watching the slow colour change of the Zauberball Crazy … it adds a bit of excitement to otherwise plain knitting. I keep wanting to knit just a bit further to see what the colours will do next! (And, pssst, we’ve just added TWELVE new shades of Zauberball Crazy to the online shop!)

I’ve also really enjoyed getting my Unite Sweater by Natalie Warner from Something To Knit Together Winter Edition back into regular rotation! The back is finished and I’ve moved onto the front. I love the combination of this pattern repeat + Something To Knit With Aran. Not only is the fabric wonderfully squishy, but it knits up quickly. As with the colour shifts in my Zauberball socks, the basketweave pattern keeps me wanting to finish just one more repeat:

This is going to be my first seamed sweater, so the learning will happen all at the very end … I am really excited to give seaming a go! The extra structure seaming gives to a heavier-weight sweater is going to be handy.

Last up, I’ve also been working on Lucky Pieces by Inyoung Kim, the cover design from Pom Pom Issue 36, using Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper Weight. The pattern’s fun patchwork feel is achieved using entrelac, which I’ve never tried before. Knitting this has been a brilliant reminder of just how fun trying something new can be!

Because entrelac involves knitting over small numbers of stitches in multiple directions, it took a bit of set up to see just how the pinwheel motifs of this pattern were going to come together. I reached the a-ha moment right before bedtime (why is that always the way?!), so went to sleep thinking about the pattern and grabbed my needles the moment I woke up. That’s the magic of learning something new!

It’s also given me a chance to put Jen’s splicing video tutorial to very good use …. look (mostly) no ends!

As much as I’m enjoying these projects, I cannot wait for Thursday’s Confident Knitting release … I love the excitement of pattern release day and the thrill of casting on with friends! If you’ve not yet signed up for Confident Knitting, you can do so over in the online shop. When you do, you’ll receive the Flux Hand Warmers by Martina Behm + accompanying folded hem photo tutorials delivered to your inbox, plus 11 more patterns, from 11 top designers, featuring 11 different techniques to boost your knitting confidence, delivered at the start of each month!

And if you’d like to share what you’ve been working on this month, we’d love to hear about it in the comments!