It’s really hard to believe that we’re over halfway through our year of Confident Knitting! Arnall-Culliford HQ is still a hive of packing industry as we are sending copies all over the world, and you might soon spy it popping up at a festival or yarn shop near you! We will be bringing lots of copies to Yarndale next week. I can’t believe it’s next week already!
There’s still plenty of Confident Knitting fun left (six months’ worth of knitalongs, to be precise… though of course the journey never really ends), but reaching the halfway point and the debut of the print books is certainly a milestone. We thought we’d celebrate it with a few posts looking back at what you lovely Confident Knitters have created and looking forward at what’s to come!
So today, let’s take a trip back a few months, when the Confident Knitting journey had just begun, and see some of the amazing learning that happened in the spring!
Cast your mind back to March. Do you remember it? I … don’t remember much, but I can remember the excitement with which we all met the first pattern from Confident Knitting, Martina Behm’s sprightly Flux Hand Warmers! A delightful starter to a year’s worth of learning, these little diddies introduced us to the tidy joy to be found in a folded hem as well as the fun unpredictability of Zauberball Crazies.
Pretty with pink! Knitalong Hub member LayingCable used a self-striping yarn to make more than one set of Flux Hand Warmers (left), while BettyBugg showed us what they could look like in a more solid colourway (right)!
Such a satisfying small project! And you can easily squeeze more than a pair from a single ball — as LayingCable did, above — or even knit a pair of socks to match, as Tjadens, did (below), making this a great pattern for gift knitting … I’m planning on whipping up a few pairs as Christmas gifts.
KAL Hub member Cammarc’s finished Flux Hand Warmers (left) and Tjadens (right), along with coordinating toe socks!
With hands warmed up, in more than one sense, Hunter Hammersen’s Evolve Cowl challenged us to think about blocking in 3D! Learning new knitting techniques is certainly fun, but there’s also something really empowering about finding out ways to show off all that work at it’s best. Excellent blocking certainly helps with that!
I’m not sure what was more fun, seeing everyone’s next-level blocking set ups…
Excellent blocking in progress! Clockwise from left: photos from The Knitalong Hub members OCJojo, McBrenda, Angi & PetiteStitches.
Or seeing so many smiling faces, wearing really stunning cowls!
From left, Knitalong Hub members Melij, MarileeRD, BlitheSpirit & SarahBraxton.
So far, so good, now it was time to turn our attention to juggling more than one colour at a time! Janette Budge’s Variance Hat was our goal, the lesson: catching floats in colourwork! Knitalong Hub members approached the task with gusto, creating some really beautiful hats … some using the kit colourways, others developing their own!
Hub members Kayeff (left) & Kaitomakes (right) both used blues, teals, aquas & greens to create cool versions of Variance!
Two more stunning versions by Knitalong Hub members MarleneB & Terri H.
These are just a sliver of the awesome projects that were shared in the spring. There’s plenty more inspiration to be had in the March, April and May Confident Knitting topics! If you’re just starting one of the Spring patterns, we’d love to see your progress, so do feel free to share. Massive thanks to all The Knitalong Hub members featured in this post for allowing us to share their work.
And of course, if you’ve not yet been bitten by the Confident Knitting bug, it’s never too late to join in the fun. You’ll find Confident Knitting in print + eBook bundle and eBook only versions, alongside kits and yarn, in our Confident Knitting shop. When you purchase, you’ll receive an instant eBook download, and, if you choose to have a print option, it will now ship out immediately. And our September knitalong, all about garter short-row heels, is currently in full swing. Hope to see over in The Knitalong Hub, where there is always something new to learn.