A year of crafting to look forward to...
What are your creative plans for the year?
INSIDE: Visiting a lovely local yarn store, designing my own hat, dreaming of new projects, and lots more...
After living in regional Australia for the past year, my family and I are off traveling again. This time, we’re come to Seville, Spain! While we’ve been to Spain before we’ve never come to this part of the country, so that’s very exciting.
One of my favorite things to do when I visit a new place is…
Going to the local yarn stores, of course!
So, I thought I’d give you a little tour…
I visited Otro Punto Merceria Creativa (which literally translates to Another Point Creative Haberdashery in English), run by the lovely Mercedes.
Most of the yarns she had in stock were from Katia, a yarn manufacturer from Barcelona, Spain, founded in 1951. Many of their yarns have materials sourced from local farmers, spinners, and dyers.
In addition to selling yarns, she offers supplies for quilting, crocheting, knitting, sewing, embroidery, cross-stitch, and more!
On the late afternoon I visited, there were many women filing into the shop as it opened. Turns out they were there for a knitting and crochet workshop! So lovely to see she offers that for her local community.
You can follow Otro Punto Merceria Creativa, on Instagram and Facebook.
And if you live near or in Seville, or happen to be visiting, go and have a look! It’s well worth the trip. She speaks Spanish and English and would be happy to help.
And now for a project update…
You may be wondering if I bought some yarn while I was at Mercedes’ store… And of course I did? Would I be a knitter if I hadn’t? 😉
I got a skein of Katia Merino Classic (DK weight, 52% Merino, 48% Acrylic.)
Isn’t the rich shade of magenta just gorgeous?
As it’s winter here, and it’s quite cold, I decided to knit a hat with it (I have a scarf it’ll go with beautifully!) I also chose to make my own design instead of following a pattern. It’s fun to knit something different every so often!
So, of course, I started the brim with the 2x2 rib stitch.
For the main part of the hat, I then chose the bamboo stitch for my hat design.
I remember many years ago knitting a cozy and squishy infinity scarf using the bamboo stitch when living in Japan. I was surrounded by bamboo groves on the mountains. It seemed apt. I love the look and texture! Don’t you?
To add some visual interest, I’ve interspersed some purl stitch rows throughout. It’s also going to be slouchy, which I love.
There was enough yarn left over to knit some fingerless mitts. I used a thumb gusset and I’m yet to master the picked up stitches to complete the thumb section. I still had holes on either side of the picked up stitches, so I sewed them up instead.
I tried out an i-cord bind off at the top of the hand section as an alternative to 2x2 ribbing I’ve used before. The i-cord edge is not as stretchy as ribbing. I’ve only noticed that as I tested out wearing the finished mitts when I was using my computer.
I’m also dreaming of all the things I could make this year…
That’s the beauty of January. So many possibilities stretch out ahead of you, and they’re exciting to contemplate… I have to admit, sometimes though, all those possibilities get a little overwhelming!
So, here’s a tentative list of some ideas for what I could make next.
I’m still eyeing the possibility of making a Fair Isle Sweater.
Related to the above, I really enjoyed making my top-down Caramel Cardigan a few years ago. I’d love to make another garment.
Last year, I started trying to learn to knit some gloves. My goodness, it was challenging, but I love my brain being stretched in new knitting directions! Perhaps I could come back to it.
It’d be interesting to come back to this next year and see how I went!
Why don’t you do the same?
Better yet, reply to this, or leave a comment! I’d love to hear about your list.
And another question for you: Do you have any projects planned out for this year? Any dreams of what you’d love to make?
Press reply or leave a comment!
P.S. Coco & Pepper have some great reads picked out for you on Sunday…
(Disclosure: Any purchases made through links may earn me a commission.)
Before you go…
I love that you made a matching hat and scarf with the yarn from Spain! It’s such a fun way to remember your trip for many years to come. I haven’t explicitly set knitting goals for the year but I’d like to tackled some leftover 2024 goals like knitting color work for the first time.
Happy New Year Jodie! Looks like you are all set and inspired for an adventurous 2025. Love how the hat and mitts turned out!