2025 - the year of big plans

Snow Moon Socks - my latest sock design

Yes, I know that it might seem a bit late to be wandering in here with my 2025 plans - seeing as how it is now the beginning of February. But despite what the calendar says I never really feel as though January counts.

To me it is a month of extremes. Lots of pressure to deny yourself after the excesses of Christmas - challenges such as Dry January and No Spend Months abound. It can all make social media feel like a very noisy place.

January is generally cold and dark (for those of us in the northern hemisphere) and any sane person is hunkered down like a dormouse. Staying quietly at home, under a blanket, possibly with snacks.

But with the first stirrings of spring (I saw my first snowdrops the other day) usually comes a burst of energy and in true fashion I leapt in with both feet.

I started a podcast - yes - you read that right.

After years of saying I would start a podcast I finally did.

Everyday Knitter Podcast - listen here

The podcast is an extension of the Everyday Knitter community I have been slowly growing on Substack. The platform there makes it really easy to not just use it for newsletters and blog-style posts but also to add audio and video to the Everyday Knitter group there.

If you are new to Substack you might want to check out this piece I wrote about it a while ago: What Can Substack Do For You?

Or you might want to just visit my homepage there and see for yourself what I have been posting. For me one of the best things is that, unlike with a blog platform, it is really easy to leave a comment and you can actually chat with other commenters as well - sometimes whole conversations happen in the comments section which is so wonderful to see and be a part of.

Say hello on Substack

Design Plans

I have also hit the group running with a slightly ambitious plan to release a new sock pattern for each of the new moons of 2025. So far we have already had Wolf Moon and Snow Moon (below) and coming up at the end of February will be the design for Crow Moon.

To make sure you don’t miss out on any new releases - and early bird discounts - don’t forget to sign up to receive my weekly newsletter - click this link to sign up.

And if you do pop over to check our Substack please do wave and say hello. My blog here isn’t going anywhere but I do spend a lot of time over on Substack now as I love how it lets me connect with other yarny and creative folk.

Scrappy socks...with a little bit extra

Smackerel Socks

In our house there are snacks and there are meals. But there is also an in-between category - a fancy snack which is known as a Smackerel.

And when I started working on these scrappy socks, the word Smackerel kept coming to mind. They are a bit fancier than a plain scrappy, striped sock but don’t require the effort and preparation needed for a full blown meal.

They are the perfect happy medium. Simple to work but fancy enough to show off. And each colour band uses just a hair over 1g, meaning that you can use up the tiniest bits of sock yarn leftovers that you have hanging around.

Fancy and thrifty - does it get any better.

Actually yes it does, as the pattern is written with both toe-up and cuff down options - just pick the option you want at the pattern download stage.

A new design and a realisation

The PPS

This week saw most of my plans crumble like a soggy digestive. A recurring inner ear problem put me firmly out of action for a few days and meant that my lovely neat content calendar went disregarded - seriously cross - I used coloured pens and everything.

But I did manage to launch my new shawl design - The PPS* - which I was really pleased about. And a huge thank you to everyone who has been in touch, bought the pattern or talked about it to their friends. I really appreciate it, and seeing it on the front page of Ravelry patterns (albeit briefly) was a huge boost - Thank You.

In the past though I would have been stressed about what I was not doing, about things that I “should” be doing. They were in my planner for heavens sake - therefore they must be done.

This time though I listened to my inner voice - the one that sounds uncannily like my Mum. Telling me that I really couldn’t do it all. That trying to battle on through a horrible combination of vertigo and seasickness was never going to end well. And that it was OK to just take a few days off.

And so I did. And I have to say that it felt really good. Maybe, just maybe that pesky inner voice knows what it’s talking about sometimes.

*The PPS - why the name?

It stands for the Pattern Please Shawl - which if you are a member of any online communities (Facebook - I’m looking at you) you’ll instantly recognise as the pesky phrase that pops up repeatedly when people share their work but don’t share every last detail of the pattern/yarn/needles. I’m easily amused, I know but I quite like the idea of people asking “pattern please” when folk share an image of their completed shawls to which the response can quite legitimately be “why yes it is, how did you guess”

I told you I was easily amused - although judging from your response I think that quite a few of you also share my sense of humour

Mickelby Cowl

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mickelby

This was originally part of a collaboration with Eden Cottage Yarns and now this cowl pattern - my Mickelby Cowl - is on general sale on Ravelry with a little early bird discount - although if you are a newsletter subscriber please check your inbox first for a little extra discount*.

This is a quick and really straightforward knit which looks way more complicated than it really is.

If you have always shied away from colourwork or filed it away in the box marked “too scary” I promise that it’s a lot simpler than it looks. The slip stitch pattern means that you only work with 1 colour per round and it’s really addictive - a real “just one more round” kind of project.

And, as an added bonus it is a snug fitting cowl - it uses only 50g of sockweight yarn with 2 x 10g mini skeins - ideal for stashbusting purposes.

So there you go, quick, easy and thrifty - what more could you want.

*The discount codes apply until March 2nd

You can buy the pattern here, and if you’d like to sign up to receive notifications on future pattern releases as well as the forthcoming sock KAL you can sign up here.

Pure Luck socks

Pure Luck socks

It seems that new designs are like buses - you wait for ages and then a few come along at once.

Today is October 1st - the start of Socktober and what better way to celebrate than with a new sock pattern.

These are toe-up socks with a little difference in the toe detail. Perfect if you want to try something different for your next toe-up pair.

You can find all the details over on Ravelry - and if you use the code SOCKTOBER at checkout you’ll get a 25% discount with my compliments.

There will be a few more Socktober happenings as well during the month so be sure to check in for news - or sign up to my newsletter so you don’t miss out.

Click here to jump to the pattern

Yarn with a mind of its own

Yarn is Manos del Uruguay, Allegria. Colouway Orchid.

After wrangling a new sock yarn purchase for most of the afternoon and battling pooling in it's various guises my yarn and I sat down to have a full and frank exchange of views.

After a glass of wine we decided that actually it didn't want to be socks, that it had never wanted to be socks and that I was cruel and heartless for trying to persuade it into a nice, simple plain vanilla sock.

So, I took the yarn's advice and cast on for a nice garter stitch Fuss Free Festival Shawl instead.

And now everyone is happy.

The moral of the story is clear - sometimes you just have to let the yarn win. And also - a glass of wine helps most (but not all) knitting dramas.