Inspiration
Making It: 2025 Craftolutions!
It’s that time again! As we move toward the end of the year, I’ve asked my favorite question for the year ahead: What are your 2025 knitting goals and craftolutions?
My big goal for 2024 was to create more knitting and crochet patterns than I’ve done in previous years. Somehow, I managed to release eight new patterns, even though it feels like January is both yesterday and tomorrow. And I couldn’t be prouder of that craftolution.
I think there’s power in saying your dreams and goals out loud. Even if it’s just to yourself.
So let’s hear what this community wants to accomplish in the year ahead and brainstorm some ways to cross these goals off one by one.
First of all, let’s do a mindset shift. You are not abandoning it. You are a yarn curator!
Your collection could be in a museum one day. While the museum will want finished pieces displayed on mannequins, they’ll also want progress swatches, skeins, and scraps to round out the exhibition.
But if you’re determined to push through your stash, I support you. Just know that if you don’t make it through by 2026, your yarn won’t hold grudges.
Oh, and make sure to protect your stash with cedar, just in case!
You know what? Entrelac never gets the flowers it deserves! It’s one of the most beautiful knitting techniques, but you (I) just don’t see it very often. Justice for entrelac! Viva la entrelac revolution!
But I digress. What if I told you this might be a two birds one stone situation—you can do entrelac with crochet too. [mic drop]
A gasp just moved through the comments section.
Honestly, you’re not alone. Life has a way of getting busier and busier, and finding a free moment to knit can feel impossible. The great thing about knitting is that you can never truly lose it. It’s inside of you…or maybe inside a tote bag stuffed in a closet beneath your summer clothes. It’ll be waiting for you whenever you’re ready.
P.S. I haven’t investigated whether this maker swapped their knitting for crochet or another craft, but for the sake of our emotional well-being, let’s say they did.
I know that a knitting diary and a knitting journal are the same thing, but for some reason, calling it a “diary” changes how I think about it. It makes it sound like, instead of just adding notes about the project and swatch info, you could also add a little story: why you want to make it, the occasion, where you got the yarn, and who you were with.
Knitting projects always tell stories about their makers. I love the idea of putting the full story on paper.
I have a feeling this is on quite a few craftolutions lists this year…and was probably on a few last year, too.
I recently crossed this off my list in 2024, and I’m happy to pass the baton to you for 2025. While I’m far from perfecting socks, I know someone—and something—that helped me, so I’m sure it’ll help you too.
Can I introduce you to MDK Field Guide No. 27: Sock Odyssey & designer Fatimah Hinds.
It’s SO easy to fall into a yarn rut. I’ll admit, it’s a very happy rut—most of us find yarns and brands we love and stitch comfortably within our comfort zones.
But maybe we haven’t met our favorite yarns yet. Imagine the joy when we finally do! I hope we all have a year of exploring new yarnie frontiers ahead of us.
The fun thing about this goal is that you can start with patterns you already have in your library. Whether that means removing the colorwork from a sweater you love the fit of, changing up the trim on a blanket, or swapping one cable design for another, think of knitting patterns as roadmaps. Don’t be afraid to go off-roading on your way to the destination.
Good news: You have an entire year to reach this goal. A yoke by February, ribbing by May, sleeve one in July, and sleeve two in August. Then, before you know it, it’s time to weave in your ends through September. You’ll be wearing your sweater all fall and winter 2025 long!
And this is how we end up with yarn stashes and pattern queues. BUT I admire this approach, and I can’t wait to see where the winds of inspiration take you.
I can’t wait to hear your craftolutions in the comments below. I hope you have a very happy, very yarn-filled new year ahead!
the only New year’s resolution that i have ever kept was the one i made in 1985 to never make another New Year’s resolution!
as a keen knitter I often remark to myself that i really won’t buy too much wool/yarn and will try to do something with the huge amounts of stash i have accumulated. this year i finally knitted the shawl from wool and a pattern that i bought in Flagstaff Arizona in 2016 (don’t be silly! of course it’s not had ends sewn in, been washed and blocked yet!)
did i resist buying wool at the 2 yarn shows i attended this year? (don’t be silly! of course not!). 2025 will have to be the year of knitting a fade sweater (or two) from the dozens of single skeins of sock weight in my stash. and, of course, not buying an y wool/yarn at the 2 yarn shows i will be attending.
I am retiring in 2025! I can’t wait to dive into my stash and finally have the time to finish a project!
I retired in 2021 and still have the fantasy of having time to finish a project!! All I seem to do is start new ones….lol
I will steek!
I posted the laughing emoji but it didn’t take. Love your resolution!
My craftolution for 2025 is to meet up for more crafternoons! My best maker friend took a cue from Franklin Habit and retired to France… We have decided to set up time to meet online and knit, crochet, cross stitch and paper craft. I see a lot of WIP’s being completed in the future!
I have both of Patty Lyons books and intend to work my way through them in 2025. I have some gaps in skills, since I learn things as I need to know them for a project. Now I will systematically fill in the gaps. I’m gonna “fight for the why”…. as Patty says
Yes! I opened an Amazon package yesterday, expecting gifts, and nested in the middle between Dino dominos and colourful scratch pads, was the workbook, ordered months ago. Reading isn’t enough for me; I have to work it into my repertoire.
And catch my mistakes more quickly. Count and check pattern regularly. Know when to rip back and when to tinker row at a time instead of wasting time on both. Only knit what I love and more quickly abandon patterns that lose their lustre. Boldly buy at Tanis’s Boxing Day sale!
I am going to knit the Transom Cardigan and work through Patty Lyons’ workbook.
I cast on the Transom earlier this year, knitted the back panel, realized I’d made an error, ripped it out and never got it going again.
I have both of the Patty Lyons’ books and am looking forward to learning new skills and brushing up on old ones.
Try my hand at colorwork!
Very clever! Still thinking…
I’m looking forward to Another Year of Gnomes with Imagined Landscapes (I’m thinking of a coordinated dozen using The Princess Bride mini skeins), colorwork socks with Summer Lee, working through Patty Lyons Workbook (I have some bad techniques!), maybe give Brioche another revival, and of course anything my grandchildren want!
I don’t do resolutions. But I am working towards doing some of the things you mentioned.
I bought some lovely Lopi yarn from you to make the day tripper sweater and it is my one goal to make that sweater. I need to rework the color chart for the colors I want to use. The program that I have been using for color work doesn’t support that so I will be sketching by hand.
I will learn how to knit something in Fair Isle. Socks, sweater, teddy bears, anything!!!
All projects will be joyfully knit with ONLY the really good stuff. Because I deserve it!
Work more with my knitting machines. I want to master socks on the double flat bed all while continuing to hand knit pretties. Oh! then there’s Tunisian crochet….
I am committed to knitting from my stash. Maybe. But then there is a sale. Sigh.
I am knitting hats or cowls for Christmas 2025. I am starting soon!
I’m going with the same resolution I’ve had for several years…work on all kinds of projects that have been in progress for a long time and kits I’ve “curated” and still want to make. This year I finally finished a coiled reed basket I started 44 (not a typo) years ago and it was lovely…like spending time with an old friend. The 2024 MDK Summer Camp inspired me to work on it again, and I love being able to finally use something that’s been with me so long!
Well, the usual, socks, watchcaps for charity and dishcloths, but maybe something of a challenge, like learning Brioche stitch, we’ll see
I want to make a sweater for my 14 month old grandson. I made a cap sleeve shrug type shirt sweater for my only granddaughter years ago, and she wore it until she couldn’t, but that’s the only sweater I’ve ever knit. I usually stick with things that don’t have to fit well. I’m sad to say, the two grandsons between my granddaughter (age14) and the 14 month old will probably only get hats! However, they have had some pretty cool hats: Owls, Spiderman, dinosaurs, etc.!
I really enjoy Samantha’s articles. Great writing style. Love, a fellow yarn curator.
So good and generous of you to have demystified how an original design might evolve – changes, truly significant or relatively minor, to a pattern you love. I call some of my efforts “Frankensweaters” as they are shoulder shaping from one, neckline from another and let’s not even mention the origin of the body or sleeves!
It’s good for the spirit to venture forth in those ways, I think.
Knit on in joy and discovery!
My goal is to finish five UFOs, especially those two sweaters on sleeve island.
Sleeve island is a great time to binge watch something or listen to a few podcasts. It’s how I finished the sleeves on my first sweater – that and the push that I had finally taken the leap and knit a sweater!
Honestly, the sleeves didn’t bother me as much as people seem to think they do – it was very reminiscent of knitting vanilla socks, which I love to do.
Loved the article! I can identify with most of the comments as well these in the comment section. I’ll probably continue my routine of making something new then finishing up a UFO or a project that’s been in an indefinite timeout! The singular goal is to just keep knitting or crocheting etc!
Love this idea! Current UFOs… the Kiki Mariko rug from Kay and Ann’s book (it has so much potential why isn’t it done?), sweater started in a class then the holidays hit (ugh, has it really been 3 years), night shift stopped in the middle of a color shift and can’t figure out how to get it started again…just a few from a long list.
Samantha thank you for cheering on this frustrated sad knitter who got very little knitting in done 2024! Having to become a caregiver to not only my grandson but also my partner has been so time consuming. All this beautiful yarn and almost no time to knit anything has been so disheartening. I’m going to try to ink out 15 minutes a day to knit SOMETHING in 2025!
I have a list of projects I want to make in 2025 in my bullet journal. A few sweaters, some spinning, using up stash yarn, etc. I had a similar list in 2024. About half of what I made was from the list and half was newly-released patterns or other unplanned inspiration. I put a wrap-up in my journal during Felix Ford’s workshop the other week, and it was so thrilling to see on paper how much I made over the past year. (Multiple sweaters! Socks! Shawls! Hats! Spinning!)
I’ve always wanted to make one of Christel Seyfarth’s beautiful colorwork jackets–the Urban Flower Garden in particular. Thjs out of production kit became available again on black Friday weekend, at a discount. I had a $100 check that was sent to me by a famous South African billionaire in his attempt to bribe folks in PA to vote for his favorite guy (which I didn’t). Used that check to buy the kit from Denmark and now I am happily 3″ deep knitting this gorgeous garment. Finishing this jacket is my goal for 2025!
My one goal for 2025 is to finish the top down lace sweater I’ve been carting around for almost 3 years (Pentwater). It went camping two years, flew to Tennessee one summer and Missouri the next summer, got started and ripped out 4-5 times, made it through the front armhole section and hated one of the colors, so ripped it out last year and restarted it 4-5 times again with a third color I like a lot better. it traveled with me to a fall season of JV football games this year, and to the mechanic’s shop any time I have to sit and wait for an oil change, tire rotation or vehicle repair. I have to say, by now the pattern, (and my stitch count), is coming out much better. I finally rewrote the instructions row by row on a pad of paper, as the yoke increase/lace instructions are on two separate pages in two separate sections of the pattern, which originally took me going through it at least 10 times to begin to understand what was going on. My goal this year is to sit down in the evenings and knit at least 10 minutes, or 1 row, whichever happens first, instead of spending that time surfing on my laptop. I’d like the sweater to be ready for the upcoming family camping trip in July, which is what I originally envisioned it for when I started.
– Make sweaters for myself. A new-ish knitter, I’ve made three sweaters: two for kids, one for me. I have 24 projects in my queue. Time to go!
– Finish or frog. I am two projects in on a finish-or-frog tear. Let the ripping commence!
– Knit with people. I haven’t connected with a knitting group where I live (Jersey City, NJ – please hit me up if you’re local.) I resolve to find places and times to knit in community.
– Work with what I have. I have a lot of yarn. Time to go forward, using what’s at hand.
I want to have more interaction and instruction from the knitting community: I’m going to join the MDK society!!! It is a resolution and a gift to myself. I am so looking forward to all the virtual workshops next year.
No yarn purchases this year!!! I made it to June without buying in 2024 and had great fun rediscovering treasures in my stash. Then, in June, the moratorium on purchases ended and my stash exploded again! This year I’m going to make real, tangible progress and not slide backwards into growing my stash out of control again!
Mostly the same as every year from forever: Finish the UFO’s. They scream at me every time I grab a new pattern & yarn that they should be first in line. I did clear a couple by giving them away to a charity shop so someone else can enjoy them. I think that is cheating though.
Doing better at the finishing touches when a project is completed, and paying more attention to swatches and gauges before I begin!
My craftolutions is the same as last year – diminish the WIP’s and knit from stash. I started so many projects I actually wanted to knit and realized I needed to actually finish some… and then life changed and I have very little knitting time so I’m working one WIP at a time so I can actually see the progress! I have a shawl now where the end is in sight! and I’ve taken time to organize my stash by project so the yarn for everything I want to knit is actually all in one spot. I am giving myself the freedom to change my mind on a project though – who knows if I’ll actually want to knit that pattern in a few years or not! But I am not buying any more yarn until I’ve knit at least half my stash – space and budget constraints.
Love all the great ideas in this comment chain. I recently created better seating space for my knitting time and it’s helped immensely in my ability to knit every day. I bought Carson Diemers “Knitting Comfortably” book and a Valari lap pillow and what a difference in comfort while knitting. I also started standing at my high sewing/cutting table while knitting sometimes…our ancestors stood and even walked while knitting (not trying the walking myself, probably ever). Happy New Year to all and may we each be sure to knit something for ourselves this year.