After the Holiday Knitting rush, comes January. What do you knit in January? Something for yourself? Do you finish up WIP? Try a new skill?

I usually don’t have a plan. I sometimes pick up a project started in early fall. Or I may abandon a project I started in early fall and knit something new. Since social distancing has kept us home, I had several days home over the holidays and decided to look into and clear out some of my stash. I found a skein of Mountain Colors, 100% Wool in Worsted Weight. I knit myself a headband and mitts: Tabitha by Anne Hanson. They were a fast knit, something I like to do between very detailed shawls to have more instant gratification.

The headband had short row shaping, so I also learned a new skill. I am not sure I did it completely correct, but it looks okay. The mitts and headband are warm and are perfect to wear when I am out doing errands.

Tabitha from Knitspot

I wasn’t sure what to knit next, should I go back to the vest I was knitting? I was a little bored with that project but it’s almost done and I was about to add pockets. Another new skill.

Then I learned one of the physicians I work with was going to be a new dad. I have to knit a baby blanket! My go to baby blanket is Big Bad Baby Blanket by Lisa Shobhana Mason, published in Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook (a great book, by the way). I have knit six of these blankets so far. Here is one I knit in 2020.

Vivienne’s Big Bad Baby Blanket

Now I needed a color idea so I could dye the yarn for the blanket. The mother-to-be wanted purple for her little girl. I set out to dye 2 coordinating colors of Nightingale Fibers Madeleine – 100% superwash Merino. I knew what color I wanted for the main purple color: Jelly. I wanted to add contrasting color to make it more “girlie” so I dyed a skein with areas of pink and white. I started the blanket but the pink and white seemed to “wash out” the main color.

So I went back to my original formula that I have used for the other blankets. The coordinating colorway includes a the main color and then two secondary colors. I dyed about 1/2 in the main color (Jelly), 1/3 in a pink and left 1/3 undyed. Here are the results:

Nightingale Fibers Madeleine

And here is the blanket started. I think it is going to look so cute.

Off I go to knit!

And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.

Rainer Maria Rilke, poet