Challenge yourself with a new knitting project

This year I resolved to not resolve. For more years than I care to count, I have made annual New Year’s resolutions. We all know how that goes.

Now I prefer to begin the year with something positive, and achievable. I can’t think of anything better than starting a new knitting project.

Last year I chose a fun and easy-to-knit cowl. It proved to be a great project, and many shop customers chose to begin their new year knitting it.

As most knitters know, there is nothing better than starting a new project. There is something about a new pattern and brand new yarn. Some knitters like to savor planning for the new project. They take the time to work the gauge swatch, all the while working the different stitches or techniques in their heads. They may have to play around with different needle sizes, or maybe consider reworking the pattern for one reason or another. There can be so much to consider.

Then there are those who just take the plunge, gauge swatch be damned. They fall in love with a project or yarn and simply can’t wait to start knitting. Some designs excite the knitter’s imagination, or it may be the yarn’s texture or silkiness that lures the knitter.

I have spent a good part of a day toying with what I want this year’s project to be. There are a few contenders, one being a sweet pair of mitts in a combination of Fair Isle and lace work, which always appeals to me. It’s a small, doable project, and promises instant gratification, plus I always find color work mentally entertaining.

What I will probably do is bring home several yarn possibilities, and my needle cases. There is nothing worse than wanting to start and realize that you don’t have the right needle

Ginger Balch / Contributed photo / Challenge yourself in the new year with a new knitting project.