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Knitting has been my other obsession this year. I got back into knitting during lockdown when I knitted loads of brightly coloured dishcloths, a fair few of them during zoom calls. A couple of years ago I knitted about 20 hats one after the other. Last year was all about knitting toy animals for the grandchildren, but this year has been more varied.

This is what I’ve knitted which brought me a lot of joy:

  • a Debbie Bliss cardigan for my grandson
  • a Vogue sweater vest for me – see awkward photo above. I decided to knit this in the round before realising that doesn’t really work for intarsia patterns. Duplicate stitching the diagonals was a new skill for me.
  • a Knitting for Olive anemone vest for granddaughter Olivia
  • a Knitting for Olive dinosaur jumper for my grandson. The neck of this was far too tight so I had to add a button opening by cutting the knitting and sewing bias binding round the edge. Bit nerve-wracking but it worked.
  • a Petite Knit sweater vest for me in a gorgeous green malabrigo yarn which is a bit too fluffy so it’s annoyingly pilled.
  • six pairs of socks – four in DK yarn and two in four ply. I discovered Knit with Me yarn shop in Richmond on one of my ultra training runs and love it. They suggested a pattern and yarn to get me started, and I’ve had a pair of socks on the go ever since. I find it fascinating that you can turn a strand of yarn into a 3D shape that fits your foot with only two ends to sew in. I made socks for a friend’s birthday, for my work secret Santa present, and for two of my sisters for Christmas. There was lots of knitting on tube journeys for the last three, and I didn’t finish reading one book in December!
  • a hat for my grandson
  • a baby sweater vest for a work colleague using some of the Knitting with Olive wool left over from Olivia’s vest

You can see pictures of all of these on my Instagram knitting highlight.

I taught myself continental knitting this year which is much quicker for socks and hats, although my tension isn’t even enough for a jumper yet. I also conquered magic loop knitting, and a couple of days ago learned how to do Norwegian purl from YouTube videos for the rib on my latest pair of socks. I’ve loved discovering patterns that you knit in one piece so there’s no sewing up.

I’m in Climate Stitch Club which was set up by Flossie who used to work for Green Alliance, and her friend Maya, for people in the environment sector who are into stitching. I have loved our after work gatherings, and learn a lot. I went to a Knit with Me knit and natter in Chiswick which was fun, and a crafting screening at Picturehouse Greenwich organised by my friend Jane where they show a film and leave the lights on so you can knit to your heart’s content. I’d love to see something like that happen closer to home! I’ve knitted in the car a lot, on trains, on a plane, on the tube, while waiting for my cross-country marshalling duties to start, during a couple of zoom calls at work (although I don’t make a habit of that), while watching TV (including Game of Wool) and during a few social gatherings to help me cope.

Works in progress: I’ve got one sleeve to go on Ruke Knit’s yoga winter sweater although I’ve had to lengthen the sleeves quite drastically and I’m not sure if I like it! I’ve also nearly finished another baby sweater vest for a friend whose baby is due in January. I just need to pick up and knit the rib around the armholes which is my least favourite bit. And I’ve started a pair of 4-ply socks with yarn from Beautiful Knitters which is conveniently near work. So there will definitely be more knitting in 2026.

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