Lifecycle
Once, long ago, I took a weekend trip. It was cold, so I made a hat. I had a tiny bit of yarn left, so I made some very very wee cuffs to go with it. Then, as is the way with knitted things, I wore the heck out of them. They’ve been used for four winters, and they are showing some serious signs of wear.
But, this isn’t all bad. I’ve been having great fun reworking and re-releasing old patterns. I’ve always wanted the mitts to be a bit taller, and I’ve been feeling the need for a hat with a lovely folded up brim. Throw in just the right yarn, and an upcoming car trip, and I feel a hat coming on. Again.
How about you guys, do you ever go back and re-knit old favorites when they wear out? Any patterns you knit over and over? Or are you always ready to move on to the next thing?
I’ve never managed to knit the same pattern twice and I have so many things in my Ravelry queue I doubt I ever will!
Maybe if people stop designing gorgeous things I may get a chance x
I’ve only had a sock pattern that I’ve knit twice so far, but there are definitely some patterns that I’d love to reknit. Especially if their first version gets worn out.
And that’s some seriously gorgeous yarn you’ve got there!
Definitely! I made a pair of Swirly Mittens (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kiehkuralapaset—swirly-mittens) that came out too small. I gave them away but was so intent on having a pair for myself that I reknit them, Latvia braids and all. When they wore out after 4 winters, I thought very seriously about reknitting the pattern again. I eventually decided to use the Dither pattern and franken-knit a mitten pattern, but it was a close call. I have knit baby and sock patterns more than once as well. I’m a product knitter at heart, and if a pattern is fun to knit and makes something pretty, I’m happy to knit it more than once!
I have several go-to shawl patterns that I’ve knit multiple times, though never 2 projects in a row. That would get to be too much. With so many beautiful yarns available I find that knitting in a new colorway makes a pattern I’ve knitted before seem exciting.
I was always ready to move onto the next thing….until the Amenable pattern. I just love knitting it. : )
Beautiful yarn!
I sometimes re-knit patterns. For example, I like cabling, and I wanted a cabled scarf. I looked at Ravelry, but I didn’t find anything I liked more than Dryad by Jared Flood, which I had knit before and given away. I have also reused shawl patterns for single skeins of yarn that work with the smaller skeins (350 yd), as I don’t want to run out of hand-dyed yarn two rows from the end.
There are a handful of things I’ve knit multiple times, I like to re-knit go-to patterns for gifts for other people b/c I’m already sure I know how they will turn out.
I’ve used the Dragonscale Wristwarmers pattern (free on
Ravelry) for a few cold-ish weather bridal gifts, but there’s too much new I want to knit to replow the same field too often.
I love asymmetrical/boomerang shawls and have knit several multiple times. Sometimes I’ve done a riff in the pattern where I use the basic design and add add or modify the design features.
I find this type of project perfect for social knitting when my hands need a break from sock needles.
One of the fun parts of reknitting the same patten is that I’m learning more about how different dye approaches look knit up.
At this point I’ve knit 4 Hitchhiker shawls, all for me. 🙂
I recognize those cuffs! I still love mine, though they are so small they often go missing in the depth of the wool bin. I like a mix of familiar and new. Often I like to return to a favorite pattern for gift knitting since I have a better idea how my gauge will work with the pattern and much of the time the knits are being sent afar to their recipients.
I think I have knit five nearly-identical mug cozies. They’re one of my favorite things to knit because I can get exactly two out of a skein of a yarn that I particularly like knitting, and I gave them all away to different people (well, except the one I kept for myself).
I often want to reknit patterns I’ve enjoyed, but don’t always have the time, since I want to make new things, too. 🙂