2026, A Year of Joy

The other day, I sat at my absolute mess of a desk to answer some emails. Yarn. Everywhere. Swatches, project bags, and errant needles all over. 

So, being a fresh new year, I wanted a fresh new start. I took everything yarn-related and brought it to my closet for organization. While doing this, I realized that over the past three months, I have tried to work on six new designs, none of which have landed. Lots of sketching and swatching and changing my mind, but never feeling the click that happens when I know I'm on the right track. I realized I hadn't cast on any new designs since last summer, and worse yet, I wasn't the least bit excited to do so.  

The hard truth is that I am, indeed, in a design slump. A big one.

This has happened before, and generally resolved itself when a shiny new yarn whispered loudly in my direction what it wanted to become. But I bought the new yarns. They shouted inspiration and ideas at me, but I felt absolutely no desire to make it happen. And when I did sit down and try, nothing seemed right. It all fell completely flat.

Sitting on the floor of my closet last week, surrounded by my beautiful yarn stash, I had a thought. What if I just didn't design knitwear anymore?

And that thought filled me with joy.

The thought of knitting for fun, with no pressure, taking time to learn new things and knitting patterns from other designers immediately had me inspired for the first time in months. I'm very much a "go with what feels right" type of person, and that moment of sharp clarity was all I needed. 

2026 will be my year of zero new designs. 

And I'm more excited about knitting than I have been in a long, long time. 

But what exactly does that mean? 

Honestly, I'm not sure. I have a few designs in progress, and I do plan to release those at some point, but I won't be actively trying to do anything more than that. 

I will absolutely continue to teach, as that is something I've done a lot of this past year, in person and online, and I've loved connecting with you all in that way. Helping others achieve success in their own knitting is something I still feel very, very passionate about. (And if there's something you'd like to learn from me, let me know, and I'll see if I can make it happen! I'd especially love to expand our online classes.)

I also think that by working on new projects, learning new techniques, and just knitting more in general will give me opportunities to share more of what I'm working on with you. Designing can be so secretive sometimes, so I expect my presence on Instagram will see an uptick, I'll have more to talk about in this newsletter, and I've even been thinking about dusting off Ye Olde YouTube Channel. 

This will be a big change for sure, but I can already feel the pressure lifting, and I can't wait to share with you what comes next!

Are you feeling the exact opposite of me and think 2026 is your year to start designing knitwear? That's fantastic and I'd love to cheer you on! You can check out our Knitwear Design Mastery Class, or download our free Knitwear Designer's Pattern Checklist.