Everything I Knit in 2016

Sharing knitting knostalgia with you

There has been of a trend of posting pictures from 2016, which I participated in in now-expired Instagram stories, sorry if you missed out because I let some real treasures out of the archives. (Picture this: a video of me with a Karen haircut and highlights pretending to be a mom from hit reality TV show Dance Moms). This inspired me to do a little retrospective on what I knit in 2016. I started knitting in around 2007, but 2016 is the year that I became intensely obsessed with knitting. It was my junior year of college and I had just finished my first degree violin recital and I was so eager to put down the violin for a bit and be absorbed by a hobby.

Dotted Rays (Self Striping) by Stephen West, knit in Noro Kureopatora

The first project I uploaded to Ravelry was this shawl. I know that in the months before this I had been knitting the classic cuffed beanie from Purl Soho’s website over and over again, but I don’t think I had really begun exploring Ravelry yet. Its funny to me that after taking a look at what was popular on Ravelry I started with a shawl. There is a bizarre phenomenon in knitting where knitting and wearing shawls is normalized. It goes something like this: you get into knitting and start joining online or real life communities of knitters and many of them are knitting shawls so you decide you should knit shawls as well. Before you know it you are constantly knitting and wearing shawls. About a year in you realize no one outside of knitting owns or wears a shawl and it is indeed NOT NORMAL.

Antonia/Antonio by Julie Weisenberger, knit in Noro Taiyo

I took one step into a yarn store and I knew what I was about. I gravitated to Noro yarns like a moth to a flame. Both of the first two projects on this list are Noro and 10 years later I still haven’t gotten bored of the saturated colors and wonderful textures of Noro yarns. I loved this cardigan, I got cool fancy glittery vintage buttons from a fabric boutique in Houston. The yarn ended up stretching out a lot with wear but I embraced how oversized it ended up.

7 Stitches Per Inch Sock by Ann Budd, knit in Berroco Sox

This project page on Ravelry being titled “First Socks” is so cute omg. The pattern came from a wonderful book called Getting Started Knitting Socks which had everything you needed to learn sock knitting as well as a vanilla sock pattern at every different gauge/yarn weight you could want. Going through these old projects its fun to see how my style has changed and how it has stayed the same. In these years, making and wearing home-sewn polyester print satin harem pants had a death grip on me. I don’t wear silky drop crotch pants anymore, but I still love wearing socks and Birkenstocks. It’s comfortable and I love the way it looks. Sue me, haters.

Good Vibes by Nadia Crétin-Léchenne knit in Madeline Tosh Tosh Merino Light

I just got chills typing Tosh Merino Light. The cultural impact of Madeline Tosh Yarns in 2016… you had to be there. They were dying THE BEST colors at THE BEST price points. At this point my personal Instagram had already become completely knitting focused. I remember posting about getting started on this shawl and the designer commented something nice and I truly felt like I was interacting with a CELEBRITY it made me so happy. Oh to be a fat gay hipster in skinny jeans and a granny shawl stunting on Houston in 2016.. TAKE ME BACK.

Antarktis by Janina Kallio in Tosh Sock and Fibra Natura Flax

As I said, I started knitting shawls and didn’t stop. I began gifting shawls to unsuspecting family members. I said, “hey not sure if you wanted to LARP as Marilla from Anne of Green Gables but here you go.” Making a shawl out of linen really demonstrates devotion to shawl life because I definitely made that as a “summer shawl” LMAO. I made the classic mistake of letting a drag queen borrow my summer shawl for a costume to do a lip sync at a bar and she got drunk and lost it. Do not loan your swag to drag queens, a lesson we all have to learn somehow.

Summer Flies by Donna Griffin in Classic Elite Provence

omg this is very and extremely ugly to me in 2026. Sorry to my great aunt Jean who I gave this to as a 90th birthday present. She did wear it to church one time and sent me a picture which was nice of her bc even for a 90 year old in 2016 I think she probably thought this was dorky and ugly. When she died I wondered where this ended up. Landfill God willing.

French Cancan by Mademoiselle C in Madeline Tosh Longrider DK

This pattern was so viral in 2016. It was on the front page of hot right now for a long time if I remember correctly. I made this as a gift for my sister in law who I did not ever see wear it. I guess she didn’t wanna LARP as Marilla. I acknowledge that most people do not want to own or wear hand knit shawls, however, I still think this is quite beautiful 10 years later. Also I keep my beard pretty short these days, but it is a luscious fantasy-novel dwarf-like shade of red as you can see here.

Mochi Plus Mitered Shawl by Gail Tanquary in Crystal Palace Yarns Mochi Plus

I REPEAT, YOU WERE NOT GONNA CATCH ME LACKING IN 2016, I ALWAYS HAD THAT SHIT (LUCKY BRAND WOMEN’S SKINNY JEANS AND A HAND KNIT SHAWL) ON, NOT TO MENTION THE LITTLE PONYTAIL. This shawl was so big and soft as hell, I’m so sad that it got moth infested with all my other knitwear and yarn I left in a storage unit for two years. Oh well RIP.

Cozy Comfort Cowl by Sarah Kochanowski in Malabrigo Yarn Caracol

I wanna close with this project bc I was wearing it while knitting a sock and looking so happy. I remember this day so well. I was doing this shitty Christmas gig that I loved that I played violin for for many years. It was shitty because it didn’t pay well and it was far away in League City (an ugly place) but I loved it because I was friends with the music director at the church and all my friends played in the orchestra with me. We would always kill time at the nearby Starbucks before the gig and that’s what we were doing here.

This wasn’t even everything I knit in 2016, I had to edit a bit FYI. This was fun and here’s to the next ten years of loving this hobby. Thanks for reading, bye.