Winter Haven KAL 2025 round up

Hello!  Welcome to February!  The Winter Haven KAL has finished now for this year, and I do hope you enjoyed it if you took part.  I have certainly been very glad of my Haven space during the last few weeks and even this week when the weather turned colder and I just wanted to be snuggled up with my knitting … I’m not ready to let it go yet!

I’ve had such a lovely time seeing all of your projects and reading your emails through the weeks of the knit-along and as in previous years, I thought that I’d write one more post to catch up with the last photos and update our book list.  Are you ready?

As always, it’s the Haven Spaces first and here’s our last look at them for this year.  I’ve done my best to include everyone’s photo that I saw, but it’s entirely possible that I have missed some, so my apologies if you haven’t spotted yours!

Jacqui has such a lovely cosy set up here!  That’s one snuggly blanket over her comfy chair, and she’s got everything close to hand that she’ll need too.  Her plant made me smile – I think that’s a “prayer plant” which folds its leaves up at night and we used to have one of those … but it gave not so small daughter the creeps so it had to go!

Sharon’s been poorly over the winter like so many people – honestly, I have spoken to so many people who have been flattened by some nasty bug or other over the last few weeks and if that’s been your situation as well, I hope you are on the mend now.  Sharon’s been able to do a little bit of knitting, though, and has been kept in line by Winston and Churchill overseeing the whole process 🙂

Karen has a lovely comfy chair to knit in – and that’s a ball of Hidden Gem she’s found to knit her Trailblazer Socks with!  Alison is using Seascape, and I love her little lighthouse by her chair!

Jacqui is knitting both of her Trailblazer Socks at the same time on two needles – lots of people do this and it’s a great idea to avoid Second Sock Syndrome!  Elizabeth was inspired to knit these Easy Colourwork Socks in blue and white after watching a movie and seeing some colourwork socks she liked the look of.  Another cosy blanket, too!

Jan has chosen a solid shade for her Trailblazer socks, and Bronwen is knitting a pair of Neat Ripple Socks in Summer Sunset – lovely!  There’s lots of light in Jan’s photo, and lots of chocolate in Bronwen’s – both perfect Haven Spaces! 🙂

Finally for this year, Sue’s found herself a Haven Space outdoors and is showing off her gorgeous Wildflower Trailblazer Socks at the same time.  Sue lives on an island and can often be found near the water – I’m very happy that she wants to wear her socks when she’s out!

Oh my goodness, there have been so many lovely Haven Spaces to look at this year, wouldn’t you agree?  I’m going to miss seeing them all – although it’s so nice that the nights are getting lighter.  It was nearly six o’clock before it went properly dark the other day which is quite a difference in a short time since the shortest day before Christmas.  Thank you so much for sharing your photos and telling me your stories this year! xx

 

On to projects now, and I hope that I’ve managed to catch all the projects this week!  Let’s start with a last look at the Trailblazer Socks for this year …

Kristi, Lisa and Karen have all chosen Winwick Mum yarns for their Trailblazer Socks – Summer Sunset, Seascape and Hidden Gem – I love the look of the three photos together!  Kristi repeated the pattern twice on both the front and the back of the socks and I really like the look of that 🙂

Valerie has used Winwick Mum Wildflower – we’ve seen a few pairs of Trailblazer Socks in that yarn this year and they all look fabulous!  Pat decided to use a solid colour and that shows off the colour very well.  Marly’s pair in pink and grey stripes are going to look lovely!

Andrea has chosen a muted green variegated yarn which shows the pattern off very well – as does Gaenor’s brighter green pair!  I do love to see how the pattern knits up in different yarns – sometimes it loos like a completely different pattern! 🙂  Julie has been very busy during the Winter Haven KAL, not only knitting her pair of Trailblazer socks but also a pair of mittens and she’s started a pair of Easy Lace Socks too!

 

I always like to see pairs of Basic 4ply Socks being knitted up because that means that there are everyday socks on the needles, shortly to be on feet.  I think that hand knit socks are one of the real luxuries of life, and I think that everybody should be able to wear them!

We saw Julie’s pair in progress in Week 4 and now they’re finished.  As if hand knit socks in any yarn aren’t unique enough, adding a contrast to the mix really makes them yours!  Liz is knitting with WYS Nutcracker Christmas yarn (and I think that this should have been with the Haven Space photos … you can tell it’s Friday! 🤣)  What a lovely cosy space next to the fire, and with socks on the needles too – brilliant!

Jacqui has got plenty of knitting in recently, much of it to be gifted to her family.  These are her daughter’s socks which match jumpers made for Jacqui’s granddaughters – what a lovely way to use up the yarn!  Treva has knitted her Basic socks with Wildflower, showing that it is just as gorgeous without a pattern (not that I am biased at all!)

Ruth has been very busy knitting a pair of Basic 4ply Knee High Socks, which was the Winter Haven KAL pattern from 2021.  I knitted quite a few pairs of knee high socks that year so I can tell you that there are a LOT of rounds before you get down to the heel, never mind the toes!  🙂  They look fabulous, and I love the contrast with the striped yarn

 

Finally, let’s take a look at some of the other patterns that have been on the go during January.

Catherine finished her pair of shortie Treasure Socks – you can knit your own pair by combining the Treasure Socks pattern with the Basic 4ply Shortie Socks pattern.  They are well-travelled socks as they were started in Chad and finished in Edinburgh, and I expect that Catherine is very glad to have them on her feet now!

Split Mittens!  Oh, I LOVE these!  This has to be my favourite pattern after my socks, they’re just so blooming useful!  Sarah’s mitten reminds her of Zapp ice lollies bought for her by her Grandad, and it’s so nice to think that every time she wears her mittens, her Grandad will be in her thoughts.  Tina’s pair remind me of blue tit birds, and they look very cosy!

Annette has made a pair of Sofa Snuggle Socks in WYS Elements yarn.  Strictly speaking, it’s not a sock yarn at all but it’s lovely and soft and silky, perfect for snuggling in whilst you watch the TV or sit around the house.  I’m always so pleased to see this pattern being knitted as I make a donation to the Trussell Trust food bank organisation for every pattern sold, and I love being able to send the money to the charity and know that we are helping.  Sharon has started a pair of Sanctuary Socks in Seascape yarn and she’s making a great job of it!  This was the pattern that I designed for the very first Winter Haven KAL, and I always liked to see that it’s still being knitted!

Finally for this year, Helena has knitted a pair of Good Vibrations socks, which is the pattern I designed for the West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK Sock yarn last year.  It’s got a cable panel down the front that I really enjoyed designing – I love cables!  ColourLab DK Sock is really good yarn for socks – I knitted two pairs in this yarn for not so small daughter when she went to Nepal last year.  She’s off to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this year so I need to start thinking about a new pattern!  Michelle has finished her pair of Boxy Rib Socks in Winter Icicle and enjoyed knitting them so much that she’s started another pair in Hidden Gem!  Now that’s a compliment for my pattern – thank you!  And also to all of you who chose to knit with Winwick Mum yarns – I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see them out in the wild!

And that’s it!  All the photos I have for this year and I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing them.  I have LOVED the Winter Haven KAL this year, and I really appreciate how much you’ve got involved and got in touch.  Thank you! xx

 

Before I go, here’s the book list for this year.  There’s a lot of books on this list so hopefully there will be something that you might fancy reading if you’re looking for something new!

 

My books are:

Sleep, Drink, Breathe by Michael Breus, The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest, Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan and the Oor Wullie annual (all Amazon links)

Your books:

The End of the World is a Cul-de-Sac by Louise Kennedy

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Brady

Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You by Miranda Hart

The Celtic Alternative by Shirley Toulson

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

Murder at the Knitting Retreat by Glenda Barnett

The Bridleway by Tiffany Francis-Baker

Uproar by Alice Loxton

Unruly by David Mitchell

Hungry by Grace Dent

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

 

I do hope you’ve enjoyed seeing all of the photos, and thank you so much for being part of the Winter Haven KAL with me again this year.  It’s been lovely to know that we were all doing something similar during January and I have thoroughly enjoyed being connected with you through the blog, email and social media over the weeks of the KAL.

I hope you are fully rested and recharged now, and ready to face the rest of the year! xx