“All Aboard the Crazy Train!”
That was what Jennifer said to me at the Purple Purl‘s knitnight on Tuesday. Now, I hadn’t been to the Purl in a long time, so I’d missed out on the beginnings of this new madness, but it didn’t take long to fill me in (or get me aboard).
Miko has dreamed up a new challenge: can you, in one year (Feb. 1, 2010 to Jan. 31, 2011) knit each and every pattern from a single book or magazine?
A few brave souls have chose The Knitter’s Book of Wool. Others are picking an issue of Interweave Knits, or an e-book like Whimsical Little Knits.
And for me? I’m going with a classic: Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Apart from just loving the was that woman wrote, it’s got a good mix of patterns, from little things like mittens to large projects such as blankets and shawls. I might cheat a bit, and make the sweaters all toddler-sized. I might not make it at all. But I’m up for the challenge!
So, anyone else joining us on the Crazy Train? 1 book, 1 year, all the patterns. We can do it.
Aemmeleia's Ephemera 
Well, that really sounds like a fun challenge and one I might just take “one year” but unfortunately it’s too late for me this year — I set a bunch of other knitting goals and they are well-underway but thanks for sharing this idea — it would be fun! Oh, and good luck with your book!
Greetings from your cocoa swap pal!
Sounds like you’ve picked a great challenge. I love that book.
This challenge sounds really cool! I’m going to have to look through my books and see if I can swing it. I have so many I’ve never knit anything from at all!
Knitter’s Almanac is fantastic-I can’t wait to see all your knits!
Interesting challenge, but I’m not sure I could motivate myself to do it. No matter how much I love a book there always seems to be a few patterns that I just look at and go “really???!!???”. I simply couldn’t bring myself to spend money on yarn or time I could be using to make something else to make some of these ugly projects.
Are you allowing variation? Like you’re giving yourself the option of doing kids sizing, how about adapting it to a different object? Is it okay to use the intarsia pattern from a sweater to make a pair of socks instead?