As every year, the intention is to create stronger bonds between us as a community, making space for the joy of sharing and being joined together by our love for our crafts and the joy of creating and making. With so many wonderful contributions, we are absolutely delighted to invite you to vote in the 2026 edition of our The For the Love of … Show and Tell Challenge!
This is our fifth year running anniversary! So this time we decided to use the most loved categories from previous years, 4 categories in total. Open to a well of interpretations, it was totally up to you what meaning to put into them: Technique Conqueror, I Never Thought I Would Make Something Like This, Colour Me Happy and Travelling Threads.
Inviting our dear newsletter subscribers* to contribute to this fifth edition, we are over the moon with how many of you that came to play along!
I am absolutely bursting with excitement! Our gallery is now open and voting can commence. Yes, there will be rewards for the winners, and also a prize draw between those who decide to vote – but remember, it is all about humor and friendliness, we are not looking for the perfect nor the ‘best girl in the class’ – this is for us all to find joy and a moment of happiness through our Love for knitting, yarn, crochet, fibre, making and creating … and everything between.
* To join in you have to be a newsletter subscriber, because this is all about us bonding together as a group.
Technique Conqueror
Project #01 – by Margaret
This is a picture of my Latvian mittens, I bought a kit when I was in Riga. I bought this kit as I thought the cuff looked interesting and something I hadn’t tried before. The cuff is entrelac and this is my 4th attempt at getting it right and I think I have finally cracked it. The instructions are minimal and obviously a translation into English. I’ve never knitted on such small needles before 1.5mm but I’m getting used to it and determined to finish them.
Photos are my knitting and how they look on the front of the box.
So the category is Technique Conquered!
Project #02 – by Sally
I am entering this garment in the Technique Conqueror category.
This is Cornelia Dress by Knitting for Olive using their Merino yarn
Do you read the whole pattern before you start? I don’t, tending to dive in and learn as I go. This little girl’s dress had me on a steep learning curve. Making this I did all of the following for the first time – provisional cast on, i-cord edge, knitting fair isle in the round, a turned up and stitched hem and a crocheted button loop (and I don’t crochet)! There were moments I wished I had chosen another pattern but at the end I felt elated and glad that I kept going!
Project #03 – by Sarah
My friend Samantha creates wonderful sculptures of fairies, all of which wear flying helmets. Although some of those helmets are walnut shells, they are primarily created from acorn cups. I had the idea that Samantha should have an acorn hat to wear for, you know, increased solidarity with the fairies who people her world.
After much searching on Ravelry, I found this pattern. Should I have been put off by the fact that the only completed project was the designer’s own knit? Yes, probably. But I had a goal.
I had knitted a few bobbles about 40 years ago, and then never repeated the experience because they are so fiddly. But, because this was for somebody I’m fond of, I was determined to give them a try.
There are 192 bobbles in this hat brim. By the end, I considered myself to be something of an Olympic-standard bobble-knitter. (I could certainly knit a bobble much more quickly than I had been able to at the beginning.) The pattern knits up into a really charming hat, albeit probably not one I would ever knit again. That said, I’m now so at ease with bobbles that I have also knitted my first Nobbelswrap (lovely big, open bobbles which you can pop in and out like bubblewrap), and have been actively searching Ravelry for more bobble-featuring patterns.
Project #04 – by Wendy
With help from a local dyer and a KAL he is running I’ve finally knit stranded colourwork.
I knit with both yarns in my right hand as my brain does not allow me to knit a different way. In hindsight I should have swapped colours to have the CC dominant.
It actually fits in the 1st 3 categories. I feel like I’ve conquered the technique, even if it is for 1×1 colourwork. Tried colourwork so many times so I really feel as I never would have thought to actually knit this sweater and have it wearable. The riverknits chimera is such a happy colourful combination with lalland DK. Depending very much on the light it can be so much brighter.
My Laneway sweater may be the first, but already challenging myself with more colourwork.
I Never Thought I Would Make Something Like This
Project #01 – by Alena
Many years ago I would make little knitted and crocheted Christmas ornaments during my lunch break, which my colleagues would often ask me about. One very dear colleague with a wicked sense of humour somehow got the idea of a crocheted penis Christmas ornament – for her mum! Cannot remember exactly how that came about but it was logical at the time… and of course I had to find a pattern and make it. He was quite a happy chap and my colleague almost collapsed laughing when she saw him. Her mother absolutely loved him too, pride of place on the Christmas tree! Certainly not something I ever thought I would make…
Don’t feel like you need to include this one but thought it would give you a chuckle 😉
(HOW could I possibly resist – Maya x)
Project #02 by Helen
I am not a sock knitter. Certainly not for myself. Not with my size 43 feet. And not with sock yarn- it’s so skinny. And have you seen those needles? Tiny!!! I’m perfectly happy with my machine knit mohair socks, thank you very much.
But…there were so many beautiful single skeins sitting in my stash. It felt wrong to neglect them. And I kept getting stuck in post-project blues, wishing I had something easy to pick up.
I may have bought some special needles too…
Project #03 by Maggie
I’m sneaking this photo into the category “I never thought I would make something like this” , and in this case what I’m “making” is myself as a knitwear model for patterns on Ravelry at the age of 75! I’ve now done 10 photoshoots for Rebecca Clow, starting with her very first pattern release. The credit, of course goes to Rebecca for her embracing of diversity in many categories including her pattern sizing. The photo below is of one of my favourites, the Firth jumper, which was photographed in September 2025 at South Queensferry beside the Firth of Forth.
Project #04 by Cheryl
It’s the Sherlock Holmes sweater by Tomomi Yoshimoto
I thought the pattern would be too complex as virtually every row is different and it has a steek in it, but what pulled me in was the yarn – Shetland spindrift by Jamiesons of Shetland, I’ve knitted with this yarn before and love it’s toothyness, like the Norwegian sheep yarns, so I gave it a go.
It took 7 months as I knitted other things and only knitted this pattern when it was quiet and I could concentrate, but it was worth it, I enjoyed knitting it and now love wearing it!
Project #05 – by Sharron
I made these curtains for my husband’s home office from an old duvet cover that was too worn in places to continue using as a duvet cover. When we bought it over a decade before, it was my husband’s choice and favourite set. When it became worn, it felt sad to dispose of it for fabric recycling. One night as I was falling asleep, I pondered the idea of making curtains from the duvet cover. I am not a seamstress, in fact I do not enjoy sewing at all, and I had never undertaken something like it. I became determined to do it for him as a Christmas present. I studied the construction of some bought curtains, purchased curtain tape then set to on measuring and cutting the fabric (once I worked out how I wanted the fabric pattern to align). Though nervous, the project went generally smoothly and my husband loves the finished curtains which were finally finished on 3 January.
Colour Me Happy
Project #01 – by Margaret
A few years ago, I took part in some workshops at the Knit and Stitch Show at Ally Pally. One was on solar dyeing in a jam jar. It was great fun and inspired me to have a go at home, using things I found in the kitchen or garden. I requested mini skeins for Christmas and the fun began. It became a standing joke with friends that most things seemed to turn out a variety of shades of yellow, but I did manage to achieve enough variety to use the results to make the little shawl in the picture below. As you will probably guess, Colour Me Happy is the section I’m thinking of … though I never did think I’d so anything like that … and it was certainly a new technique of sorts! If you’ve not tried solar dyeing, definitely a fun thing to do – particularly if you like yellow! 😉
In case you’re interested, from top down the colours come from onion skins, nettles, avocado skins and stone (with soda crystals added to the dye), yarrow, avocado skins without the soda, and hedge bedstraw with spent buddleia flowers.
Project #02 – by Sally J
5 years!? I loved making this wee jumper for my 4 year old great niece, who loves a pocket and a hood! Coloured me and her happy for sure 💕
Project #03 – by Sally S
For the fifth year Show and Tell Challenge I have chosen a cardigan by Ambah O’Brien which is the Party Cardy. I made it back in 2021 when the pattern was released. I remember enjoying the decision of where to put all the colours, all of which I love. When I wear it the Party Cardy instantly uplifts me. It definitely comes under the category Colour Me Happy!
Project #04 – by Susie
I’m sending you an image of my Paisley needlepoint cushion case, intended to resemble a contemporary Persian carpet but in maximalist colour combos – you may need your sunglasses! This is for the Colour Me Happy category.
Project #05 – by Sarah
In further tales of me knitting things for other people whether they want them or not, the Australian band, Bush Gothic (no relation), chose a red and pink theme for their latest album artwork, and have been taunting me with the possibility of a UK promotional tour. Cue much purchasing of the strongest shades of red and fuchsia pink yarn I could track down, including Kaos Luxury Soft Merino in Passionate and Charismatic.
I know that Jenny, who is the band leader, is very fond of kangaroos, so I searched for patterns which feature them. There aren’t many, and the only mitten pattern I liked isn’t available digitally. So, I had to track down and purchase a second-hand copy of the book in which it is featured.
My plan had been to knit the mittens using just the red and pink. However, running those two colours next to each other quickly revealed that they were just too close tonally for that to be in any way sensible. I opted instead to knit one red mitten and one fuchsia pink mitten with black as the contrast colour.
These mittens make me happy
- because Jenny will love them, and
- because of the amount of effort which went in to sourcing and acquiring both a pattern, and the shades of yarn, which are perfectly targeted for their intended recipient. (Knitting is, after all, my love language.)
I shall be able to tell Jenny with some confidence that absolutely nobody else has got a pair of mittens exactly like hers.
Project #06 – by Beth
Here is my contribution to the Colour me Happy category – Zig-a-Zig CAT! socks (pattern by Marna Gilligan of an Caitin Beag) knitted in Coop Knits DK yarn. This is the latest pair of catsocks I’ve knitted for my daughters, it’s become something of a Christmas tradition for me – the bright colours and cute kitty faces make me happy while knitting, and their enjoyment of the socks (measured by how often they reappear in the laundry basket) makes me happier still. They may spurn hand-knitted sweaters, but cat socks make all of us happy.
Project #07 – by Katrin
Thought I would enter this sweater knitted last summer for my Granddaughter.
She returned from travels to Paris where she found a market stall selling small quantities of wool, and then Reykjavik, where I generally buy my Icelandic wools from. She then presented me with wool and pattern.
At first I couldn’t see my way forward or see the bigger picture, but she was delighted!
Project #08 by Alena
The is a very last minute entry, as yesterday morning I didn’t even know I’d be making this! But Lyra was looking through my craft folder on Instagram in the morning and decided we absolutely had to make a rainbow river playmat right away. So we went to buy some wool and just had a go. Would it be sensible to make something smaller the first time you try wet felting? Yes. Would I have despaired a bit less at times? Probably. Was it nerve wracking giving a 5-year-old a felting needle to add the little flower details? Oh my goodness, yes! But we did it and made it over a couple afternoons with summery weather speeding up the drying for us wonderfully. The rainbow colours are just so happy and Lyra hugged it tight when we were done, then immediately started playing. She’s already planning more things for us to make, so who knows what we will learn tomorrow!
Project #09 by Helen
I bought the first three of these yarns in 2017 at the Loch Ness Knit Fest: Rannoch (a beautiful heathery blue); Sea Sprite (blues and green) and Pass the Melon (acid yellow and lime green to hot pink). They were by a dyer called The Fabulous Mr G and I would love to know what happened to her. They were to be a ‘So Faded’ by Andrea Mowry.
Having decided it was high time I dealt with some deep stash, I pulled these out recently, and was devastated to discover I’d bought insufficient yarn. Maybe the dyer thought I planned to make the cropped version. Maybe I was a different size then. Maybe it was just that I was an inexperienced knitter in those days. Either way, I clearly needed four skeins not three.
Friends to the rescue! Someone at my knit night saw me ‘trying out’ some pinks from a friend’s collection to see if they could be the fourth, and entirely unprompted turned up the following week with one of her own for me to try. I think it’s perfect- a sort of frothy pink, yellow and peach. It’s one of Vicky Brown Designs #Make100Skeins (number 48/100, although I don’t know which year).
The middle photo (four skeins) captures the colours best, I feel.
I am so excited to get this on the needles- swatching this evening was the final difficult step to get through. Wish me luck (can I finish this within 10 years of buying the yarn?)
Project #10 by Kathy
I have been trying for some time to complete projects and use up left over bits of wool – often wool which people have given to me sometimes, sadly, after someone has died.
I have been saying for years that I would have a go at a twiddle muffin but have only just got round to it!
Wool from so many different sources have gone into this. I guess it would come under the Colour me happy category.
Travelling Threads
Project #01 – by Cheryl
I also love this sweater, the Norma sweater by my favorite things – I am a recent convert to worsted, this is Rauma Fivel. For years, during the menopause I could only wear light sweaters but now I need the cosiness of warmer yarns which I now can enjoy. This comes, in my mind, under Travelling Threads, yarn bought in Norway and was perfect car knitting as we travelled between resorts.
Project #02 – by Julia
I think that my shawl belongs in Travelling Threads. I decided to sort out my stash last year and found the 2 balls of fingering.
Well, I started this up in Derbyshire last November. Then Derbyshire again in late January. We love the walks around Chatsworth. A week in Portugal in March. Love the pattern. I normally make lots of soft toys, so have to count. This pattern is so much easier to memorise. Can talk at the same time.
Went to Guernsey in April. No problem taking the crochet hook on board. The airlines do not like needles.
And the best bit. My shawl is slowly growing. I take it to my Knit and Natter Group every week and as there is more nattering than knitting or crochet, I don’t make many mistakes. Easy to take down if I do.
I think that my shawl may be finished for winter, but then I’ll have to find another one!
JUST WOW!!! How many amazing projects you guys came up with, I am in awe!!! Now off to vote, let’s find out who’s our favourites! You’ll find the ‘ballot’ here and you can submit your vote up until midnight UK time Wednesday June 17th. We’ll do the count and announce winners in the newsletter Sunday June 21st. Happy Voting!
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