The Stock(inette) Market: November 4th to December 1st

Welcome to December--there's been snow on the ground (though it hasn't stuck here in Maine yet), there are Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge, and gift knitting season is well underway. Let's take a look at the last month in the knitting world!

Accessories continue to dominate this month, with neck accessories and cowls retaining the top percentages.  However, those percentages have dropped from last month, with the former going from 31% to 23%, and the latter from 18% to 14%.  Cardigans and hats gained more ground, the former perhaps due to the three garment-heavy major publications of the month, Interweave Knits Winter 2013, Brooklyn Tweed's Wool People 6, and Twist Collective Winter 2013. Mitts, toys, kid's, and homegoods also gained ground, while men's and socks lost ground, with only a few showings in either the major publications or organically.

While neck accessories stayed dominant over the month, rising slightly in popularity at the end, there were many times over the month when other garment types spiked over them, which is unusual in comparison to what we've seen previously.  There was a major neck accessories spike mid-month correspondent with Lee Meredith's Coloring Book/Color by Number collection and smaller organic spikes throughout the rest of the month.  There were also high organic spikes in cowls all through the second half of the month, a similar spike in hats late in the month, and spikes in cardigans correspondent with the release of the three major publications listed above.  Despite these spikes in garments, however, they dropped steadily over the month. Cowls, homegoods, and mitts climbed, and all others remained relatively steady. 

Solids and semi-solids continued dominant over the month; semi-solids had multiple organic spikes and a slight rise, and it and solids were both used relatively evenly in the major publications.  There was also a tweed spike concurrent with the release of Wool People 6, and small tweed and 2-color knitting spikes concurrent with both organic results and the release of Twist Collective, which featured many examples of colorwork sweaters and accessories.

Modeled garments remained dominant, but fell slightly during the time period after strong presences in Interweave Knits and Wool People, with a deep dip in the middle of the month matching small organic spikes in each of the other categories. Modeled garments did spike back up organically and at the release of Twist Collective, but did not regain its beginning prominence.  Flat garments also had several organic spikes throughout the month, and all three minorities rose for the end of the month.

Fabric type was more variable and competitive in November than we've ever seen before, with texture taking a clear lead for the first time with heavy presences in industry publications and organically.  Stockinette started strong but fell over the month, and lace and cables both rose slightly.  Colorwork spiked with Lee Meredith's collection and Twist Collective, but remained otherwise steady.

Color was also wildly variable, with colors trading for dominance each day.  Grey had a clear and strong presence early in the month concurrent with Wool People 6, and despite several smaller spikes throughout the month, fell slightly.  White also had a major spike at the end of the month and several lesser spikes at the beginning, each time organically.  Red, purple, and white rose through the time period, while the aforementioned grey, orange, brown, and black fell.  Yellow, green, and blue remained relatively steady.

So this month brought us consistent stories in terms of garment, yarn, and model type, but some big changes in fabric type and an ever-changing line-up in color.  I look forward to seeing what next month brings!