Tuesday, January 5, 2016

What's on tap for 2016?

This year will involve major life changes so who knows how the crafting will go. Still, I will set some goals for the year.

  1. I would like to complete 24 new projects this year. I will probably make a lot of hats but I don't want to set a specific number of hats.  
  2. The only yarn that comes into the stash will be worsted or bulky as that I what I use the most. Also, I am only allowed to add 12 skeins of yarn to the stash. I hope that I don't add that many but I want to give myself a little wiggle room because I will be attending the SSK vendor market. 
  3. I need to finish or frog all 10 WIPs that were on the needles at the beginning of 2016. Let's be honest, once a project goes in to timeout, it's basically dead to me. The projects are: 
    • Baby Alpaca GAP-tastic Cowl cast on in August 2015
    • Purple & Gray Striped Scarf cast on in August 2015
    • Brewster's Multnomah Shawl cast on in July 2015
    • Cascade Textured Cowl cast on in February 2015
    • Felted Tweed Duotone Cowl cast on in November 2014
    • Sausalito Smoky Cables-and-Lace Hat cast on in July 2014
    • The Grind Mitten cast on in January 2014
    • NW T9 Dissertation Project cast on in October 2013
    • Savory Bay of Fundy cast on in August 2012
       



Monday, January 4, 2016

Did I meet 2015's goals?

In a word, no. However, I exceeded my expectations on the travel goal and came close on the knitting goals so I am fairly pleased.
  1. Instead of visiting two new states this year, I visited five: Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi. I planned on visiting Minnesota and North Carolina but when I looked at a map, I realized the spot I was going to in North Carolina was really close to the borders of South Carolina and Georgia so I made sure to plan excursions to those states while I was on vacation. I ended up taking a work trip that allowed me to travel through Mississippi so that state was an unexpected get at the end of the year.
  2. I was a little short on my new projects goal: 21 projects instead of 24 and 10 hats instead of 12.
  3. I didn't knowingly purchase any new fingering weight yarn but in the gift bag for ZK2015 there was a skein of fingering weight yarn so technically, I purchased it.
  4. I frogged four of the WIPs that I had at the start of 2015 and I finished one WIP so I did meet that goal. I could have done better as I know there are some of the other projects that I will probably never finish so I should have just frogged them. Still 5 out of the 11 being gone is what I was shooting for.
Overall, it was not too poor of a showing for 2015.



Thursday, January 1, 2015

Let's be reasonable

Okay, I just said that I wasn't going to make any goals for this year but after having been bombarded by the really excellent goals that I have seen today on the various social media platforms that I visit, I am succumbing to peer pressure and making a few goals.
  1. Visit at least two states that I haven't been to so I can get closer to having visited all 50. I will get one new state when I attend the Zombie Knitpocalypse in June so one more should be attainable.
  2. Knit at least twenty-four new projects (WIPs don't count), twelve of which should be hats. According to Ravelry, I completed twenty-two projects in 2014 so this will be an improvement. Two projects a month is completely reasonable.
  3. No more fingering weight yarn should be added to the stash. If I need something for a specific project that I am casting on right away, that is fine. I have sixty-seven skeins of fingering weight yarn in the stash and I primarily knit hats and cowls out of worsted or bulky yarn. In fact, the only fingering weight projects that were started and finished in 2014 were hats that I made with the yarn tripled so it was knit at a bulky gauge.
  4. Finish or frog at least five of the eleven WIPs that I have at the start of the year. The WIPs are: The Big Black & Grey (shawl), Felted Tweed Duotone (cowl), Cranberry INSULATE! (hat), Sausalito Cables and Lace (hat), T-Rex (dishcloth), The Grind (mittens), NW T9 Dissertation (afghan), Jade Twisted Rib (hat), SSK TGV (shawl), Savory Bay of Fundy (shawl), and Mira's Tern (cowl).

Oh the places I've been...