Day 7: Looking Forward

One year from now, when the 5th Knitting & Crochet Blog Week rolls around, where do you hope your crafting will have taken you to? What new skills, projects and experiences do you hope you might have conquered or tried?

This could be anything from mastering a technique (broomstick lace, entrelac, etc), trying a new yarn or skill, or a long term wish to crochet only from your stash, or knit every stitch in one of the Harmony Guides. Maybe you have no desire or plans for your craft at all, no new element of knitting or crochet that you dream of mastering, in which case write about why that might be. In a year's time participants will be asked to look back to see if they achieved any goals, no matter how general, and see which house conquered the art of looking forward.

Looking forward has always been a big part of the new year on my blog.  For the past few years I've been setting goals, for 2013 my goals are ...

Quantities

• Spin 5lbs of fluff
• Use up 10 miles of yarn
• Create 40 items (knit, crocheted or woven)
• Knit 15 pairs of socks
• Knit an adult sweater for myself

Techniques

• Complete a project in Tunisian Crochet
• Learn and complete a project that uses Broomstick Lace
• Learn and complete a project in Brioche Stitch
• Learn and complete a project in double knitting
• Complete a tatting project
• Give stranded colorwork another try
• Complete the sampler in The Weavers Idea Book by Jane Patrick
• Complete a weaving project using overshot techniques
• Compete a weaving project for something OTHER than a scarf or cowl
• Spin a semi-woolen yarn (long draw from a combed top)
• Spin an “art yarn”
• Spin a laceweight yarn
• Give needle felting another try
• Give DPNs another try

Yarn and Stash

• Use my handspun yarns in knitting, crochet and weaving projects
• Use more yarn than I stash — More specifically get my stash ratio to less than 1.0 for 2013 and try to get my lifetime ratio to less than 2.0 by the end of the year (as the end of 2012 it was 2.43)
• Destash yarns I don’t absolutely love and probably won’t ever use

I've already accomplished a few of these goals, well I've knit a brioche scarf, woven a pickup stick sampler scarf, and I've finished 3 (nearly 4) pairs of socks.

A few others I've already tried and discarded, like giving needle felting a try.  I tried again and ended up giving away my needle felting supplies. Also, double knitting, unless I find a project I love I didn't really like the technique.

So for the purpose of KCBW, my goal for the year is to make sure that I enjoy my crafting and that I didn't push aside my enjoyment of fiber to meet some artificial goals.  Also, to make the Mascot Projects that I  wrote about on Day 2.

And as another successful Knitting & Crochet Blog Week draws to a close I have to give a big shoutout to Eskimimi for putting together a fantastic blogging event, here's to year 5!

FIFO, FIFO, it's off to knit we go

So, if someone were to look at my workspace, kitchen, dresser, car, hard drive you would make an educated (and accurate) guess that I'm not an overly orderly person.  On the whole whole, my life has taken the "long way 'round", totally without order or plan.  Which is why my obsession with FIFO (First In, First Out) is so deeply odd.  Although, I do eat the frosting (my favorite part) last when I get cake, so maybe not that odd.

For some reason when I get a new awesome yarn, I can't just ball it and knit it, I feel the need to keep going with the oldest yarns in my stash.  I've been working on this issue, I managed to knit some TFA Red Label in Dove within 2 months of getting it, and it didn't kill me.

So I'm stating it here, I'm not throwing away my goals for the year, but I'm taking them with a grain of salt.  My tendency would be to attack the list in order (and use the oldest yarns in my stash) and then see what I get to do for fun after the "work" is done.

I have finished, or released myself from, all my obligation crafting (knitting/crochet mostly) and I'm going to do what I want, when I want to.  For the rest of tonight, I think I'm going to sit down at my wheel for the first time in months, and maybe do some reading in my new copy of The Spinner's Book of Yarn Design. Maybe later this week I will re-warp my loom, or not.  I'm going off script, and the adventure awaits.

2013 and Looking Forward

So, here we are at the end of the the first day of the year and I guess it is time to let all of you know what to expect from me this year, although if last year is any indication my results and my goals bear very little resemblance to one another.

This year instead of classifying by craft, I have set my goals by type.

In 2013, I want to ...

Quantities

• Spin 5lbs of fluff
• Use up 10 miles of yarn
• Create 40 items (knit, crocheted or woven)
• Knit 15 pairs of socks
• Knit an adult sweater for myself

Techniques

• Complete a project in Tunisian Crochet
• Learn and complete a project that uses Broomstick Lace
• Learn and complete a project in Brioche Stitch
• Learn and complete a project in double knitting
• Complete a tatting project
• Give stranded colorwork another try
• Complete the sampler in The Weavers Idea Book by Jane Patrick
• Complete a weaving project using overshot techniques
• Compete a weaving project for something OTHER than a scarf or cowl
• Spin a semi-woolen yarn (long draw from a combed top)
• Spin an "art yarn"
• Spin a laceweight yarn
• Give needle felting another try
• Give DPNs another try

Yarn and Stash

• Use my handspun yarns in knitting, crochet and weaving projects
• Use more yarn than I stash -- More specifically get my stash ratio to less than 1.0 for 2013 and try to get my lifetime ratio to less than 2.0 by the end of the year (as the end of 2012 it was 2.43)
• Destash yarns I don't absolutely love and probably won't ever use

So, it looks like I have a few awesomely cool challenges ahead of me this year, and I'm sure I will dream up a few more in the next 12 months.

Day 6 - Improving Your Skillset

How far down the road to learning your craft do you believe yourself to be? Are you comfortable with what you know or are you always striving to learn new skills and add to your knowledge base? Take a look at a few knitting or crochet books and have a look at some of the skills mentioned in the patterns. Can you start your amigurumi pieces with a magic circle, have you ever tried double knitting, how's your intarsia? If you are feeling brave, make a list of some of the skills which you have not yet tried but would like to have a go at, and perhaps even set yourself a deadline of when you'd like to have tried them by.

For me, my learning is never done, there is always a new skill or technique to try to master. I often times seek out patterns that force me try something new.  When I don't learn something new in

That said there are a few techniques I have shied away from, like double pointed needles.  I tried them back in the old days before I discovered that there are meh needles, there are good needles and their are great needles.  It may be time to try again with good needles.

Also I have tried double knitting and the colors were too close so I frogged the projects (I tried, twice, to get the colors right) and I haven't found a project again I want to do in double knit, although I may need to spend some time checking out, Extreme Double Knitting for inspiration.  Same with intarsia, I have tried it, the project wasn't working, I frogged and haven't found a pattern in intarsia I have really wanted to do.

I am not averse to trying most knitting techniques but I need a reason to do so, I am not one to make a sampler to try techniques but rather I would like to have a pattern that incorporates that technique.

I did set myself some goals for the year, but I really need to read my copy of the Knitter's Life List, which I picked up a month ago.  I think that will set me out some really neat and concrete goals to meet, because I don't really want my knitting to get stagnant, because that would take the joy out of it for me.

On 2012 and Looking Forward

So as you know by now, I set myself some goals last year and I think it would be fun to do it again this year. Last year I set personal goals as well, and those still stand, I don't feel the need to add new ones, but I do have some new fibery goals.

In 2012, I will: 

 - Spinning -

• Participate in the Tour de Fleece in July
• Spin a truly woolen-spun yarn
• Spin a useable sock yarn
• Spin a 2-ply laceweight of at least 800 yds from 100g of fluff
• Spin at least 3lbs of fluff
• Tailspin some locks
• Spin hand carded fleece

- Knitting -

• Knit 12 pairs of socks during the year - I have all the yarn in my stash
• Finish one large shawl/stole, more than 1000yds of laceweight
• Design a pattern that is appropriate for submission to an online knitting magazine
• Participate in at least one Knitalong
• Knit more than 10 miles of yarn

- Crochet -

• Start a sock-yarn Babette Blanket from my scraps
• Crochet a shaped item (mittens, hats, shrug, etc)

- Fiber/Yarn -

• Take undyed fluff and turn it into a finished object, which will included dyeing, spinning and knitting.
• Process some raw fleece, preferably from a local producer.
• Knit down my stash

So, that is what I think I want my 2012 to look like fiberwise, although if 2012 is as exciting as both 2010 and 2011, who knows what my life will be like on December 30th (on goal check in day).

Enjoy the new year, I'm off to work on my TFA Knitalong knitting that started today, I will tell you all about it tomorrow.