Ringing in the New Year: Knitting Resolutions

Happy New Year! I can’t believe it’s already 2016. This is both my favourite and least favourite time of year. It feels like there’s so much promise, when the new year is just a couple of days old, but it also feels a little bit pressured. At least in my knitting resolutions, I see nothing but fun ahead for my new year.

At the beginning of each year (even last year, though I didn’t write about it), I like to set down a list of goal for myself for knitting. What do I want to accomplish or try this year? What do I need to get done, and what timeline do I need? That sort of thing. So without further ado!

Goals

1. Try new techniques: I’ve been dying to try my hand at brioche knitting. I love the texture and pops of colours I’ve been seeing, and I think it looks like a fun technique. I also want to try double-knitting and knitting actual lace (out of lace weight yarn). I know the latter especially is going to be a challenge, but I’m game!

2. Stash-Busting: Oh, my this needs to get done. I realise I don’t have as impressive a stash as many knitters, but what I have is mostly 2+ years old. There’s an occasional addition here and there, but I tend to use the new stuff up quickly. The goal this year is to knit down the older stash. As part of this, I’m going to be participating in the Clean Slate Challenge (details are in the show notes that are found in this link) hosted by the Just One More Row Podcast. I will be surprised if I get more than one entry, but I’m certainly going to try!

3. Spin a sweater’s worth of yarn: A couple of years ago (maybe not quite that long, but I’m not sure of the exact date), I purchased 2.7 pounds of CVM roving at a fiber festival. It’s been sitting in a box (sealed, bug-free, and not compressed) since then, waiting for me to spin it up. I think this is the year to do it. Right now, I’m working on a Jacob roving I picked up at a LYS, but once that’s done, it’s time to plan on the sweater’s worth. It may take me all year, but I’m perfectly happy with that.

4. Manage Ravelry better: I’m very guilty of not managing my Ravelry notebook. I’m good in that for every project, there is a page. A lot of times, that’s how I keep track of my patterns. This year, I’m going to manage my stash and needle collection, and take better notes on the project pages. This will help me knit down my older stash, as well, since Ravelry keeps running totals of how much of a certain yarn you have leftover after a project. I love that.

5. Take better pictures of my FOs (including sometimes having me in the picture): I kind of phone in my FO pictures most of the time. The lighting isn’t great, unless I take it to the office and snap a picture at lunch (we get great midday lighting), and I’m almost never wearing the picture. Hats just don’t look as pretty lying flat as they do when they’re worn. So, this year I’m going to get over my shyness and include myself in the pictures now and then.

Need to Get Done

1. Mom’s Sweater: My mom wants the Dark and Stormy by Thea Colman. It’s a beautiful sweater and one I’ve wanted to make for a while. She bought me Lorna’s Laces Worsted in Kerfuffle (I never get tired of that colorway name). It’s so very soft and lovely. I think it’s going to look great as the sweater. The plan is to work out all of the details (adjusting for measurements and such) the first couple weeks of January, using Marly Bird’s Plus-Size Knitting Techniques Craftsy class, and then be monogamous when knitting it. She wants this ideally for her birthday, which is the end of March. That’s perfectly doable, but only if I focus.

2. Mario-Cart Socks: For whatever reason, the middle brother wants Mario-Cart inspired socks, and for whatever reason, I said yes. He and I still need to work out the details, like whether there will be stranded colorwork or just stripes, and the measurements, but I have until Halloween. I guess this will be part of his costume. I don’t knit for him often, and he lives in Texas, so he’s not often cold enough to wear anything I knit anyway. So why not? This could be fun!

3. Star Wars Hat: This is actually higher up in the queue than this list lesson. I promised my DH this a while ago. I’m going to be making The Force Awakens Hat by Hannah L out of Cascade 220 in the fingering weight. He gets cold quickly up here, so I’m going to also be knitting a lining for it; basically my idea is a hat inside a hat. I need to get started on this one quickly, as winter is finally arriving.

4. Lingering FOs: I have one or two FOs that will be sleeping for a while for various reasons, but a few others really need to get done, especially for the Clean Slate Challenge. Right now, I have going Catch A Falling Star MKAL by Elizabeth Ravenwood (which will be done by the end of January), Ten Stitch Blanket by Frankie Brown, Afterthought Heels Revisited by Laura Linneman (which is my neglected car knitting project), Viajante by Martina Behm, and Leftovers Cowl by Wendy D. Johnson.

What goals or resolutions are you setting for yourself this year (crafting or otherwise)? I’d love to hear! Please share them in the comments below.