2007 Resolution Review
As 2007 comes to a close, it's time to review how I did on fulfilling the resolutions I made at the beginning of the year.
Join (or form) a knitting group. Check! Thanks to Ravelry, I was able to find knitters in my area and start a group with them. So far, our group includes Desiknitter and Molly, and blogless knitters Rebecca, Jessica, and Jill. It's so wonderful to have you all to talk about knitting (and other things) in person!
Work on projects for which I have bought the yarn but have not yet cast on. Possibly wishful thinking on my part. I did start a Quidditch Sock (currently singular) with the designated yarn, but for now it is in hibernation. I really didn't get to using much of my older stash yarn; a lot of the projects I worked on were from yarn I purchased this year. Still, I've added on a number of skeins to my stash, and they might not be going anywhere anytime soon.
Try some new knitting techniques, including intarsia, 2 socks on 2 circs, toe-up socks, and steeking. Of those four techniques I only tried toe-up (the previously mentioned unfinished Quidditch Sock, which turned into a sort of hybrid since I ended up picking out the toe and worked it the other way). I didn't try two socks on two circs, but I did make two socks at the same time on one circular (magic loop) for Carrie's socks.
Try other fiber-related activities, such as spinning on a wheel, weaving, and needle felting. Nope.
Knit a sweater that I will actually wear. Surprisingly, yes. I only started to seriously dream about knitting a sweater this year after joining Ravelry, where I heard about NaKniSweMo and saw lots of lovely Tangled Yoke Cardigans. So, after some debating and an odd sign from my printer, I got the yarn. I managed to finish in about a month and a half. (More pictures and a complete blog post soonish!) Much more wearable than my past two sweaters!
Design something and submit it to an online knitting magazine. I haven't gotten around to this yet. I do have a design in mind that I've been working on here and there, so hopefully I'll have something sometime in 2008. I'm not sure if I'll submit it anywhere or just put a free pattern here on my blog.
Knit something to enter to my county fair. No, but I was out of the country during the time of the fair itself, if that makes any difference.
Weave in ends within a week of binding off a project. Another "wishful thinking" resolution. However, something I discovered this past year is that I'm more likely to weave in the ends in a timely manner for projects that I'm more excited about.
Spin more often. Didn't happen. In fact, it was only the other day that I finished plying the spindle of singles that I've been working on now and then since the beginning of the year. I'm not sure how much I really care for spinning, at least on a spindle; I haven't tried spinning on a wheel yet. I probably just need more practice, but right now I find spinning to be very labor intensive, and for me it really isn't something that I can easily just pick up and work on a little bit here and there like I can with my knitting.
Knit in public more often. I think so, although I haven't measured the number of hours per week or anything like that. These days, I almost always have something to work on when I ride BART, which isn't everyday, but at least a few times a month. Of course, there's also the hour or so that I spend each week knitting in public with my knitting group.
Use more yarns that aren't blue. (Project Spectrum 2.0 should help with this.) I feel like I used hardly any blue yarn this year! In fact, quite a few of my projects have been green. Fairly recent green FOs include Midwest Moonlight, Koolhaas, Tangled Yoke Cardigan, and Friday Harbor Socks.
Try some different fibers and brands of yarn. I sure did! I tried Handmaiden Sea Silk, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, Colinette Jitterbug and Malabrigo Merino Worsted. I enjoyed working with each of these yarns, but the Malabrigo may have been my favorite. I love the subtle variegation and the incredible softness!
Looking back, perhaps I could have done better on my resolutions, but I am glad that I did reach some of my goals!
For me, four of the most memorable things from 2007 are:
The swap: Sockapalooza 4
The trip: traveling to Portugal
The book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The website: Ravelry
What will you remember about 2007?
Happy new year!
Join (or form) a knitting group. Check! Thanks to Ravelry, I was able to find knitters in my area and start a group with them. So far, our group includes Desiknitter and Molly, and blogless knitters Rebecca, Jessica, and Jill. It's so wonderful to have you all to talk about knitting (and other things) in person!
Work on projects for which I have bought the yarn but have not yet cast on. Possibly wishful thinking on my part. I did start a Quidditch Sock (currently singular) with the designated yarn, but for now it is in hibernation. I really didn't get to using much of my older stash yarn; a lot of the projects I worked on were from yarn I purchased this year. Still, I've added on a number of skeins to my stash, and they might not be going anywhere anytime soon.
Try some new knitting techniques, including intarsia, 2 socks on 2 circs, toe-up socks, and steeking. Of those four techniques I only tried toe-up (the previously mentioned unfinished Quidditch Sock, which turned into a sort of hybrid since I ended up picking out the toe and worked it the other way). I didn't try two socks on two circs, but I did make two socks at the same time on one circular (magic loop) for Carrie's socks.
Try other fiber-related activities, such as spinning on a wheel, weaving, and needle felting. Nope.
Knit a sweater that I will actually wear. Surprisingly, yes. I only started to seriously dream about knitting a sweater this year after joining Ravelry, where I heard about NaKniSweMo and saw lots of lovely Tangled Yoke Cardigans. So, after some debating and an odd sign from my printer, I got the yarn. I managed to finish in about a month and a half. (More pictures and a complete blog post soonish!) Much more wearable than my past two sweaters!
Design something and submit it to an online knitting magazine. I haven't gotten around to this yet. I do have a design in mind that I've been working on here and there, so hopefully I'll have something sometime in 2008. I'm not sure if I'll submit it anywhere or just put a free pattern here on my blog.
Knit something to enter to my county fair. No, but I was out of the country during the time of the fair itself, if that makes any difference.
Weave in ends within a week of binding off a project. Another "wishful thinking" resolution. However, something I discovered this past year is that I'm more likely to weave in the ends in a timely manner for projects that I'm more excited about.
Spin more often. Didn't happen. In fact, it was only the other day that I finished plying the spindle of singles that I've been working on now and then since the beginning of the year. I'm not sure how much I really care for spinning, at least on a spindle; I haven't tried spinning on a wheel yet. I probably just need more practice, but right now I find spinning to be very labor intensive, and for me it really isn't something that I can easily just pick up and work on a little bit here and there like I can with my knitting.
Knit in public more often. I think so, although I haven't measured the number of hours per week or anything like that. These days, I almost always have something to work on when I ride BART, which isn't everyday, but at least a few times a month. Of course, there's also the hour or so that I spend each week knitting in public with my knitting group.
Use more yarns that aren't blue. (Project Spectrum 2.0 should help with this.) I feel like I used hardly any blue yarn this year! In fact, quite a few of my projects have been green. Fairly recent green FOs include Midwest Moonlight, Koolhaas, Tangled Yoke Cardigan, and Friday Harbor Socks.
Try some different fibers and brands of yarn. I sure did! I tried Handmaiden Sea Silk, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, Colinette Jitterbug and Malabrigo Merino Worsted. I enjoyed working with each of these yarns, but the Malabrigo may have been my favorite. I love the subtle variegation and the incredible softness!
Looking back, perhaps I could have done better on my resolutions, but I am glad that I did reach some of my goals!
For me, four of the most memorable things from 2007 are:
The swap: Sockapalooza 4
The trip: traveling to Portugal
The book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The website: Ravelry
What will you remember about 2007?
Happy new year!
posted by Jennifer at 8:51 PM
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