2014: New Year, New Goals!

Happy New Year!  We're now more than a week into 2014, and I've had some time to think about what I'd like to see in the new year.  I have so many crafting goals!  First and foremost is to organize my crafting - the supplies, the projects, everything.  I want to get some OLD WIPs (works in progress) off the needles.  First up is to finish a couple of current projects, and then pick up an afghan from a couple (3?) years ago.

I need to organize the stash and crafting supplies.  It's so hard for me to find anything.  One of my major goals this year is to knit/crochet/spin/weave from stash, so it needs to be organized so that I can find what I need for new projects.  Last year I got a bookcase from Ikea and filled it with cubes.  It works great. 
Each cube is labelled by weight of yarn.  Some weights, such a fingering, have more than one cube.  The only problem is that I don't have enough cubes to store all the stash.  And it only contains the yarn stash, not the fiber stash.


  I still have some large bins with things such as yarn and fiber for dyeing.
  In addition to the bins, I also have some smaller cubes that contain fiber and some sweater quantities of yarn.  The bins and the cubes definitely need to get organized!

  So I have my work cut out for me!  And this is just the yarn and fiber stash, not including beads and fabric.  Those will get organized as well!

As far as what crafting projects I see myself working on in 2014, I'd like to continue with what I have been doing with one exception: I want to spin MORE!  I really enjoy spinning, and I love my Hansencrafts electric miniSpinner that I recently got.  I honestly just need to make it part of my daily routine, even if it means that I set aside the knitting for a little while each day.  As far as projects, I enjoy having a large one such as an afghan or a cardigan sweater on the needles, then also several smaller, more portable projects.  Right now I'm working on a brioche scarf for Tyler and a hat for Alex.  I also like having a pair of socks on the needles all the time, it makes a great on-the-go project for knit groups and waiting in places such doctor's offices or grocery store lines.

Hope everyone is excited for the new year and looking forward to seeing what it will bring!  Happy 2014, everyone!

New Year, New Projects

For 2012, I have some resolutions (yep, I made some!) and some new projects on the knitting needles.

First of all, my resolutions. The usual ones: lose weight; eat better; exercise more. But there are also some new ones: either finish projects that I start or frog them; finish up some old projects; keep practicing spindle spinning; and the big one, open an Etsy store.

Etsy.com is a great site for crafters that sells all sorts of things, everything from photographs to candles to pottery. They sell finished items, vintage items, and supplies for making crafts. I would have my own "store", with a unique website address, and I would be able to list things to sell. The advantage to this is that a lot of the things that I make are unique and one-of-a-kind, so it's kind of hard to stock a traditional store. Etsy would allow me to sell these items. I will have jewelry, maybe some knit or crochet items, stitch markers, and project bags or other sewing items. I've already starting making some things for my inventory! I'll definitely have an announcement on my blog when my store is ready to go.

Over on Ravelry, among the many groups, there is a group for Harry Potter crafters called the Harry Potter Knit & Crochet House Cup (HPKCHC). Students are sorted into one of the 4 houses (a group of students) from the main school (Hogwarts) in the Harry Potter books. They then follow a series of prompts for classes, and turn in their knitting, crocheting, spinning, dyeing, or weaving as homework to earn points for their house.

I'm part of the Hufflepuff House, and I love it there. According to Wikipedia, Hufflepuffs are known to "value hard work, tolerance, loyalty, and fair play". Each term is 3 months long, with one month off in between terms. Homework should generally take one month or less to complete, and following the books, there is a more difficult "test" called an O.W.L. In the Ravelry group, an O.W.L. is a project that takes nearly the whole term to complete. Students turn in a proposal and then are either approved or asked to revise the proposal. Once approved, they can start crafting!

For the Winter 2012 term, my O.W.L. is a project using a pattern that really caught my eye, the Lexi Cardigan by Cheri Christian. Here is my Ravelry project page for the cardigan.


I was able to turn in my proposal and get approval on January 1st, so I cast on and have been working on my cardigan in between other projects. I'm using a darkish brown color, and I think this will be a cardigan that will go with nearly everything. I think it will be great for the mild Georgia winters. Now I just need to complete it on time!

I was also able to get a dishcloth finished yesterday and turned in for homework. It looks like a miniature sweater! Along with the dishcloth, I also finished a pair of socks, which were a test knit for a Ravelry friend. I love her patterns! So it's been a pretty productive first week of 2012. More importantly, I'm enjoying what I'm making.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope this coming year is a good one for everybody. I have lots of plans for 2012, and I would like to see my plans put in to action. For example, I want to finish up some projects that have been sitting around for a while, and I plan on opening my Etsy shop sometime in January.

Also happening in 2012, my oldest, Alex, will be graduating from high school and beginning college, while my youngest, Tyler, will be finishing up middle school and starting high school. Both boys have some pretty big milestones this year! It's an exciting time for both of them.