Monday, January 16, 2012

2012 knitting resolutions


As nerdy as it sounds, I love making New Year's Resolutions - I like having goals and things to aspire to, even if I can't manage everything in a single year, and one of the cool things about this blog is having someplace to actually keep a record of said goals. Last year, I resolved to: 
  1. Finish the Vivian sweater that I started way back in December 2009. For real this time. Fail. This did not happen, not even a little. 
  2. Finish the February lady sweater that's been sitting in a sad pile next to my bed for four weeks now. This sort of happened, in that I unraveled the sweater (it was doomed) and knit it into a Goodale Cardigan instead. 
  3. Seven sweaters fit to be worn in public. This happened. You can read about it here
  4. ... at least one of which that I've designed myself. Also happened
  5. Finish the reading/viewing for the Design Your Own Shawl class, for which I have woefully fallen off the wagon during the craziness of the holidays. Fail. Never got back on that wagon.
  6. ... and then actually design a shawl using the information from this class. Or that one.
  7. No buying new yarn until I've used the yarn that's accumulated in our tiny apartment. I am very happy to say that this totally held for the first six months of the year. I went a little crazy buying yarn in preparation for returning to the States (had to get on those remaining five sweaters, after all), and gave up on the yarn diet while living in LA, which I'm okay with. The point was mostly to cut back on spending money on yarn for a bit and to work with what I had for the remainder of our time in Japan, so I think it worked out well. 


So, this year, I'm resolving to: 
  1. Finally learn to knit Fair Isle (as you can see from the photo above, I've already started that one, but I swear I made the resolution before I started knitting!) 
    1. ( Suck up all my knitting resolve and make the dream sweater I've been wanting to for years now - Ysolda Teague's Little Birds. Which means - terrifyingly - learning to steak as well. )
  2. Finish (or accept the failure of, and rip accordingly) the UFOs that have been haunting me for anytime from weeks to years now: Swallowtail, Mr. Darcy, Vivian, plus all the half-knit design prototypes that may or may not be working out. 
  3. Knit six sweaters (Going back from last year's seven; six seems like a good number). Ideally I want most of these to be more of the wardrobe-staple type: warm, long sleeved, neutral colors that go with everything. I never seem to have a sweater to wear, though I have a closet of brilliantly colorful bright sweaters with short sleeves. 
  4. Knit less selfishly! 
    1. (Specifically, make a sweater for my best friend's thirtieth birthday, and something special for my amazing godmother.)
  5. Work hard at designing...
    1. (... and design a sweater! This is the scariest one, but also the one I'm probably most excited about. I do have a sweater in my head, so it's mostly a question of getting it onto paper and into yarn.)
  6. Be a better blog / ravelry / twitter commenter person. I know I'm really bad at commenting on other blogs and responding to comments, which I usually blame on my hobo lifestyle, but I'd like to reach out more. 
  7. And finally, because it worked last year, focus on using the stash I have rather than buying more. I don't have a set amount of yarn to work through, but maybe once I've worked through about half the stash I've currently got? I think that seems fair. 

So that's it! How about you, what are your resolutions (knitting or otherwise) for 2012? 

8 comments:

  1. My resolution is to get some of that gorgeous Sublime yarn you posted a picture of!

    That, and knit 12 sweaters :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Knitting 12 sweaters - that is so awesome, i'm in such awe! Your first one is gorgeous!

      & I know, how pretty is that yarn! I wish I knew what to do with it!

      Delete
  2. I, too, am trying to focus on using the stash that I already have which has always been a tough one for me to follow through with. Another one of my resolutions is to knit MORE selfishly. Be more selfish, now there's a resolution! I am always knitting, I do love it so, but I almost always give these knitted items away as gifts. (of course, the recipient must be knitworthy to begin with but that's another story!) I never really end up with anything that I've knit for myself. I have also resolved to knit any Christmas projects earlier this year. Last year was a race to the finish! I don't want to do that one again. . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, you're a much nicer knitter than me! I didn't make *any* Christmas gifts this year, and I only gave away one pair of gloves that didn't fit me all that well, so this time I'd like to at least *try* to make a few things for other (knit worthy) people!

      Delete
  3. It sounds like you did very well last year, and like your new resolutions will be a fair challenge. Ysolda's Little Birds is a wonderful pattern; I can't wait to see you give it a try! I was supposed to learn to steek last year but, while I knit the sweater, it still awaits the cut. lol
    Your bit of fair isle looks wonderful, by the way :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Fair Isle turned out to be fun but I'm still a bit terrified by the idea of steeking!

      Delete
  4. My goal is to knit a sweater.... again, lol! And learn fair isle. Excellent goal, it looks like you're going to accomplish that one. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, good luck with the sweater and fair isle! I love sweater knitting, it's so satisfying :)

      Delete