2016 Goals

Here we are, almost an entire week into the new year, and I haven't posted about goals or projects or anything. A good guess is that punctuality isn't on my resolution list - I'm usually right on time to everything, all the time, even when the everything sucks (like a doctor visit or paying bills). But I've been thinking. A lot. What do I really want to achieve this year?

1. Continue knitting local. 

I really like where this took my stash last year. Purchases were fewer, but of better quality, and my stash is about 90% OH PRETTY right now.

2. Have a half-handmade wardrobe.

A bit of a doozy, yeah? I'd say my wardrobe is about 30% handmade right now and I'd like to up that percentage this year. I'll need to work on tailoring pants to suit me and get more comfortable sewing with knit fabrics but I think this goal is achievable given the amount of sewing I did last year. 

3. Self-publish more patterns. 

I have three or four patterns just about ready to go to a tech editor. The process is kind of long between what's in my head, the knitting, and the publishing on Ravelry and I tend to lose momentum somewhere in the last step. It's also pretty scary to put designs up for public scrutiny. Not that I'm a delicate flower but I would like people to like what I design if I'm mostly designing what I like, you know? 

So that's it. Three goals that are craft and hobby related. I have a few other goals for myself - reduce caffeine intake (down to one cup a day as of right now!), bring my lunch to work instead of buying it, and save money. I'm trying to introduce things slowly and build good habits instead of going full tilt all at once. How about you? Any goals for the new year?

2015 Wrap-Up

This year flew by. I made some really big changes in my life that have made some things seem much easier and other things seem much more difficult. First off, I'd like to address my goals from the beginning of the year:

1. Knit Local.

Mission accomplished! I did not purchase much yarn this year until October and November and then I went on a mini-spree and picked up items for my birthday and from Knit Fit! Most of my purchasing dollars went to local dyers, some of whom use local wool for their yarn, or to companies like Quince & Co, who use North American wool and have it milled in the U.S.

2. Knit more colorwork garments.

This is a bit womp womp. I knit two garments with colorwork accents and three accessories. 

This is my Prussian Glitter Cardigan. I've still got plans to grade this puppy and publish the pattern and that's on the list for 2016. 

The other garment is this Welcome to the Flock sweater. Knit in a baby size with some stash sock yarn, it was featured on the front page of Ravelry and got a ridiculous amount of love. Thanks!

The other accessories are hats and one isn't totally finished as it needs a good steam block and a pom pom.

3. Participate in Me Made May. 

Done! I petered out a bit some time in the middle of the month (taking selfies every day is difficult when you get up at 5am) but I did participate. Go me!

And Me Made May really brought me back into sewing and concentrating on creating a handmade wardrobe. There are a lot of social justice issues surrounding the clothing industry and I don't want to contribute to an industry that's concerned with making a $5 t-shirt (it's bad for most of the people involved in the supply chain, yo). 

Ravelry tells me that I only knit about 10k yards this year, which is inaccurate, because some of my yardage for samples and SECRETS haven't been added; I'd say it's more in the 20k arena. Overall, I knit less this year than in past years but I'm much happier with many of my FOs this year than I have been in the past. Go figure. As per usual, I have a huuuuge list of things I want to knit and some things I have to knit. For now, I'll be concentrating on that handmade wardrobe and coordinating new pieces that work together. Now, what should I cast on for New Year's Eve?

2015 Resolutions

 Happy New Year's Eve!

 Like most bloggers this time of year, I've been pondering my knitting goals for 2015.

After a lot of list making and brainstorming I finally came up with three goals that encompass a lot of smaller goals:

Knit local. I want to spend 2015 supporting the North American wool industry and the more local I can get, the better. If I had tried to do this even a few years ago I think I would have had a hard time finding yarn that was sourced entirely in the United States, but times have changed! Off the top of my head I can list half a dozen companies and independent yarn purveyors that use wool from North American flocks and North American mills. This isn't to say that I'll 100% stop purchasing yarn that doesn't meet this criteria but I'd like to start the shift toward a local wool stash. 

Knit more colorwork garments. I have one Fair Isle pullover (which needs some surgery) and I need more in my wardrobe! One of my favorite knitting techniques is stranded colorwork and I'd like to build a sweater wardrobe that will work with my solid colored clothing wardrobe. Which leads me to my final, non-knitting goal.

Participate in Me Made May. MMM is an annual event that, you guessed it, takes place in May in which sewing bloggers and knitting bloggers showcase their handmade wardrobe (hopefully without repeat pieces). I took up sewing garments again in 2014 and I'm starting to think about shifting my entire wardrobe from store-bought to handmade. I need to take a look at my existing wardrobe and start sewing replacement pieces rather than purchasing them. Most of what I sewed last year was dresses so I need to branch out into separates and I've already purchased a couple of patterns to get going on this: Renfrew by Sewaholic and Clover by Colette. 

There you have it! These three goals are fairly broad so I have some wiggle room in executing them throughout 2015. 

Do you have resolutions for 2015? What are they?

2014 Resolution Accounting

 I took a much needed break from the internet over my Holiday vacation but I'm back to settle up my resolution goals for 2014. I posted these goals at the beginning  of 2014:

• use my pattern library
• knit more sweaters
• use my stash, especially sweater stash
• be mindful when choosing projects
• learn all about weaving
• think hard before purchasing (especially yarn)
• be happy with my knitting, if I’m not it’s a sure sign that something is wrong

I'm pretty sure I purchased fewer knitting patterns and books in 2014 and I searched my already extensive knitting library for patterns before buying anything new. To my recollection I only purchased two pattern books this year:  New American Knits by Amy Christoffers and The Shetland Trader Book 2 by Gudrun Johnston. Goal achieved!

I knit eight sweaters for myself this year (number nine is in the works), a baby cardigan, and two sweaters for Little A. In 2013 I knit nine sweaters: four for me, two for Little A, and three baby sweaters for gifts. Goal achieved!

How did I do using my stash this year? I did alright, I guess. I purchased quite a bit of yarn this year but I also knit a bit of those purchases right away. Five of my sweaters were knit with yarn purchased this year specifically for sweater projects and I purchased yarn here and there (mainly at Stitches West and during my October birthday) for random projects. I did, however, go through a period where I was only knitting projects with yarn leftover from previous projects in an attempt to get my scrap yarn bag under control. My yarn in and yarn out pretty much cancelled each other out so I'm at the same place I started last year; knit more from stash. 

Sigh. Be mindful when choosing projects to knit. This is a pretty difficult goal to pin down. I do feel like I spent more time thinking about and choosing projects before casting on but does that mean I was mindful about it? I dunno.  I feel like I had more successful projects this year than in past years but was it due to mindfulness or just getting things right as I went along? Again, I'm not sure. 

I did not learn all about weaving. I wove several projects with mediocre results but that just means I need more practice with my loom. Also, I spent a lot more time sewing than in previous years so that took up the bulk of my non-knitting craft time. 

Was I happy with my knitting this year? For the most part I was very happy with my knitting. I had a very difficult year at home so I took solace in my knitting and that helped me feel some semblance of calm and serenity that I wasn't getting in my day-to-day life. I tended toward simpler projects that ended up being some of my favorite, wearable items and if I was unhappy with my knitting project I ripped it out and started something new. Goal achieved!

Did you make knitting goals for 2014? If so, how did you fare?

Resolutions? Resolutions! 2014

I'm not much for setting really concrete goals. An example of this is that it took me nearly ten years to go from the owner of an AA degree to the owner of two BAs. And yeah, I moved to a new city, put down roots, had to get a job to pay for the new city, and got married and started a family before deciding that I should really get going on my education goals. See? Whackadoo. 

I can't even promise myself that this year will be different, but I've finally realized that goals don't have to be concrete - I can strive toward bettering myself or my craft or my life in small, measurable ways.

 

Annual airing of the stash on Jan. 1st

I've got some loosey goosey goals for this year that I think I'll be able to achieve:

• use my pattern library
• knit more sweaters
• use my stash, especially sweater stash
• be mindful when choosing projects
• learn all about weaving
• think hard before purchasing (especially yarn)
• be happy with my knitting, if I’m not it’s a sure sign that something is wrong

 I've got an embarrassing number of patterns and books listed in my Ravelry library. I'd like to use the patterns I have with the yarn that's in my stash, especially to knit more sweaters. Enter the mindfulness part of this equation - sometimes I know that something isn't quite right for a project and I knit it anyway and am unhappy with the result. Makes sense, right? I seriously need to face up to a yarn+pattern fail before I get to the finishing stages of a project. Aaaand instead of running out to buy new yarn for said project I'll go to my stash first since I'll be thinking hard before making purchases this year. Do I need it? Is it practical? Do I already own something that can serve the same purpose or fulfill the same need? 

Finally, I got a loom for Christmas! It's a 15" Cricket Loom and I want to learn all about weaving this year so I can weave up some of my copious stash into wraps and scarves for Christmas gifts next year.

There you have it! Like most other knitters who declare their 2014 goals I've put myself out there for public scrutiny. What are your goals for 2014? I promise I won't hold you to them.

Year in Review: 2013

Like most knitters I'm spending at least part of my New Year's Day thinking about what I accomplished last year and what I want to achieve in this brand spankin' new year. First I want to take a look at my 2013.

Knitmeter says I knit 24,796 yards in 2013. This is roughly 6 to 8,000 yards less than I've knit in the previous couple of years but I'm totally fine with that number. Much of the 24,000 yards came directly out of my stash except for Christmas gifts since I didn't have non-wool fingering weight yarn or the correct yardage of other weight superwash yarns.

I knit 18 pairs of socks:

I don't have pictures of Mr. B's Christmas socks yet (he wore them straight out of the box and I forgot to snap a picture) or my brother's Rye socks. That's 11 pairs of gift socks over the year - not too shabby.

As co-host of the Doubleknit Podcast I hosted a Deep Stash KAL and pulled out a lot of "precious" yarn and finally used it. It was a great exercise and worked well in tandem with Stash & Burn's Use it or Lose it challenge - I ended up knitting 16 projects that worked for both KALs.

I published a hat pattern, Pillsbury, which is free on Ravelry (photo by Quixoticpixels).

I knit a ton of accessories this year. Here's a sampling of them.

I also knit several sweaters but I have a particular favorite from 2013 - Audrey in Unst.

 

 I also joined Instagram this year (I'm ErinBirnel) and cultivated several online friendships with other knitters and crafters, you know who you are!

This was also my first full year Cold Sheeping. The idea is to either put in place a system whereby you knit more yarn than you bring in (Cold Sheeping Lite) or create custom goals for yourself. I had several exceptions in my Cold Sheeping: Stitches West, my birthday, and yarn for gifts or to finish projects. Honestly, I did end up buying yarn more than that but I was way more thoughtful about it than in the past. I'm continuing my Cold Sheeping efforts until Stitches West 2014 and then reassessing my goals.

I feel good about the progress I've made this year and I think 2014 will be even better.  I'll be posting goals and my somewhat non-resolutions for 2014 soon, stay tuned for that! You can see all of my 2013 projects on Ravelry if you follow this link. If you're interested in tracking your knitting progress over the course of the year I highly recommend adding a tab in your projects for 2014 and then tagging each project you knit as well - you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

Happy 2014, knitting friends! I hope it's a good one for you!

2012 In Retrospect, 2013 Inspiration

Hello, there! Happy New Year! I've spent the last week or so cleaning up the debris of Christmas or sick in bed so my obligatory 2012-2013 post about what I've achieved and what goals I have for the new year are a bit late. Let's just say it gave me more time to think about both those ideas and the year ahead, okay?

What did I achieve in 2012?

I graduated from college with a BA in English and a BA in Humanities. I'm very proud of graduating since the last couple years saw me returning to work full time (or more than full time) and going back to school. That's a very full plate in addition to having familial obligations like raising my daughter and spending time with my husband and my friends.

I continued my podcast and made some great new friends online and in real life. My knitting friends continue to be a source of inspiration and strength for me and I don't think I could have made it through the last year without them. My besty came back from 2+ years abroad and spent the holiday with me and I'm so extremely happy that she's back in the U.S. and that we share a time zone.

I didn't keep track of my knitting yardage from last year but I'm pretty sure it still tracked pretty high. Maybe not in the 30k yard range as in previous years but still quite high, nonetheless. I may have had some resolutions from the beginning of the year but I'm pretty happy with my knitting and where it is right now.

How about 2013?

As far as my education goes I'm still planning on attending graduate school at the UW. My application is due in October and I'll find out in December whether or not I've been admitted to the program. I have a lot of work to do for my application so I'd like to work on it over the course of the next 6 months so I don't have to rush any part of the application process. This is the biggie on my to-do list for this year.

The podcast is still going strong (Doubleknit Podcast with my co-host, Jessica) and we're hosting a year-long Deep Stash KAL to focus on older stashed yarns and show them some knitting love. My personal stash outgrew it's confines this last year due to retail therapy and I'm trying to get it back to a comfortable level this year. If you are a member of Ravelry you can join us in the Doubleknit Podcast Fans group and knit your stash down, too!

I'm trying to be a more mindful consumer this year and really pay attention to what I purchase and how I purchase. I'm an emotional shopper and am rather impulsive when it comes to seeing items that are a good bargain. I'd really like to reduce the amount of clutter in my home (took 3 boxes to Goodwill today!) and be happy with the things I already own. Part of this is budgetary since I'm looking at looming school debt but also examining the why and how I think about my life and the stuff that is in it.