2015 Stash Review and Yarn Resolutions

Happy New Year!  I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I accomplished in 2014 and what I hope to accomplish in 2015, and so I will jot down my yarn-related resolutions here.  That should make me more likely to keep them.

I started with a stash review.  While most of my stash is on Ravelry for easy perusing, it was beneficial to pull it all out and see what is actually taking up the most space.  I don't have a lot of storage space for yarn and don't really want to have a big stash of wool, as it is that much more fiber I would need to keep clean and moth-free.  Shaking it all out lets me check on its quality and repack my storage boxes.

First up, the fingering yarns:

From top to bottom, we have the sock yarns (fingering weight wool-nylon blends), the other fingering weights (pure wool or wool-silk blends), and the sock yarn scraps.  These are my favorite yarns to have on hand, because I find them versatile and easy to predict how much I'll need.  Fingering weight yarns can be used for socks, hats, mittens or gloves, and shawls if you are me, and other people use it for even more types of projects.  It doesn't bother me to have a supply of these yarns around.

Then there is everything else.

The yarns are arranged laceweight to worsted/aran from left to right, with a clump of acrylics on the far right.  I am happy that this batch is smaller than the fingering weights, but this is also the bunch I would like to shrink in size.  With heavier weights, I like to know what I will use them for before I give them storage space.  Besides . . .

The sock yarn box doesn't close, and I have pressed a cardboard box into service to hold the acrylics.  A wee bit of downsizing is in order (just not the sock yarns, as it is always welcome).

2015 Resolutions

Finish the two current works-in-progress.  Those would be my grandmother's shawl, and a blanket I started back in . . . 2011 . . . that has been put into hibernation more than once.  I actually spent much of the summer of 2013 finishing up the squares for it, but wasn't happy with how I was joining up those squares and shoved it out of sight.  It isn't that bad--I should finish it and find some child who will love it to death despite less-than-invisible joining.

Make myself some wool accessories.  While waiting to enter our Christmas Eve concert, I was complaining about the cold while my husband complimented the warmth of his store-bought cashmere scarf, and we made the shocking realization that while I have made scarves for a huge amount of my family, I only own polyester scarves myself.  This will not do.  A good chunk of my current collection of sport and DK weight wool will become winter accessories for me, a task which will also reduce that portion of the stash in size.

Make a scarf for my husband.  After discussion of the sweater curse and the mutual decision that a scarf would not adversely affect our relationship, we agreed that I would make him a warm, soft scarf.  That will made with his input on fiber and pattern choice, and should be made before next winter.

Make an advent calender.  My husband has defined ideas about what one should have in the house for the holiday season, and we couldn't find an advent calender that he approved of.  I offered to make one, and then he can put chocolates of the quality he prefers in it.  That needs to be done before next December.

Make at least five pairs of socks.  I like knitting socks, and was sort of hoping to make more in 2014.  That isn't how it worked out with all the scarves I made, but I want to increase my production next year, at least a little bit.

Knit something of my own design.  I've also been kicking around a few design ideas in the back of my head, and I want to produce something from my own design this year.

Knit a garment for myself.  I have yet to knit an adult-sized garment, and I think this is the year for me to tackle that.  I am debating between a vest or a cardigan, because those are knit garments that I actually wear.

Complete at least 12 projects.  This was an unstated 2014 goal as well, and if I had finished my grandma's shawl as I had originally (and rather foolishly) hoped, I would have pulled it off.  I finished eleven items last year.  I am not a particularly fast knitter, but I like completing things.

Okay . . . that's a lot of goals.  We can met again on this in, say, June and see how things are going.  I will start immediately with the last one, as I have my partner for the January Geek and Nerd swap, and that will be one, maybe two projects that much be done by the end of the month.  Plans are made and handmades will start shortly, with details to be revealed after the recipient has them. 

Enjoy your holiday!