2017

In roughly June of last year, I suddenly felt like crafting again.  So I started crocheting a baby blanket.

I understand if a blanket makes no sense to you as a crafting re-entry project.  Even a baby blanket is a large, time-consuming, non-portable endeavor.  Historically, I have done most of my knitting or crocheting on public transit, and that would never happen with this sort of WIP.  However, I had a mess of multi-colored acrylic and the itch to do something mindless while browsing youtube videos on the couch, and let us all acknowledge the suitability of blanket projects when one really wants a convenient lap-warmer.

(Cats are right out, because I live in an apartment and my husband is allergic.  But I acknowledge their prowess as lap-warmers too.)

The multi-colored yarn was a melange of grey, white, black, peach, mauve, and lavender, and a gift.  I doubt I would have ever picked up such yarn myself.  But I thought it would look good in strips with some solid colors to balance things, and so worked up the Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket.  The only change I made was to limit the solid pink strips to two rows, which did not impact the placement of any other increases.  Doesn't it look fetching?  I worked in up in less than four months.

Then I gave it to my mother over Christmas to regift, since she goes to more baby-shower-type events than I do.  I was on to other crafting pursuits, my inspiration more or less back intact. 

2015 in Knitting Review and the State of the Stash

Happy New Year!  I hope that you had a wonderful holiday and that 2016 is off to a good start.  I spent the holiday with my family in the US, and recently returned to Europe.  I am now dealing with a lingering case of jet-lag that keeps waking me up in the middle of the night, so I apologize in advance for any incoherence in this post.

Following my post from last year, let's see how 2015 compares with previous years in knitting.

I did not meet my goal of twelve finished projects this year, as I only managed to get through ten.  That's one less than last year.  However, as shown below, these ten projects used a bit more yarn than 2014's eleven projects.  One of the big drivers of that is the Elizabeth shawl, which was the biggest yarn eater of the year.

Finished: Lord of the Rings PotHolders

This particular project gave me a small host of problems, which is part of the reason I have been lax in reporting on it. I was excited for the January 2015 Geek and Nerd Swap because the theme was Imaginary Worlds and I love those in my fantasy. I had gushed about Lord of the Rings in my introduction to the swap, and since I knew January was going to be a busy month I started pre-planning hat and fingerless mitt projects around LOTR cultures and places.

Then I received my partner assignment, and found that while she would love to visit Middle Earth, she was more interested in home furnishings than accessories. That derailed my planning, because as the observant will have picked up I primarily make accessories. My home décor projects are limited to the occasional afghan and those potholders I made for my mother. So it was back to the drawing board for me.

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:

2014 in Knitting Review

2014 is just about over, and I like to take this time to review how the year has gone and how things have changed relative to previous years.  Being me, I then make plots if I can.  

I started knitting in March 2012, and found Ravelry a couple months later.  That marks the beginning of me tracking this sort of data, so while I crocheted before that point, I don't have information on those projects.  Hence the comparison is between part of 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Above is a bar chart showing the total number of projects I completed in the past three years.  Both knitting and crocheting projects are included, though most of those were knits.  As you can see, 2014 was my most productive year, though not by much.  The total number was increased by participating in a few swaps, since those had hard deadlines that forced me to finish.  It was decreased by making scarves for my family, since those scarves took a while.  I had hoped to make it an even twelve projects for this, but that didn't quite happen.