2014 Knitting New Years Resolutions

Last January I posted this about my 2013 knitting goals.  I wanted to:
1. Knit more sock yarn from my stash
2. Keep my stash under 30,000
3. Card and spin my alpaca fleece
4. Knit a hexipuff a day
5. Finish up some UFO's

So, how'd I do?  Well, one out of 5 ain't bad:

654 hexipuffs! I knit my goal of 364 in 2013.  I got a bit behind with the holiday knitting, but I caught back up on my 5 day Christmas weekend.  Now it's habit, I'm going to keep it up.  It's possible I might even finish my BeeKeeper's Quilt this year, depending on how many more I need. I guestimated 1000, but basically I'm going to knit it until it's the size of the white comforter underneath.  However many that is!

And I didn't do too bad on my other goals, either. I barely touched my fleece but I did knit from my sock yarn stash. I didn't buy ANY sock yarn for myself in the past year.  I don't need to as I still have plenty to keep myself knitting socks for the next couple of years.  And I barely bought any yarn for myself, either. Almost everything I bought was stuff I needed for projects for craft shows or for other people, mostly my nieces.  Or I dyed the yarn myself.  And it really wasn't that much, either. My stash is over 30,000, I'm sure, but I'm not really keeping track anymore. It's still (mostly) contained. I'm trying to work my way through my Ravelry queue, which is all projects I already have the yarn for, and only buy yarn when I need it for something I want to make for someone else (since 90% of my stash is for ME ME ME.)  I've pretty much weeded out all the yucky yarn out of my stash. I will look again, but at my first perusal, I couldn't find a single thing to donate to our knitting group's annual yarn swap.  I'm kind of proud of that. I don't buy stuff I regret later.

I have made progress on some UFO's, but not anything substantial. I'm going to try to work on that again year.  But, since I really didn't do that great in 2013, I'm going to try to keep thing simpler this year.  So, my 2014 Knitting Resolutions are:

1. A hexipuff a day! 
2.  Bind off 2, cast on 1. 

The second is a new thing I'm going to try. I'm not allowed to cast on a project until I've finished 2 first. Maybe this will help with the UFO's.  I know it's pushing me to finish some things I have on the needles now because I have a serious case of castitis and really want to start a new project.  Like the Thinking of Spring Mittens I have the yarn for, but haven't been able to start yet.  They have robins on the hands.  Robins! I must knit these! But seeing as how NONE of my knitting Christmas presents are done yet and I'm having a sweater slog...

I'm going to extend BO2CO1 to spinning, too. I can't buy more fiber until I've spun 2 skeins.  Hopefully, it'll help me start to tackle my beautiful alpaca fleece. 

What are YOUR knitting resolutions this year?  And how did you do in 2013?

Knitting New Year's Resolutions!

Happy New Year!  It's SereKnitty here! :)

I don't know about you, but I always make resolutions.  They're usually positive changes I want to incorporate into my life, like giving myself a weekly facial (which I am somewhat consistent with), doing yoga three times a week (which has become habit) or this year's resolution to pay my rent on time each month.  (My landlord is very patient with forgetful me! ) As a knitter, I always make knitting resolutions.  Last year I wanted to knit 12 pairs of socks in 2012 and I know I did it if you count all the baby socks I knit.  But what I didn't do was knit up all the sock yarn in my stash like I wanted and knit lots of socks for ME.  So that is one goal this year. There are so many sock patterns in my queue that I have yarn for and have been waiting years to knit and I want to work on those this year. Another is to finish some UFO's that have been on the needles for WAY TO LONG.  To that end, I intend to reinstate Finish Fridays, where I spend an hour or two working on one of my UFO's to try to get them off the needle. Expect lots of blogs about this.

I also want to get AND KEEP my stash below 30,000 yards.  It might not seem like much to most knitters (Lolo's is WAY bigger than that), but it's way more yarn than I need to have on hand at any one time and it's about as much as my yarn bin will hold. I can't really get the lid shut at the moment!  I know it's unusual, but I actually don't like having lots of yarn on hand. It makes me feel pressured to knit it all up!  I would prefer to buy (or dye!) yarn as I need it and only have a small stash of odds and ends on hand.  It's weird, but it's how I am and that's ok!  :)

Then, I want to knit a hexapuff a day for the entire year.  364 hexapuffs!  I have 6 as of this morning so I'm ahead of the game already.  My Beekeepers Quilt has been slowly building, but I really want to make progress on it this year. I'll post pictures soon!

I also want to FINALLY card and spin the alpaca fleece that's been sitting in my closet for a year and a half.  If I slowly work on it throughout the year, certainly I can get it done!  I haven't had much time for spinning lately, so this will be a good excuse to get back to my wheel.  

I think those are reasonable goals and I think I can do well this year focusing on them and not getting distracted by new patterns and yarns.  Of course, I'll continue with my baby knitting. My little bunny Sera is 6 months old already and my Blueberry is over 3 months. They grow so fast! Which of course means they need new knitwear and toys!

But those are just my personal crafting resolutions.  We also have some KnitCore goals for 2013.  Look for a post about those soon!  And what are your Knitting Resolutions for this year? 

Washcloth Fever!

Every once in a while, I get bit by the washcloth knitting bug. All I can think about is knitting washcloths. All I want to do is knit washcloths. I have a fever, and the only cure is more washcloths...you get the idea.

I also love to stash bust and find new ways to use up every last scrap of yarn. In that vein, I started knitting these fun stash busting washcloths that use up your leftover bits and always end up looking fun and funky. I knit two this week, and I thought I'd share with you my methodology so you can try your hand at them, if you want.

One of my favourite stitches to use for a washcloth is the Linen Stitch.

You get an interesting woven look. The front is flat, which is great for both washing your face or your dinner plates. The back is bumpy, which is perfect when you (or your frying pan) need a good scrub.

And the slipped stitches really blend the different colours together.

So, first, dig down deep into the bottom of your stash and find three coordinating bits of kitchen cotton. They don't have to be enough for a whole washcloth. You just have to like how they look together.

I like to have at least one solid colour.

Then, add in a few more complimentary colours until you know you have enough for a whole washcloth.

Now you are ready to begin!

Pick out your first three colours. We will call them A, B and C.

With yarn A, cast on an even number of stitches. In the example above, I cast on 50.
Attach colour B
Row 1: K1, s1 wyif-repeat to end.
Attach colour C
Row 2: P1, s1 wyib-repeat to end

Repeat these two rows rotating through the three colours until washcloth is as long as it is wide, then bind off. When you run out of a colour, simply attach a new one and keep going.

If you stop and pick it up again, you always start on the side with the two strands of yarn and you always pick up the strand on the bottom.

And voila! You've used up some yarn scraps and have a fun new washcloth all in one go.

Another stitch I like is the Woven Stitch.

It is similar to the Linen Stitch, with a flat front and a scrubby back and has a nice slipped stitch pattern that works well to blend multiple yarns.

Using the same method as the Linen Stitch, cast an an odd number of stitches with colour A.
Attach colour B
Row 1: K1, s1 wyif-repeat to last 2 stitches, k2.
Attach colour C
Row 2: purl
Pick up colour A
Row 3: k2, [s1 wyif, k1]-repeat to end.
Pick up colour B
Row 4: Purl

Repeat until the washcloth is as long as it is wide. Bind off!

TADA!

If you do try one of these, or if you have other favourite patterns for stashbusting washcloths, I would love to see them!!