Year of Projects 3 - 2013-14

In Year One, I made a strict list of patterns that would encourage me to learn more about both knitting and crochet. I met with moderate success; my list was far too long, and I changed my mind so much over the course of the year that half the projects I started out with were ditched, and replaced with new patterns that had caught my eye.

In Year Two, I approached from the opposite side of the fence, building up a list of yarns in my stash unclaimed by other projects with a view to assigning them patterns as I chose to work with them.

I'm not quite sure what tactic to employ for Year Three! There are definitely some things I want to carry forward from previous years, and I have even more new yarns in my stash that need to be knit. The one lesson I will learn from the previous two years is to keep my list shorter than before!

Existing WIPs

There are a number of projects still ongoing from previous years. I know I want to finish those off before I start too many new things. So here's the current situation:

Starlight is my first attempt at properly knitting with laceweight, and with beads. I have vain hopes of having it finished in time to wear to my friend's wedding in October, or at the very least to our Christmas party in December. It is painfully slow going, but I am determined!

So Starlight was frogged, and Chunari was started instead. No hope of making the October deadline, or Christmas. Instead I set a deadline of August 14, to be ready for my brother's wedding. But then I bought a dress that doesn't go, so it's hibernating again!

Peerie Flooers has been finished since December 2012. But the ends are still dangling, and it hasn't been blocked. This needs to be done before winter kicks in, so I can finally wear it and astound my work colleagues when they discover that I made it myself. It's so pretty, it deserves more than languishing in my WIP basket, unfinished, unloved and unworn.

My Obnoxious Socks are a lot further along than this most recent photo shows, but still far from finished. I'm only halfway up the leg before the calf increases, so still plenty of knitting to go. But I'm adding them to the list to assuage the guilt I've been feeling about knitting them instead of knitting projects from my list, over the last few months.

Finished December 2013

Projects carried forward from the previous Year

These are the patterns I chose to match my stash yarn from last year's list, that somehow haven't made it onto the needles yet. I still want to knit them, so I'm adding them back to this year's list to make sure that I do.

This is the Knit Picks Capretta in Fairy Tale. I have enough left over from knitting my Ishbel beret to knit the shawl that matches it. Ishbel has been in my queue for almost two years - it's time I did something about that!

Finished January 2014

$5 in Paris has been in my Ravelry queue for a year now, and I bought this gorgeous blue Cascade 220 in San Fransisco on purpose to make it.

Finished November 24 2013

The rest of my list...

Cascade Ultra Pima Paints

I can't let a whole year go by and not knit up this gorgeous cotton I bought in San Fransisco. It is destined to be mittens, although a pattern is yet to be chosen.

Castro, finished December 25 2013

Lily Sugar'n Creme

I also can't ignore my lovely stash of kitchen cotton, so will steadily work my way through it this year, knitting a variety of dishcloths either to keep or to give as gifts.

However, I don't want to tie myself down to a complete list of specific patterns. I also don't want to overwhelm myself with the feeling of having to knit something with absolutely every yarn in my stash, which was my major mistake last year. So I'm taking a different approach to fill out my list. I'm going to choose a "type" of project, and allow my choice of both pattern and yarn to be made when I decide to make it.

Shawls

I love knitting shawls, so it seems ludicrous to me to only have one completely new shawl project on my list. I have several fingering weight yarns in my stash that are crying out to be knit or crocheted into shawls, but haven't yet settled on patterns for them all.

Top: Jawoll Magic Degrade, A Stash Addict Dark Arts Sparkle
Bottom: Tosh Merino Light, Zauberball

The green Jawoll is destined to become Wingspan. I can't wait to knit that one! One of the purple yarns wil be used for the next Crafts from the Cwtch KAL. The rest I am not sure about., so will let myself decide what it will be when I want to start working with it.

Wingspan, finished September 15 2013

Flash of Light, finished September 21 2013

Socks

This past year I have become a huge believer in hand-knitted socks. Once my knee highs are off the needle, a new pair will need to be started. What that will be will depend on the choice of yarn I make!

A Stash Addict Dark Arts

Candy Skein Yummy Fingering

Should the fancy take me for trying a more interesting pattern in my sock knitting, I have these two beauties to choose from. However, if plain boring vanilla socks are what I want, I have these:

My plan is to buy some plain blue Regia to use for contrasting toes and heels when I eventually knit these two.

Baby Things

A number of my friends have spawned this year, plus I have a few work colleagues with impending children. So baby gifts, either for Christmas or for the new arrivals, will feature on my list. I have a large stash of acrylics and cottons, which I will joyfully turn into blankets, cardigans and toys for all the little people I know. And maybe a few gifts for the older children as well!

Anna's blanket, finished October 8 2013

Dan's blanket, finished October 20 2013

Esiotrot, finished December 14 2013

Dinosaur, finished December 15 2013

Kayleigh's blanket, finished January 2014

And finally... the ridiculous never-ending project of doom

Because everyone needs one of those, right? Sock yarn blankets, or those accursed hexipuffs... everyone seems to have something they keep going back to. Well, for me, it's all about picking up a project I started a couple of years ago, when I had the wild idea to design and create a crocheted blanket themed after George R R Martin's Game of Thrones. I started designing the charts, and made it about halfway through that process before giving up. I am determined to finish the charts, and actually crochet a test project using them. If it is successful, I will write up the pattern properly and publish it. Given the amount of work it will involve, it won't be a free pattern, but I'm not going to charge a fortune for it and I'm not going to expect to make any money out of it. I want to do it because then I will know that I've done it, if that makes sense.

I haven't quite finished it! But I've test knit two of the charts and am part way through the third.

So that's my list for Year Three. It doesn't look so bad, does it!