Shoulda, woulda, coulda…

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Rayna

I had an interesting conversation with Shireen yesterday that made me stop and think. I mentioned that I was battling a severe case of start-itis, and that the main reason I was not casting on a new Trillian was because I already have three scarves on needles, never mind the two sock designs that I started but have left languishing of late. I said that “I had other things I should be working on”.

Shireen responded to the effect of “that there’s where I went wrong…crafting has become something I should be doing and not always what I want to be doing.” (I am paraphrasing here.)

And I realized that somewhere along the line, I seem to have strayed into that mindset. I think that (for me) it’s that I promise someone I will make them something, and then I feel guilty if I do anything else. I just finished socks for my husband (which have inadvertently turned into a free pattern I am now writing up) and I have promised my mom a fingering weight scarf that I am less than halfway through. By the time you factor in the other half-completed projects that I somehow feel guilty about letting sit in project bags, I feel rather like a Catholic school girl in confession.

I frogged a couple of those WIPs already and I keep looking at the others on my project page, wondering idly “If it’s been on needles for 18 months, am I ever really going to finish it?”

Does it “bother” you to have multiple projects on needles? Or are you the type that never does? (My girlfriend, Caryn, somehow never seems to have more than two or three things on the go at any point, and not shockingly, actually seems to finish things.) If it does bother you, what’s your solution? Do you buckle down and finish them? Or frog them and move on? Do you have an arbitrary time frame in which you know that if it doesn’t get finished, it never will?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Falling Behind

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Rayna

So, as is always the case when I am not knitting for whatever reason, I was just poking around Ravelry. (I have said countless times that if I spent even half as much time knitting as I spent trolling Rav, I’d be a machine!)

I am experiencing a rare case of finish-itis, and I was looking at my project page to see which WIP to pick up next. I made a startling realization. For the last few years, I have completed 27 or so projects annually. That averages out to 2.25 projects a month. So by my calculations, by the end of May on Saturday, I should have 11.25 completed projects on my projects page. Let’s round that down to 11, shall we?

How many do I have? 7. And that includes a project that’s a single sock – it was a test knit done for my friend Christina, and I didn’t need to finish the second one. So I have to ask myself…what gives?

Yes, I bought a loom and yes, I picked up spinning again. And I have spent more time than I care to admit planning some designs. But all of those new activities were in the past month. Makes me wonder where my winter went!

That being said…I have a pair of socks that I should be able to finish by next week sometime. I’d share an “in progress” pic but they are a sooper seekrit test knit. And I do have three different fingering weight scarves in various stages of completion that I’d like to get back to. This one that I started last fall is high on my list of FOs I’d like to actually have.

Stillwater Zigzag Wanderer

So maybe it will be next out of the WIP bag!

Perpetuating the Delusion

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Rayna

If you are a knitter who uses Ravelry, you are likely aware that you can store all your project records there. You can attach your stashed yarn, track start dates, end dates, notes about and all sorts of other random information about the project that you want to remember for later.

One feature is the “status” feature and it’s used by different people in different ways. Thanks to my friend Caryn, I adopted, early on, a practice of marking something 100% once the item was fully knit, but not changing the status to “Finished” until the ends were woven in, the item had had its customary bath and the final photos had been taken. That time frame can be as little as 24 hours or as long as a week or so.

There is another status that I have been using somewhat frequently: “Hibernating”. Traditionally I have used this one for anything I haven’t touched in a few months. (I have been pretty loosey-goosey with the time frame.) The problem with this status is that it fools me into thinking I have fewer projects on needles than I really do. Ravelry’s sorting mechanism buries those projects below all my FOs and as such I don’t see those entries unless I go looking for them. So my, say, eight projects “In Progress” isn’t too bad, I think, until I realize I have another six in “Hibernating”. Suddenly, I have fourteen things on needles, which I think may be a bit much. (Your mileage may vary, of course…it’s all personal preference). This is usually brought home to me when I am looking for s specific project bag or a certain needle that I cannot find and cannot for the life of me locate in my WIPs.

So, I am going to stop using that status. Seeing that I currently have sixteen items OTN – more right now than is reasonable for one person (again, YMMV) – this might keep me a bit focused on finishing at least a few of these before casting on something else. If I already have five pairs of socks on needles, do I really need a sixth? And perhaps I might like to finish one of my five shawls/scarves and four cowls, hmm??

Time to get busy knitting or get busy froggin’.

It’s Nice to Have Goals

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Rayna

So on New Year’s Eve, I took a quick look at what I did in 2013, and mentioned there were some things I’d like to do in 2014. I cannot say I actually set goals, because they were all pretty darned vague, and I would like to have something to work towards.

“I am planning to start spinning again in January and am considering saving up for a Woolee Winder to make my spinning that much easier”. I will spin 5 times a week for the year; I am never going to get any good at this if I do it in constant fits and starts. If I do keep to this, and I think it will improve my spinning, I will get a Woolee Winder in the spring.

“I have nine WIPs and four projects in “hibernation”, so I do need to get back at some of those.” I will cut that number in half by January 1st, 2015 and have no more than 7 WIPS/hibernating projects at that time, whether I finish the ones I have on needles or frog them.

“I am also planning to knit from stash a bit more. I added quite a bit towards the end of the year, factoring in several yarn-y gifts, and I have some great plans for some of those skeins.” For every two skeins I move into “All Used Up”, I can add one more to stash. (This will be by far my most challenging goal, to be certain, as I am completely given to fits of “ooh shiny”!)

“My last goal of the year…to at least start, if not complete, my first sweater. I have two sweater quantities, a coupon for Custom Fit (kindly given to me by my friend, Jenn) and measurements taken for me by Kim. All I need to do now is do some new swatches and I’ll be ready to go.” This goal was nice and specific.

And there was one I forgot. My dear friend Val has sent me three separate stashes of light fingering weight handspun over the past year…all gorgeous and all deserving of being knit into something awesome. I have queued two of them and I will knit at least one of these projects this year.

So, goals for 2014…there they are. I am not going to set goals of how many yards to knit or pounds of fibre to spin, mostly because I don’t want either of those activities to become a chore, and I fear that for me, goals that specific might make them so.

Let’s see how far I get with these 🙂

The State of the Fibre

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Rayna

(I’d have said “The State of the Knitting”, as ganked from my friend Jocelyne, but it seemed more appropriate to include spinning in this update!)

I did a quick count this morning, and I completed 27 projects this year. That’s one shy of the 28 I completed last year. But when one considers that last year I did 12 cowls, and this year I did 15 pairs of socks, I am okay with that.

On quick count, those projects included:

the aforementioned 15 pairs of socks (7 of which were gifts, 1 of which was a sample knit for a the Rock and Roll Collection by Kate Atherley, and 2 of which were my own design which I published in December, Shireen)
3 cowls
5 hats
1 pair of mitts
1 shawlette (test knit)
1 TARDIS dishcloth
1 Calorimetry hairband

My goal had been to knit six pairs of socks this year…and I had exceeded that before the first of June.

Another goal I had had at the beginning of the year had been to learn colourwork, but realized somewhere along the way that I was not really all that interested in it just now, so I let that one slide.

I had planned on doing more spinning and started off the year that way, but the minute it got even slightly warm, the wheel got put aside. I am planning to start spinning again in January and am considering saving up for a Woolee Winder to make my spinning that much easier.

I have nine WIPs and four projects in “hibernation”, so I do need to get back at some of those. I am also planning to knit from stash a bit more. I added quite a bit towards the end of the year, factoring in several yarn-y gifts, and I have some great plans for some of those skeins.

My last goal of the year…to at least start, if not complete, my first sweater. I have two sweater quantities, a coupon for Custom Fit (kindly given to me by my friend, Jenn) and measurements taken for me by Kim. All I need to do now is do some new swatches and I’ll be ready to go.

What are your yarn/fibre goals for 2014?