Last week, I finished my last Year of Projects post of 2013 with a cliffhanger: how many more projects could I complete in 2013?
I ended up finishing just one more project, a baby blanket for my cousin’s newborn. (My cousin was in labor when I wrote the post, and has since delivered a healthy baby girl. Yay!)
I originally had a plan for a symmetrical blanket.
Each square was made holding two skeins of yarn, with the colors blending into each other. I planned to have an “x shape” of hearts radiating outward from the center.
Unfortunately, my yarn calculations were a bit off, so I had to move on to Plan B – an asymmetric design with an “L shape” around one edge – to work with the colors I had left.
I like how it turned out. I should mention that the yarn that looks brown in the picture is actually purple, and the colors look much brighter and more attractive in real life!
And with that project, I came to the end of my yarn usage for 2013.
Overall, I worked up about 1,700 yards less than in 2012 (which is no surprise, since I made many fewer projects in 2013), but I knit a lot more (about 19% of my total yarn usage, compared to about 4% in 2012). That trend will probably continue this year, since I’m planning to make up a few extra samples of my 2014 Sampler Mystery Knit-a-Long blanket.
My plans for the next half of the Year of Projects are to:
- Finish my 2013 temperature scarf. I love this thing so far, and I can’t wait to wear it during the impending cold front. I crocheted through September 6, so I have 116 more rows to go. I’m not sure if I’ll join it as an infinity scarf, or add buttons so I have the option to wear it as a scarf or cowl. As you can tell from the photo below, it clearly needs blocking and a massive weaving in of ends before it can be worn.
- Take pictures and finish formatting the five patterns I have that are ready to self-publish. (What can I say, it’s tough to find models willing to stand outdoors in the New York cold in exchange for baked goods!)
- Keep working on the projects for the e-book I plan to release in March. I have one in progress to finish, and 2 more to make.
- Come up with something exciting to do for the Ravellenic Games. I would like to come up with some kind of mystery crochet-a-long, but I’m not sure if I have time.
I’m keeping my goals a bit fluid because mainly I want to keep working on using my stash and getting more patterns ready for publication. My original goals were all about developing patterns and self-publishing, and I plan to keep on moving in the same direction.
What are your plans for the first half of 2014?
For more Year of Projects posts, visit this thread on Ravelry.