Currently Reading: Torchwood: Consequences
I had to work this morning, and almost didn't get a blog post in at all. I thought about just putting it off until tomorrow, but Alice and I and some friends are going to an early movie, and I still have to do the Nerd Wars blog tomorrow, which is going to take a while because the dozens of submissions turned in for our little Tribble takeover.
The day two prompt for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is as follows:
Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?
Let's see, according to my Ravelry, I've completed 14 projects (roughly) in the last twelve months, if you count a handful of hats that I donated as a single project and a trouble of tribbles as a single object (the Nerdwarsians decided that "trouble" was the proper term for a gathering of tribbles. I think it's perfect).
Last year, I was just starting to learn how to knit socks. I'd made a few very basic ones, but that was about it.
Last year, I'd done very little cabling. I've done quite a lot with cables now (mostly in the London Calling sweater, which needs and updated photo), and taught myself how to drop down to fix an incorrectly twisted cable (my tutorial on it can be found here).
I am now more adept at reading patterns. I also have learned the way NOT to make a beret, and how to make one properly.
I also took a great step in conquering lace, which is something I've always found elusive, when I made my feather and fan jazzpunk shawl. Oh, and I learned how to put a pocket into a sweater.
All of that, before you even get into the textile stuff and the historical stuff I learned for my thesis. Wow. That seems like a lot for a year! I want to learn more this year--I want to try another lace pattern. I want to challenge my design skills and start incorporating more techniques into the things I design myself, and increase my skill base.
I have two other goals, too: I want to knit through at least 3/4 of my stash, to get rid of the budget (i.e. Redheart) yarn that I got as a broke college student, and start using nicer yarns whenever possible. I still want to observe my budget, but I want to operate 90% stash free, meaning that I don't just go out and buy yarn because I want it. Purchased yarn must have a purpose, though I'm going to keep my handspun and still have some really basic yarns on hand--you know the kind, the ones that are so terribly useful that you're always going to them. Since this requires a shift of budget and of thinking, I'm going to count this as a new skill to learn in 2011.
What goals do you have?
No comments:
Post a Comment