It’s hard to believe we are wrapping up another year already! As we get close to the end of the year I like to gather all the projects I’ve done over the year and pile them up into a group photo. It helps me take in everything I’ve accomplished and also so I can think on what sort of goals I want for the New Year. I don’t like to make goals that are too hard set, it’s more like a generalized direction, something that I can let guide my year if I ever feel a little lost along the way.
Last year for my goals I had decided that 2017 would be the year of the socks. I wanted to spin a lot of sock yarn and also knit some socks. In addition to that I wanted to work on finishing some outstanding projects as well as try to break out of my tendency to gravitate toward spinning lots of greens. I did set one hard set goal for myself to spin a little bit every day and somehow that sort of fell apart in the middle of summer oops!
I had four projects that were still on going I wanted to finish. The Jenkins Egret project on the left was one I had started back in 2013, at the top a cotton project I started at the end of 2016, on the right a Mini Spindle project I started Fall of 2016, and at the bottom a Geranium spindle project started Fall of 2015. I also had lots of new braids I wanted to play with for spinning socks.
Over the year I worked on my long term spindle projects but only finished the oldest one which I was absolutely thrilled I had finally finished.
I ended up throwing some new spindle projects in the mix like my Spin on All the Things 2.0, some small projects to test out new spindles, and projects for FiberyGoodness.
New FiberyGoodness courses and projects that Suzy worked on this year inspired me to take on new projects like this one I did for the Snowflake Gradient Evolution Challenge.
I had some braids that magically fell into my stash…. I swear I don’t know how that happened! Some gave me new fun ideas but still tied into what I was hoping to achieve this year such as my Rainbow socks project I spun during Tour de Fleece.
Over the course of the year new projects were added and some that I thought I would spin got sidelined. Sometimes when I finished a project I had a hard time deciding what to work on next so I revisited my photo pile of goodies as inspiration. Overall I think I had quite a productive year! I finished six 4 oz skeins along with 8 small sample skeins. I’m about halfway through my first pair of handspun striped knee high socks and I have 4 on going spindle projects and the cotton project to finish.
For next year I’m hoping to get in a lot more knitting time with my handspun as last year I had a baby blanket holding the majority of my knitting time hostage. I’m hoping to knit some more handspun socks and a few shawls. I’m looking forward to being able to dye and blend my own fibers now that I’ve got a drum carder and hackle. I definitely want to do another Spin on All the Things with all my Jenkins spindles. I think this year will be a lot more up in the air with how much new possibilities I have with being able to process my own fiber. My biggest goal I’d love to accomplish is to be able to do at least one fibery related thing a day and photograph it. It could be as simple as some spinning or knitting but could also include things like dyeing and processing fiber. I think I’ll call it #FiberyFun365 I think giving myself the freedom for any fibery related fun activity in daily routine will be a lot easier for me to keep momentum and will also give me a greater variety of activities to share on my Instagram account.
Here’s some of my spinning goals. Most of it is finishing off existing projects along with some new fiber and some I’d like to hand process myself that is inspired by that big beautiful ball of gray. I’m also hoping to dye up some fiber and play more with my hackle and combs.
For handspun knitting I’ve got a lot of beautiful yarns I’d love to work with. A few are for socks, few are for shawls and I’m planning on making a tam hat with my snowflake yarn.
Before we wrap this year up I’d love to see photos of what everyone else accomplished this year so please head on over to the Facebook group and share away! There’s so much to be inspired by with everything we have all accomplished. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone has planned for the New Year whether it’s something small or something big! There’s lots of different goals you can have whether it’s to spin a little bit each day, do something fibery each day, learn new techniques and skills, spin down your stash etc. Let us know what you have planned on our group and please share lots of photos so we can all be inspired! 😀
– Evanita