Looking Back, Looking Forward | 5KCBWDAY7

Look back on last year's Day Seven post / look forward again to one year from now.

Too many balls in the air kept me from posting yesterday -- but this one writes itself: I have officially completed 2.5 of the 3 goals I had for myself last year at this time!

WAYBACK MACHINE SAYS:
* Finish 12 Shawls in 2013, and be on track for a similar feat in 2014...  DONE!

The specifics for 2013 are here, and I'm at 50% shawl progress while at 37.5% year progress...  I wish Present Me could tell Past Me that there are definitely practical applications for math in my adult life.

* overcome my fear and steek something... DONE!

 

I steeked a thing!  It was horrible!  I'm never doing that again unless someone pays me!  With alcohol, if possible!

* Track down all of the knitting needles I supposedly have in my house and come up with an adequate organizational system...   
um, IN PROGRESS!

I've been working on this, recently and in earnest, but it's not ready for today as I hoped it would be; you can track the current status with the label "projectneedles", because there's no way that name could ever be misinterpreted.

And on that note, my goals for the next year are as follows:

* finish up what I started with #projectneedles, complete with whiteboard!  No barcodes, though, too sexy.

* publish my first original shawl pattern.  #TNOFTW   
It's about time.  Actually, it's about space.  And Hawaiian mythology.  You'll see.

* begin to teach my kid to knit.  That's a good idea, right?  #childsplay

* finish 12 Shawls in 2014, and be on track for a similar feat in 2015.

*  *  *  *  *

I want to thank the incomparable Eskimimi for organizing this fantastic intarwebz event yet again!!  Finding new crafter-writers to follow is always a highlight of my year.  Good times were had by all!
And thank you to everyone who stopped by, first-timers and familiar friends, especially those who have left comments for me this week -- it means the world to me -- and thank you, as always, to my family for sticking with me offline.  :)

To read other posts from those taking part in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, simply perform a Google search for the tag 5KCBWDAY7, or click here.

FO: StEEK the First

Yesterday I had to leave work with a headache so excruciating, it was making me nauseous.  Early in the day I was sure I just needed more caffeine, so I drank some coffee (fun fact: liquids with caffeine can dehydrate you!).  When coffee didn't help, it occurred to me that the cause may be dehydration -- the dumbest of all ailments -- so I took some pain reliever, ate something, and drank some diet ginger ale to fight the growing tummy wobbles... it was too late.  Full blown awful erupted in my brain, and I got home in time to collapse in my bed and sleep it off for a few hours.  My evening was filled with glasses of water and a general malaise. All this to recover from a series of tiny bad decisions, AKA a couple weeks of insomnia + only drinking coffee and soda to counteract subsequent fatigue in order to function:   thanks, self-sabotage!

Why did I tell this story?  Because it's like steeking. Steeking was going to be the one thing I would never do in my knitting life... so I approached it with caution, careful to do everything methodically and in the most correct manner.

Start on something small?  Check!
Find a practical project I will actually use?  Check!
Use "sticky" feltable yarn, even though I'm allergic to it?  Check!

Sneezing aside, the actual knitting was fine.  I found a coffee cozy pattern and used an alternate colorwork chart gleaned from a cool pair of mitts I saw... hurray for modifications!

Reinforcement is considered best practice, so out came some contrasting yarn for crocheting -- ding dong, the charcoal alpaca from the Doom Socks is finally dead -- and then it was time to precision-cut with my tiny tiny scissors.

...

Is this right?  No, seriously.  Does this look right??  Because it looks like a dog's lunch and---    WHATEVER I'M OVER IT MOVING ON

Quick, add the buttonbands on either side, before I'm compelled to chuck it all in the bin!  Achoo!

Seriously, though, is this right?

It looks too big already.  Hmm.
Block it, but don't stretch it or felt it or GOSH this is stressful.

colorwork chart adapted from Perri [Rav] mitts by Charlotte Walford

Buttons always make me question my judgement.  This cozy is definitely way, way too big... too big for any glass or mug in the house.  I'll have to use that gigantic water bottle for photos--
Whatevs, just finish it, FINISH IT!

Done.

 Steek This Coffee Cozy [Rav] by Rachel Henry; knit with 40yds of Noro Silk Garden in colorway 08 Royal and 11yds of Crystal Palace Fjord Solid [discontinued] in colorway 4105 Mandarin Orange

 

Never again.  Steeking's the worst.  I need a drink.
Of water.

Looking Forward | 4KCBWDAY7

One year from now, where do you hope your crafting will have taken you to? What new skills, projects and experiences do you hope you might have conquered or tried?

In the left-hand column of this blog, underneath links to stuff and -ahem- the photo of my current life-ruiner, there is The Knit List: a relatively comprehensive catalog of the skills I've acquired in my 12.5 years of knitting.  Since last year's KCBW, I've successfully deployed intarsia colorwork, reverse-engineered a pattern from a finished piece of knitting, and learned how to add beads as I knit (via prestringing and with an implement as-you-go).  Every time I get all cocky and think I've earned my knitting black belt, I scan The List and it reminds me:

Oh yeah!  I've been intending to knit fancy mittens for myself!
Oh yeah!  I still haven't yarnbombed anything!
Oh yeah!  Original pattern design is completely foreign to me!

So there's lots of stuff to do.  My goals for the next year are as follows:

* track down all of the knitting needles I supposedly have in my house and come up with an adequate organizational system.  #projectneedles
This is much easier said than done, even for a librarian.

* overcome my fear and steek something.  #steekthroughtheheart    
Scary!!

* finish 12 Shawls in 2013, and be on track for a similar feat in 2014.

*  *  *  *  *

I want to thank the incomparable Eskimimi for organizing this fantastic intarwebz event yet again!!  I have loved reading the blogs of so many talented crafters, many I would never have found otherwise.  I've even come out of my usual lurking-shyly mode and posted some comments along the way.  Good times were had by all! 
Next, thank you to all the awesome bloggers who stopped by, especially those who have left comments for me this week -- soooo exciting to get feedback, it means the world to me. 
Lastly, but never leastly: hiya to my parents; thank you for reading everything and for other things as well.  :)


To read other posts from those taking part in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, simply perform a Google search for the tag 4KCBWDAY7, or click here.