Let's Talk About 2015

Truth: I have not kept up with my goals for this space in the past year. I'm not really bothered by that fact to be honest. Do I wish I had blogged more? Yes. But do I feel bad that I didn't. Nope. I refuse to feel guilty about this space because it has always been meant as a fun, casual outlet. On weeks when my to-do list is full of other things - or I simply feel like doing ridiculous amounts of knitting rather than typing - I easily move the blog to the bottom of the list. That being said, I still love writing and sharing things here so I'm going to keep doing it.

Last year, I did a little reflecting and documenting of my goals for 2014. My first goal was to write more posts each month in 2014 than I did in 2013. That only happened in two out of twelve months. Meh. Second, I wanted to post more about food. Technically, that one was a success but only because there were barely any recipe posts in 2013. But in truth I didn't write about many recipes, especially in the second half of the year. Knitting sort of took over.

....and cue the segway into knitting....

In addition to these two blog-related goals, I also set a knitting goal for myself last year of becoming a better sweater knitter. My challenge was to only knit sweaters for Kevin and I (meaning I would still knit other things for other people, but for the two of us it would only be sweaters). I did end up knitting some accessories for us, but mostly only toward the end of the year and out of necessity (wool socks for Kevin and a wooly hat for me because winter). Overall, I'm calling this one a rousing success! In total I finished six sweaters this year:

• Smokin' Jacket for Kevin
• Agatha Cardigan for me
• Flaming Tinder for me
• Christmas Sweater for me
• McQueen Pullover for Kevin
• Amanda Cardigan for Mom (not yet blogged)

Beyond having the garments themselves, I am most pleased that I have advanced my skills and become a more precise knitter. I've properly swatched, measured, and consulted pattern schematics so that I can finally stop being lazy and make things that fit the first time. I'm not including the failed Hugo sweater that sparked this whole goal in this list because most of the knitting was done in 2013. However, I actually love that sweater for me and have ended up wearing it a ton this winter.
 

Ok, phew. Now that I've gotten done with the block of text about last year, I can finally move on to this year! Below are the goals I've set. These are for life in general, not this blog. Because clearly blogging goals for me are a farce.

1. Become someone who sews. 

I can sew. I do occasionally sew. But this year I want to get lots better at it. I want to become a sewer. Someone who can make garments from a pattern with confidence. I'm pretty uncomfortable with using our sewing machine right now, and I want to get over that fear. If this year ends with few actual sewn garment but a higher level of comfortability with patterns and our machine it will be a success. A high aim would be to have lots of garments and to be at the point where I can start buying really good materials without fear of f%#*ing them up. Right now I'm buying cheap fabrics that I like but will not be heartbroken over if they get trashed.

2. Knit my stash. 

I consider my stash to be big but not out-of-control huge. If you saw it all you may disagree with this (and no, this picture is not all of it...). However, I have lots of really great stuff in there! Stuff I've been meaning to work with and genuinely love, but that has gotten shoved into storage or back-burnered for too long. The pile above is my goal. All of this has been designated for specific projects, so now I just have to make them. By the end of this year, this pile of string shall be transformed into stuff! Simple enough, right? A second half to this goal is to not buy any more yarn until this stack is used up. I know, I know. I can already say with confidence that I will fail on that account. Not buying any yarn for a year is a little nuts. I'm prepared to give myself leeway on this for super special yarn purchases or for random projects that will probably pop up as gifts.

That's it! Wish me luck!