Skip to main content

Crafty Resolutions

(It's a little early, but...)

I'm not one for making (and sticking to) grand New Year's resolutions, but I think all of us feel that occasional (or maybe frequent, though ineffectual) urge to resolve to do better in various areas of our lives.  (Exercise?  Healthy eating?  Getting the jungly portions of the yard back under control?)

I've been contemplating crafty resolutions, lately.

Last year, I resolved to work on handmade gifts throughout the year-- and I did pretty well at that.  True, I still have a couple of gifts in progress, but I've finished and wrapped a few fairly major projects, so I count that a success!

Next year, I'm not sure I want to make so many gifts.  (For a number of reasons, but mostly because you can never know if the gift will be to the receiver's tastes and used, and it just takes way too much time and effort, if you're not reasonably sure.)  So maybe one of my informal resolutions will be to scale back on the handmade gifts.  Or failing that, I could focus on making smaller, less labor-intensive projects as gifts.  We'll see.  I enjoy making gifts, but everything in moderation-- and after some of the items I've made this year, moderation is needed.

RESOLUTION #1:
Work on Christmas gifts throughout the year, again, but don't feel that large-scale handmade gifts are a necessity each and every year.


My queue on Ravelry has been growing exponentially this year.  That's mainly because I use my Ravelry queue as a bookmarking tool.  I'll queue up several similar hat patterns, for instance, never intending to make them all, but just to have them handy for comparison when I finally decide to make a hat.  I don't have a problem with using my queue this way, but I would like to get things a little more organized...

RESOLUTION #2:
Pare down-- or at least organize-- my Ravelry queue.


I'm so excited to finally know how to knit-- and this year I've also started playing around with dyeing yarn.  (It was love at first dye! ;o))  I want to continue trying new things with yarn.  The following are some areas/projects of interest:
  • Broomstick lace (crochet)-- Maybe a scarf or pillow panel?
  • Irish crochet-- A wreath adorned with Irish-style flowers? Yes!
  • Knitted mitts--  I've bookmarked a few different patterns... I tend toward cables.
  • More knitted hat patterns--  They're so fast (comparatively speaking)!
  • Single-color afghan for our home-- I'm not sure if I want to knit or crochet it...
  • Filet crochet--  Working in finer gauge thread.  A picture? Our surname?
  • Dyeing yarn-- More to learn; much more fun to be had.
  • Large-scale thread crochet-- A table runner? Not sure... 
  • Mounted and framed doily-- Love the way that looks.
  • Loomed flowers crocheted into a scarf!
I know I won't get to all of those in the next year, but I can certainly try a few of them.  :o)

RESOLUTION #3:
Keep trying new things in crochet and knitting.


Gosh, there are just so many things I want to do, but you're only "supposed" to choose a few resolutions each year, according to The Experts.  Otherwise it's less likely you'll succeed, they say.  Ideally, I'd like to get back into photography-- be a more frequent blogger-- work on some polymer clay tutorials-- and more.  Well, why not?  I can but resolve!  (g)


RESOLUTION #4:
Take more photos!!!  Take photos of the dogs, the yard, my projects (in progress and finished)-- anything that comes my way, take a photo.  (Maybe it's time for another Project 365?  I might give up a few months in-- might miss a few days here and there-- but so what?)

RESOLUTION #5:
Blog.  More often.  (Hey, if I did Project 365 and posted my photos here... Two birds with one stone. Hmm...)

RESOLUTION #6:
Make tutorials!  Get out that video camera, wrestle with the editing program, and make some tutorials, girl!

RESOLUTION #7:
Two words:  Yarn Yuck.  (Go on: It doesn't have to be updated every single day.)

Well, that ought to be enough.  ;o)  Might be sufficient to keep my spare time occupied through February or March.  Heh.