January Wrap Up

How was your January? Is 2016 already starting to fly by?  Are you following your knitting resolutions in the New Year?

I made a few knitting related resolutions myself.

1- Stash Down- knit and crochet from my existing stash as much as possible AND seriously try not to buy new yarn.

This is hard for me.  I have an incredible and substantial stash.  Between my apartment in NYC, my boyfriend’s apartment in Vancouver and a few boxes in my parents’ basement, I probably have enough yarn to last a lifetime.  However, I really, really, really like finding new yarn and buying new yarn.  And, there are times that I have a project that I want to knit and, even with my giant stash, I don’t have the appropriate yarn.  It’s a problem.

That being said, I consider January to be a relative success.  I did a lot of knitting and only a small amount of purchasing.

I bought 4 balls of yarn.  And it’s sock yarn, which hardly counts, right?  😉

I did also buy some bare yarn for dyeing, but that doesn’t count as part of my stash until its dyed.

2- Knit my own designs – I’ve been designing for almost a year now. During 2015 I was knitting 75% other peoples patterns and 25% my own.  This year, I’ve resolved to turn that ratio upside-down.  Not only will it force me to get my creative juices flowing, but hopefully by sharing my progress photos and FOs on social media, I’ll get people excited about my designs.

This month I finished 7 items and dyed 4 skeins of yarn.

Top – from left to right: Fifth Floor Walk Up Poncho, Bourbon and Beads Hat, Ghost Ranch Cowl, my 4 yarns

Bottom: I-Cord Luggage Marker, Bertie Wooster’s Faux Pas Socks, Berkshires Socks, Bloomington Ear Warmer

Of these, 5 are my own designs.  Well, 6 if you count the hand-painted yarns.  I managed to publish the hat pattern on Ravelry and Craftsy this month, so if you like it, it’s available here on Ravelry and here on Craftsy.

The poncho and cowl are currently in testing and should be published in March.  Please let me know in the comments if you want to be notified when they are released.

The ear warmer will be in testing soon.  If you want to be a tester, sign up in my ravelry group.

Looking forward, I’ve got a few WIPs (works in progress).

Left: Hypernova Shawl

Right – top to bottom: Visual Interest Cowl, Sock Yarn Blanket, Minis, Secret Cowl

The shawl and blanket are not my design, but the two cowls are.  I should finish Visual Interest soon and then it’ll be ready for testing.  The secret cowl, is for submission to a 3rd party publisher, so I can’t share any details now.

The minis are part of my Sock Yarn Blanket obsession.  I am using up scrap yarn for little mitre squares.  I found a swap group on ravelry and these minis are going to be sent in for trading. I can’t wait to see what fun minis I get in return.

Tell me about your resolutions!  Did you finish some items in January?  Are you also trying to stash down?