New Year, Same Me (but with Loftier Goals)

Happy New Year! 2018 was great to me, and what I’m most proud of is I actually completed (some) resolutions I made on this day a year ago:

Read 20 books

This one isn’t really fiber arts related. I mean, I read fiber arts stuff all the time, but I think that was a little of the problem. It ate into my time learning about other things and one of my long-time passions, reading fiction. So, I put my foot down and said I’d take the time to read (this became even easier with library access to audiobooks when I started commuting).

Spin a sweater quantity of yarn

If you’ve been following along, you know I’ve been working on this project since July. I’m happy to say that I finished plying the last of it around 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve!

Design three new designs

This is one that started loftier, I had ideas for big, themed shawls around this time last year, but the busy year went on. This gave me the opportunity to design other things, like a Broomstick Lace Headband, a C2C Pillow, and the Corset Coffee Cozy. I’m really happy I resolved to design last year.

What I failed to do this year is to stop buying yarn for the sake of buying yarn. This did not mean no new yarn purchases, please support your local artists and yarn stores. I just have terrible impulse control, and when your Ravelry queue is over 100, “it’s pretty” shouldn’t be the only reason to buy yarn. However, other than a mildly out of control stash, failing this resolution didn’t cause any real harm.

And since what seems to be the trick for me is writing them down, here’s what I resolve to do in 2019:

Stop buying yarn for the sake of buying yarn. Let’s give this another go.

Knit the sweater from the handspun. If I spun the whole thing before 2019, it should be reasonable to have a finished sweater by 2020.

Publish three new designs. Maybe I’ll finally design those shawls I’ve had in my head since 2017!

Write everyday. This is kind of cheating, cause I write for my job. To that end, though, I don’t always carve out time to write the stuff I really want to write. So hopefully I will do that in 2019.

Wishing you all the best in 2019! Do you have any crafty New Year’s resolutions? Let me know in the comments.