This is mostly a knitting blog. Sometimes pictures of things I've made, sometimes not. I'm a guy who knits, I usually attend a men's stitch 'n' bitch on Monday nights, and I prefer natural fibres to artificial ones. I have a love-hate relationship with bamboo yarns: I love what they can do and how they look, I hate how they are made. I've been knitting since about 2003, though I really didn't get into it until 2005, while convelescing with a broken leg. I must have discovered something good, 'cause I'm still knitting years later.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Mid Year (sort of) Review

Okay, so now that we've got a bit more than half the year behind us (149 days left til New Year's!), I thought I'd assess where I am in my goals for the year. I had said that I wanted to do four things this year:

  1. Write at least two blog posts per week
  2. Knit my stash
  3. Finish up some long UFO projects
  4. Not buy as much yarn
I think I have succeeded in two of these. I have been pretty good about writing twice each week. I've missed here and there, and when I was on vacation in May, I think I missed that week. But by and large, I've been pretty good about the writing thing.

I have been trying to knit my stash. Of the four honey cowls I've made so far, three of them were from stash yarn. The Irish Hiking Scarf in Tosh's fathom colourway was stash yarn. And several of the projects I've got planned for the rest of the year will be from stash yarn. 

I have not really done much work on UFOs. I did a couple at the beginning of the year, finished some old scarves and such, but the rest of the ones I wanted to work on have fallen to the wayside of holiday knitting. So both the blue and the brown sweaters are languishing in a bin. The two Milanese Loop cowls are sitting in bags next to my bed, imploring me to work on them. Maybe they will be my September project. Or not.

Buying yarn. I've actually curtailed my yarn buying, but not to the extent that I had hoped. I have not gone an entire month without buying yarn, but I will admit, in July I only bought the yarn from the farmer's market in Provincetown while I was on vacation. At least I think so. I didn't buy any yarn at the Cascade sale at the Stitch House, even though I wanted to. However, they have cotton on 40% sale this month, and I'm thinking of next year's holiday projects, and they involve a lot of cotton. I should probably stock up, since I don't keep a lot of cotton in my stash (for the simple reason that I don't like knitting with cotton).

So I'm at 50% of my stated goals. Getting those blog posts out, and knitting my stash. I need to start to curtail the yarn buying. People are talking about interventions, and I don't think they're joking any more. And I need to finish up some projects. I would like to finish my blue sweater. Maybe that will be my post holiday goal, since I'll have a week between Christmas and New Year's to work on it (all I need to do is pick up stitches to make the sleeves, and block it). I can make two sleeves in a week, can't I. Of course I can!

So for the rest of the year, I have to channel dear Princess Victoria, and swear that I Will Be Good and not buy (too much) more yarn.
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