Tuesday, January 6, 2009

What the Future Holds

Sometimes it takes looking back in order to see your way forward. In the moment I often feel my progress is limited. That I am moving in baby steps. Invariably this happens when I read of my fellow bloggers accomplishments and I feel left behind. Imagine my surprise then when I went through my 2008 photos. I completed my first pair of socks just last year! From my first plain vanilla socks (with a picot edge) to Marie Antoinette and Ornette in less than a year! My second sweater completed and on my back (the first still languishes, waiting to be seamed,) just 2 1/2 months after casting on. Hats. Mittens. So much more than I could have dreamed of. So I'm setting even higher goals for 2009.

In no particular order, my goals for 2009:

  1. Finish my current WiPs, most notably seam up Arietta and finish Jeanie, both of which I really love.
  2. Knit at least two cardigans: Kingscot and Surface both by Norah Gaughan.
  3. Knit at least 6 pairs of socks (more on that tomorrow)
  4. Knit a lace shawl with lace weight yarn. Yes, Charlotte's Web is on the needles, but I want to face real lace with real lace weight yarn.
  5. Learn to spin. I've been doing some free lance work on the side and once I get paid for that I am buying a drop spindle. A decent one. And I plan to learn to spin.
  6. Push my stranded knitting skills. Now that I've got the hang of it with the great starter project, Endpaper Mitt, it's time to push the envelope. Make a hat. Or perhaps a vest. See if I can live through the self-induced trauma of steeking
  7. Make a pair of gloves. With fingers.
  8. Make a real life knitting friend (not just virtual ones.) Not having a car has precluded me from attending Knit Night at either LYS in nearby Montclair. If I can't find a knitting pal, I'll just have to create one. Girlfriends, you better watch out!
  9. Continue to improve my blog and my blogging, - be it the writing, the photos or the subject matter.
  10. Do some kind of charity knitting. My first project should be hats for Israeli soldiers. It's all that ribbing in black that's holding me back. It's time to get over it and, as my mother ALWAYS says, get on with it!
Only time will tell, but I have a good feeling. I'm on my way. Here is my completed super swatch, sleeve 1 of Kingscot.

One finished Endpaper Mitt

And last night's progress on Charlotte's Web.

As soon as I post this I plan on finishing the last two rows of color 2 and join in with color 3 (Jasper).

And finally, a new feature: You Asked, I Answer. At the end of each day's posting I will use this space to answer any questions you might have asked in the comments.

Silfert asked how many stitch markers I planned on using for Chalotte's Web. That may have been a joke, because there are a ton of them! Right now I have a marker between every repeat. After every 8 pattern rows (that's 16 actual rows when you count the purl row back) 4 markers are added. Although I have a tremendous number of markers, I don't think I have quite enough. Somewhere around color 4 I will have run out, which means at some point I'm going to have to trust myself and lose some of them!

6 comments:

Debbie said...

The Charlotte's Web is looking great. I like the color by color progress reports. Please keep it up.

Now a question. I'd like to know why you stopped working on the Icosa ball. Or did you finish it and I missed it?

Debbie

Anonymous said...

Hey, looks like you got one of my mittens completed! Woo-hoo! Looks good.

Elaine said...

More great progress on the shawl. I love the color combination so far.

lunaticraft said...

That endpaper mit is beautiful! I love the combination of purple and green!

Anonymous said...

Great goals for 2009! And your projects are gorgeous - love the shawl especially!

Anonymous said...

I've been waiting for an update on the shawl. It is beautiful so far, but let's see some more!