Resolution?

At the end of 2018, I guess I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the number of WIPs (work-in-progress) I had. So I took a picture, which didn't even include all of them. Between then and now I've tracked 32 projects that for various reasons weren't finished within the time frame I meant to finish them. It turns out 14 of them were started in 2018. I guess I was very ambitious that year. I also had two WIPs that were started pre-2018.

In the last three years, I've finished some of those WIPs along with who knows how many other projects that I started and finished in a more timely manner. And I've added more projects to the outstanding-WIP list.

I began 2022 with 19 WIPs. I still have the two pre-2018 projects, 7 of the ones I began in 2018, 2 from 2019, 2 from 2020 and 6 projects that I started in 2021 and didn't finish.

Of course, I did manage to finish one of them already. It was a Christmas present for one of my kids that was late, so I was motivated to get it done.

So I'm down to 18 past projects. Yesterday, someone asked me how long I've been crocheting and I had to think about it. Then I realized that in December 2022, it will be 20 years since I learned to crochet. That led to thinking about how one should celebrate 20 years of crocheting. I thought about neat things I'd like to make myself. Some of them are already on my WIP list. And then I realized that the biggest gift I could give myself to celebrate this milestone is to finish all these projects.

It seems impossible right now. It feels like that Julie & Julia movie where she decides to make all the recipes in a cookbook in a year. And I have less than a year at this point. At the same time it feels possible. Is that because it's the beginning of a new year and everything feels a little possible right now? Maybe I just have too much optimism. But I'm willing to attempt it.

Let's see how far this can go.

You Are My Baby Penguin

Being on a bit of a crafting roll, I then spent two days at a conference watch party. In these types of situations, I typically pack one too many craft projects to keep my hands busy while I listen. But in this case, I finished both projects that I took and then had time to spare. It was a little surprising for me.

Part of the problem is that I started with the Baby Penguin from the Wildlife Graphghan CAL already past the halfway point. I had pushed myself the night before to get past the beak so I would have one less roll of yarn in my bag. Well, two less actually because I finished the lighter grey also.

The two greys don't have a lot of contrast, but there really are two shades there. I didn't use the darker grey as the designer had designed because when I look at pictures of baby penguins, that darker grey doesn't make sense to me. I should have known it wouldn't take as long to finish this square since it has so few color changes.

The next past project on my list is called You Are My Sunshine and was designed by Christine Bumgarner. I started it in May 2018 which was in the middle of when I had been working on the Solar System CAL. At the time I was seeing a lot of other people crocheting along with the releases of the pattern and had a lot of ideas about how I wanted the colors to be, but I didn't write any of those ideas down. I'm pretty sure, last fall, when I worked on part 2, I made a fresh plan and then also didn't write that down either. So for part 3, I picked out some colors and made a plan for the remainder and I'll see how it goes.

Keeping the colors simple helps the textures pop out more.

This time I wrote down my ideas for the colors. And by "wrote down" I mean, I made a document in my Google Drive in the folder with the YAMS pattern so next time I pick up this project I don't have to do all the overthinking. I'm pretty excited to see how it pans out.

Switching Gears Part 2

And now for the exciting conclusion.

The fifth project on my list is the You Are My Sunshine CAL which I began in May 2018. In a way it's the opposite of the Solar System, since it's sunny and bright. I haven't really picked colors that are in my usual comfort zone, so I don't know how this is going to go. My task was to finish part two.

The sixth past project is one I'm going to abbreviate as GCG. I began it in September 2018. It's possibly the first project that I've felt like I could really put a title on it and label it like a work of fiber art. But I'm going to hold on to that title until I've finished and given it to the intended recipient. It is equal parts HILARIOUS and thoughtful. I finished up a part that I had been stuck on and un-crocheted a part that wasn't working.


Seventh on my list is the Hooked and Locked CAL that I began in October 2018. It's a really different technique that I wanted to try, but I couldn't work on it because I need to buy some yarn. So I made a rude gesture at Perfectionism and skipped right on.


The 8th project is called Reyna which I also started in October 2018. This is a knit shawl which uses sock yarn. I'm getting closer to the end but there isn't really a set section I could break it down into like many of the other projects. So I just knit 3 rows and moved on.

Oh the ninth project on my list. It's pretty silly. I had come across a pattern for a knit Sampler Scarf. It uses 6 different beginner stitch patterns. This project and Reyna were both things that I came across and thought "this would be a good way to level up my knitting skillz" But I thought while I was at it, I might as well go ahead and double down. There is a sort of fad in scarves lately called "super scarves" where everything is just obnoxiously sized. So I decided to make it twice as wide and each section 10 inches instead of the 6 inches recommended. This is a good way to go insane. I'm calling it my Super Sampler Scarf, I began it in December 2018. My task was to finish the first stitch pattern which is the most boring one, garter stitch, I had to knit a little under 4" to meet the 10 inch plan.

The last past project that I've finished work on this week is called the Hygge, it's a shawl, but rectangular. I fell in love with this pattern in October of 2017. At first I was going to get my standard cheap-ish readily available yarn, but I just couldn't find colors that would do justice to the pattern. So I asked Tim to buy me the yarn kit for Christmas. The more expensive European yarn is just necessary for this project. But then I was overcome with anxiety about getting the gauge right because if I'm off, I might not have enough yarn and that would be a mess. Finally in December 2018, I figured I better start working on it before a full year had passed with it in my possession. I didn't get very far because holidays and I wasn't in love with the colors. It turns out I don't like the red, orange, yellow, side of the rainbow but once I get the green on I start liking it again. I finished the first part of the CAL in January.

The last time I packed it away, I was really pretty close to finishing part 2 as well, so that was my recent task.

I'm pretty excited about this project, if you can't tell by the word count alone. After that day, I focused on a sewing project as a bit of relief from yarn projects and also just because I've been too stressed out. I needed a more mindless project. I don't know if it's working in terms of increasing the good chemicals in my brain, but it beats doing nothing.

Moving On

I ended 2018 by taking a photo of all the unfinished knit or crochet projects I could remember and find at the time. There are 14 in this picture. There were two more in my backpack that got stolen and two more that I remembered after the picture.

So far I've finished that rainbow-y piece on the right. It's a temperature scarf for 2018. But then I promptly started a temperature project for 2019 so it feels like it's an ongoing project. I'm knitting both the high and the low held together as one strand of yarn. Some days I knit the previous day's two rows and some days I play catch up.

2018 Scarf

2019. January - June

 In March I finished the peacock feather project, which is a lap blanket. I'm pretty sure this project began in the fall of 2017. I have also sworn to never ever try that one again. It was so frustrating. I may be willing to make something with peacock feathers on it, but not one like this. It's one of a kind.

One of the projects that I had left out of the photo was a giant elephant project. I make all kinds of little stuffed animals but when I wanted to make a special project for my own children, I asked them what size they wanted and of course they wanted giant sized. I believe I began the project in May of 2018. I wanted to make the elephants give the impression of each girls' favorite Girl Scout cookie. I also finished these in March along with making two giant stuffies for my nieces so I felt like I was on a roll of getting caught up on past projects

I got a little busy with other projects. The next past project I finished was at the beginning of July. I had started it as a Christmas gift for a group of my friends but didn't get it done, so I finished in time for a special event we had together.

I would feel like I've been slacking on this project list, except in March, I had this brilliant idea to start keeping track of all the projects so I wouldn't feel like that. In 2019 so far I've started and finished 31 sewing projects and 29 yarn projects. I've also started 4 more yarn projects. And then the whole reason for this post is to talk about the 5th past project that I've finished. Unless I count each part of the project separately, in which case I've finished my 12th past project.

So in December 2017, I started a baby blanket. And it's finally done.