Getting Back on the Proverbial Horse

After last week's goal review session and a quick perusal of my Ravelry notebook, I've come to a few conclusions.

Conclusion the first:  an annual planning cycle doesn't feel very useful to me right now.  Time is wily and so are my interest and focus.  I am thinking about a quarterly approach for 2026 -- basically the opposite of what I did for 2025.  2026 goals will have more focus, more structure, and a much shorter time horizon from conception through to fruition.

Conclusion the second: it's a good thing I like socks.  I wonder if I can take what's great about them (portability and ease, for example) and apply that to other things I might like to make?  I live in Tennessee so I don't need a ton of hats, but it's worth thinking about anyway.  I really do like socks though, so if it ain't broke, maybe I don't need to fix it.
 
Conclusion the third: I do not finish blankets at the same rate that I start them.  I have all different kinds going - dead simple, complex, knit, crochet, Disneyland-threw-up levels of scrappiness, highly structured colorways … I have a blanket WIP for pretty much any whim or occasion.   I would like to start rotating a few towards finished, so my planning for next year should take that into account.
 
Conclusion the fourth: I have a few not blanket or sock WIPs (I know! I was shocked too!) and I'd like to move them along before the new year. 
 
To that end, I've picked my cabled socks back up and have started doing a four-row repeat a day.  I'm treating it as a bit of a road test for the Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Self-Imposed Sock Club method.  It's a clever bit of business where she pairs yarns with patterns (that's the sock club part) and then she knits about 10 rounds a day.  Much like the advent socks lots of folks (myself included) like to knit in December, if you keep that schedule up you have a pair of socks at the end of the month without hardly trying.  I could see this as a helpful way to get patterned socks knit faster than the heat death of the universe.
 
As for the cabled socks, four rows a day won't finish them fast, but it will finish them.  That's better than what I was doing, which was picking up the project bag and moving it around every couple of weeks without ever actually touching the knitting.  I'm on the gusset increases for the second sock of the pair, so once I've turned the heel and wrapped up the cables, I can just go "whoosh!" and they'll practically finish themselves. 

I should clarify - these socks are lovely, and no hardship to knit.  The cables are dead simple, and the rest is just knits and purls.  I just … wasn't.  So now I am, and that's a win!
 
Other focus projects at the moment are a vaguely Christmassy star-shaped afghan, the current backpack sock, and I also spontaneously decided to cast on Joji Locatelli's MKAL shawl "One Love" -- I'm really enjoying both the pace and the pattern.  Glad I jumped in!

I'm toying with the idea of a bit of giftmas knitting, so we'll see where that goes.  I also have more ideas for December knitting than I have December, so I need to figure that out soon too.

Checking in on What I Said I Wanted

Long-time friends of the show know that I like to do a bit of goal-setting and planning about my crafting.  I remain allergic to resolutions, but I do love a list.

Back in late December of 2024, I sat myself down with a cup of tea and a notebook and gave the coming year a good think.  Sometimes I really enjoy very detailed lists and other times I set a few guidelines or intentions and call it a day.   This past year I was leaning far more heavily into the vague than the specific.  Sometimes it just be like that.

 

So, without further ado - here's what I thought I wanted to do 11 months ago, what I've really done so far this year, and what I might still prioritize as we wrap 2025 up.

 

1. I would like to continue to work on cross stitch as well as knitting and crocheting.

Am I on Track?  Not really, no.  I was going strong right through about March or so, and then suddenly my interest kind of fizzled.  Admittedly based on limited data, it looks like I'm kind of a seasonal stitcher?  Over the past two years I've been quite interested in cross-stitching across the winter months … which is wild since my vision is kind of dodgy and apparently the urge strikes during the darkest part of the year, go figure.  My brain is a wild and wonderful place, I tell you.

What's left for 2025? I'm not too fussed about it, to tell you the truth.  I am enjoying what I am working on, and I expect the urge to stitch will return at some point.  One thing I may do is pull out the Christmas tree ornament that I was close to finishing and see about getting that on my tree this year.  After that, who knows?

 

2. More Socks

Am I on Track?  Assuredly.  Socks are the only thing I'm consistently knitting these days. I've finished 12 pair for the year and am on track to finish a few more.

What's left for 2025? I'll finish up what's on the needles (a vanilla pair in festive colors and a cabled pair in a lovely dove gray).   I am also planning at least one and maybe two pairs of advent socks…which means I need to prioritize the two active pairs in November, now that I think of it.  The cabled socks don't "have" to be finished in 2025, but it would be nice.

the story thus far...

3. Get new glasses

Am I on Track? Totally, and it really did make a difference in my crafting (as well as all of the other parts of living, like being able to see the computer monitor to do my job).  I also discovered that taking them off completely helps for really close work, but that strains my eyes somewhat so I try to do it sparingly.

 

What's left for 2025? Nothing - this one is a one and done for the year.  Woo hoo!

4. More out than in (stash management)

Am I on Track?  lol

What's left for 2025? I don't have any active stash acquisition plans for the rest of the year, beyond another One Row mini skein delivery in December.  I did quit my Yarnable subscription earlier this year, so I'm no longer getting that monthly deposit in the yarn bank, but between a couple of fiber events earlier this year, advents, blanket kits, and the occasional wild hair, my stash continues to grow.  A grip.  I need to get one.

 

5. Sweaters.  Start with stash and queue.

Am I on Track?  Again, no.  And at this point I'm starting to wonder who I thought I was going to be in 2025, because my track record this year is not great.  At least in terms of hitting the goals I set last December anyway.  I've gotten lots accomplished, but not a lot of what I said I wanted to do.

What's left for 2025?  I started a sweater vest earlier this year and I'm more than half done with it  -- I'm going to focus on getting it wrapped up and then start some swatching to see if I can't get excited for a January 1 cast on.  I still want to knit (or crochet!) sweaters for myself, and Lord knows I've got the stash.

 

In Summary

I should have just put "Haul off and start another 16 blankets" on my goals list for the year.  I'd have been closer to the mark, if we're being honest.  I am ungovernable.

 

One thing that definitely threw a monkey into my wrench works is that I quit my long-time wizard-based internet crafting game at the end of March.  I've planned so much of my crafting around the rhythms of the House Cup for the last ten years - when I quit it left me a little adrift, I think.  I spent the rest of the year just working on whatever I felt like, whenever I felt like it.  I'm not mad, and probably needed the break, but I think I need to decide if I'd benefit from some light structure in my crafting, after running amok for 6+ months.

 

I really do have a silly number of blanket WIPs.

More Working on All the Things. As One Does.

It's been a fairly calm week here at chez woolly.  We're all recovering nicely from our bout with The Plague(tm).  I still get tired really easily (and can't tell if the brain fog is due to Covid or from being a Woman of a Certain Age), but overall I am feeling loads better.

I am continuing to make steady progress across several projects, and that feels great.  I haven't worked as much on the blanket as I thought I would, but enh, it's whatever.  It'll be done when it is done - I only have 4.5 border rounds to go so once the mood strikes it won't take long.

I have, however, made lots of progress on the Glittering-Whatsit shawl that I abandoned last year.  I mathed it out that if I can knock out 8 repeats a week, I'll have it done by the end of April.  So far so good!

The sock continues to see some action, albeit not quite as much as I'd hoped.  Patterned socks (even patterns as simple as a 2x2 Broken Rib) always take me longer, and I always underestimate it.

This picture was taken on Saturday on my way to meet up with Rhiannon for Modern Daily Knitting's Nash Yarn Fest, where I suffered from utter and absolute camnesia.  Truly a blogger's fail, I tell you.  But I did run into some lovely friends who live in the internet, which was wonderful, and Rhi and I had a great time.  The crowds were a little overwhelming (and the weather a little exciting), but all in all I'm very glad we went and excited that they've already announced that they plan to do it again next year.

In other making news, I decided to cast on the Spring pattern of the Stardew Valley socks that Rhi got me for Christmas year before last.  I thought the equinox was a perfect time to start it, and even queued up one of the Spring songs from the OST to listen to while I worked on it.  A++ nerdery, would go again.  I would show you the picture I took with my laptop open to the Stardew Valley soundtrack on Spotify, but after I took the picture I realized that my laptop screen is filthy, and that will not be going on the internet.

My current plan is to start the summer pair on the Solstice and so on and so forth.  I may only knit one of each pair and hang them on my wall in sock blockers as art - I haven't fully decided yet.  More on that as it develops!

Apparently March is Also for Finishing

The last two weeks passed by in a fugue of coughing, going through mountains of tissues, and generally feeling as though all thoughts were being processed through a vat of cold oatmeal.  After five years of antisocial and hermit-like behavior, I finally got got and contracted baby's first Covid.

We had friends over for our semi-regular D&D session Friday before last, and then woke up Saturday morning coughing.  I think the final body count was seven friends and family taken out by this thing.  0/10 stars, do not recommend.

While I did still kind of work last week, I also had tons of enforced couch time, so I was shockingly productive - and not just because this is two weeks since my last update ... although I imagine that isn't hurting any either.

I missed finishing the Wasilla Poncho in February by just a few days, but done is done, and I'm playing by no one's rules but my own.  I ran out of yarn at a weird place in the pattern and briefly considered finding another skein of the Lion Brand Mandala so I could end at a better spot.  I really didn't want to do that though because using every bit of the yarn was entirely the point of choosing a top down project like this in the first place.  I set it aside and noodled on it a bit until I was hit by a brain wave.  I had a sudden vision of a yarn that I bought long enough ago that the store it came from has been closed more than 15 years.  In my mind's eye the color and texture would be perfect, AND (get this) I knew exactly where it was.

I'm pretty pleased with myself, truth being told.  My mind's eye knows what's up.

Heady with that success (and the over-abundance of phlegm I'd recently taken on board), I turned my attention to the Beach Walk blanket.  I finished up the remaining granny squares, got them joined, and have 2 out of 8 border rounds completed.   We're still on track to have it finished by the end of the month if I can stay consistent with it. I'll try to share an updated picture next week.

And if that wasn't enough, genties and ladlemen, let me please introduce you to Delores de Colores.  She is perfect and I love her.  For all that it took me ten months start to finish, this was a remarkably fast knit.  I probably only worked on it a handful of days all in and I couldn't be happier with the results.  Plus I used some old-growth stash up, so wins all around.

Did I need a stuffed rainbow chicken?  Don't be ridiculous, of course I did.

In addition to all of the above, I moved my Riptide vest along and got both the left and right front shoulders done and the neck shaping to the point where I've joined the two together into one front piece.   It's in an unwieldy and un-photographical state at the moment, but progress is assuredly happening.

And finally, you had to know that there would be a new sock. 

Next week's plans include more progress on all the things. I'm feeling highly motivated to keep knocking down the old WIP list.  I even pulled out my 2024 Hiberknitalong Shawl to see if I could figure out where I was with it.

The border is not nearly as annoying to knit as I remember.

More specifically, I plan to:

• add two more border rounds to the blanket
• add four more repeats to the shawl border
• turn the heel on the sock (bonus points if I can finish it)
• get Riptide to the point where I can join in the round

On the one hand, that feels ambitious.  On the other hand, that feels ambitious and I like it.

Heeding The List

I've started doing this wild thing where I write down what I'd like to get done in the month, and then I give it a think and decide how much that means I should do each week, and then I write THAT down, and fellas, I think I've revolutionized this whole productivity thing.

This past week The List told me that I needed to get 13 squares for Beach Walk done in Week 3 of February, and another 13 in Week 4 to get my total of 52 squares by month's end.  I'm well on track, having finished last week's allotment and 5 more for this week's.  No pictures this week; I'll show you again when something interesting is going on.

The List also advised that if I'd like to finish the crochet poncho by end of February, I should add one of the skeins of Mandala to it last week (check) and one this week (on track).  I'll give it some more love over the next couple of evenings and hopefully pull out one more February is for Finishing victory.  Worst case it's done the first week of March, and that's okay too.

These socks were supposed to be finished by last Sunday, but sometimes The List is a jerk and has unreasonable expectations. They're finished now though, so all is as it should be.  This is another 75/25 commercial workhorse yarn that I picked up from Wool Warehouse a few years ago, because no yarn should travel alone, and that goes double for yarn coming across an ocean.  They were just the shot of Valentine's cheer my February needed.  

Pattern is my standard vanilla with a Fish Lips Kiss Heel, this time with 68 stitches, and a 1x1 rib for the cuff.  I ended the toe with 24 stitches on the needles instead of 16 before grafting, to make a wider toe box.  Ever in search of the elusive perfect fit and all that.

also in search of that ever elusive spring - note the photobombing daffodils

In addition to all this yarnish industry, I've also done a spot of stitching, including February Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks and Big Hearted Tiny Town by Heart in Hand designs. (Links go to 123Stitch to show the designs - my cross stitch photography could use some improvement.) I won't finish either this month, but that's okay.  I've decided, for now anyway, to remain unbothered by my cross stitch WIPs and to embrace the idea of seasonal stitching.  I'll put them away, and odds are good there will be another February next year for me to work on them.

Plans for the rest of the week include finishing up the poncho and my remaining Beach Walk squares, and then on Saturday I may indulge in a spot of starting things.  On the cross-stitching front, there's a March Cottage and Blooming Tiny Town to consider, or perhaps a Hobbit House (or perhaps all three). 

I'll also continue to work on Riptide, start some new socks and try to figure out where I left off on my poor spatchcocked Emotional Support Chicken.

Oh!  And I'll finalize The List for March and see if I can't keep this train on the tracks for another month. 

It does not escape my notice that I'd get more done faster if I were to focus my efforts the tiniest bit, but it's spring, baby, and I cannot be contained.

She Was Like a Bearded Rainbow

It's been another eventful week over here at chez woolly, full of wild carryings on.  We had friends over for a lovely and soul satisfying dinner on Friday, where we did some belated New Year tarot readings and celebrated the birthday of the trees. There may have been a dramatic reading of The Lorax after dinner and wine but all present were sworn to silence.

photo credit to CyberMathWitch

On the finishing front (it being February after all), I have some very exciting news to report.

I had originally thought that I would want to add a black border around the outside of this, but once I got here I changed my mind.  A bit like gilding the lily, I thought.  We'll gloss over the fact that I bought a 400 yard skein of Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply to add a border I ultimately decided against, all in the name of using my stash.  Ya win some, ya lose some. 

In any case, I am beyond delighted with how it turned out.  I feel quite clever for successfully applying a 3rd-grader understanding of geometric shapes and adapting a pattern on the fly, allowing me to use up every drop of my 2023 Advent set from The Fiber Seed.

That's one project ticked off of the list, so I've turned my attention to the Wasilla Poncho. I'd like to finish it in February as well, so I've set myself a goal of adding one skein of the LB Mandala this week, and one skein next week.  I'm also continuing to plug away on Riptide, and of course the ubiquitous purse sock.  No pictures of any of them this time - they all look just like they did last week, only more so.

And finally, in the spirit of moving my Beach Walk Blanket towards completion, I'm working on the squares for the outer border.  I'm well on track to finish the squares in February so I can attach them and do the final few rounds in March.

there is no good way to show off 32 granny squares

That's all the news that's fit to print.  Incremental progress on a number of things, as is the way of things around here. 

But that rainbow wrap tho!  

🌈🌈🌈

Mid-February Check-in (I Was Shocked Too)

Here it is midway through the month and I haven't actually finished anything. 

Well, that's not entirely true - I finished the first of my February socks, which by custom here at chez woolly totally counts, since March is for Making Mates. I'm cavalierly flouting that custom and continuing to work on them, since they are my back-pack knitting. 

I spent part of yesterday when I was supposed to be working thinking about crafting goals and plans and current WIPs, and the like. I have a personal notebook in my One Note on my work computer so I can look busy while I'm actually thinking about granny squares. I'm back in the office three days a week, and let me tell you it's cramping my style. Being in the office is also related to why the socks aren't getting sidelined, as I've conditioned my colleagues over the years to think it's normal to see me knitting during meetings. 

I intended to work on cross stitch when I got home last night until dinner, and then knit after -- and instead I played Stardew Valley, so I think I might have sussed out part of why I'm not finishing things as quickly as I might like (my farm is kicking ass though, so there's that). 

I did pull out my Riptide vest after we ate, so partial credit will be awarded. 

It's not that much farther along than the last time you saw it, but slow progress is still progress, and all that.  Riptide is knit top down, starting with the back. After you've knit yay-so-far you pick up stitches at the shoulders and knit the front until it's time to join the whole thing in the round. I’m getting close to yay-so-far on the back, but I’m not quite there yet. I'm planning to finish it in March, so I'm nicely on track. It does occur to me that I'll be finishing it more or less in time for it to be out of season, but it'll be waiting for me in the fall, so I'm not bothered. Global climate change notwithstanding, we do get seasons more or less every year. 

During all of that planning and thinking yesterday I got a little crisper on what I'd like to finish this month, although I'm not sure I factored today's date into all of that planning, so we'll see how we get on. 

I'm planning to finish: 

• it only gets brighter from here (the rainbow wrap) 
• poncho of invisibility (Wasilla poncho) 
• the socks 

I also thought about what cross stitch I want to focus on in February and it occurs to me, perhaps belatedly, that while all of my stitching goals and all of my knitting goals could be accomplished separately … they are likely more than one month's worth of goals when taken together. 

Or as Suzy Izzard would say, "you're British kid, scale it back a bit." 

That being said, I'm holding the cross stitch goals pretty loosely. "Work on February Cottage" is not perhaps a SMART goal as such, but it is nice and easy to cross off, no matter how much actually gets done. 

needless to say, I did not iron