Happy New Year: Crafts in Review

Happy New Year everyone! I hope any nippy heads are recovered and you're all looking forward to the year ahead. Like many (or all) crafty bloggers I've been thinking about my year of crafting, and planning the next one!


13 in 2013


It's safe to say that I met this goal with flying colours- 20 woolly projects completed in a year! These consisted of:

• Three pairs of socks
• Two cowls
• Three jumpers (one baby, two grown-up)
• One pair of gloves
• Four hats
• One hedgehog
• One crocheted collar
• And five Christmas Stockings. Fa la la la la la la la!

My favourite project of the year is definitely my Blank Canvas. It fits perfectly, is super soft, and have become a major wardrobe staple.

I'm also very happy with the hats I made this year, all designed by the wonderful Alexandra Tinsley.

Three Bespeckled and one Pétoncle

Sewing

Since learning to sew in the spring I've completed three skirts. Two of these I rarely wear, due to the rookie error of using cheap quilting cotton. The third is a red Burda 8155 and I absolutely love it!

As you might guess from the sunshine and lack of jumper and tights, I finished that skirt back in the summer. Since then I just haven't been able to get back into the sewing groove, but am hoping to do so in 2014!


Looking Forward: Goals for the New Year

I'm generally not a fan of new year's resolutions, but I enjoy focusing myself with crafty goals.

• Queue-bust: I intend to work through those patterns that I've had queued on Ravelry for quite some time. I've already started on this goal by beginning the beautiful Pomegranate sweater.
• Design harder: I've spent a lot of the last year working on some knitting designs of my own. I'm hoping to have a couple of these written up and released by the end of the year.
• Sew more: I don't want to set too ambitious a sewing aim, since I often find it difficult to make time to sew. I have the materials for four skirts at the moment. If I make these by the end of the year I'll count anything else as a bonus!

What  are your plans for the coming year? (Crafty or otherwise!)

Round Two

Hello Stranger.

I'm not a terribly good blogger, it would seem. But what's 7 months between friends? Having been inspired by finding more and more amazing craft blogs (and aided by gaining a keyboard which can type the letters z, x, c, n and m) I'm back! Maybe for good this time...

So, some significant crafty event that have occured since November...


My Greatest Knitting Achievement Ever!

Deck the halls!

In early December I finally finished my Perfect Christmas Jumper- 14 months in the making and one Christmas late. It came out fitting perfectly, I love it more than anything else I've ever made! It recieved plenty wear over the course of the festive season (including the day itself, obviously), and is now wrapped up in three layers of plastic to save it from any nasty beasties, awaiting next year's celebrations.

I was lucky enough to see Susan Crawford speak at Oxford's Darn it and Stitch. Her work translating vintage patterns for the modern knitter, as well as her own designs, are really inspiring and one of the first things that made me want to really get in to the craft. Sadly, having ate a rogue, lukewarm pasty for lunch meant I spent most of the teaching portion of her seminar concentrating on the spinning floor rather than her lesson on how to knit with vintage patterns. But I did get to see (and stroke!) some of the samples for A Stitch in Time Vol 2. I've read through that book so many times it felt like meeting a group of celebrities!


13 Projects in 2013

On to the current year, and I have set a personal challenge to complete 13 knitting projects in 2013. This include projects that were started the previous year as I can't give myself any more reasons not to finish my damn Colour Affection shawl. (Those short rows are so... long!)

Six months in, I've completed five projects... So it could be going better. But I have two projects which should be finished before too long. And if the worst comes to the worst I can bang out a few Christmas decorations in December!


I Learnt to Sew!

Over Easter my wonderful Aunt gave me a sewing machine and taught me to make a patchwork pillow case.

Which I really ought to put a pillow in... And take a nice photo of.

Last month a very patient friend helped me to make a circle skirt. Even with my low skill level it was finished in a few hours. For a girl whose only prior crafts were knitting and crochet this is the stuff of fantasy! I'm hooked!

I'm currently working on a green Miette skirt, a super sweet pattern accompanied by a step by step online tutorial. I already have lots of other projects planned (clearly I won't let something as boring as my inability to sew in in straight line get in the way of my obvious genius) and am particularly keen to try some of the wonderful patterns by Colette.



And that's all, for now. Hopefully I'll be back before too long this time!

Carry on crafting,

Kirsty