New Year, New Plans

Ah, my favorite time of year for knitting--the time to plan and plot and figure out all the new things I want to do and work on! A friend calls this fantasy knitting--you know, knitting in your dreams. I may like it even more than IRL knitting, since there's no dropped stitches or sore wrists.

It's been a crafty few weeks. I finished a bunch of hats and I am working on a poncho that has had some good progress done upon it. But I am taking a break for a few days to get work done and do other things, and maybe make sure my wrists stay in good condition. They were a little achy and they are very important.

It is FUCKING COLD HERE. 25 below zero I am not joking. Can't wait to go back to the east coast, and then Puerto Rico where I belong.

My grand 2018 plan hinges on sock knitting. I thiiink I have about 35 pairs of socks waiting for me to knit them. This is down from the 45 or so pairs I thought I had over the last few years (possibly only due to miscount, but shush. let me dream). So if I can get some serious sock knitting done in 2018 I can break the back of that overwhelming chunk of my stash, and also get to use some goodies I've really been waiting on. I just want to give all those pretty yarns I have a chance to get used, and some of them are so buried under everyone else that they're off the radar, you know? and I want a shorter time period between purchase and use, I guess. Whatever. my stash makes me itchy. therefore, reduce and use. And saving money can't hurt either.

I am also going to work on spinning this year. Maybe I can manage that 15 minutes a day thing. I really want a chance to play with some of my fibers, so I'm hoping I can knit up some of my stashed handspun as well. I made three hats this past December out of handspun stash and found it really nice to work with. I am planning as an exemption, if I spin up 4 braids (16oz, one lb) of fiber, I can buy another one. That's usually only 1 or 2 spinning projects (maybe I should lower it to 3 braids... there are a lot of pretties out there I want to get!) so it is feasible. But I don't want to stockpile too much fiber--there'll be plenty of time to buy more of it when I want to spin it, and it would be nice to not have to move as many bins.  Anyway, I'll do this as part of Completely Twisted and Arbitrary's Spin the Bin along thing

Specific plans:

1. Wisdom socks
2. van gogh socks
3. pink find-your-fade like project
4. fortissima socka socks
5. regia jupiter socks
6. kaffe fassett socks
7. witchy mitts and hat out of rowan felted tweed from 4 years ago :P
8. do something with that shibui sock in bright red
9. purple handspun (cowl?)
10. red handspun (mitts?)
11. cheerful play handspun (shawl?)
12. stripey leftover sock yarn blanket for kenny's bed xD

now that is a good list of goals, right? one for each month.

if only it were that straightforward. Instead, I have WIPs and hibernating UFOs.

wips I want to finish:
1. the momcho. It has had good progress so I don't want to lose momentum
2. the silvery tunic. I want to use it before I leave the island! so I need to cast on the second half ASAP
3. the current pair of hurricane socks
4. weaving in the ends on the blanket. I bet with a good effort I could... find it. and work on it. and finish it in 2018. that would be REALLY nice
5. Silver Fruit. Stupid crochet doily. I should probably toss it. It was fun to work on but the yarn is not used up and I do not CARE about it at all. Although is a nice yarn to use up somehow with crochet... and it isn't much available any more. but I only have the one ball. it's not going to become anything I want. and I don't USE or WANT doilies. I just wanted my hands to be busy and to get into the crochet lace book I got at the antique store.
6. Madli's Revolution. I hate laceweight, I hate fiddly knits, and I really hate nupps. This shawl is suffering from all of those things, and remains untouched. Perhaps I should rip it out and knit a huge red square instead. that I might actually wear
7. the cat mittens. Maybe I should just let myself knit the second one for fun. they might fit *somebody*. I bet my gauge'll be different. and I won't make this second one into a convertible mitt, thus making it damned hard to finish/improvise.

... wow I might be able to finish 2018 with NO hibernating objects! or none of the ones that have been hibernating for years. we'll see, don't get too excited. I also want to force myself to finish spinning the silk hankies that are on my spindle. Maybe not so thin :P lumpy thick would be perhaps better than infinitisimally skinny laceweight.

*sigh* so much to do , so little time.