Happy New Year!! I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable transition into 2013. We kept it nice and low key here--annual Chinese food dinner with my mom and the Twilight Zone marathon after. Sean and I did have a little bit of trouble staying awake to see the ball drop--but we did it!!
I'm not one for "resolutions" for the new year. I guess that is because so many people talk about breaking their new year's resolutions...and why would I want to set myself up for possible failure? I like to try and think of things that I want to become more aware of in the new year. I've come up with a small list of things that I'd like to cultivate and increase my awareness of this year:
1) I feel as if the culture that I live in is one of quantity, rather than quality. It is as if we always need to have the latest thing or multiples of different products (case and point my yarn stash...which I'll get to later). I'm going to try and be more aware of the goods that I buy and what I actually need and can consume. I started cultivating this awareness over the past year and I found that I was able to decrease the amount I bought at the food store without going without what I need....so I really think that this can translate to other aspects of my life.
2) I often find that I work really well under pressure. However, I can be somewhat...um...high strung at times, and when I'm under pressure I think that this comes out even more. So, I'm going to try and take my tasks and break them up into many smaller pieces, make a list of these pieces, and then tackle them one at a time. The first half of this year is going to be very busy for me--I'm trying to finish my dissertation and graduate in May. I should rephrase that. I'm finishing my dissertation and graduating in May, so I really need to be on the ball for time management and stress management.
3) I'd also like to cultivate being less timid. As you might have noticed in #2 I was hesitant to be firm about my graduation plans...I need to stop that self doubt and be firm at what I'm going to do :).
ANNNNND now for the yarn related goals!
4) I never knit a fair isle or other knit color work piece in 2012 (or ever), so I want to get that in this year :).
5) Decrease my stash. No really, I need to decrease my stash. I have so much yarn, it isn't funny. I love just about every skein (there are some weird ones I got random places that I'm not too fond of LOL, but most of it I love). I'm very determined not to buy any more yarn this year. There are only 2 conditions that I will allow myself to buy yarn. The first is if a custom CraftiniMarini order requires me to buy a specific yarn. The second is if it is for a very specific gift that I cannot use anything in my stash to make. Other than that, I will not be buying any yarn.
Want to see why I'm so set on this?
Well...this is my stash....
Here is a different angle...yep, it takes up just about my entire living room floor.
There are some of those large ziploc bags filled with vanna's choice and another filled with other random worsted weight and bulky weight scraps and half used skeins...
I knew that I had a lot of yarn, but I didn't actually realize I have THIS much yarn! You can see how happy it makes me, however :).
I have a good amount of Knit Picks yarn in my stash. A lot of this I've purchased with specific projects in mind--a few sweaters including brava bulky in tranquil for
Aidez, some comfy sport in sweet potato for
Deco by Kate Davies, some wool of the andes in Lullaby for
Girl Friday, comfy worsted in whisker for
Hey, Teach!, and some comfy worsted in Lady Slipper for the
Jetsetter Sweater; a blanket using comfy sport with knit squares of different colors (gray and blues, greens, and purples) or maybe hexagons; some dishy to make market bags; and 5 colors of felici sport to make
zig zag baby blankets. The rest I'll need to find projects for....
It was definitely fun to take out all of my yarn and photograph it (and boy was I glad to have Matt there to help me!), but that I had to make sure I organized it nice and neatly! I was actually able to organize it better than it was before. I have a shelf in my room with fabric draws where I store the majority of my stash, two floor bins for yarn, two large plastic tubs in my closet, two large bags in my closet, and a few other smaller boxes (also in the closet). Before this photo opt, I had other bags filled with yarn, and skeins randomly stashed in my closet...but after, everything had a home!
Here you can see my neatly organized set of yarn draws.
And my two floor bins (and knitting needles). I like how I have a bunch of my stuffed animals guarding some of my yarn (they are also sitting on a bunch). I didn't take a photo of my closet, but those storage bins are tightly packed, but nice and neat too!
6) To facility my goal of stash diving, destashing, and going "cold sheep" I'm also planning on working projects off of my Ravelry queue. I think I have 6 or more pages of projects I'd like to complete, so I'd like to work on some of those during this coming year.
I think I can do it! I also hope to post some more patterns on my blog and try and be as active a blogger as I can manage. Obviously, my priority is my dissertation, graduating, and getting a job :). These rest will be full of yarny details when possible!
Happy 2013!!!
