2011 and my Crafty List of Things To Do

Happy 2011 everyone! I hope all of your holidays were filled with delicious food and fabulous people and a little bit of relaxing. I had a whirlwind two weeks, visiting family and friends, and getting my life in order after a pretty intense semester of school. But I’m settled at home, and my apartment is clean, and I’m taking the time to cook things that I can take for lunch in the coming week, which makes me feel much more ready to sit down and start thinking about the year ahead.

Being a knitter who loves the internet, I come across amazing projects every day that I’d love to make, and I find myself having trouble keeping track of all the coolest ones. So, inspired by the list of the same name at make something, my list of crafty things I want to do someday soon.

These aren’t really resolutions, because the idea of finishing all of these in 2011 is just ridiculous – I’m thinking of them more like crafty pipe dreams.

· Sew an a-line skirt that fits me well.
· Sew a double-bed-sized quilt top (Done, January 2012)
· Hand quilt a double-bed-sized quilt.
· Design a sweater
· Sew a reusable bag big enough for groceries.
· Sew/quilt a mat for the cat to sleep on in her cubby.
· Embroider something in a hoop to hang on the wall.
· Learn to crochet
· Crochet a granny square blanket. (Done, June 2011)
· Knit at least two sweaters that are classy enough to wear to work. (Sweater One done, December 2011)
· Knit a blanket big enough to curl up with on the couch.
· Spin enough consistent, well-spun yarn to make a sweater.
· Knit a sweater out of my handspun.
· Finish a pair of fairisle mittens for myself. (Done, Feb 2011)

Plus, most of the things in my Ravelry queue.

late october in pictures

Even though I haven’t been able to squeeze in a ton of knitting time this week, my sweater’s been coming together, slowly.

It’s also properly autumn now, with swirly leaves and sweater temperatures, which always makes me want to start to make time for homey things, knitting included. My cardigan is looking much more like a real sweater, and much less like an unseemly blob of knitting.

I hear it’s Halloween this weekend. I live in an apartment, so I doubt I’ll be getting many trick-or-treaters. But just in case the zombies do come for me, my cat’s willing to keep me safe.

things i’ve accomplished this week

I have this go-to project that’s been sitting in my bookcase for close to a year now, and whenever I’m too stressed out to work on knitting where I need to read from a pattern, or I’m between projects, I pick it up.

I bought this yarn over Christmas, at one of the yarn shops back in my hometown. I’m originally from Alberta, and when I saw an entire wall of sheepy, local-to-Alberta yarn, I couldn’t pass it up. (It did not hurt that it was super, super cheap.) It was a little bit scratchy to touch, but I figured it could maybe become a sweater coat, and so I bought a sweater’s worth.

A couple of months later, I picked it up and realized it was a little too sheepy to ever be a sweater I’d wear, and so I decided it’d become a blanket. A big, squishy, toasty-warm garter stitch blanket. It’s taken me a while, but after working on it so much these past few weeks, it’s actually starting to look like it might get finished.