Knitting Goals 2017

What are your knitting goals for this year?

Let us look at some of the possibilities.

First and foremost, organize just one aspect of your knitting life. This doesn’t mean you have to go hog wild and add an extra room onto your house for all of your yarn. (Although aside from the work actually disrupting your life, that would  be a cool thing to have, wouldn’t it?)

Let us take a couple of examples that are truly useful for your knitting time and energy.

Yes, you have needles. Galore. More than you could ever use. But you love them all. I get it. If you have any broken needles, forget fixing them. Throw them out. If you have old needles you know you will never use, donate them. At the very least, take your old needles, place them far far away from your knitting supplies and see if you use them this year. Make sure your circular needles are easy to access by placing like sizes and lengths into quart size zipper bags and LABEL them. Then put them in order by size in some sort of pouch. This can be as simple as a larger zippered bag, an empty bag from new pillowcases, or a freebie makeup pouch.

If you have a lot of double point needles, invest in a pouch or make one like I did:

I found this pattern for a double point needle case in Stitch and Bitch by Debbie Stoller.

https://www.amazon.com/Stitch-n-Bitch-Knitters-Handbook/dp/0761128182

I labeled the pockets with paper sticky labels. They didn’t stick by themselves, so I used some craft glue to hold them to the fabric. If I need to change a label, they can easily be peeled off and replaced. Investing or making a double point needle case is important! Hiya Hiya has a cute one here.

The KEY to keeping your needles in order is to (obviously) put them away properly when you are done using them. Ok, I’ll admit that I don’t do this every time I am done using a needle, but I do go through my pouches at least a couple of times a month and put the needles in proper order. You can’t believe how much time this will save you when you go to start that next gauge swatch. (Notice I didn’t say “project”, mind you, I said “gauge swatch”! Imagine how much time you waste hunting for needles, finding a needle gauge tool, checking every needle over and over again in that (great big) bin of needles to locate the correct one. AAAArgh! It just makes me want to run around the block! (No it doesn’t, but it is really irritating!)

Another way to get organized is by sorting your yarn. Ooooh, this can be a scary one. Go back to sorting needles if this frightens you too much.

There are many ways to organize yarn. You may want to think like a yarn store. Never mind that you have enough yarn to open your own yarn store! Categorize yarn by weight or fiber, or even color. (I don’t categorize by color, I don’t have THAT much yarn, hee hee.)

I personally use more than one method. All of my felting yarn is in a bin together, arranged (sort of) by color.
This bin hides under the guest bed. If I need yarn for felting, I know where to go.

Another bin holds only sock and lace weight yarn. You can’t believe how much yarn you need to have to make Tiny Yarn Baskets and Jolly Wee Elves! Organizing those two categories alone for me is really all I would need to do.

But wait, there’s more. I have a bin that holds ongoing projects. Some of these have been “ongoing” for years, but that’s no matter. I have a bin with a section of superwash wool, cotton and cotton blends. I consider that my kiddie section for washability.

Now that you may have organized one of the above categories, it is time to consider your actual knitting goals for 2017. What would you like to learn as a knitter? What frustrates you most about knitting that you would like to overcome?

One of my goals for 2017 is to have blogs for all of these topics. Maybe the guide to your goal is one of these topics. Here are some possibilities.

• Sewing your finished garment
• Picking up stitches
• Counting rows and stitches
• Fair Isle
• Blocking
• Intarsia
• Measuring a gauge swatch
• Knitting for charity

There is something for everyone! Pick one or more and make it a priority for this year. I am looking forward to so many new topics!

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Can’t wait to get started! 2017! Hurray!