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Planning ahead

When it comes to knitting, I’ve decided that a better approach, for me, is to plan ahead as much as possible. It’s good for me to know what I want to do, so I don’t end up with a million WIPs; even if I’m not loving a project while I’m in the middle of it, I can look at my list and say “well, this is on the list, so I’m going to work on this for a little while and then come back to this other thing.”

My momma would be so proud; she used to struggle with me to plan my clothes for school the night before. (I do, occasionally, plan out my work clothes the night before, but usually only because I’m excited about a new outfit or crazy color combination.)

I have a few crafty ideals for next year, two of which are very important to me. The first being no buying yarn. My stash is out of control. There are a few “get out of yarn diet free” cards:

  • If I’m making a project for someone else (like as a gift or in a swap) and I absolutely do not have a suitable yarn (“suitable” here meaning a yarn in the right weight for the project, and in a fiber that the recipient is not allergic to), I can buy yarn for that project; but I have to post it here as part of my accountability.
  • I’m planning to go to Maryland Sheep and Wool, and I am allowed to set a pre-determined budget and buy yarn or fiber so long as it is a) something I do not have in my stash already; b) something I cannot find easily in a local yarn store; c) within that budget.
  • An indie dyer friend of mine is doing a yarn club next year that I am very excited about (and no, I’m not telling you what it is). She’s holding a lottery for spots, and if I am lucky enough to win a spot in that club, I will be buying that yarn. But this depends on my luck with a random number generator, which isn’t usually so good.

So the goal is to knit from stash and to be creative about using up the yarns I have. I’ve got enough fingering weight yarn for a slew of socks, and I’ve got enough yarn in sweater quantities that I should be able to hold out the whole year.

The other important goal is to knit 12 pairs of socks in 2011. That’s a pair a month. I’m planning on doing this something like The Yarn Harlot’s self-imposed sock club, but I’m not able to be quite as organized as she is; some of my patterns are from books, others still exist virtually as PDFs, and since I’m hoping to get an e-reader of some kind in 2011, I don’t want to waste the paper printing them out. BUT, in the next couple of weeks, I will list out my top 15 pairs of socks to knit, and then I will use a random number generator each month to choose the sock of the month.

Anyone interested in going for a pair of socks a month with me, or attempting a yarn diet? Solidarity, folks!

7 Comments

  1. […] said, I leave on Wednesday to head to Maryland Sheep and Wool (!!!) and as I said back in December, I’m allowed a free pass for that weekend. Well, “free pass” so long as […]

  2. Oh yeah, I’ll totally commit to knitting 12 pairs of socks along with you. Because my sweater commitment turned out so well. 😉

    But I’m willing to support you in your quest to not buy yarn! Those have been my general rules this year, and it’s worked pretty well. If I’m buying something that will be used immediately for a particular project, that’s okay. I do also allow a bit for souvenir yarn, although it has to be something I can (a) think of a reasonable project for, and (b) can’t buy online or at home. Occasional exceptions are also made for very good sales, like 50% off all sock yarn at my LYS one month. But otherwise, the only yarn I buy without any project in mind is my sock club shipment each month.

    Good luck!!!

    • threadpanda threadpanda

      Honestly, a sweater goal for anyone who lives in the South just seems doomed to failure, to me. 😉 I mean, I lived and knit there for three years, and I only ever made one cardigan, and never wore it! It’s just too hot.

      Good luck yourself! We can do it!

  3. naelany naelany

    those sound like good goals to have. Wish I could join the sock thing, but I have yet to learn how to make those lol

    • threadpanda threadpanda

      Haha yeah, it does help to know how to do something before you’re going to pledge to knitting multiples of them. 😀

  4. Maria Maria

    Woo!! Im going to try the 12 socks in 2011 AND impose the following rules:

    1. Must knit from stash – see my 2011 queue.
    2. Restrictions on yarn shopping:
    a) only MS&W
    and
    b) sweater quantity for a sweater (see my crazy email re: quince and co.). but i am thinking of getting one sweater quantity’s worth at ms&w.

    DONT FORGET: souvenir yarn from nyc LYS’!

    • threadpanda threadpanda

      Sorry I haven’t emailed you back yet! But yay, solidarity on the socks and stash busting! 😀

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