…and forward
January is named after the Roman god Janus. With his two faces, he is able to look backwards and forward at the same time. I’d like to do just that, look back at last year’s projects and achievements and at the same time spare some thoughts on what this year might bring.
weaving:
My weaving projects were hampered by some unforeseen domestic chaos which seriously disrupted my access to my equipment. It proved a constant source of frustration. As a result, I didn’t get to do as much as I would have liked. The lace project turned out to be less thrilling than anticipated. But on a positive note, I finally managed to finish the Merino/silk scarf that had been in the works for so long.
I have a couple of projects in mind I’d like to try next. One is already waiting in the wings. I just need to find the time to get the warp ready. I’d like to play some more with double weave, one of my favourite subjects.
There is one ambitious project I’ve been wanting to try for some time. I’ll share more about it when I finally decide to go for it. I’ll just say one thing here, it will be quite a challenge.
spinning:
Spinning activity also suffered from a lack of appropriate space. It also proved to be the bottleneck for a lot of good intentions. Again and again, I found myself eager to start something, but unable because I still had to get the yarn ready. This is something I intend to work on. I’ve set myself a goal of spinning at least 15 min a day, hoping constancy will help me get more efficient.
At the beginning of last year, I posted about my advent calendar leftovers and set the goal to finish spinning them by the end of the year.
Of course, I still have an entire box with bags left. But sorting through them recently, I found that most of the still unused fibres are either something that needs a well-planned experiment or fibres I want to keep for special projects. Only five bags remain to be spun with no specific goal in mind. I am confident that I’ll get through them over the course of the year.
One major goal is to finally make a dent in the sacks of raw wool I have sitting in the cellar. It will take some time and effort to turn them into spinnable wool.
knitting/crochet:
The sock project got benched, both because of the yarn problem mentioned above, and because, after three attempts, I managed to finish some knit-felted slippers that are proving far more durable than knitted socks. I’ll probably return to socks at some point, but at the moment I am concentrating on other things.
During my advent calendar knitting (report to follow) I realised that I am well equipped to follow knitting instructions, producing decent results, but again and again, I find myself not quite sure what the different steps actually do to form a pattern. That makes it quite difficult to find mistakes and correct them on any given project.
So one goal for this year is to learn more about what I am actually doing, figuring out how patterns work. I am hoping it will make me a lot more flexible in adapting projects to my needs.
My kid is about to start crocheting at school, and I realised that my skills are minimal, based on what I learned at school myself decades ago. So another goal is to expand my knowledge in that field and (re-)acquire basic skills.
Overall:
My overall goal remains to learn new things and, most importantly, have fun. I have learnt time and time again that the greatest reward for my time and effort is the spark in someone’s eyes when you gift them something you have made.
Snathanna 