Year Of Projects Thoughts and Plans

So, I know I’m almost two months late on the whole year of projects thing this year. I did have every intention of reflecting on the past year and coming up with my new list around July 1, but a few things happend.

First, the time when YOP ended corresponded with a week I didn’t knit much, and so I felt very unmotivated to think about and write about knitting at all. Secondly, I wasn’t quite sure what form I wanted the list to take. While I do like crossing things off a list, I found that trying to plan specific projects wasn’t really for me. I kind of dilly dallied around what I wanted to include, and then decided making a list was too hard so kind of just didn’t (more on my plan in a sec). I do really like the whole YoP concept, and LOVE connecting with other crafters, but trying to plan every little thing out just doesn’t jive with me.

And lastly, my thoughts about YoP are a bit tied up with my thoughts around Ravelry. Their new theme launch was horrible, and they have continued to not act in a great way since that time. I absolutely believe that people were affected by the new theme, and it stinks that not everyone can use a site that has the potential to be so amazing. I don’t see how my personal use of the site harms anyone, so I am comfortable continuing to use it to track my projects. However, I did feel a little off every time I directed people to the YoP group, because I couldn’t give another option. The YoP bloggers are a great group of people, and I want every to feel welcome with those people. The Ravelry group is primarily just for posting links to the blogs, and then people comment on the posts themselves and communicate there, not on Rav. Since not everyone uses the same blogging platform, the Rav group was the way to connect with more people more easily. So, that being said, I don’t think there’s any reason why anyone, even someone who doesn’t use Ravelry, can’t be part of Year of Projects. I’ve created a list of YoP bloggers, and I’ll do my best to keep it updated based on new people I see in the group. If you’re someone who wants to participate but can’t or doesn’t want to use Ravelry, please let me know and I’ll add you to the list. I’ll link to this page in my posts so everyone can participate.

Ok, with that weight off my shoulders, let’s get to the plan! I plan to just dive in to the middle of the year, so I guess this is a “10 months of projects”, but that isn’t as catchy of a name! As I said above, the idea of planning specific projects never really worked for me, I felt bad for working on things that weren’t “on the list” but the the point of knitting is to have FUN, and that was stressing me out. Though, looking back on my plan, I actually did a very good job of finishing things on that list! But I did a lot of knitting that wasn’t on that plan, which I felt weird about. So with that in my mind, I’m setting overarching goals that I can work toward without having to tie myself to specific projects.

Knitting

• Keep non- scrap blanket project WIP/UFOS to less than 5 – I’m really proud of all the work I did last year getting old projects off the needles, and I’ve found that having a small number of projects just makes me feel good! I don’t think I’ll ever be a person who is only working on one thing at a time, and I don’t want to necessarily commit to finishing anything I currently have on the needles, but this overall plan of keeping things low feels right.
• End the YoP year with at least 140 scrap blanket squares – This is 22 more than I have today, which is just over two a month. This is much more realistic with how I have been working on this project, I will sometimes go in big chunks but there are also months where I don’t touch it at all. My goal last year of 5 per month is definitely unrealistic, I wanted to end the YoP year at 128 squares but ended it with 99. I may edit this one if I have a few busy months working on it.
• At the end of the YoP year, at least 1/2 the projects I started and finished will be from stash I have as of now (August 2021). I don’t have any real issue with buying more yarn, especially if it’s for a certain project, but there’s so much in my stash that I just haven’t touched. I’d like to work on giving those some love. I actually gave my friends a bunch of yarn this weekend, so now the stash isn’t overflowing from my containers, and I can actually find things I want to use. I don’t think trying to track yardage/ weight in and out will be fun for me, and I don’t even really necessarily feel the need to go on a “yarn diet” so I’ll just keep this to a project based goal.
• Knit at least 4 pairs of socks – considering most of my stash is single skeins of sock yarn, this is a natural progression 😀
• Knit at least 2 garments – Again, I think I’ve got 6 sweater/ shirt stashes I bought for specific things, so finishing those will count towards my stash-busting goal.
• Participate in at least 3 test knits – because I love them! This was one of the biggest reasons trying to plan specific projects for YoP didn’t really work for me.
• Participate in at least 1 KAL – this could be an MKAL or a Blogville KAL too!

Sewing

• Sew at least 2 garments
• Sew at least 1 other non-garment thing – I want to make an apron for myself and still haven’t made a project bag! I also may make some more masks.

This format feels A LOT more reasonable to me. It still allows me to work towards goals and have a vauge plan that will help me figure out what to knit next when finishing a project. However, I hopefully won’t feel as bad for working on things “outside the list”, as basically everything I would knit or sew would technically be on the list!

If you’ve made it to here in this VERY long post, thanks for reading! I’m excited to try and start blogging more consistently with YoP, and looking forward to working towards these goals. I hope everyone has a great week, and if you’re in the path of hurricane/ storm Henri, please stay safe!