Miscellaneous Design Studio

A Year of Projects: Week 1

A New Hope.

My esteemed fellow humanoids! I am kicking off my SECOND Year of Projects participation right now!! What is Year of Projects (known as YOP herein)? A loose blog collective group on Ravelry that shares their progress on an individually created goal list for roughly 52 weeks running. We are an active and supportive group; in our crafty endeavors as well as in “life stuff”. The great thing, you can join anytime (most members are in week 8 currently, some run Jan-Dec). The group is currently in its ELEVENTH year.

  • A framework approach
  • Ideas
Really open-ended planning for me!

My lists last year looked a lot like my “Ideas” page. I just wrote down all the stuff I wanted to accomplish, which in turn made me feel unsuccessful when the list grew instead of shrunk! This year, I have some categories that I can fill in, helping keep me on track for overall GOALS, while my idea pipeline/to-do list can roll over, grow, seed new designs where there are no “failures”. I might modify this if I get a better idea. And I have socks on there twice. Maybe I need to knit 6 pairs of socks? I think that’s accurate.

I did a project update yesterday (Poly-Projects) and I shared some starts and project updates. Today I haven’t gotten in much knitting. I have been working on masks. Again. But they aren’t for us, I worked on those a couple weeks ago. I decided to use pinking shears on the seam allowance to have the curve lay better. This required a trip to Joann to get some pinking shears. I wanted the Gingher ones, but they were locked up and I didn’t feel like interacting with another human at that moment, so I just went with the Fiskars ones. And saved myself $30. They perform as expected; but I won’t call them beautiful.

  • 17 3-layer masks waiting for completion.
  • The blue is nice.
Now to insert tab A into slot B.

After I wrote yesterday’s post, my spouse got home from is work trip to Alaska. I was the recipient of some REALLY GREAT goodies- all Alaska made! An awesome project bag stuffed with yarn and stich markers!! I’ve got some ideas already about this yarn!

Next week I hope to have some updates to share (besides my update framework)!!

Cinna Knits

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23 responses to “A Year of Projects: Week 1”

  3. Wow. That’s some husband!! What a gorgeous gift from Alaska. So did he pick them out or did he get some help. That’s pretty amazing. Finding out a planning system takes time to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I love all the different ways folks think about goals/projects and the different ways they track them. I feel like I’m still evolving.

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    • He likely asked the shop owner to point him in the direction of local products then picked out the items on his own. The yarn store in Anchorage has also recently moved, so the fact that he stumbled on its new location while out getting food is pretty sweet.

      I also love the inspiration to try new planning systems from everyone. Its fascinating to see how other people’s minds organize tasks.

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  4. Well you win the award for having picked the best husband and he deserves an award too. Those are beautiful kits. The walking foot on a sewing machine is actually very easy and quick to fit so that should be a nice quick win for your new list. Are you planning to use 100 or 200 total balls of yarn in the 12 months? Either way that’s a lot of yarn. Best of luck with your new goals.

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    • He was super thoughtful!! He was buying me yarn on almost EVERY trip for a while, but my stash had gotten OUT OF CONTROL. So he took a break for a couple years. I love when he finds products “local” to where he goes.

      Re: Walking foot. I watched a video last week to see where I was missing the point. The little lever thingy, I wasn’t putting it in the right place. This week I plan on testing out the growing pile of knit fabric I have amassed.

      My yarn balls are for the calendar year, but are part of my YOP goals. 100 for each year. I expect to complete my 2021 goal (I need 27 more) and make a sizable dent in my 2022 goal in the next 51 weeks. Still, a LOT of stash yarn crafting!

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    • I think this will organization will work well for me! Getting to move stuff to my finished goals will be really rewarding I think.
      I’m really itching to get those skeins onto needles!!

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  7. Oh, Alaska? Lucky man… good thing he brought you back some cool stuff! LOL! I love your starts and you got quite a good start on them. I’m amazed at how much you got done when you have a home and a family to care for. Lovely yarns too!

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    • His job sends him to a fun mix of domestic and abroad locations. Alaska now is great, but when he goes again in 6 months, it will be slightly less temperate!!
      Sometimes I’m amazed that I get so many projects completed! When my kids were babies, I was lucky to finish 5 projects a YEAR, I was so TIRED. Luckily, my kids are at an age where they don’t need eyes on them at all times- creating/reading opportunities. It is SUPER helpful that my spouse shares a lot of the house/family responsibilities.

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  8. I think having some broad goals in mind leaving lots of flexibility on the details is the best way to go. I can’t always stick to rigid plans fir a day, never mind a year! Lovely present, those skeins are beautiful.

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    • I think this plan is really going to work for me! I’m also not good at rigid plans, they make me feel trapped!
      I’m so excited to get my fingers into it, but first, I need to finish some projects and come up with a project!

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  9. Amazing gift from your hubby!!! Really thoughtful.

    I think this week I’m going to focus on my list plan, I haven’t yet because I spend all my craft time spinning. This year, it’s going to be really loose, so I’m on that train with you. 😀

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  10. Alaska goodies indeed!! He is a keeper!!! Welcome to your year two. I also have a smaller list because it seems to morph all on its own every year and that is half the fun. I hate seeing projects get moved up from year to year – if I haven’t got to it in two years I drop it from my yop list, but might keep it on my Ravelry queue.

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