3 Years and Counting.

It's pretty hard to believe, looking back, that I have only been knitting for a little over 3 years. That sounds like a lot, but when you think about how fast those 3 years have gone, it's really not. In the past 3 years I have:

• Gotten together and broken up with my first (and so far only) boyfriend.
• Made the transition from high school to college dorms to living on my own.
• Made some amazing friends.
• Improved my artistic skills amazingly.
• Started this blog :)

That's a lot of things to do in just over 3 years. Now lets consider all the things I've done - fiber wise - in those 3 years.

• Picked up knitting (something I hadn't done since High School)when my ex wanted a scarf.
• Learned how to make socks on DPNS because sock yarn looked too pretty to not want to learn to use.
• Learned how to make mittens and gloves (basically socks with fingers!).
• Learned to knit in the round on circulars.
• Magic loop and using circular needles in place of straights (and I love it!)
• Cables!
• Full fledged garments (My tanktop!)
• Toys.
• How to spin with a spindle, something I really enjoy.
• How to dye yarn and bare roving, another thing I truly enjoy.

That's a lot considering I am a full time college student. Maybe it's a sign I should work on my art and school work more?

So that brings me to the real issue at hand: What do I want to do this year? Well my amazing friend Ivy (Pumpkin Spins) has given me some great ideas and pushed me to try things I never thought I would. This year we are both making lists and plan to encourage each other along the way. With that in mind, my knitting/fiber related resolutions are:

• Try (and hopefully succeed) in at least color work type project, weather it be fair isle, intarsia, etc.
• Finish my first full sweater successfully.
• Conquer something lace with minimal, barely noticeable mistakes. Like socks or a scarf or something smaller.
• Felting. I don't like how it looks, but I want to try it just one, to say I did.
• Thrumming. The new craze going around, where you knit roving into your work so the inside has pieces of roving to keep whatever is inside warm. (ie: thrummed items)
• Toe-Up 2 at a time socks. I just learned toe up this past week and love it! I also know how to 2 at a time, but am not the biggest fan because of having to keep things from tangling, but I'd still love to try the two together.
• Blocking and finishing. Every sweater makers best friend.
• Try different cast on and bind off techniques, because those always come in handy.
• Write more sock patterns!
• CONQUER MY STASH! I have collected so much this year that I'd love to knit it down a bit before investing in much more. (Unless it's for a special occasion project).
• Spin something besides wool. I have some bamboo in my stash that's calling my name.
• *Make a more even yarn when spinning. I am still having a lot of spots with thick and thin I'd like to get rid of
• Dye bare yarn. So far I've only dyed roving, but I'd love to try dying sock yarn or something white like that.
• Attempt different types of plys. I am not sure if you can do much more with a spindle, but even more 3 and 4 ply yarns would be nice.

You will not believe how long it took to come up with this list and I still feel like I am leaving something out. I know that I cannot succeed in everything, as this list is very long. But it's a nice guidebook on where to start when I need ideas.

To all my readers out there I wish you a save and happy New Years and may all your resolutions, wishes, promises, etc. come true.

~Lisa