Knitting Resolutions 2015. . .

Here we go again.  Looking back one year ago, I had decided just five resolutions were enough. But did I keep to them?  Alas, no, but I'm not going to beat myself up, because I had a lot of fun with my knitting last year and am proud of what I did accomplish.

My worst resolution failure was trying not to buy any yarn, though I did hold out until July.  And then went absolutely crazy. I did knit a lot from my stash though I'm still fairly sure I've ended up with twice as much yarn at the end of the year than what I began with.  I did finish three blankets though, including the huge Martin Storey knit-a-long which is my own personal knit of the year.  And it let me practice intarsia which was a new skill for me - I'm certainly not perfect at it, but it doesn't scare me anymore. 

I still have four cardigan WIPs, but did finish three garments that I'm very pleased with. In particular, I'm chuffed that I had the confidence to make some modifications from the pattern and they worked out.

And my other big accomplishment was to learn how to crochet!  It's such a useful and fun skill that has really added to my knitting, especially with seaming.

Edited to add:  Yikes - how could I forget about my Latvian mittens that took ages! (thanks for the reminder Sallyann)

So just for fun, and with all the optimism of a brand new year, here are five more knitting resolutions for 2015.

1. Knit from stash only.  I MEAN it this year.  I have some fabulous stuff in my stash and I need to save money this year, so I'm putting myself on a strict yarn diet.  With one exception:  Every time I get a two pound coin in my change, I pop it in my Herdy money box.  This is my budget for any yarn shows. I am planning on going to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March and would love to go to Brighton for Unwind if it's held again this summer.  I will allow myself a souvenir skein or two at shows, but I will only spend what is in the yarn bank.

2. To help knit from stash, I've joined a group on ravelry that is challenging knitters to knit 12 sweaters in 12 months (wips count!).  I doubt I'll get to 12 but if I can finish those 4 wips I've had hanging around for years now, I'll be happy.

3. I really want to improve my crochet skills. I've just bought a masterclass at Craftsy which I'm looking forward to, and I've had a go at tunsian crochet which is a lot of fun to do. I really want to learn how to better read a crochet chart and maybe have a go at crocheting a garment.

4. Steeking.  Time to get over my fears and try it.

5. I would like to try some other woolly skills.  I still haven't touched my hand spinning kit from last year, and I've added a needle felting kit to it.

Happy New Year to all - it does feel wonderful to start planning for new projects again.