April Goals / May Goals

May has kind of snuck up on me, perhaps because we've had such a cool spring, but I suppose it's time to evaluate how well I did with last month's goals before I set some new ones for the month ahead. First, here's a rundown how well I did with meeting last month's goals:

APRIL GOALS:

1. Project Gnome Diplomacy: I want to make 6 gnomes total to donate to the cause (3 are already completed). Done & blogged here!
2. Spinning Project: I'd like to spin a couple of my Cloudlover Fiber club braids, and I also have a Turkish spindle that I've been meaning to try out for about a month now. Oops! Totally got sidetracked and only managed to spin halfway through a completely different project, blogged here.
3. Small projects! Before I start my next sweater, I want to finish lots of smaller projects which have been tempting me the last few months. I have a backlog of FreshStitches Kit Club shipments, and there are lots of other toys in my Ravelry queue which I'm dying to make. I only made one of my FreshStitches kits, but I also made a platypus, a bunny, and a random Tiny Sheep last month, so I'm still calling this a win.
4. Finish & release a new design in Baah Yarn which I am currently working on. It got put into time out last month while I brainstormed ideas to fix an aesthetic issue that popped up in v1.0.
5. Swatch for my next sweater. Done! And I cast on for it, too - blogged here!
6. Learn Tunisian Crochet & start this project finally! I signed up for a class at YarnCon, so I am really excited to finally check this off of my list. Took the class and feel proficient with everything I learned, though I decided to start a simpler project to practice before tackling the laceweight shawl.
7. Complete 12 squares (3 each week) on my scrap yarn blanket. Done! All in all, I added 16 new squares to my throw in April.

So that's approximately a 65% success rate for last month - not bad bad considering how distracted I got with all of the new, shiny things which have been tempting me ever since YarnCon. Needless to say, the theme of May will be finishing all of the things and keeping things short, sweet and manageable (especially since TNNA is at the end of the month!).

MAY GOALS:

1. Finish my Lake Michigan Tee.
2. Spinning Project: finish the one I started last month, 8 oz of BFL from New Zealand.
3. Finish & release a new design in Baah Yarn before TNNA.
4. Finish my practice Tunisian crochet scarf so I can start this project for realsies.
5. Complete 12 squares (3 each week) on my scrap yarn blanket.

That's it - 5 very modest goals for May. Hopefully I will be able to stay on track this month.

Have you set any crafting goals for May?

Overdyeing A Finished Knit

Even after just a few years of knitting or crocheting, you're bound to have some finished projects lying around that never get worn or used. After 10+ years of crafting, I have more than just "some" or "a few"....and with my ongoing quest to declutter my house this year, I've become obsessed with going through these forlorn projects and making some Big Decisions. Sometimes, they are perfectly fine and just need a new and loving home. Other projects may have not turned out quite right: there might have been some mistakes in the knitting that I thought I could live with, or the yarn was gorgeous but not well-matched to the pattern, or my taste has drastically changed since I finished making the project...in any case, why on earth did I keep knitting?! Who knows, but I don't feel good about gifting anything that falls into this category to someone else. These projects have been relegated to the "frog pile" (or should I say, frog pond?), to b...

Easy DIY: Beaded Vintage Snowflake Ornament Kits from Solid Oak Inc.

I was really excited to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new as part of my "Christmas in July" theme this month. The kind folks at Solid Oak Inc offered me a chance to review one of their Nostalgic Christmas beaded crystal ornament kits I couldn't resist. My tree is already full of ornaments I've inherited or been gifted from other family members and friends, so these pretty crystal beaded ornaments will fit right in I think! I was super impressed with this compact little kit , which includes everything needed to create three gorgeous vintage-style ornaments - just add a pair of round nose pliers (I found mine on Amazon for less than ten bucks). The instructions had some fabulous tips for newbies like me; for example, it recommended sorting the beads and laying them out in order on a towel or beading mat to prevent them from rolling away. That may seem obvious, but I was totally ready to start beading on my kitchen table without a...

What If I Didn't Add Heels?

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