Friday, August 30, 2013

Upon further reflection...

...I'm not completely drowning in patterns. Which is a good thing.

How did I determine this? Well, I created a spreadsheet. And realized that my Barbara Walker books (which are simply stitch dictionaries) account for 148 patterns.

I realize that I should still count these in my endeavor, though, so here's what I'm going to do: From each chapter, I will knit a swatch. They may be useful someday, anyway.

I also happen to have two books of granny squares, accounting for another 198 patterns.
For these, I'm going to make 20 motifs. (This will be a little easier, since I've already made a few.)


Something else that I realized: There needs to be some sort of order to making my way through these, both so I don't get bored/frustrated/psychotic with doing just one thing, and also to make it more interesting to follow. Initially, I thought theme months were the way to go, but the idea of making countless gauge swatches for weeks at a time does not appeal to me. And weekly themes/challenges would only give me enough time in the case of hats and cowls.
Themed fortnights, on the other hand, sound great! I can keep at something for two weeks at a time, and it's enough time to finish a child's sweater, or make some serious progress on a me-sized item.

I'm working on cataloging my yarn stash right now, so hopefully I can sort things out and set up a schedule soon.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Hello Again

Yeah, it's been awhile since I even looked at my blog dashboard. I've been really, really busy.
That's motherhood for you.

Anyways, while my son naps on this dreary, rainy, thunder-y Sunday, I took the opportunity to peruse Ravelry. I do this often. I have a bit of a knitting and corchet addiction, if you hadn't noticed. (I have a sewing problem, too, but when you're chasing a crawling baby around, it's a lot easier to pick up & put down knitting.) I also have a bit of a yarn-buying habit, which I am assured is perfectly fine as long as I intend to use said yarn to make something fabulous. Which I totally do. I just don't always know what that something fabulous is when I buy the yarn.
Hence I peruse Ravelry for inspiration and ideas.

This leads a pattern-hoarding problem. Which made itself known when I downloaded yet another shawl pattern, and looked at my library to see the count: 999 distinct patterns.

Whoa.

In my defense, I probably do not have enough yarn to knit all 999 patterns, and I have several books of patterns, which all contain several items that I have no intention of ever making. (Although each book has at least two or three patterns that I totally do want to make.)

I immediately clicked over to another webpage, so that Tim wouldn't see the count. He gripes about the yarn taking over shelving (which is only slightly true; my sewing supplies take up much more of the tatami room closet.) If he sees the pattern count, he'll probably flip, because that's what husbands do.
(For those of you who don't know our family, I'm not spending my husband's money on any of this. I work my tail off to provide for my family, and this comes out of my "mad money.")

But really, I surprised myself when I saw the number. And I thought, "Is this a sign? Can I actually do something with this?" The answer is simple.

Of course I can.

But I need some parameters.

First, any pattern for which I have a finished object, is dropped from the list. (That seems like a no-brainer, right?) I will (eventually) put together the list of what has already been accomplished.
Second, is a way to account for books: For a book to be counted, I need to produce at least two projects from it. (In this case, I will count two projects from the same pattern the same as two projects from two distinct patterns.)
Third, if I don't have suitable yarn on-hand, I will not purchase it. (At least, not until my current stash is reduced significantly.)(Of course, this is me, so "significantly reduced" may well mean "I ran out of Malabrigo.")
Fourth, Christmas and Birthday knitting take priority. They have to. I have six nieces and nephews who live in the Midwest, and Target and Walmart don't really carry hats & scarves meant for cold. And my sister-in-law appreciates handmade items.

So what is left? Ah, yes. Record keeping. I may need to go back to my week-end round-ups. And I'll need to photograph everything. And catalog my yarn. And...

...How about I check in sometime this week, ok?