2020 Wrap up and 2021 Plans

The recap 

I met my 2020 goal of completing 12 knitting projects, most of which were also started in 2020. This effort used up about 3850 yards of yarn. Among the projects completed were a beaded lace shawl, a lovely Papillon shawl, a test knit hat for Woolly Wormhead, several pairs of mittens, and a couple of dishcloths. It really makes a difference to stay focused on just one or two things at a time if you are aiming to complete things. Some of this dedication to a handful of projects was driven by being isolated away from my stash and WIPs bin for 8 months of the year, but it was nice to see solid progress being made. Whether this impacts how I do things in future years will remain to be seen.

I did manage to demonstrate to myself that I can successfully do 2-handed colorwork and that my color selection skills are actually pretty decent. 

   

My pandemic yarn purchases greatly exceeded the yardage knit, thanks to a couple of one of a kind yarn sets from madelinetosh and the desire to keep some of my favorite dyers in business despite the cancelling of fiber festivals. I’m ok with having my stash grow, given those circumstances.

There were only 4 spinning projects completed, generating 723 yards of finished 2-ply yarns.  This relative lack of productivity was partly due to being several time zones away from my spinning wheels. I picked up a drop spindle and an Electric Eel Nano, as well as a beautiful gray Coopworth fleece from Hidden Valley Farm, but didn’t get in much spinning while away from home.  

This purple/gray skein is from a Polwarth roving picked up at MD Sheep and Wool in 2019.

My last spinning project of the year was a quick spin of the Romney roving I’ve been chipping away at for the past couple of years. This particular skein is a bit lighter in grist than the previous ones, so may end up as hats rather than being added to the pillowcase of aran weight yarn that is intended for a gansey.

I did get a reasonable amount of the Coopworth washed and the locks teased open. I started to comb some of it and will card the combing waste. When I purchased the fleece, I was thinking I’d spin myself a sweater. On the Nano, it wants to spin fairly fine, so this may end up being a fingering to sport weight sweater. Or I may end up with a whole lot of laceweight if it keeps going finer. Either way, I’ll end up with some beautiful yarn.

For 2021

I’m not sure how to set this year’s goal. I have my DRAGON to complete and it takes up nearly all of my knitting and spinning time. I’ve also agreed to knit the edging of a Queen Susan shawl for a friend who can’t knit any more. These two things have deadlines, so take precedence over anything else. I’ll likely knit a new sweater for Ezra next fall as I expect he’ll outgrow the 2019-2020 sweater fairly soon. Four year olds are known for that sort of behavior. The collection of dishcloths also needs refreshing and I’ve got a handful of sock projects in various degrees of completion. 

What I propose is this: 

• Finish the DRAGON and the Queen Susan edging
• Knit at least 3 dishcloths
• Finish 4 socks
• Spin 2 skeins of yarn

with the caveat that only the first bullet is a “must do.” Any other accomplishment is a bonus.