New Year, New Resolutions, New Me

For my followers, this post details why it has been a while since I have blogged.  I hope to continue this year about once a week.

So for the past couple of years,  the knitting and crochet business has slowed down, but orders have snowballed.  By that I mean that I haven't sold a great deal at craft shows, however, people have been keeping me busy with repairs, orders, and other things yarn related.  I am not sure when I have completed something for myself.  So I had to make some decisions, since I stopped taking requests/orders and have almost completed the items owed.  

1.  This year, 2015, is the year of knitting for me.  I may still make something for friends, but it will be my choice of pattern, yarn, skillset.  This way I can learn some things I want to learn and I don't feel obligated because I am on a deadline and getting paid.   I also get to knit some things for myself that I have been hoarding for several years. (And find time to blog about what I am making.)

2.  NO MORE ORDERS.  Knitting is not as much fun when you feel the pressure to complete something because you are getting paid to make a beautiful shawl, but in department store acrylic yarn.  (For those of you who are non knitters, to me it is like making a ball gown out of burlap.)

3.  I also needed to make time in the mornings for myself.  I wake up at least an hour before everyone else in my house.  With all the orders and repairs,  I had been using that hour to work on projects and fill orders.  Now that I am (almost) done, I hope to return to my routine of exercising to get back in shape.  It takes a lot less yarn to knit a medium size sweater, than a large or XL.  

All this being said I want to leave you with my crowning achievement this year.  It is called the Robin Hood Jacket and was my first seamed sweater.  I learned a great deal while making this sweater.  The biggest lesson was sometimes you have to rewrite the pattern to get each section pattern stitches from different pages.  A chart for this sweater would have been invaluable, since the patter was made up of cable sections which were on 2-3 different pages of the pattern.  All in all it was a great knit and I can't wait to make a grown up sized sweater.

Close up of cable details.

Back of sweater.

Front of sweater.