“New Year is a spring time! Open up like a flower! Let the world see your energy! And when the world sees your energy and enthusiasm, the previously locked doors will be opened to you!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan
Happy New Year 2019! I’m hoping that this New Year has begun by motivating you to try new things, plan new projects and take your skills to a new level. I thought I would write the first post of this year by reviewing my crafty achievements from 2018. Hopefully this exercise will help me make a doable plan for this New Year. I really appreciate that you are willing to join me.
― Mehmet Murat ildan
Happy New Year 2019! I’m hoping that this New Year has begun by motivating you to try new things, plan new projects and take your skills to a new level. I thought I would write the first post of this year by reviewing my crafty achievements from 2018. Hopefully this exercise will help me make a doable plan for this New Year. I really appreciate that you are willing to join me.
OK. Where to begin? Let’s review the crafty goals I set for myself and give myself an achievement score based on the obvious… how many goals I achieved!
1) I chose “Align” as my word of the year. The idea was that I needed to align my efforts and the energy I invested in different activities with my ultimate goals. So if I wanted to be healthier, I needed to align my diet and the time I spent preparing meals with the health benefits that I wished to enjoy. If I wanted to make a living out of my crafting, I needed to spend more time investigating my options and learning the tricks of the trade. If I wanted better family relationships, I had to alot more quality time with my husband and children. Blah, blah, blah.... I even made a wall art for my word with the help of Chrissie Crafts on YouTube ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHA8AKnwRBI ) I can't say I achieved this goal totally... but I think I am more conscious of the effort it takes to make changes in our life styles.
1) I chose “Align” as my word of the year. The idea was that I needed to align my efforts and the energy I invested in different activities with my ultimate goals. So if I wanted to be healthier, I needed to align my diet and the time I spent preparing meals with the health benefits that I wished to enjoy. If I wanted to make a living out of my crafting, I needed to spend more time investigating my options and learning the tricks of the trade. If I wanted better family relationships, I had to alot more quality time with my husband and children. Blah, blah, blah.... I even made a wall art for my word with the help of Chrissie Crafts on YouTube ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHA8AKnwRBI ) I can't say I achieved this goal totally... but I think I am more conscious of the effort it takes to make changes in our life styles.
2) I had planned to unclutter my surroundings during 2018 by using my stash to create my new projects and minimize the purchases of new materials for crafting. Well, I was able to clean up a significant amount of my fabric and fiber stash because my youngest daughter moved out and took with her a huge haul of crafting material. But I am pretty sure that I did not significantly reduce my purchases.
3) I wanted to learn new skills and indulge in new crafty experiences. I believe I did some hard work in this area. Some activities I participated in for the first time included:
a. First yarn festival: My daughter and I went to The Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March of this year. It was my first time and we had decided to make the trip right after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in September of 2017. What did I love the most? The people we met up with!!!
b) Vlogcasting. Up until February of 2018 I shared a vlogcast with my youngest daughter, Clarisabeth, on her YouTube channel crochetcakes. I have been vlogging alone ever since, and just filmed Episode 18. You can find a link to all my episodes here.
c) Pattern design: I dabbed into Crochet Pattern Design this year. When my youngest daughter left the nest, I decided to make a crochet sock in her honor and then, I decided to write up the pattern so others could make one too. I talk all about this sock in a previous post on this blog. So far, I have designed and written up two crochet sock patterns and a crochet pointed shirt collar pattern. They can all be found here.
d) Needle felting and wool painting. Wool painting is a 2D needle felting process in which you “paint” an image that has been transferred onto a piece of pre-felted wool (or some other organic material) with different colors of wool using needle-felting and/or wet-felting techniques. I was very inspired by a crafting friend I found in the virtual world to try wool needle felting and wool painting this year. (https://acornwillows.blogspot.com/) I got so addicted to felting that I was able to create jewelry, Easter eggs, pin cushions and even wool art paintings. This has been so enjoyable…I think it’s a keeper for me.
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e. Test crocheter. I signed up to be a test crocheter for a crochet designer that I follow on social media. (www.addydae.com/ ) She accepted me and I had the pleasure of working with a rough draft of an unpublished pattern of hers along with around 10 other crocheters to help this designer perfect her sweater design. It was a fantastic experience and the end product was lovely.
A look at my completed projects for the 2018 gives me a count of 55 crafty makes:
a. 7 garments (I’m including shawls in this category, because I am not a huge shawl maker.)
b. 8 pairs of socks (crochet and knit !!)
c. 17 accessory items (blouse collars, necklaces, ornaments, key chains, shoes, hats, etc.)
d. 23 home décor items that include
i. 5 felted decorative eggs
ii. 6 felted pincushions
iii. 7 wool paintings
Some of the finished felted items have been or are currently for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/DaintybyCrochetcakes .Check them out!
If you would like to see some of my crochet or knit finished makes for this year, you can visit my Ravelry project pages as a guest using the following links:
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/shwah
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/bbwffs
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/a2
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/alcb
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/ss
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/tis
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/sp
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/ac
I think you will agree with me when I say that I have had a great crafty year. I can only hope that 2019 will be as productive, satisfying and rewarding for me and for all of you as well !
“You may have the greatest vision, plans or goals as you may term it. You can call it Vision 2020, Vision 2045 or whatever. But remember, no work is done unless a distance is covered!”
― Israelmore Ayivor
a. 7 garments (I’m including shawls in this category, because I am not a huge shawl maker.)
b. 8 pairs of socks (crochet and knit !!)
c. 17 accessory items (blouse collars, necklaces, ornaments, key chains, shoes, hats, etc.)
d. 23 home décor items that include
i. 5 felted decorative eggs
ii. 6 felted pincushions
iii. 7 wool paintings
Some of the finished felted items have been or are currently for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/DaintybyCrochetcakes .Check them out!
If you would like to see some of my crochet or knit finished makes for this year, you can visit my Ravelry project pages as a guest using the following links:
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/shwah
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/bbwffs
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/a2
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/alcb
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/ss
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/tis
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/sp
http://ravel.me/InspiredProfessor/ac
I think you will agree with me when I say that I have had a great crafty year. I can only hope that 2019 will be as productive, satisfying and rewarding for me and for all of you as well !
“You may have the greatest vision, plans or goals as you may term it. You can call it Vision 2020, Vision 2045 or whatever. But remember, no work is done unless a distance is covered!”
― Israelmore Ayivor
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