retrospective

Holy wow, if my crafty output of 2010 doesn't demonstrate that I'm one of those people who becomes super productive when stressed, I don't know what is. Take a look at everything I made this year:

(click through to flickr for links to those specific pictures/patterns/etc)

29 pieces - not too shabby! (two lumberjack hats not pictured, also a facecloth I made for my BIL's girlfriend using Tunisian crochet) And I swear that picture of a corrugated ribbing mitten cuff (bottom right) is now a completed object. I haven't put pictures up yet, but the design is already on display at Loopy. The statistics of this year's output really say a lot:

15 knit
14 crochet
15 are gifts/swap items
3 are samples in the possession of whatever publication I made them for
4 are samples hiding in my own sample box
only 5 of these things are to be worn/used by me

* I'm pleased about the almost even split between knitting and crochet.
* Only one sweater! I'm pretty sad about that. I have a ton of sweaters in the queue, and I wear the ones I've made ALL THE TIME. So what's the deal? I need to make more sweaters.
* I need to make more things for my parents. Of those 15 gifts/swap items none of them were for my parents! I'd love to be able to finish a sweater for my mom in the coming year, and something else for my dad. (He's not a big sweater guy.)
* Good Lord do I ever need to make more things for myself! My winter mitten situation is pretty sad, actually. This year's goal: more selfish knitting.

The UFO situation isn't all that bad, actually:

Um, these are totally shoddily and hastily photographed, but you get the idea. What can I say, I'm suffering from some post-holidays photography fatigue. So starting in the top left of the UFO mosaic we have a couple things that I'm working on right now (i.e., they're not suspended indefinitely). The top left is a scarf-sized version of my Adva pattern. This one will also be on display at Loopy as soon as it's all blocked and (better) photographed and I've edited the pattern. I'll post here as soon as the updated version is available. Then the little turquoise and orange sweater is a gift for a forthcoming baby. The pattern is called Angle and it's by Tora Frøseth. Adorable, right? Well it takes forEVER. The construction of the piece is really interesting, but that ridge pattern creates so much surface area that there is WAY more knitting than would normally be involved in a baby sweater. And the finishing is taking an eternity. I've been working on this for far too long, but I can't wait to see the finished object. I think it'll be adorable. Then that maroon/mustard mitten is also a current WIP. It's my first test-knit of my own design, to appear here in full soon. You may recognize that bulky corrugated cuff from my FO mosaic...

After I put that mosaic together, feeling all pleased that 4 UFOs makes a square, I remembered I forgot this one:

Oh, and since I totally win and making mosaics there's actually another item that will be finished soon and is for another baby:

This pattern is Ysolda's tiny shoes. Super cute, right? Well it turns out I'm incapable of finishing a pair of knit booties. They're just not my thing. I much prefer to crochet booties. That's just one of my bizarre crafting preferences, I suppose. Well anyway, these will be done soon and sent away for a different baby than the one I originally intended. Oh well. I have fabulous buttons for them, too - just you wait.

Then we have three items in indefinite suspension: my deep-v argyle vest (pictured above in the mosaic - there is no good reason for why I haven't finished this yet), my anastasia socks (also pictured above - I need to make the second one so I can have more hand-knit socks in my life), and finally, my min ulla mittens:

Unfortunately that whole thing needs to be frogged and re-knit. It's way too small for my hand (total measuringfail on my part), and since I started this I have become a finicky and stubborn devotee of the gusseted thumb. The design (from Elinor of Exercise Before Knitting) is completely awesome (I would cut a bitch for a Min Ulla scarf) and I just want to do it right, and so that I'll actually wear it. And once I get around to re-knitting this I have a feeling these will be my regular go-to mittens.

So to bring this narcissistic blabfest to a close, here are some goals (not resolutions - those things are bullshit) for my next year in crafting:

* Focus on self-publishing. It's great to get paid by the publications and all, but that one-time payment deal is kind of a bummer and things you put out yourself can produce more lasting income. Also it irks me that I don't get to keep the samples I've made for publications.
* Make a sweater for my mom.
* Make some other unspecified object for my dad.
* Make at least one sweater for myself.
* Make a TON OF OTHER SHIT for myself.

Is that last one selfish? Maybe? Do I care? Not a bit. Happy 2011, internets!