My list of planned crafts is probably going to be shorter than last year. After all, I’m starting half way through the year! So this makes sense. Also, given that we’re probably going to be moving at some point in the next year the smart choice for craft projects is going to be to use up what I have already in terms of materials. I may make a few exceptions to that, certain changes to my physique mean I have no sun dresses that fit right now so enough fabric to make two dresses might need to be purchased unless I find some in the bins somewhere, but for the most part I’m going to do my best to stick to what I’ve got since I’d rather move completed projects than move lots of stashed supplies.
Almost all of my supplies are stored in plastic bins from Costco (so they all match, hurray!) with most of it being fabric, but there’s also yarn too. For the most part my craft plans fall into two categories, knitting and sewing. Knitting is easy, I have a couple of bins of yarn right now (I think 2.5 bins?) and the highest volume yarn is the yarn I got for sweaters. So the best thing to do is probably going to be to work on knitting sweaters.
Knitting
Beatnik Sweater
The first project I want to make is the Beatnik sweater. I got the same yarn used in the pattern (same as the above picture) and I actually started knitting this several years ago. Unfortunately it was my first time knitting a sweater in a really long time and my first time ever trying to knit something with a chart. Needless to say this was a bad idea. So I’ve ripped out my first attempt, and now is probably a good time to try again. Also it’s a mostly cotton yarn so that will be nicer to work with during summer. And since I’ve already got the pattern and yarn, it’s a no cost project, yay!
Rook Sweater
The second project I want to do is the Rook sweater. This is another one I’ve tried knitting before. I want to use some Wool of the Andes Tweed I have in a really dark grey with light grey and white flecks. Last time I tried I could not get gauge no matter what I did. It always seems to me that I can only get gauge to match vertically or horizontally, but not both. If I can’t get it to work this time I think I’ll try to calculate any changes to the pattern I might need and try to use my yarn anyway. Luckily despite the challenges, I already have the yarn and pattern, so this one won’t cost anything either.
Mystery Light Blue Cardigan
The purpose of this one is to use up the light blue Wool of the Andes yarn I have. I’ve considered several possible patterns for this one, but its hard to figure out what would be best. I really like sweaters, but a cardigan is probably more useful at the moment. There’s also the dilemma of using a pattern I already own vs finding the perfect one. A sweater/cardigan takes a long time to make so finding a perfect pattern is a good idea, but at the same time I have a bunch of patterns (free, from my magazine subscription, from books, etc.) and actually using the ones I’ve got makes me happy. Currently I’m leaning towards Prairie Fire, but doing another Peabody sweater, a MacGowan or a Jean sweater or a Two Trees cardigan also sound like decent ideas. A Prairie Fire or Peabody sweater would probably work best with the color though.
Socks and Hats
These are projects I’ve already started, one pair of socks for me, one pair as a Christmas present for Grandpa Patrick and a replacement yellow hat (replacing the one that was lost sometime in January). They’re smaller projects so I figure I’ll probably work on these when I’m on the train.
Sewing
Then there’s sewing, which is harder… Some stuff is obvious, since the goal is to use up some of my fabric stockpile before we move. I have 1 pair of pants cut out for Patrick and fabric for at least 3 more. If only sewing pants wasn’t annoying (welt pockets are pretty much the worst, even if I get them right the darn things start to fray right away). I also need to alter my summer dresses, which won’t use up much fabric, just some small pieces to make gussets, but it will mean having dresses I can wear this summer (and boy am I ever glad I like shirt dresses, since they’re the only ones that are ‘functional’ at the moment).
The other stuff I have a lot of is small pieces of patterned cotton fabric and shirting. The shirting is easy, more shirts for me and Patrick (yay shirts!). Luckily unlike pants, sewing shirts is awesome. The patterned fabric is best suited for household crafts and things for little Patrick. Luckily making things for little Patrick should be fun (and useful!) and household crafts (ie potholders, pillow covers, etc) are usually fun and relaxing. I have patterns for rompers, onsies, overalls, shirts and pants for little Patrick, so I’ll probably try out some of those. I think I’ll probably be making some adjustments to the patterns. For example, why in the world would you put the snaps in the back for a romper? When you lay the baby down to change them they’re laying on the snaps! So yeah, some changes will be needed.
Oh, and I’ll be making myself some work clothes too. Definitely skirts since I think I’m probably going to need to adjust my sizing there, at least for a little while longer (luckily this is a simple self drafted A-line skirt pattern, so that’s easy enough to adjust). I have some very nice wool I received as a gift so I’ll make some for that fabric. And I have some other bottom weight fabric of various kinds that I can pick out one or two types to make the first versions of the updated pattern (never test a new/adjusted pattern on beautiful wool fabric!).
I might make some shirts for work too, it depends on how well those do or don’t fit in a couple months. Depending on what fabric I have I’d also like to make both me and Patrick some casual shirts too. We’ll see. For Patrick (little and regular sized) I’m going to use up some of my knit fabric to make T-shirts and things. Those go quickly and are useful. I really wish there was more good quality knit fabric though. Maybe I’ll try some from Nancy’s Notions. So far JoAnn’s has been pretty terrible for knit fabric and Fabric.com has been a mix.
There’s lots of other stuff I’d like to try:
- Luggage!
- A new bag/purse (my poor green one is developing holes despite years of being awesome)
- Dresses for me
- Curtains (can’t do this until we move though)
- Cute household things (fun but not practical and will take time and not use much fabric)
- etc.
But those have to wait until later.
Miscellaneous Other Projects
There are of course many other things I’d like to do. I want to improve in terms of physical fitness and bike more. I want to finish fixing up the knitting machine and get better at using it. I want to write again and make my own knitting patterns. I want to go to museums and places downtown with Patrick and take little Patrick on walks to the park. I want to get farther with relearning to play the piano… There are lots of things to do that should be fun.
