Crafty Resolutions: 2012

I'm not usually the type to make resolutions, mostly because I'm not good at it. My goals are always too abstract, or too big. (Praying the rosary every day? Realistically, that habit is not going to happen by the end of this month, and if it's not going to happen within a month, I will forget about it.)

But this year, I am trying to make some concrete resolutions that I can actually tackle. Some of them are things I pretty much have to do anyways (graduate, give birth to a baby ...), but maybe those are the best kind for me. ;)

I also think I'll have smaller resolutions month by month ... in other words a monthly "to do" list. But I'd rather think of these things as resolutions. :)

Recently I joined Pinterest, and I started a board there for my craft-specific resolutions, which I will now post here. (Non-crafty resolutions will come in another post so this doesn't get too terribly long!)


Knitting

In 2012, I want to knit:

-baby sweaters
-a baby blanket
-a sweater for myself
-a shawl for Nicole
-lots of hexipuffs
-an afghan

I also want to learn brioche, and possibly entrelac.

I imagine/hope I shall knit more than just these things, but those are the resolutions. :)


Crochet

I want to learn to crochet this year. I am pretty sure that knitting will always be my first love, because I simply like the way it looks better, I feel that it can produce things that crochet can't (crocheted socks just look odd to me!), and because I am fairly good at it (I can't lie--this is an important factor). But knitting cannot reproduce the structural quality of granny squares:



or pretty lace-covered rocks (believe me I've thought a lot about this and I don't think it's possible with knitting):



so obviously I must learn to crochet.

The problem is, see, that I am a perfectionist. I have always loved taking on new crafts (scrapbooking, polymer clay, beading, wire jewelry), and I will love them for a while and then leave them. Knitting hasn't been like this for me, and if I try to psychoanalyze myself--apart from the need to create something tactile and beautiful, and the feel of yarn and needles in my hands--I think it's because I knit and can make mistakes and it still looks good.

Beginner-level projects bore me. I know that I won't be able to make those lovely rocks right away; I've had to make some crochet chains for a few projects and they haven't exactly been pretty. But my mom picked me up some crochet hooks of varying sizes at an estate sale ... so I'm resolved to be patient with myself and really try to learn.


Sewing

I GOT A SEWING MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS. I have no idea how to thread it and set it up yet, but this year I will learn to use it, and I will MAKE THINGS. Specifically:

-curtains
-knitting needle cases
-a mobile?



I may be getting ahead of myself.


Other crafty possibilities:

-I would like to work with felt, make something simple but pretty like these leaves.(Or these--but again, I am too ambitious.) One of my many loved-then-left hobbies was needle felting, which I wasn't very good at; but this year I'd like to buy some nice, wool felt and make things with it.

-I also keep seeing these awesome embroidery projects. Here is another case of perfectionism: I used to do cross-stitch (one of my projects is hanging in my parents' house), but the thought of taking that up simply doesn't grab my interest. It's all these beautiful things I see online that are way out of my range of talent. So perhaps my embroidery will be limited to things like the leaves. We'll see!