Roll the Dice
One of my greatest challenges as a creative person is having so many projects going at once. I’ll interupt active projects with a new project because I got some ribbon so I made some trinket baskets or when I came accross my vintage Weave-it loom and explored how to join the finished squares.
I’ve read somewhere that we get more done if we have less to do at once. I’ve tried to do that. I’ve tried to limit the number of creative projects I have going. Sometimes I don’t have as many as I do right now. I find that so boring! Do our hobbies need to be about finishing things in a specifc time frame?
I found the answer that resonates for me from Alison Lush, a professional organizer who I follow on TikTok. She recently shared all the different kinds of projects she has organized and stored in her small home. She is also multi-crafter with several projects in different places of completion. She reminded me that we are meant to be creative and finished isn’t always the goal. If you are curious, check it out here.
This week I’m taking stock of my active projects. Some of the projects are in different stages that require decisions to be made or supplies to purchase. It was helpful because I’m reminded where I’m at in the journey, and it helps me see what I’ll be doing when I pick them up again. Yet how do I decide which one to work on? Sometimes that’s not hard. After doing a project review sometimes one of them calls to me and I dive right in. Sometimes they don’t or sometimes they all call to me at once!
Lately I’ve been rolling the dice to decide which project to do. Or to be more precise I tell Siri to roll the dice for me. I don’t include all the projects because I do have 16 projects. I can tell siri to roll a D6 or a D12. Sometimes I make a quick list that includes not only my craft projects but a few care tasks around the house too.
So here's the big ass list I’ve got going and this doesn’t include projects for my crochet designs! These are the projects I work on in my free time. Thankfully a few of those projects are almost finished. I want to make it a priority to finish those. I’m trying not to add any more projects to the list.
1 - Cotton Spinning
I want to spin down my cotton fiber stash and I want to learn how to use my book charkha. So in April I joined the Spin 15 Minutes a Day Challenge. My personal challenge was to spin on my charkha. To not overwhelm myself, I’m focusing on spinning the cotton sliver in my stash. I also have some cotton bolls and lint to be carded to spin. I’m saving that for another day. I’ve successfully spun up all the punis shown here and plied them! I’m going to keep spinning for 15 minutes a day. I have even more singles I’ve finished last month ready to ply.
2 - Purple Socks
These socks that are about ready for the heel. I’m incorporating the stitch pattern found in Kalajoki a free sock pattern on Ravelry here. The purple yarn is Tierras from Laneras. They have a unique way they spin their yarn. One of the plies has a little extra twist. I really like working with it!
3 - Stash Busting Socks
I had planned to do a colorwork pattern for these. I’m not enjoying it so I’m going to ditch the black yarn entirely, or I’m going to do a simple slip-stitch pattern using the black yarn.
4- Visible Mending
I’m visibly mending my wedding dress. I started doing this with sewing thread. I don’t hate the look. I watched a TikTok video where a creator used lace to fix holes. This project is on my priority list because I want to wear this in June to celebrate our anniversery!
5 - Crochet Embroidery
I want to do more exploration with this embroidery and crochet project. This one is finished and needs a permenent frame. I want to make more motifs and find interesting ways to combine them. I just might write up a pattern for it too!
6 & 7 - Embroidery Learning
Here’s a few embroidering stitch samplers I’m working on as well. The organge fabric is an appolstery sample that inspired me to fill the diamonds with different embroidery stitches.
8 - Sock Mending
I always have some sock mending in need of doing. I’ll admit that sometimes I love mending socks and sometimes I don’t. When i’m in the right mood I find it soothing and relaxing. I have a little mending basket that holds the tools and yarns so I’m ready if the mood hits.
9 - Granny Square Sweater
I think this project got forgotten as other projets became more important or more fun to do. I want keep working on this project to use up leftover handyed fingering weight yarn and have fun playing with color. It could be a great small summer project.
10 - Cabled Yarn Spinning
I’m almost finished with a cabled yarn spinning project. I have a little bit of yarn left on the storage bobbins I want to finish then that’s done! I love how the colors blended in this yarn. I hope to knit a pair of socks with this yarn soon!
11 - Weaving with Green Yarn
Some lovely colors of green yarn just fell into my stash a few weeks ago. When I saw these colors I saw lichens, moss and meadows with little bits of other colors popping up. I want to make a rug and wall hanging. I’m going to start with the wall hanging so the next step is winding the warp. Last week I did some sampling on a small loom so I have an idea of the warp sett and how many picks per inch I need to get. I also calculated how much yarn I have. I should have enough for both projects.
12- Older Tapestry Project
While working on that green yarn project, I pulled out a very old tapestry project and tried to get back on track but wasn’t successful. So I’ve decided to let this project go. So, this loom can be ready for something else in the future. Sometimes that happens, and it’s okay! Do I cut it off or finish it as is? It could be a bookmark, maybe?
13 - Ten Stitch Blanket
This has been my longest work in progress ever! I started this in 2011! I hadn’t worked on for a bit. I picked it back up again during the pandemic. It was the only thing I could work on during the height of the worry and fear about covid. It was ten stitches of simplicity! This project will likely go back into hibernation as it gets too warm. I’m using up leftovers of sock yarns using Frankie Brown’s Ten Stitch Blanket pattern here. It’s a great pattern for yarn leftovers.
14 - Bee Eater Sweater Spin
I started this spinning project in April 2022 using Hello Yarn Club Targhee in colorway Bee-Eater. I haven't worked on it for a year! I was a bit worried I hadn’t kept good records. Fortunately, I have notes on Ravelry and found my control card. I can see the full storage bobbin of singles has some damage on it. I’m going to chain-ply this and give it a good scour. Then continue to spin up the rest of the fiber. I want to get this project done before I start another big spinning project. I will make it a goal to spin short periods every day.
15- Memorabelia Project
My mom made the bag for me and I just didn’t use it because It’s wasn’t functional for me. I love the fabric lining and the texture of the knit fabric. I’m still working out how to incorporate the knit fabric. I can keep stitching the flower shapes down.
16 - Handspun Pillow Project
I wove this fabric I several years ago. I used a black 8/2 cotton linen warp and wove randomly leftover handspun yarns. I stalled out on how to finish it because I didn’t have enough woven fabric for the front and the back of a pillow. I’m going to use some leftover handwoven fabric! All that needs to be determind is the size of the pillow and make sure I have the thread I need.
If you made it to the end of this thanks for joining me in this my creativity journey! I hope it inspires your as well.
Rather than focus on how much I accomplish this month I want to look at what I do over the next few months and what I have accomplished at the end of the year.
I’d love to know what you are working on. Let me know in the comments where I can see what you are doing. Do you have a website or are you on instagram? Let me know!
Oops! - 17 - Started Another Project!
I’ll be spinning a 3ply sock yarn on my Schacht-Reeves wheel. I haven’t used this wheeel for very many projects and I want to get to know it better.