Every once in a while I get it in my head that I like to challenge myself (sometimes not true). And I see something on Ravelry and it's like WOW I want to do that! Sometimes it works really well. Last years Tour de Fleece made me a much better spinner. Sometimes I crash and burn. I once tried to talk part in the 52 pair plunge (knit a pair of socks a week for a year) got ALMOST 15 socks in and failed badly. So badly I gave up before the half way mark. Let hope that this is going to be one of those good ones.
I was poking around the forums, looking at peoples' profiles when I stumbled upon a group called Come Blog-a-Long (link on the side). And they had this interesting idea, pick a book (a pattern book) and see if you can knit through it in a year.
As luck would have it I was looking at the book "Knitting socks with Hand Painted Yarn" the day before wondering why I had yet to knit anything out of this wonderful book? There wasn't a single pattern in it I disliked. So this group, this book and this Annie just seemed like a good fit.
There are 21 patterns in the book, while not quite the 52 required of the plunge a daunting task. But I think I can do it!
That was too weeks ago since then I have been planning. Ball winding. Needle buying. Yarn sorting (and a little bit of yarn buying) in preparation for this. Here has what my preparation has yielded!
I had the stash for 19 of the projects (yikes that was an eyeopener!) I scared my roommates by taking my stash out of my room all at once, not going to do that again. I picked yarn, bagged them all individually along with a note.
The note is the pattern I plan on using, page number, toe up/ topdown, needle size, circ/DPN, yarn I plan on using and whether or not it is flat or in the round.
My goal is once I've made it through 10 socks and am on a good track my reward is buying myself the yarn for the remaining two socks (four balls in all). Most of my yarn is commercial a wide variety of brands, the only repeats are Dream in Color Smooshy and Malabrigo (not surprising two of my favorites). And two of my socks will be tackled in Hand Spun. One of which I'm not done spinning yet...
Enough Jabber here is the full list in order of appearance. (Note: These are all Ravelry links to projects that don't quite exist yet, but if you want to know what yarn/needle size I'm planning on using take a look!)
Longbourn Socks
Zigzag Socks
Punctuated Rib Socks
Staccato Socks
Copper Penny Socks
Color Collision Socks
Split-Toe Sweethearts
Whirlpool Socks
Herringbone Rib Socks
Schooner Socks
Corrugated Stripe Socks
Flame Thrower Socks
Chevvy Socks
Spot Check Socks
Potpourri Socks
Spread Spectrum Socks
Braided Gem Socks
Escher Socks
Goldengrove Socks
Rib Fantastic Socks
Switcheroo Socks
All of this. This entire exercise is in hopes of finally having enough scraps to finish my Barn Raising Quilt. I decided that I'm only going to knit squares from projects that I've already completed. It's more special that way.
I'm planning on doing this whole shebang by randomly grabbing a bag, seeing if I have the proper needles available and then CASTON! I will start tomorrow though right now it is late, and I am tired. I stayed up just to post this =D
Wish me Luck!
21 comments:
you go girl!!!
I love the idea of bagging the projects up in advance, then pulling them out at random. Good luck getting through all those socks!
That is a lot of socks! I too use the bag idea. It works great. Can't wait to see how it all turns out!
I wish I could make socks. I can't wait to see them knit up. And I love how you bag the yarn and supplies together. Everyone is so much more organized then me. XD
you are so organized! i love it! LOL xmas knitting counts bc i get to knit!! and not be running around with my head cut off!! even if i dont reap the benefits :)
Good luck! How lovely to be able to knit yarn that you've spun yourself.
You are so organised. Good luck with all those socks - it's a great idea :)
wow, so organized! looking forward to seeing your progress... plus you can never have too many pairs of socks, especially handknitted ones.
You are on a mission! I wish I was that organized....I thought I was doing good just to get a list together and then posting some pictures! :)
Happy Creating....
Oh my goodness, you're so organised! Good luck with the project, can't wait to see how everyone progresses :-)
Your organization makes me SO happy. As for yarn and needles, I'm doing the "by-the-seat-of-my-pants" method.
Best of luck getting through all those socks, and don't feel bad about the previous challenge...
I participated in NaNoWriMo last year and the failure was -- well, it was spectacular. I guess the lesson was to pick the challenges more carefully. ;)
What a fantastic idea! You're so organized too! Can't wait to see all the finished projects. That quilt is going to be gorgeous!
WOW! This is a great project. I wish you luck.
Such a great way to be organized!!!
Amazingly organised - I need to take a few tips from you!! Great list. Enjoy
Isn't it fun to take out everything at once? I'm not buying the organized bit. :-)
WOW Annie! Good luck. I am rather impressed by all the work you have put into it. Maybe I will try something similar.
Oh I am envious! All those lovely socks! Yumm yumm ,my knitting skills are sorely lacking and I find socks so frustrating. You are very organised :D
Can't wait to see a pair of your socks
WOW! SO many bags and so many socks - can't wait to see them all :)
(And HOW much yarn do you have stashed? - eek!)
Love your organization and motivation system! I made a scrap quilt only from projects and with a few balls of scraps given to me by friends. It really is super special because you can trace every square to some memory. Good luck!
wow, you are determined! i so want to learn to knit socks but am sockily challenged. perhaps i can learn by osmosis.
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