New Yarns Resolutions

Hello and everybody welcome. It's so nice to see you again. Um, I'm Brenda KB Anderson and just in case you're new here, normally I do tutorials and show, you know, lead you through, uh, a project and how to make things. But sometimes we have these little Q and A sessions where, um, I really encourage you guys to participate in and, you know, be active in the chat if you can. Um, but it's ok if you don't want to, you can just sit back and watch, but we're just gonna be kind of talking about crochet. Um, and also this applies to knitting and sewing and so many other things today because today we are going to be talking about my New Year yarns, new yarns resolutions. Ok. So I don't mean like new yarns, like I'm using new yarn necessarily. I just mean like it's a yarn oriented New Year's resolution. Ok. So, um, I have to say II, I have a hard time kind of getting my New Year's resolutions all in order at the beginning of the year. So this is kind of like perfect timing for me because I wouldn't have been ready on, on January 1st. I'm usually just kind of still in full tilt holiday mode at that point. Um, so now it's kind of like the time of year that I sort of reassess. Ok. You know, like, what, what did I do last year? How did things go? Um, what can I improve on? How are things gonna be different this year? I'm not one who makes like, really rigid New Year's resolutions. Um, I make more like suggestions for myself, but I, I want to, for me and I feel like for many of you out there when it comes to yarn projects, we use a lot of times we use those yarn projects to feel creative and to relax, to kind of wind down from stressful, you know, other things in our lives. Um So I really don't like to say things like you should make some resolutions and stick to those plans and this and that unless that's what makes you happy, you know, but it is a good time to just kind of like, think about, hey, what would I like to do differently this year or what would I like to learn this year or? Um, you know, just that feeling of cleaning up your space, sort of starting over in some ways. Um But with the knowledge from last year carried with you, so that's kind of how I like to approach uh these sorts of resolution things. Um So, so you're gonna be seeing in today's Q and A. But if you guys have other ideas and other thoughts, you know, if you've made some resolutions, you have goals in mind. I would love to see those in the chat. I wanna know what you guys are thinking about. Um And what you guys are interested in, in learning this year. Um Also, you know, just any if you have any advice for people who are thinking about goals or thinking about cleaning up their space or just anything that's kind of got that starting over new vibe, like let's reassess things. Um Kind of kind of thing then definitely put those in the chat. All right. So I decided this year is gonna be my year to get my act together and clean up my craft space because up until now I've been working on the ends of our couch in the living room and my stuff is just sort of like spilled over into the neighboring chair and, you know, it's not good when you say, hey, daughter of mine don't sit in that chair because that's where my stuff is. Well, that's just ridiculous, right? So I have to make my own crafting space. So part of me making this journey to get myself a crafting space is purging. I have to get rid of a bunch of stuff and I already knew this. I have a lot of stuff. I have a lot of samples. I've been um crocheting as a business for quite a while, more than 10 years now. Um And so I've accumulated just a lot of things that I need. I've been going through things and um trying to organize that. So them, so I am uh sharing with you my process how I am organizing all this stuff. All right. So I made myself this little little sheet here, um organize your whips, meaning work in progress. So, because that is where I have a lot of clutter. I have lots of things that I'm hanging on to. Um, because it's not finished, you know, and it could be not finished for lots of different reasons. And I'll go into that in a minute, but because it isn't finished, I'm still hanging on to it and it's taking up space, not only in my house, but it's also taking up just space in my heart. It's kind of driving me nuts that there's all these like unfinished things hovering over my head. So I need to deal with all that. So this is going to be me dealing with that. So I divided, um I divided my actions into four different categories. I have finish it, which maybe that's obvious, but finishing the project. So I'm going to list the things at least a couple of things that are my goals of. Absolutely, I have to finish this, this year kind of thing. But then this goes back to like being, being lenient with yourself. But that's how I feel. I feel like I have to tough talk myself and to finishing a couple of these things and you'll, you'll hear why in a minute the next category is fixing things. So that would be like if you find something and you, it's sitting around because you, you don't like it, figure out a way that you will like it. Ok? So if you change something about it, then that's fixing it and then also it can go into this finishing category when you're done. Um, frogging it. So in case you're not familiar with the phrase frogging, frogging means you're just undoing your work, you're ripping it out. So you're ripping it, ripping it, rip it, rip it, rip it, rip it, ok? Get it. So frogging, it just means that you're taking it all apart and you're gonna use it for the yarn, you're gonna just keep it, but you're gonna make it into something totally different or maybe you're gonna make it into the same thing, but you're just gonna start over. Basically, it's just a chance to keep the yarn and start over. Um And then the last thing that I have here is forwarding it. Ok. So that, to me, it just, it could mean donating it to someone else. It could mean selling it to someone. It just means moving it along and kind of getting it to a new, new, new home, new place and whatever method, you know, seems to work for you. Ok. So I'm gonna divide all of my works in progress into these categories. I certainly did not bring all of my works in progress here today because it would just, I mean, who wants to sit there and watch all of that? That's too much. It, it would cover more than this whole table. But I brought some of the things that kind of fit into all those categories so I can just kind of talk about them a little bit. Um And kind of give you some ideas on how I'm thinking about my process of, of uh moving forward. Ok. And then later during this Q and A, we're gonna talk a little bit about some learning a new skill and changing a habit. So those are two other things that I like to kind of reassess. Um Besides my reality check about my whips, I like to think about what I want to learn in the next year. And I also want to talk about, ok, what, what am I gonna do differently? What habits am I gonna change? Whether I'm gonna start doing something good or stop doing something that I don't like. That's not working for me. All right, so welcome everybody. Hi to Tina and Shatika is here. She says good afternoon, blessings and cozy, warmness, crocheting. Thank you. Um Oh, and she loves my cardigan. Thank you so much. Thank you. Um I love granny squares, you could probably tell. And Elena saying hi, New yarn, clean and organize my craft room. So I will feel more creative. Yes, me too. Ok. Um And Tina is saying cardigan loves it. Ok, thanks you guys. Um I designed this cardigan for a collaboration for We Crochet yarns um which is uh crochet.com. That's where they sell their yarns. Um And I did like a Granny Square collection of a bunch of things and it's like mixing and matching. It's like a choose your own adventure Granny Square collection. It's pretty fun. So you can substitute the g this is like the classic Granny Granny Square. But then there's also some other granny squares mixed in there. It was just kind of a fun project. All right. So let's talk about this first of all. And this is gonna be in like no particular order. I'm just gonna start grabbing my, my unfinished whips. So this hat I made this hat probably uh more than five years ago for sure. Maybe even around. I don't know, maybe 56 years ago, I guess it was anyway, it's a color wear crochet hat and it's really lovely. But the thing that I do not like about this hat is that it's extra tall. It looks, it looked good at first, but I don't know if it's just my style has changed or maybe the pompoms just a little too heavy. So what I need to do to this and I've been meaning to do this. I have to take the pom, pom off and I'm going to shorten the crown and bring it in and kind of gather it up. Um And then I can either keep it or gift it. I'm not really sure what I'm gonna do with this, this hat, but it actually goes with a set of um hat mittens, but I need to move this on, but I don't wanna just donate it at this point or give it away at this point because I feel like it isn't, I, I don't know like it's just a little too long and floppy. So I need to make that change. So this is gonna go into my fix it category. So I'm gonna put my color work beanie here and that is something I am going to commit to fixing this year. And it is the same problem with this hat. I don't know why I didn't learn my lesson. This happened even years before that. This is a knit hat that I was designing a long time ago. I don't even know if they make this yarn anymore. And honestly, I can't even remember the name of this yarn. I could probably figure it out, but it is too tall and also this pom pom. This was like before you could find all those fluffy furry pom poms in the big box stores. So I was making my own pom poms which is fine, but it ended up being kind of heavy feeling and I don't like that. It feels like it's always flopping back and pulling on my head. So I need to take the pom pom off, shorten the hat. Um, and I think it'll be fine. I'll put a new fresh pom pom on and I will fix it. Um, and maybe I will wear this or maybe I will gift it. I'm not really sure. Um, so that's going in there too. Cable hat is going in the fix it category. I'm just predicting there's gonna be a lot there because I have problems letting things go until they're like good in my mind. Ok. Uh, let's talk about this project. Ok. So this is a knitted project. I started more than 10 years ago. These are some little skull and cross bone color work socks that I'm making for my husband. He requested these and I thought they were awesome and I started working on it and I had never made a color work project that had this thin of yarn before. I'm knitting it at a very tight gauge so that they're nice, thick sturdy socks because that's how I like my socks to be. And I got this far about 15 years ago and I cannot, for some reason get the rest of the sock finished. And I think part of that is knowing that there's a second sock after this, but I already said that I was going to do this. The whole problem is, is this is not something that has a deadline. So I think for me, I'm going to have to give myself some check in points for the deadline to get these socks actually done because I am tired of thinking about these socks and my, I'm certainly tired of my husband saying. So how are my socks going? Knowing full well, it's a joke and that I will be like, yeah, I haven't worked on your socks in 15 years, but I need to get it done because I just, I, I promised and I want to finish it and I'm, I, you know, it, it's ok. I feel like, you know, it's ok to say, hey, I, I, ok, the time has passed, I'm really not ever gonna do these. It's fine. It's fine to get rid of those things. But this is something I'm doing for my husband and I hardly ever make things for him because, uh, I just don't, but I have to get this, I just have to get this done. So I'm gonna put this in my finish it. This is gonna be my number one and I'm going to put in my calendar some dates where to check in, like when I'll be done with the first sock, when I'll be halfway down the second sock and all the way done with the second sock. So I'm gonna do that. So let's see, skull sucks are going in the finish category. Does he still want them? Yes, that is the, that is the thing he really still does want them so I can't do it. All right. Um, let's see. We've got, uh, let's see, Cindy is saying nothing yet. Not live. Oh, maybe Cindy can't see this yet. Um, hopefully she'll be able to join us. Let's see, Darlene is saying hello, organizing all my hobbies and cataloging supplies. Not just yarn. That's a really good idea. Are you catalog cataloging them, like in digitally somewhere? So you have a list or are you? I'm just, I'm curious, Darlene, if you want to let us know how you are going to catalog your, all your supplies. Yeah. Ok. Ok. So let's talk about this project. This, I had made this for magazine a long time ago. This was, um, the Cornhole Game or also known as Beanbag Toss or I'm not really sure what all the, all the other names for it were. Um, but I was commissioned to do this project. I made all these little squares and then normally the magazine that I made this for would keep all their samples, but they sent me back some of them, they did not send me back the full set and I don't feel like completing the set. So I've just had these little beanbag pouches for a very long time trying to figure out what to do with them. So, I'm forcing myself to either get rid of them or move them along somehow. And I had this idea the other day that I could open these all back up because it's just one little seam in the top. I can pull out. There's a little, um, fabric pillow that's stuffed with poly beads. I'm gonna pull that out. So I have like this little open pouch. See, I already opened this one too, open this one up and pull out the pouch and I'm gonna sew a zipper in the top and then just put like a little wrist loop or something on the, on the side of it. And that way, I'll just have some little pouches that I could gift um or move on in some way. Uh You know, I just didn't want to take the whole, it's not worth taking the whole thing apart, you know, it's inexpensive yarn and it would just be smaller pieces. I don't wanna, I don't wanna frog it and save the yard. So I'm just gonna save it because it's got these cute little color work things on both sides and um probably gift them. So that is going in my fix it. So birds and bees, uh my fix it column is getting very long. Oh, ok. So here's another problem that I have. Sometimes I have second sock syndrome problem going on here and the second mitten problem. Now, back when I first started designing things, sometimes I would make one half, you know, like make one sock and make one mitten and then send in a submission to somewhere, then they would send me new yarn to make it in and then I would just have this one mitten or this one sock. So sometimes if I had time I would finish it up because that's, I just like to complete things and it seems like such a waste to just have one mitten or one sock. But sometimes I let it sit around for too long. Like this one, I don't have any more of this yarn because I think I gave it away. Um And I, I really don't wanna frog it because it's a super tiny stitches, slip stitching, um, slip stitching just takes a very long time. So I'm going to give myself a little bit of time to make the second sock out of a different color. And I'm going to frog just the, the heel and the toe because those were done after I made this part of the sock. And then I'm going to use the heel and the toe of this sock in the other colored sock and then use the new colored yarn in this sock. So there'll be kind of like mismatch, but it'll look like it's on pur purpose because they'll have little parts that match each other. So that is my thought for now. But I'm going to give myself a little deadline and if that doesn't work instead of frogging this because it's going to take too long. I'm probably going to cut it all up into little pieces and use it in a dryer ball. So if you have no idea what I'm talking about, I did a live a while ago um for craft Sea where I made these dryer balls that are made out of wool yarn and then I stuffed wool yarn on the inside. So I made like a shell of the ball um in a, in a fable wool, like kind of a larger ball. And then I stuffed the inside with little bits and pieces of wool projects that I cut up or just scraps of wool yarn that I didn't use yarn ends all kinds of stuff that I saved. And then I felt at them to become one of those useful little dryer balls to keep your clothes from getting all staticky, helps things dry faster too. And that way I could just get rid of the sock, but then still be able to use the, the wool that it's made out of. So that is my plan. Um We'll see which one happens first. So I think I'm going to be putting that in the fix. I'm gonna put it halfway between blue socks. Socks is going halfway between the frogging it category because that's going to be like the cutting it up part and then the fixing it part. All right. So this problem. I've got this extra mitten here. And uh so I don't, I don't have enough yarn for this. So I am just gonna frog this because this is the worst weight yarn. It's gonna pull apart really easily. I'll be able to use little scraps in some kind of fair isle project or some kind of color work thing or something like that. So this is going in the frog category. Leaf mint. All right. Let me just catch up and see if we've got any other. Ok. Julie is saying, getting back into bigger projects this year, hopefully learning not to have UFO S. Yeah. The unfinished objects. Yeah, I'm working at that too. Um Let's see. And like an angel and Angela's, I'm not really sure. I'm sorry if I'm butchering your name. Um, so it's good afternoon and God bless you. Hello. Welcome. I'm so glad you're here. Darlene is saying I will use an Excel spreadsheet to record supplies by hobby. May use Raval to put yarn and fiber stash together where I would want to trade or sell them. That's a great idea. Ok. I was wondering about that. If you were using some kind of spreadsheet in order to record those that and you're doing it by hobby, that's smart. I should really do that. Um Sue mcvicker is saying this is so helpful, reclaiming those needles or reclaiming those needles or just buy more interchangeable sets, reclaiming those needles. Oh, are you talking about my, I wonder if you're talking about my socks? Oh, to, to get the needle back out of my socks. I wonder if that's what you're talking about. I'm sorry, Sue, I'm not. Maybe I missed it. We'll have to get back to that. Um, and Sue is also saying the little pouches is a great idea to use our swatches too. That is a great point. Yeah, you can totally use your swatches in the pouches. And actually, I've been thinking a lot lately about what I'm gonna do with my swatches because I just, I finished this book, um, uh, all about color work and crochet. And so I have all these very large swatches that are about this big, I mean, just like, I don't know, 200 swatches. Um And I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with those if I want to put them together into sweaters, um, kind of just sewing them together or if I want to make them into blankets, I haven't figured that out yet, but I've, I've definitely been thinking a lot about like how to use my swatches and other projects because you've spent all that time making them. And now it's so popular to have all these sort of patchwork together things. Um It's kind of like the perfect moment for using up your swatches. Ok. And Sue was saying, I'm so happy I learned knitting two at a time from my first project there isn't a technique like this for crochet though. Right. Yeah, I don't think so. And yes, I really wish that I had been doing these socks two at a time. I feel like that would, even if I was not as far on those socks, I feel like it still would have been better. Um, yeah, I don't, I don't think there's anything like that for crochet because, you know, you can just stop and start and you don't. Yeah, it's not like you have a bunch of live loops on something. Um, see. Wolfpack is Cindy. Hi, Cindy. Greetings this afternoon from Snowy and Cold Central Pennsylvania. Welcome, Cindy. Um, and Darlene is saying I have lots of hobbies and some are yarn adjacent beads, leather quilting fabrics. Yep. Me too. I have a lot of, a lot of supplies for different kinds of things. And I get so excited about learning new things like Emily Stefan who teaches on craftsy a lot. She does lots of live events. She kind of got me into this, um, needle punch thing. Um, and so now that's just like a whole another reason to have more yarn. Ok. So these, I literally, all I have to do is weave in the ends. Why couldn't I just weave in my ends? I think it's because I wasn't excited about these mittens when I made them. They're ok. They're fine. But I think I need to do something to these mittens to make them more fun. Um So I was thinking about just kind of weaving in the ends, putting some kind of little applique or maybe lately I've been embroidering on my crochet projects with yarn um which is kind of fun too. So maybe I'll do that and then I will maybe see if the teachers at my kids' school will want them because kids are always losing their mittens or forgetting them or whatever. And then they just have like an extra backup pair for somebody that's my thought or possibly I'll donate them. So that's gonna go in my forward project because eventually I'm gonna be moving it on and donating it. Um So Magenta Mittens, here's another one of those one mitten situations. So this one, I don't have the yarn to make the other one and I've been hanging on to this one for so long because it's made with slip stitches, which is really thick and it makes this really, really warm mitten and a F I, I don't know why I just couldn't undo all that. It was just probably because it was a lot of work, but I am gonna frog this one and use this yarn. Um Because it's a nice wool yarn. So this is going into my frog pile turquoise mitten. All right. This project is a hat that I worked on a very long time ago. Um And I, I wrote up a pattern and I still have the rights to this pattern so I could publish this pattern. But the thing is, is the yarn that I'm using here is discontinued. So I've been hanging on to it thinking I need to substitute with a different yarn. So that way if people, um if the pattern becomes available, um then people can actually get the yarn that I used. That is something that I have learned over time that people really appreciate being able to use the yarn that the pattern calls for. If any of you guys have any thoughts and want to weigh in on that, how often do you actually look for the yarn that the designer used? And how often do you just go to your stash or go to the store and ignore whatever whatever yarn they used? Or if you, you know, maybe you look up the properties of that yarn and you try to find a yarn similar to it. I don't know, I'm just interested to hear what people say, but I've been hanging on to this because I think I'm going to crochet this in a new yarn. Um But I need to schedule this in to my work because this is just sort of like a project that doesn't have a home or a reason yet. So maybe I will make this and make this available on the creative crochet corner, possibly. So maybe I will put this in the finish category because I just need to make. No, no, that's not finishing. Maybe that's fixing. Now we'll put it in finish because I'm going to make a whole new one. But I already have the pattern done. I just need to finish the pattern. Ok. So gray button hats. All right. So that one's a little bit less of a failure than some of my other projects. Oh, again, we have another mitten with a lost friend that I don't have any of this yarn. Um I don't have any of the yarn that's lining the inside of the mitten. So this is like a, a lace on the outside situation and then a Foley lined mitten on the inside um that my friend Laura requested and this is a pattern that I had published with inner weave. But again, I had made the sample, took a picture of it. They accepted my submission, they sent me other yarn and then I made the set. And so now I have this mitten that doesn't have a home. So I think this is another one that's just gonna get cut up and put into a dryer ball since it is wool. And I don't really feel like frogging that one. So that is we're gonna, we're gonna call that frogging even though I'm not ripping it out because I'm going to repurpose it into uh a w dryer ball. So black and red mittens. All right. Here's a hat that I was working on. I was experimenting a little bit with kind of doing a gradient gradient uh technique where you start with one color, but you hold the yarn doubled and then you drop one of those strands of yarn and add in a second color. And that's what makes this section here. And then you crochet with that for a while and then you drop the, the first color and then you add a second um piece of that second color in there and this hat just got, it's just too big. It's too tall. I don't like the proportions of the color stripes here. I got all the way up this hat and I was like, I don't even like it and it just isn't, I mean, I think with blocking the drape will be better but the holes between the stitches are just too big. Um, so I think I'm just going to frog this whole thing. This is a nice little yarn. I want to save it. I'm just going to take the whole thing apart. Um, and then, um, wet down the yarn to get rid of the kinks and then cake it back up and make something else out of it. I might try this kind of idea again, but I think I'm just gonna use lightweight yarn next time I was really trying to use worse way because I know people have lots of that in their stash, but maybe I need to experiment with a different stitch pattern. We'll, we'll see to be determined. I might revisit this idea later. But this one is gonna go frog. This is gonna be pulled apart. Oh, now frogging is, is winning here. All right, I've got this. This is one of the first knitted projects that I ever made. Um, it's very old. It's made out of very nice, um, super soft alpaca yarn. That's just really beautiful. It's just like the softest yarn ever, but it's kind of misshaping. It's not, the buttonholes are too big. The buttons just pop open and yes, I could just sew the buttonhole a little bit tighter, but there are just too many things that are wrong with it. Plus I made it so long ago, it no longer fits me and it just sits in my closet and makes me feel sad. So I'm going to be frogging this one and it's not, you know, because it was just a little shrug. It's not gonna be big enough for a shrug for me now. So it's probably going to become a hat. I'm just guessing. I think that looks like it might be a good hat. Um Let's see. Looks like we have a couple more comments here. Oh, I'm missing. Oh, Sue mcvicker says, please publish that hat. Love that one. I'm guessing you're talking about the gray one with the button. Can you weigh that weigh in on that and let me know if it was the gray one? Let me pull that back out if you are interested in this one. or if you had meant a different thing, I'm guessing you meant this one. Let's see. I just, and Debbie says I just look up what size yarn is used but pick the color I want. Ok. All right. So you're using the same size yarn, but maybe you're not using the same brand and everything too. Right. Julia saying I would love it. The designer would give multiple options, their first choice and an alternative with a different price point. Yes. Ok. That is something that I really wanted to do on when I was working in my first book, I really wanted to crochet everything up in the two different price points, like something if you had, you know, a larger budget and then something like from a big box store or something, you know, for very inexpensive price point. Um And I think a lot of the reason that that patterns aren't published like that is because they, you know, if it's through magazines or yarn companies, then they have a specific um yarn that they're trying to promote. And so because that's what I was told when I worked on my first book, I couldn't do that because they wanted, it was basically like a yarn company thing. Um But that is something that I have really wanted to do. I'm going to keep that in mind. I kind of have forgotten about that over the years. But, and I kind of, you know, for creative crochet corner when I'm designing stuff, I try to look at the things I've designed recently and I try to kind of go back and forth between, you know, really affordable yarns and then yarns that maybe are a little bit nicer. Every once in a while I have like, kind of a fancy pants yarn in there. Um, but I try to keep it a little bit more affordable so that most people can make it. But that is a really good point. Maybe I should be making more suggestions about that. Thank you for bringing that up Julie. I appreciate that. Sue mcvicker is saying I always sub yarns and I love a hat without ribbing, not a fan of basic ribbing on anything. Oh, ok. So I'm guessing you're talking about this hat. Ok. Sea Wolf pack says, do you have the data on your UFO S to know the yarn fiber content? I'm thinking about it when, when it would or would not be appropriate for felting. Yes. So for some reason, I always remember, I almost always remember what yarn I made things out of even if it was a really long time ago. And I usually keep my yarn labels most of the time I keep my yarn labels with my project until it goes away until I gift it to someone. And sometimes I'm going to give them the yarn label so they can see all the care instructions and everything. So that way I keep track of all that kind of stuff. Um Yes, because sometimes it would not felt, even if it's 100% wool, if you don't know whether it's a super wash wool or not, then that could be a problem because sometimes it's not going to felt. So that's a good point. Cindy and Cindy's saying the gray hat is lovely. I can't always get the same yarn. So I go for anything in the same weight in the fiber content. OK. Also, I may not care for the color ways in the designer's yarn. Yes. OK. That's helpful to know. OK. And Susan saying the singles can be snowman Mittens. Snowman. Mittens. Oh my gosh, I didn't even think about that. That's a good idea. I, I do have two kids that like making snowman and snowmen. Um So that's a really good idea. I didn't think of that. Ok. Um OK. And Debbie's saying yes, it must have been to something I said and now I'm trying to remember. Oh, the hat pattern. Yes. This hat pattern. OK. Thank you, Debbie. All right. I will put this on my list then um I'm going to do this for Creative Crochet Corner. So I will remake this in another yarn and then I'll probably just have this as another, an alternate um in case anybody has this discontinued yarns discontinued yarn yarn sorry. Um, but I'm going to try and find something else that'll work for a newer version of this. Ok. Let's see. Sue Thinker saying with your large hats, there are several donation places around and people have trouble finding big hats. Oh, that's a good point for larger heads or loads of hair that do not care about how we made it. That is true. That is a good point. Yes, that is a good point. So maybe I will just finish up some of the bigger hats and send them off. Ok. That would be less work for me. Ok. Um, the gray one, the gray one. Ok. It sounds like you guys are liking this hat. So. Ok, I will, this will definitely be on my list. You'll see that. Um, that'll be probably a free download on the creative Crochet corner at some point. Let's see. Tani is saying I have three blankets that are over half done, but the yarn was discontinued. I don't know what to do with them. I hate to pull it all out. So much work went into them. I have since learned to check the yarn to make sure it doesn't happen again. Uh, that is just, ah, yeah, I mean, it's something that large. Oh, my gosh. Is it large enough to be a lap blanket? I mean, could it be that, or maybe you could make them into a pillow covering, um, if they're large enough for that maybe just some ideas or maybe you can sew them together, make one crazy blanket and I mean, I don't know, I mean it'd still be useful and warm. OK. And Darlene is saying I categorize my yarn and fibers by content when available. I also include. Oh OK. So that was a question for Darlene about her fiber content. Um I also include breed or plant types information for spinning fibers when available. Wow, you are so organized. I'm a little jealous, Darlene. That's amazing. Um And now that we got another vote for the gray hat, Stacey likes the gray hat too. OK? I go with the same weight of yarn. Not necessarily what the designer uses. OK? So there's a lot of people making substitutions. All right, I was wondering about this. I always wonder about this because whenever I have a pattern that's out and it's discontinued or I put it out and it's already discontinued, which has only happened a couple of times, I've gotten lots of questions about where to get the yarn and what else to substitute with. So maybe what I need to do is if I'm going to put something out, I just need to have some other alternatives and also some idea like um information describing the yarn and kind of helping people make a substitution. And also if you guys have never heard of yarns sub.com, that is a website where you can put in your yarn, the brand the name of the yarn and all that stuff and it will come out like spits out a whole bunch of different yarn that are suitable for substituting and it'll tell you how close of a match they are by percentage. So they're judging things on like the size, how it works up the fiber content, all kinds of stuff. I use that website a lot yarns, sub.com. It's just awesome. Ok. Um Deb is saying what if you started a very complicated pattern? It took lots of help getting it going. Now time has passed and they don't even wanna finish it. What would you do? Ok. I feel like this is a little bit about my knit socks also that I showed you at the beginning that I'm finishing for my husband, I'm making myself finish it. If nobody is expecting the thing that you're making, I would just pull it out. It's OK to stop on a project. And this is what the, the thing that I think about sometimes, you know, these crocheting and knitting and making things. It's supposed to help us relax and feel good and, you know, for some people, it's a utilitarian thing too. But most of us, you know, it costs more money to buy the yarn than to go to the, to the store and buy an inexpensive hat or something like that. So, a lot of it, a lot of why we um you know, craft is for creative reasons or for, you know, just feeling fulfilled or feeling, um you know, just sometimes the meditation aspect of it. So don't let that unfinished project get you down. I think you should just frog it. I think you should just pull it out. And if you still like the yarn that is, if you still really like the yarn, just pull it all out and then you have some new yarn that you didn't have to buy. Right? Um And Darlene says I have to organize this way or drive myself crazy trying to remember what I have bought. Yes, I do make hands spun yarns from many different breeds of sheep and from other fiber animals. Awesome. Very cool. Yeah. Helps to be organized and you don't spend all your time just like trying to find things that you know, are in your stash somewhere, right? All right. Deb saying thank you for permission to do that. Yarn is too expensive to go to waste. Yeah, absolutely. I'm gonna give all of you guys permission to just not finish some things. Ok. All right. So here's my last thing that I brought. Um, and then I have one more thing to talk about at the end. Um As far as my projects go. So this is another issue that I had, I made this mitten when I was figuring it out and then I made this mitten while I was watching a movie and you can guys can probably even just see that this one is much smaller than this one. And at first I was like, well, maybe I can block them and it's just, they're too different and it feels, it drives me nuts. I put them on my hands and I just can't handle having this loose one. I want them both to be this. So I have to rip this out and I have to start over. I have to fix this one. So this is gonna be a fix it project um fingerless mits. And then I think later I will look at my calendar and I'm gonna try. So I'm, I'm starting this new thing where I'm trying to be like a little bit more organized about all the projects that I'm doing, you know, because I do this for a living. I make, you know, design projects and teach projects for a living. Um So I have lots of projects coming in and out of my life fairly quickly and I need to find a way to fit these little projects back in, whether I'm frogging something or whether I'm ripping something out just to remake it. Um I really am tired of these things being in my house. So I think what I'm gonna do is I'm going to just actually schedule them in and give myself due dates for things, maybe put them in batches. Um You know, this isn't, this is a quick project. Um These are some fingerless mittens that I have free on my craft blo and blog. Um I had originally designed them with some hand spun yarn that my friend Anne made, which was just the most gorgeous yarn. And I was trying to, I was doing a little experimenting and trying to figure out what stitch pattern I could use that would be warm enough for fingerless mittens but not take up very much yardage. That was the project I had going on here because she gave me just a small skein and it was so precious and I wanted to make sure that I could make something out of it that I could wear. Um, but that would still be practical and I just had enough yarn to squeak it out. So this was me testing to see how much yarn it would use because it was crocheting up to the same gauge as her yarn because I didn't wanna use her beautiful yarn till I was sure it was gonna work. So that's what happened here. But I just still wanna finish them up. I just have that feeling of unfinished this. I gotta finish them up and then I'll probably gift them or donate them or something like that. But I do have to just rip that out. So I'm gonna do that. All right. So the last thing, well, let me just check back in here real quick. See if I missed anything. Um Let's see. Uh Phyllis is saying I purchased a crochet log book from Amazon. I love it. Ok. So that's like a little booklet so you can keep track of stuff in your, like, write it down in your book. That's cool. Darlene is saying I have to organize. Oh, I already read that. Ok. Somehow I missed Phyllis's comment before. Yes. Ok. All right. I'm all caught up here, I think. Um, so the last project that I am putting here in my finish it category is, um, the, OK. So during COVID, one of our beloved family members passed away and she was a prolific crocheter, she made, she made almost exclusively Afghans that was kind of her thing. And um after she passed away, her husband showed me that he had this partially made Afghan that she had been working on. I think it was probably her last project that she had been working on. It's about a third of the way done. It's a ripple stitch, um, basic ripple stitch. Um Afghan and he asked me if I could finish it for him. So, of course, I said yes, because that is like, uh just, I don't know, it's like an emotional thing for me, you know. Um So I really wanted to make that for him so that he could have the last thing that she was working on. And it's been really hard for me to work on it because as soon as I get it out, I just am sad because I'm thinking about her. But you know, I have to get this done. This is something that I have to do. He asked me to do it. Um You know, time is moving on. I can't just like let this sit around. So this is gonna be my year to finish that project. So I am putting this in my, finish it. This, this along with the socks that I promised my husband 15 years ago that I was gonna make for him. Those are like the two things, the two personal projects that I am working on that I am committing to absolutely finishing this year. So I'm gonna write that here and in order to do that because I'm not really an afghan maker and not very much of a blanket maker. Although I did some of you may know, I, I did a uh a crochet along for making a blanket last, this past spring, I believe. Um or like no fall, I think it was summer, fall, spring, summer, I don't know, it went over months, right? And the reason it went over months is and they were all these different squares is to make, I really wanted to make a blanket. But I also didn't really feel like making a blanket because I, I really like to do a little something and move on to the next thing. That's what kind of crochet I am. I'm very experimental. I like to try out new things. I always, I always like to learn stuff. And for the Afghan, I was like, how am I going to make an Afghan? There's no way I can do the same stitch and then not just give up on this project. So I publicly committed to making this Afghan first of all. So that helped me and then, and then I also broke it down into all these different little techniques. So that helped me because it felt like all these little projects that I was making and then I sewed it all together. So anyway, um that made it a little easier for me, but this is a ripple stitch, Afghan that I'm trying to finish. And I am a little concerned, I mean, I already know myself and I know it's hard for me to just continue making the same stitch over and over. Um So I'm going to schedule that in, I'm going to have certain checkpoints and where I need to be. Um you know, like half the way done with the Afghan, three quarters of the way done with the Afghan. Um And then finished with the Afghan. So I'm gonna put those in my calendar and I'm gonna pretend like it is a due date, like an actual for reality, due date because it should be, this is an important thing that I'm doing and I, I just, I really want it to be finished. Ok, let me get back in here and see if I missed anything. Debbie is saying these are all good suggestions. I have just started back to crocheting after about 40 years and so far cannot stand, not finishing something before I start something new. That's awesome. And that's how I normally am because I know I won't get it finished later. And so I know I talked about all those mittens and socks where I only have one. Now when I make something, even when it's a test, I have to finish the second one before I can put it away because then I keep looking at it, I keep seeing it. I have to finish the second one before I'm allowed to put it away. Or if I know I'm not going to get to it, I just rip the whole thing out and put it back into a ball of yarn. So it's like I'm always like, now I feel like I have to finish it or I know, I know it's just gonna be about driving me nuts. So I have turned into like, you know, the kind of person, a monogamous crochet, I guess where I just have one project at a time mostly. But then, you know, because this is my job. I also have to have little projects that I've started working on here and there for different stages of the process. Um So I can get something done, send it to the tech editor, then she sends it back and then I make more samples and things like that. So it gets a little messy, but I do try to finish my, my stuff right away. Ok. Oh, see, wolfpack is saying frogging, why don't you delegate that task? I'm sure the offspring are capable of helping with it. Yeah, that's a good idea. Actually. That's a great idea. I'm gonna, I'm gonna enlist a little help with that. Um, and Deb is saying that's kind of you to finish, maybe wait until you feel more settled and focus on the beautiful gift you're giving him. Yes. And I feel like I thank you for saying that I do feel like I am more settled now because some time has passed and, but I feel like because the recipient is someone who's older, I do feel like the pressure of getting it done as soon as I can. So that just, I mean, I just feel like I can't keep waiting on that. And now I do feel I do feel a little bit better about it, you know, before it was just too hard for me to work on. But now I feel, I feel like I'm at a place where I can do it. And I feel like once I actually really get going and start making some progress, my feelings about this blanket are going to kind of evolve a little bit as I start to work on it. At least that's what I hope I think that will happen. All right. So I just want to talk about the last couple of things here on my little, my little doodle sheet learning a new skill. So for me, um you know, every year I like to come up with what, what I really want to do during that year when I want to learn. That's something new. I'm always excited to learn new things. So this really is not a problem for me, but I want to, I mean, I'm trying to focus a little bit more um and make sure that these things in my learn a new skill actually happen. Um This year, I am going to be, I I really want to be designing some mosaic projects. So mosaic crochet is like a version of color work and I have worked extensively in um not mosaic crochet but um tapestry crochet where you are carrying along a yarn um switching back and forth between the two yarns in each round. Um That, that is something that I have used a lot. And I feel like because I did so much of that, I got a little burnt out on color work because I was working on a book and I had to make so many swatches that I kind of was like, OK, I love color work, but I think I have to give it a rest for a little bit. But now I'm like, OK, I need to hop on this mosaic bandwagon. I keep seeing all these amazing mosaic projects out there. I have made a couple of them and I'm starting to understand how it works enough so that I'm pretty sure I could design something in mosaic. So that will be something that I'm going to be working on this year. Um It's just a whole different way of being able to use color work or use different colors and patterns and I just, I really love that. So that's going to be my new, new skill, hopefully. Um And then changing a habit. That's the other thing I like to think about. OK. So this year, I am going to try really, really, really hard to get ahead in my due dates and deadlines because I, I don't, I want to make sure that I'm at least a couple projects ahead. So that way, first of all, I'm not hoping, ok, because I rely on other people like my awesome friend Jen, who is my tech editor. She um she helps me figure out all my patterns and I want to be able to give send those to her with enough time that she has her full amount of time and everybody's relaxed about it instead of me saying, oh, this needs to happen really soon. Um So I really want to be able to get far enough ahead so that I have a little bit of a buffer in case, you know, my kids get sick or something happens or my, my hand starts to hurt or something, you know, like I just, I, I feel like there's no right now, the way that I'm working there isn't, um I'm just kind of working from project to project and I get them done on time, but there isn't a lot of B space. So I'm trying to, to get enough ahead and stay ahead. So that way that is a non issue. The other thing that I really, really want to change is my workspace. So I talked a little bit about that earlier. Um This is working on the end of the couch thing is not working. And I've known this for years now that this is not working. I mean, ever since I had kids, it's a bad idea to have your workspace, especially if you're crafty right in the middle of where everyone else wants to hang out. Um It doesn't make any sense. And so I am working on figuring out reconfiguring um a little space that we have upstairs into like a little nook, um little crafting area and figuring out different ways to organize my space because I spend too much time um just constantly organizing, moving and shifting things around putting things in bins, zipping things. And I could just have like, if I just had little bins to put things in, I could be like, OK, done with that for now, put it in the bin instead of like, oh, I got to go open this thing and then open that other thing and then, you know, figuring out ways to tuck things in amongst the other things. It's not working. I need to have a better way to organize all of my half made projects for work. And um just to be able to have a space where I can make tiktok videos and other things already set up so that I don't have to just, you know, OK, now I got to clear out a space here. Um Make sure there's nothing in the background and you know, figure all this out. So that is my other thing. Those, those two things are the habits that I wanna change. I wanna change my, have a little bit of healthier workspace. Um So I have better workflow and also the getting ahead thing. So those are all my crafting ideas and goals for this year. Um Let's see if anybody has anything else they want to add. Let's see. OK. Um Oh Phyllis is saying she's popping back in about the crochet project book. OK? The crochet project book allows you to keep track of the details of the project project name for whom yarn used Hook, used dimensions washing instructions. It helps when I want to remake a project or make something new for someone. So I could see what I already made the person. That is a great idea. Yeah. And then you can write down things like, you know, if they liked a certain kind of fiber content, if you ask them once, then, you know, for next time, things like that. OK. And Deb is saying um OK, there's a Instagram link, the loose ends project is where they finish projects for those who have passed and had projects to finish. I've heard about this. I forgot about it though. That is such a cool thing. Yeah. So I think this, this organization you can send projects and people volunteer to finish them for you, for, for people who like if somebody passed away, it's kind of the thing that I'm doing with this blanket, but there's an actual organization that does that, that is very cool. But I feel like I should do it myself since he asked me to. I don't know, I just, I want to do it though. I actually do want to do it. Um And see what peck is saying. Mosaic adds a nice new texture in addition to the color work. Yeah, it does, it does, it has a different look to it and it looks very um It does have that kind of nice like organized bumpy look if that makes any sense. Um And I just really like how the stitches all stack up so nicely too. Um So yeah, I'm very excited to work in that. I'm assuming C wolf pack has been working in mosaic as well, which is cool all Right. Well, I hope, I hope that this has been helpful for you guys. I mean, if anything, I thought it might be kind of fun and nice for you guys to see like my failure pile because, you know, even though this is my job, of course, um, everybody has things that don't either didn't go right. Or they made mistakes, you know, or they just haven't finished it or whatever the reason is. Um I just feel like it's kind of helpful to see other people's failure piles as well. So, um I hope that was at least entertaining for you guys. Um, if not, hopefully helpful. Um, and I wish you guys all good luck in year I hope you have lots of awesome crafting ahead of you and I really hope that you come back and join me for more lives and please, you know, let me know if you think of anything else. Um, other things you want to learn, other things you think I should put on my goal sheet. Um Just, yeah, just let me know. Thank you guys so much for joining me. I really appreciate it. It's been nice to have you guys here. Thank you. Bye.