Wednesday, December 27, 2017

2018 Wipocalypse and beyond!

If you watch my podcasts at all that are stitching related, you'll know I'm planning on participating in several online-hosted stitchalong-type things in 2018.  Nicely enough, my plans fit together pretty well for all of these to triple-dip as I work on things this year.  I'm planning on participating in Stitch from Stash 2018 and since I'm the group founder/moderator of Full Coverage Fanatics, of course I'll be working thru most of the yearly SALs I created over there.  I'm also doing my own indie Year of WIPs challenge, basically following the guidelines in the Soulful Stitchers group, but not all of them, so I'm going rogue on that one. 

In addition, I'm going to be participating in 2018 Wipocalypse - it fits in really nicely with my work down the WIPs goals, and I'm of the opinion that any sort of public forum helps keep me accountable and on track. For 2018, I've set up a separate page here at the blog, which has all of my current works in progress.  Pictures there of what they should all look like when they are finished.

Here's my grand plan for 2018:

  1. Finish 6 of the small-sized pieces. That will include: 
    1. A Bowl Full of Scaries.
    2. Believe.
    3. February Word Play.
    4. Every Heart Beats True.
    5. Welcome Autumn.
    6. Key to My Heart. 
  2. Work on each of the other pieces that are not full coverage designs for a minimum of one 5-day rotation over the course of the year.   Those will include: 
    1. Autumn Leaves.
    2. When Witches Go Riding.
    3. Winter Garden.
    4. Desert Mandala.
    5. Shoot the Moon.
    6. The Star Gazer. 
    7. Village of Hawk Run Hollow.
    8. 12 Days of Christmas.
  3. Work on my full coverage designs as pertinent for the SALs in Full Coverage Fanatics.  Overly optimistic, but a goal I'm going to shoot for is a page finish on each one of these:
    1. Winter's Encounter.
    2. Six of Swords
    3. Stitching Shelf.
    4. Witch Way
    5. River's Edge
    6. Gypsy Firefly. 
I've got a 5-day rotation set up.  I'm going to try that at least for the first couple of months and see if I can make that work for myself in terms of making some progress but not getting totally burned out on any one piece.  Since the Wipocalypse SAL is mostly blog-based (although they do now have a Facebook group - see link above), I'll be posting progress as I go along here - and will hopefully also help me remember to actually post posts during the year.  

Wish me luck!

Sunday, December 24, 2017

2017 Reading Challenge - FINISHED!

Hello and happy Christmas Eve to you all!

I'm super delighted to say that I've finished all 52 books for this year's Around the Year in 52 Books challenge.  I finished up the final one, The Time Traveller's Almanac yesterday.  I'm really looking forward to next year's prompts and I've already got the first couple of months' worth lined up (tentatively at least).

Some highlights from the year:
1.  The Raven Boys.  A surprise sleeper for me.  I am not normally a huge YA fan, but I LOVED this book and will definitely be reading more of the series at some point.
2.  Daughter of the Forest and Tower of Thorns.  Really happy I found another author whose entire body of works I would happily read going forward.
3. The Settling Earth.  Without this challenge I would never have picked up this book - it probably wouldn't even have ever hit my radar, and it was so good!  This, in a nutshell, is the reason I love this challenge.  It spurs me on to select books I wouldn't ever pick up and to find some excellent writing that would have stayed unknown to me.

I hope that whatever reading choices you make for next year for yourself, they are all good ones! 

Happy holidays!


The 2017 List
1. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016: The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel.
2. A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view): Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce.
3. A book you meant to read in 2016: A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott.
4. A title that doesn't contain the letter "E":  Longbourn by Jo Baker.
5. A historical fiction: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.
6. A book being released as a movie in 2017:  Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout.
7. A book with an animal on the cover or in the title: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht.
8. A book written by a person of color: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
9. A book in the middle of your To Be Read list: Speaks the Night Bird by Robert McCammon
10. A dual-timeline novel: The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor.
11. A category from another challenge: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.
12. A book based on a myth:  Summerlong by Peter Beagle.
13. A book recommended by one of your favorite authors: The Lodestar of Ys by Amy Durreson.
14. A book with a strong female character: The Ornatrix by Kate Howard.
15. A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland): A Death in Sweden by Kevin Wignall.
16. A mystery: By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates.
17. A book with illustrations:  Prairie Girl by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
18. A really long book (600+ pages): The Time Traveler's Almanac, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer.
19. A New York Times best-seller: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.
20. A book that you've owned for a while but haven't gotten around to reading: Just One Damn Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.
21. A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read: A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor.
22. A book by an author you haven't read before:  The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders.
23. A book from the BBC "The Big Read" list (link) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
24. A book written by at least two authors: Jane Austen's England by Roy and Lesley Adams.
25. A book about a famous historical figure: The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg.
26. An adventure book:  The 100-year-old man who climbed out the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.
27. A book by one of your favorite authors: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
28. A non-fiction: The Lost World of the Old Ones by David Roberts.
29. A book published outside the 4 major publishing houses (Simon & Schuster; HarperCollins; Penguin Random House; Hachette Livre) - check all the editions:  Wool by Hugh Howey.
30. A book from Goodreads Top 100 YA Books (link): The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.
31. A book from a sub-genre of your favorite genre: Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster.
32. A book with a long title (5+ words, excluding subtitle):  I Shall Be Near to You by Erin McCabe.
33. A magical realism novel: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.
34. A book set in or by an author from the Southern Hemisphere: The Settling Earth by Rebecca Burns.
35. A book where one of the main characters is royalty: The Shadow Queen by Rebecca Dean.
36. A Hugo Award winner or nominee (link): The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Kowal.
37. A book you choose randomly: A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell.
38. A novel inspired by a work of classic literature: Lady MacBeth by Susan Fraser King.
39. An epistolary fiction: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
40. A book published in 2017: A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang.
41. A book with an unreliable narrator: His Bloody Project by Graeme McRae Burnet.
42. A best book of the 21st century (so far): The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
43. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold):  Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase.
44. A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next" (link): Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier.
45. A book with a one-word title: Uprooted by Naomi Novik.
46. A time travel novel:  Valley of the Moon by Melanie Gideon.
47. A past suggestion that didn't win (link) - A book you saw a stranger reading: The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff.
48. A banned book: So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins.
49. A book from someone else's bookshelf: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguru.
50. A Penguin Modern Classic - any edition: Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett.
51. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays) : Beyond the Woods; Fairy Tales Retold by Paula Guran.
52. A book set in a fictional location: Stronger than Magic by Melinda VanLone.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Reading Challenge: December 11, 2017

I finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon for week 42, a best book of the 21st century so far.  I really enjoyed this book.  Definitely not an easy one to pigeonhole and I'm not even entirely sure how to describe it other than to say it's worth a read. From the Goodreads page synopsis: About a boy's quest through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona for a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.

It is all that, but the back story is intricately crafted and as engaging as the front-end story.  The characters are memorable and multi-layered.  I loved the stories intertwined together in this one but I also really appreciated the author's craft - Zafon has an amazing way with words.  His opening paragraphs encapsulate exactly the lyrical style his words carry on throughout the book.  His description of the watchmaker's ancient mother was priceless. 

This book hit two major "good read" buttons for me:  1.  A story I will think about over and over.  2.  Writing that doesn't just advance the story (although it does that impeccably), but that I would find myself savoring in order to just enjoy the word choice or turn of phrase.  I'll highly recommend this book and I'm really happy I closed out (almost!) the year with it.

That brings me to my last read of 2017 for this challenge: Book 52 of 52, The Time Traveler's Almanac for week 18: A really long book. I'm not quite half finished, but reading along on this most evenings, so I feel 99% sure I'll be able to finish this up in the next couple of weeks. Enjoying most of the stories - some are better than others - but overall an easy, albeit long read to cap this year off. 

I'm really looking forward to the topics for 2018 too!  I've started a list for several titles I've found that fit into the prompts, and I've got the first 10 weeks' topics books nailed down to start as soon as Time Traveler's is done.  While I will be reviewing books on a weekly blog post as I've been doing in 2017, I also have the entire list (which I'll be updating as I go), on its own separate page here on the blog. 

The 2017 List
1. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016: The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel.
2. A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view): Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce.
3. A book you meant to read in 2016: A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott.
4. A title that doesn't contain the letter "E":  Longbourn by Jo Baker.
5. A historical fiction: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.
6. A book being released as a movie in 2017:  Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout.
7. A book with an animal on the cover or in the title: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht.
8. A book written by a person of color: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
9. A book in the middle of your To Be Read list: Speaks the Night Bird by Robert McCammon
10. A dual-timeline novel: The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor.
11. A category from another challenge: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.
12. A book based on a myth:  Summerlong by Peter Beagle.
13. A book recommended by one of your favorite authors: The Lodestar of Ys by Amy Durreson.
14. A book with a strong female character: The Ornatrix by Kate Howard.
15. A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland): A Death in Sweden by Kevin Wignall.
16. A mystery: By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates.
17. A book with illustrations:  Prairie Girl by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
18. A really long book (600+ pages): The Time Traveler's Almanac, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer.
19. A New York Times best-seller: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.
20. A book that you've owned for a while but haven't gotten around to reading: Just One Damn Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.
21. A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read: A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor.
22. A book by an author you haven't read before:  The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders.
23. A book from the BBC "The Big Read" list (link) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
24. A book written by at least two authors: Jane Austen's England by Roy and Lesley Adams.
25. A book about a famous historical figure: The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg.
26. An adventure book:  The 100-year-old man who climbed out the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.
27. A book by one of your favorite authors: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
28. A non-fiction: The Lost World of the Old Ones by David Roberts.
29. A book published outside the 4 major publishing houses (Simon & Schuster; HarperCollins; Penguin Random House; Hachette Livre) - check all the editions:  Wool by Hugh Howey.
30. A book from Goodreads Top 100 YA Books (link): The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.
31. A book from a sub-genre of your favorite genre: Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster.
32. A book with a long title (5+ words, excluding subtitle):  I Shall Be Near to You by Erin McCabe.
33. A magical realism novel: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.
34. A book set in or by an author from the Southern Hemisphere: The Settling Earth by Rebecca Burns.
35. A book where one of the main characters is royalty: The Shadow Queen by Rebecca Dean.
36. A Hugo Award winner or nominee (link): The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Kowal.
37. A book you choose randomly: A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell.
38. A novel inspired by a work of classic literature: Lady MacBeth by Susan Fraser King.
39. An epistolary fiction: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
40. A book published in 2017: A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang.
41. A book with an unreliable narrator: His Bloody Project by Graeme McRae Burnet.
42. A best book of the 21st century (so far): The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
43. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold):  Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase.
44. A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next" (link): Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier.
45. A book with a one-word title: Uprooted by Naomi Novik.
46. A time travel novel:  Valley of the Moon by Melanie Gideon.
47. A past suggestion that didn't win (link) - A book you saw a stranger reading: The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff.
48. A banned book: So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins.
49. A book from someone else's bookshelf: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguru.
50. A Penguin Modern Classic - any edition: Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett.
51. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays) : Beyond the Woods; Fairy Tales Retold by Paula Guran.
52. A book set in a fictional location: Stronger than Magic by Melinda VanLone.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Stitching Update: 12/07/2017

Hat trick for this week:  My stitching update.

I have two finishes this month.  The first is for an ATC swap in the Cross Stitch Card and ATC group on Facebook.  I stitched this on a 25-count opal Lugana I hand-dyed myself using a limited edition hand-dyed floss from Colour and Cotton.



The pattern is from the 2016 Ornaments issue of Just Cross Stitch. This and a few other goodies will be shipping out to my swap partner this week.

I also finished the December block for the Lakeside Needlecraft Under the Sea SAL.  I stitched this on the custom-dyed fabric from Lakeside Needlecraft, which was a blue ombre' 25-count evenweave.  I used the called-for DMC threads as well.  Design is by Durene Jones. 


I swapped out the DMC Light Effects for a sparkly green blending filament I had, which worked MUCH better.  I also used small clear opalescent size 12 seed beads for the water bubbles (rather than just DMC stitches).  I have a frame on order for this which would hopefully be here next week!

For the rest of the month, I'm going to be working on 3 pieces.  First up, my Desert Mandala Chatelaine. Sadly, the designer of this piece, Martina Rosenberg, passed away unexpectedly yesterday - she was an amazing artist and she is definitely going to be missed in the community.  I had this on tap to work on this week anyway, but it's a nice little tribute to her design skills to think of her while I stitch on it this week. 


I have the center medallion done except for beads, and I've started working on the next ring, which are various cacti.  The colors are absolutely spot-on for the high desert!

Next week, I'll be focusing on the 12 Days of Christimas, with design by Jim Shore.  I only made a small start on it this year when I began it during Maynia, but it feels appropriate to work on it during the holiday season. It currently looks like: 


Finally, the Full Coverage Fanatics first quarterly SAL is kicking off on 12/21/2017. It's a winter-themed SAL that will run from them until the spring equinox on March 21, 2018.  I'll be working on my Winter's Encounter piece, with artwork by Linda Prindle and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs. 

I had also started this originally during Stitch Maynia, but I was unhappy with my fabric choice, so I restarted it in October on 25-count Easy Guide and like that much better.  I've only got about 500 stitches in so far, so I'll be working on the upper right-hand corner with all.that.pink for a while.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Knitting Update: December 5, 2017

I'm currently working on a sekret design project so no info/photos about that until it's ready to be released, but here are some things I can show you.

In my ongoing stashdown quest, I grabbed a partial and full skein of Rowan's Yorkshire Tweed DK leftover from a sweater I knit... oh... about 8 or 9 years ago.  I used all of that yardage up to knit Lete's Knits Tied Knots hat (which is a freebie pattern on Ravelry).  Super well-written pattern; charting and instructions are both very clearly done, and I had fun knitting a little cabled project.


Warm and cozy, with a good fit and fun to knit for the win!  (And another skein and a half out of stash.)


Currently, I'm working on a pair of plain vanilla self-striping socks (56-stitch circumference) in Gynx Yarn's Strong Sport in the Gingerbread House colorway. 


Another stashbuster project for me and holiday-themed to boot.  I'll be working on these this week. 

I'll have a 2018 planning post next week - one I'm really excited about!

Monday, December 4, 2017

Reading Challenge: December 4, 2017

I finished The Settling Earth by Rebecca Burns this week for a book set in the Southern Hemisphere.  I absolutely loved this book.  The characters are all well drawn and I love the way the author skillfully intertwined all the stories.  Nine of the 10 short stories are written by the author of credit - Rebecca Burns.  The final one is written from an aboriginal perspective by an aboriginal author, which was a nice way to tie up some of the loose ends of the stories.  I was appreciative of the deft way the author handled the development of the immigrant experience on multiple social/economic levels in the early 20th century and all the stories (to me at least) had the mark of a great short story - that is, you were able to immediately immerse yourself in that person's life within the first couple of sentences.  Really glad I found this one to close out the year.

I then started Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind for week 42, a best book of the 21st century so far.  I will start off by saying that I am generally suspicious of books labeled "a best book of the century", especially when the century is 17 years old and we have a whole lot of time to finish the century out.  That said, I can see why this book made the short list.  A mix of historical fiction, literary fiction, some Gothic horror, and a coming of age vibe - it's hard to specifically place this book in a genre.  So far, it reminds me a bit of The Historian, but I have yet to hit a point (which I did in The Historian) where the plot drags.  Enjoying this one immensely and I'm about 50% through - so more info and a review to come when it's finished.

I'm also still slowly tackling The Time Traveler's Almanac but feel sure I will wind up spending the last several weeks of the year with this one.

Currently standing at 50/52 books read with both of my remaining titles started!


The 2017 List
1. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016: The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel.
2. A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view): Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce.
3. A book you meant to read in 2016: A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott.
4. A title that doesn't contain the letter "E":  Longbourn by Jo Baker.
5. A historical fiction: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.
6. A book being released as a movie in 2017:  Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout.
7. A book with an animal on the cover or in the title: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht.
8. A book written by a person of color: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
9. A book in the middle of your To Be Read list: Speaks the Night Bird by Robert McCammon
10. A dual-timeline novel: The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor.
11. A category from another challenge: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.
12. A book based on a myth:  Summerlong by Peter Beagle.
13. A book recommended by one of your favorite authors: The Lodestar of Ys by Amy Durreson.
14. A book with a strong female character: The Ornatrix by Kate Howard.
15. A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland): A Death in Sweden by Kevin Wignall.
16. A mystery: By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates.
17. A book with illustrations:  Prairie Girl by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
18. A really long book (600+ pages): The Time Traveler's Almanac, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer.
19. A New York Times best-seller: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.
20. A book that you've owned for a while but haven't gotten around to reading: Just One Damn Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.
21. A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read: A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor.
22. A book by an author you haven't read before:  The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders.
23. A book from the BBC "The Big Read" list (link) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
24. A book written by at least two authors: Jane Austen's England by Roy and Lesley Adams.
25. A book about a famous historical figure: The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg.
26. An adventure book:  The 100-year-old man who climbed out the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.
27. A book by one of your favorite authors: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
28. A non-fiction: The Lost World of the Old Ones by David Roberts.
29. A book published outside the 4 major publishing houses (Simon & Schuster; HarperCollins; Penguin Random House; Hachette Livre) - check all the editions:  Wool by Hugh Howey.
30. A book from Goodreads Top 100 YA Books (link): The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.
31. A book from a sub-genre of your favorite genre: Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster.
32. A book with a long title (5+ words, excluding subtitle):  I Shall Be Near to You by Erin McCabe.
33. A magical realism novel: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.
34. A book set in or by an author from the Southern Hemisphere: The Settling Earth by Rebecca Burns.
35. A book where one of the main characters is royalty: The Shadow Queen by Rebecca Dean.
36. A Hugo Award winner or nominee (link): The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Kowal.
37. A book you choose randomly: A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell.
38. A novel inspired by a work of classic literature: Lady MacBeth by Susan Fraser King.
39. An epistolary fiction: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
40. A book published in 2017: A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang.
41. A book with an unreliable narrator: His Bloody Project by Graeme McRae Burnet.
42. A best book of the 21st century (so far): The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
43. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold):  Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase.
44. A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next" (link): Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier.
45. A book with a one-word title: Uprooted by Naomi Novik.
46. A time travel novel:  Valley of the Moon by Melanie Gideon.
47. A past suggestion that didn't win (link) - A book you saw a stranger reading: The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff.
48. A banned book: So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins.
49. A book from someone else's bookshelf: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguru.
50. A Penguin Modern Classic - any edition: Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett.
51. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays) : Beyond the Woods; Fairy Tales Retold by Paula Guran.
52. A book set in a fictional location: Stronger than Magic by Melinda VanLone.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Sunday Spinning (12/3/2017)

Haven't done a spinning update in quite a while, so I thought it was time to get one posted.  I'm still (wo)manfully working on my stashdown. (More on that momentarily.)

I'm currently spinning up a braid of Finn wool from Bride Flight Studios (I don't think they are any longer in business.  A Google search didn't find anything current anyway.)  This is from a shop update in 2009, and the colorway is Alchemy of the Word.


I decided to spin this up into a fractal spin, so bobbin #1 has multiple thin strips spun up and bobbin #2 has only 5.  I split the braid in half, and then split each half into those thinner long strips before spinning.  All the singles are spun up.


My plan is to get these plied this week and then pick one more stash fiber to spin before the end of the year.

Looking forward to 2018 (which is one of my favorite things about this time of the year - planning ahead for another year), I'm definitely sticking with my stashdown goal.  One of the things I really am going to make myself accomplish is getting all of my current personal stash - both yarn and fiber - to fit in the 3 cubbyhole-type bookshelves that I now have for my office/crafting space.  When we had the floors redone last month, I went through and sorted all the stash, sold some things, and I got most of the stash redistributed into the bins. There are, however, a few larger Rubbermaid containers still lurking in the garage and I would like to get the point in 2018 where all of that stash can get put into my new storage shelving and have it all in one place and nicely organized.

I've got a few -Alongs I'm going to be participating in next year to try to keep me motivated.  I really find I do better at sticking with goals if I have a public forum to be accountable to. I've joined the Blaine Fleece and Fiber Ravelry Group's Spin Your Goal-Along for 2018.  My goal for next year is to spin 5 pounds.  That's 20 four-oz braids or their equivalent and that would be about a braid and a half per month.  I thought that way months like February, which will likely not be very spin-friendly, and months like July with Tour de Fleece, which will be more spin-heavy, could balance each other out.

And if I can accomplish that, it will free up about 2 of these cubbyholes in the current stash set-up.

Stay tuned for more 2018 plans to come this week in knitting and stitching.  I'm on a mission.

WIPocalypse October 2018 Check-In

I worked on a bunch of things this month as I've settled back into a 5-day rotation on my projects, which seems to be working pretty wel...