Hi everyone! Happy February! As promised, I'm back to share more about my journey to try and become a more disciplined knitter for 2021! As a reminder, here’s the structure I’m looking to put in place for 2021:

1. Tackle the backlog: Review all current WIPs and UFOs and decide if I want to finish or frog (and I mean ALL of them), then start working through the backlog of projects
2. Manage the current projects: Commit to having a rotation of a set number of active projects that span different categories
3. Plan for the future: Resist the urge to drop everything and cast on a new project immediately. Make lists and circle back to them often. Add, modify, or remove projects as need be. Be realistic about the stash you have and the projects it can work in. Be creative about finding ways to modify patterns to bust your stash.

Before I launch into item two on the list, I wanted to give a quick update on item 1! I looked back at my finish or frog post to see how I did in January (and that last week in December) with finishing existing UFOs! I finished four of the UFOs that I said I wanted to finish, which felt great!

Flying Solo Cowl by Espace Tricot – this is sooo squishy and yummy! I love it and the colors are so handsome together. My husband even took it for a trial run outside for a walk and said it worked great to keep him warm!

Simone headband by Emilie Luis – such a sweet little project! Doesn’t take that much yarn and would make a truly lovely gift. Could easily swap out the cable pattern if you wanted a different design. When I make another one (because I definitely will!) I think I’d consider making it a little narrower, as I think it’s a smidge too wide.

Cabled Flax Hack for Ruby – I am so proud of this little sweater for so many reasons! I stepped up my cable complexity game, hacked a design to customize it for my purposes, reused a yarn that had been purchased for another purpose but refused to be knit at the appropriate gauge for the intended project, and made a sweater that fit my daughter great with some room to grow. Fun fact, one sleeve is definitely longer than the other… Ha! Better luck next time.

Heel Toe Do Si Do Socks (Quaere Edition) – a quick finish and a satisfying project to watch develop. The colors are so bold they make me happy every time I wear them. Love the Heel Toe Do Si Do pattern, great fit, easy repeat, perfect for self-striping yarns!

I did most of them in the same timeframe, so I got off to a good start, but clearly lost a little momentum. Adding some structure, or a rule around working in a UFO might help me make more progress on the list.

That brings me to the heart of today’s topic: limit your number of active projects in the roster.

For me personally, the key to success with this item is to have the projects span a number of different categories and considerations.

• Size - While I’m always looking a new sweater designs (for me and my husband), I can’t have too many in the rotation at once, because they’re the type of project I get really into for a while (usually in the early stages of the construction where a lot of things are going on simultaneously), then need to put down. I find that I always need a break from the miles of stockinette, endless rounds of the body of the sweater, or those 600 stitch shawl rows (all the purling~~). If I have too many sweaters or large projects, I find myself itching for something smaller and will impulsively cast on something else. I also like to take a break from some of these heavier / projects to work on something small and light!
• Gauge – I think my favorite gauge is a fingering on US 6s (common shawl gauge) or socks on a 2.25mm, but I like to have a variety of different gauges in my projects. I find as a daily knitter, it’s helpful to have different gauge projects for my hands and wrists to ‘recover’ and not fall into the repetitive strain category.
• Complexity – I love a challenging project or a new technique, so I like to mix in a high complexity project to the rotation to keep my brain working as I knit. Carol Feller designs always scratch that itch for me, as do complex cabling designs, complex colorwork, or a complex brioche design with lots of increases and decreases. On the other hand, there are times when I just need a basic vanilla sock or some mindless shawl rows to get my hands moving and to watch a lovely yarn bloom into a finished object. This is also key for stash busting, as I have a love for speckled yarns or variegated yarns. Simpler projects let those yarns really shine, and let me start making a dent in that portion of my stash.
• Recipient – I love to knit gifts for people, so I usually have a gift project or two on the needles. I love imaging how excited they’ll be for the item or how great they’ll look wearing it. In a similar vein, I want to do some service knitting this year (how cute are those charms, right?). I haven’t done any historically and I’d like to change that!
• Time to finish – I love a quick knit! I’m motivated by finishing projects and love washing and blocking them (ask my daughter about the ‘knit game’ sometime). So I like to work in accessories or quick finish projects so I can get the endorphin boost from finishing a project!
• Community – within my immediate friend group, I don’t have any knitters. So I turn to social media a lot to share my projects and get inspired by other knitters. I love to join knitalongs, mystery knitalongs, projects that are trending on social media, and test knits. These all give me a feedback loop of engaging with other knitters who are working on the same project and to be inspired by their beautiful WIPs.
• UFOs – to help me stay motivated, I want to get into the habit of pulling in a UFO to my current roster of projects, so I keep chipping away at the backlog. Obviously, even as I finish UFOs, more get dropped in, but at least I feel like I’m making progress here. I think it’ll also force me to reconsider the pile I have decided I want to finish, and maybe result in me frogging a few more projects that I originally expected to.

I think my sweet spot for active projects is 4 to 5 projects. If I get any bigger than that, some projects that are mentally considered ‘active’ sit forlornly in the bowl and never get picked up. Then I get the mental burden of feeling guilty that I should finish that project, while not really wanting to. When the active pile gets too big again, I do a mini WIP review and decide what I want to keep as active and what should go in the UFO pile to be finished as a later date. I did this process a few weekends ago – see below for a WIP pile shot.

A few extra rules / exceptions I’ve given myself in this process:

• Swatches don’t count as active projects – if I’m really motivated by a new project I see out there, cast on a swatch and trial run the yarn, the gauge, the needles, and my interest in the design once I’ve actually got it on the needles. The more I’ve embraced swatches, the happier I’ve been. There have been so many instances where I’ve leaped right into to casting on a project, only to realize a quarter of the way through that I hate the needle choice I’m using, or the colorwork feels too finicky, the colors are simply not working with the design, or the stich pattern just isn’t working for me.
• Listen to myself as I’m working on a project – if I’m not loving it early on, do I really think I’m going to love it two-thirds of the way through? Or if I’m not feeling my yarn choice for the project – no matter how much I love the design – let’s learn from the choice and frog the project. That busy yarn that’s obstructing the pattern that made me fall in love with the pattern in the first place isn’t going to get any better.
• Try to limit doubling up on projects types (i.e., two pairs of socks for the same recipient, two shawls, two adult sweaters). This might just be me, but if I have two pairs of socks on the needles, I have a tendency to favor one pair first, so I might as well save the active slot for a different project type.
• Always have a pair of socks on the needles! I love wearing my handknit socks – they make me so happy and since I have small feet, they’re pretty quick to finish. I love watching my handknit sock stash grow. I enjoy doing the same for my husband too, though his feet are much bigger!

So what’s my current roster of projects, I hear you ask. Without further ado, here’s my active roster:

• Bonita Shawl from Ambah O'Brien– lovely lace shawl design for my mom. Just got to the big increase section and rows have 600 stitches! So much purling in my future… Hoping to finish by Mother’s Day. New (to me) yarn company, lovely icy blue that will look amazing on my mom and a kiss of silk for added luxury!

• Marled Flax for baby S – baby knits are so fun! Using up minis from an old advent calendar and holding double with a neutral Stroll handpainted that I’ve had for years. Loving watching this one develop.

• Curling Mist Socks from Helen Stewart – first sock pattern from handmade society #4. Nice to finally find a use for this gorgeous firey color (originally bought for a Starflake shawl that I bailed on).

• Love Note #2 – am I the only person who feels the urge to cast on a Love Note after reading Dana William-Johnson’s posts on MDK? I’ve had this yarn for over a year and knew I wanted it to be a Love Note sweater the whole time. My first one is lovely, but I just don’t love the cropped length, so I went down a size for this one and plan to make the longer length. Finally cast on a few weeks ago, midway through the lace section at the yoke and know this will be worn a lot once I finish it.

• Intwined House Socks from Tif Neilan – it’s embarrassing how close these are to being finished. Lovely test knit – I know I’ll get a lot of use out of them once I finish. Yes, I’m breaking my rule about not having two of the same category, but I’ve got less than an hour’s worth of knitting left in these, and I want to get them on my feet!

What’s your roster sweet spot? Do you have any preferences on project mix for your current active roster? We’d love to see what you’ve got on the needles, let us know below!

February is our annual meeting where we look back at how the Guild did in 2020. We thought it would be fun to also look back and see how all of our members did, well, with their knitting anyway. Be part of our Best of 2020 slideshow by sending us a photo of the knitting project you are most proud of from last year. Tell us the pattern you used, if there was one, the yarn you used, and why you are proud of the project. Were you proud because you finished a long lingering WIP or learned a new technique or altered a pattern to fit you perfectly...we want to celebrate those accomplishments.

Please email your photos and notes to Nikky by Sunday, February 14th.

Service Knitting 2021

At this month's meeting, we kicked off our service knitting campaign for 2021 by meeting our three new community partners.

Hats and Mittens collects and distributes hats and mittens to those who need them in the 7-county metro area (though that area is expanding). They can use hats and mittens in sizes from babies to adults. They do tend to get a lot more hats than mittens, so if you are a mitten knitters those would be really appreciated. While they can use all sizes, they do have a need for items that fits ages 12 -15 years. They can except items made from any fiber.

Hats for the Homeless knits, collects, and distributes hats in the Twin Cities area. They need simple adult hats made for warmth. Hats need to be long enough to cover the ears and those that double over the ears are best. Hats that are knit with worsted yarn in a tight gauge. They prefer darker colors without a pattern or embellishments. There are free patterns on their website and they also highly suggest The Minnesota Hat. Acrylic yarn alone is not warm enough, so they suggest using washable wool, acrylic/wool, or other wool blends. 

The Range Center helps people with intellectual/developmental disabilities to build skills and self-esteem in Northeastern MN. They can use all items hats, mittens, fingerless gloves, scarves, and lap blankets. This is your time to have fun with color and patterns, but please use washable fibers. Clients get to pick their own items and having fun things to choose from can be a highlight in someone's day.

We will have drive up drop-off days at the Textile Center throughout the year with the first being in April. You will also be able to pick up yarn to use for service knitting on those days. If you can't make a drop-off day, you can send items to us care of the Textile Center (address is here). We are also planning on having drop-off days at other locations around the state, stay tuned for details on that!

Service Knitting Thank You Gifts

This year we want to thank those of you who use your time and talents to help with our service knitting with some small gifts. We have curated a set of progress/stitch markers and as you donate more items through 2021 you will receive more parts of the set.

When you make a donation, we will keep track of how many items you donate. When you reach the levels below you will receive a marker. 

• 5 items - sheep
• 15 items - yarn
• 25 items - scarf
• 35 items - mittens
• 50+ items - a custom Minnesota Knitters' Guild logo marker. (These will be awarded at the end of the year as we will have them made based on how many we need.)

Online Auction

Thanks to everyone who participated in our online auction. All the lots were sold and there was quite the bidding war on some! The Guild made just over $2,000 to use towards our service knitting and other activities. Because of the positive response, we will have another online auction later in 2021 as it is a way to include our members who live outside the Twin Cities. 

Sunday Knitting Brunch

Our next Sunday Knitting Brunch is Sunday, January 31st 11:00am - 1:00pm. This is a purely social knitting get-together. We plan to continue them every other Sunday through at least February. Find the Zoom link in the calendar. 

Upcoming Meetings:

February Annual Meeting

Our February 16th meeting is our required annual meeting. We will give a brief overview of how the Guild did in 2020, including financials and some goals for 2021. Our annual report will be available on the website after the meeting.

We'd also love to see how our members did in 2020 and invite you to submit a photo of the project you are most proud of from 2020 for the slideshow. Please email a picture, name of the pattern (if there is one), yarn used, and why you are proud of this project. This can be something that was a challenge for you, something that was sitting in your WIP for years, a first sweater or other items, etc... Email your submission to Nikky.

March Meeting

Our March 16th speaker will be Kim McBrien Evans who will speak about size inclusive knitting. Her yarn company Indiogodragonfly Yarns will be featured in our 6:30 trunk show before the meeting.

April Meeting

Our April 20th speaker will be Sarah Schira of Imagined Landscapes.

Programming Committee Members Needed

Do you like our monthly Newsletters? We do too! But they're getting to be too much work for one person to put together each month!

Featured Designer - Lindsey Fowler

Read all about this month's featured designer. She has some wonderful patterns that use up all those mini skeins you got in your holiday countdown calendar!

Prizes

We awarded prizes to eight random members who renewed or joined by the end of December 31, 2020. All the prizes will be purchased from local fiber related vendors, many of who have been Yarnover vendors.

Ada Vanderwiel - Knitting/Crochet Notions Bag from Becka Rahn

Susan Bathory - Yarn Bowl from Blue Room Pottery

Shirley Nygaard - Stitch Marker Set from Blue Room Pottery

Maressia Twele - Project Bag from Crafty Like a Monkey

Kristine King - Shawl Pin from Knitter's Journey

Heather Hart - Stitch Saver or Crochet Hook Set from Stunning Strings Studio

Zoe Cohen - Equivalent 2 skeins yarn from Lavender Lune Yarn Co.

Judy Ellis - Mini-Skein Set from Stunning Strings Studio

Door Prizes 

Nomad Knits Issue 8 (Washington) - Christine Caldarale

Lindsey Fowler Pattern - Andrea Zukor

Lindsey Fowler Pattern - Becky Huerta

Trippin' With Dixi Trunk Show code - Susan Boinis

Textile Center Fiber Arts For All

The Textile Center will be hosting an in person and virtual Fiber Arts for All festival February 21 - 27th. The event will feature interviews, talks, workshops, and an online auction. Watch for details in the Textiles on the Town newsletter and on the Textile Center website. 

January spotlight series is Lindsey Fowler.  Her designs go from child to adult and so who doesn't love a mommy and me pair of socks. Lots of cozy colorful knits to get us through this gray winter. 

Did anyone get an advent calendar of yarn this year? Check out her new great cowl Spice Blend

Does anyone else think this other cowl might be a great combination with the MinneSNOWta hat that Kathy gifted to the members?

Lindsey designs are a ton of fun. You can find her on Ravelry and on instagram @larkspurknits. She also has her own website.

Let us know what you think. Any Desginers you'd like to see highlighted? Please email Melissa Marketingdirector.mkg@gmail.com