home decor

Before anything else, thank you all for the feedback and insight you gave me on last week’s YOP post. I really appreciate the time you took to respond and engage in conversation about the situation. I finished the hat and was able to leave it as a surprise when I went into work last Wednesday. The recipient sent me a message — he was very surprised and found the gesture kind and the hat lovely. Said he would wear it in good health, given our relationship, I can’t ask for anything more.

I should have been showing you the second hat in my Hatopolooza series, but I got distracted with these sweet little things. I don’t really do Valentine’s Day but with everything 2020 was and its extension into 2021, I figured I should celebrate every thing and every day as much as I can. I spent Friday night cranking out these pretties to decorate around my home for Valentine’s day and the rest of February.

They were quick and easy to whip up and I did 13 of them in about 2 hours or so of mindful crocheting — taking my time, no rush.

Pattern: Magic Heart
Yarn: different bits and bobs from other projects
The white heart is different from the others in that I used some unspun Tunis fiber, pre-drafted it a bit then crocheted a heart from it. After that, I slightly felted it so some areas are felted while in others the crochet stitches can still be seen.

And on that note, I leave you gentle readers with the first verse of Emily Bronte’s “Love and Friendship” poem on this international day of love.

Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly-tree—
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly? — Emily Bronte

Cheers to you today my crafty friends. May love fill your day today and every other day.

let me explain …

Last year was a low production year for me in terms of knit and crochet. I didn’t do any of it at all in 2020. Outside of COVID, there were some personal things I had to deal with which left me with no energy for anything except spinning. As 2020 ended, I found myself being able to think about crafting again, planning projects other than spinning ones so I registered for the Sigma 21 project challenge in one of my favourite Ravelry groups. I like that you can set your own goals — fibery and non fibery. I also like that there’s a longer timeline to complete your projects so the pressure is less than with some other project challenges.

The challenge itself is a play on the sigma mathematical concept (sigma 5 means 1+2+3+4+5) so for the challenge, the setup is:

1 of item a
2 of item b
3 of item c
4 of item d

This challenge has gone on for more than a few years so rather than do Sigma 21, the group moderators circled back to 11 this year. Sigma 21, can you imagine trying to get through that in a year?!!!!! 😀

I’ve also started blogging again, documenting my makes here as opposed to on Instagram (if you’re interested, you can read why here) and thought my Sigma 21 project list would be perfect for my bloggy adventures with the Year of Projects blogging crafters group also on Ravelry. I joined the YOP challenge late so I appreciate that the group has two versions of the challenge running — one that’s on a calendar timeline, the second — a July 1st to June 30th of the following year timeline.

My Sigma 21 (but really 11) list is below:

1 — crochet blanket/throw — In Progress
2 — read at least 2 non-crafty books per month (25 as the minimum yearly goal) 2/25
3 — pairs of knitted socks
4 — knitted adult garments for me
5 — new techniques — intarsia, brioche, steeking, short rows, yarn embroidery
6 — destashed items per quarter (25 as the minimum yearly goal)
7 — weeks to organise paper clutter (end date 2.28.2021)
8 — new recipes
9 — completed Craftsy classes
10 — create at least 10 created by me rolag packs for spinning
11 — (x2) handmade gifts for my Hope Holders

OTHER GOALS

Spin 21 skeins of yarn — minis or full skeins 12/21 already completed here so I’m increasing this to 30 handspun skeins for 2021
Sign up for Moderate Merino but work towards 12 months of cold-sheeping
Learn to use my rigid heddle loom and make at least 6 items
Knit/crochet exclusively from library patterns.
Create container garden for balcony
Add all stray yarn and fiber to Ravelry db (Completed)
Create non Rav Excel sheet of all spindles

I love lists — I like making them, I like working through them but life sometimes gets in the way of my crafty lists. My goal this year is to do as much as I can from the one above.

On to the current project … after all the spinning I’ve done last year and recently, working on my crochet throw has been a joy. I started this throw a week or two ago but decided when I was almost at the end, that I wanted it wider. I’m currently 1/3 the way through version 2.0 and am loving how it looks. This is a project I can’t wait to see what the F.O. (finished object) looks like.