This post is mostly for my own records, like an online diary. You may prefer to skip to the photos. At the very bottom is how I have done with my year of ‘a yarn buying ban’!!!!

In 2018 and 2019 I did an end of year summary, not just crafting items, but holidays and events. So here’s my 2020 Summary! I haven’t kept accurate records of what I wet felted and needle felting when, so these are mostly missing from the summary, but I have listed sold items. Also spinning done outside of the spinning events isn’t very well recorded. Next year I’m going to draft the summary post as I go through the year and then publish at the end!

Bullet Keys

🧶 knitting/crochet, 🌀 spinning, 🕸 weaving, 🗡 needle felting, 🧼 wet felting,👩‍🔬 dyeing, 🧵 sewing, 👩‍🎓 workshop/course, 🏡 holiday rental, 💷 sold items, 🎁 gift packages received, 📚 read, 🎟 cinema, 🥐 baking, ♣️ club or group, 🛒 bought, 🦠 Covid-19, 🧘🏻‍♀️ yoga

January

🧶 Finished knitting and felted a Tote bag
🧶 2 x 2 hat for Allistar in WYS Shetland, weightless produce bag

👩‍🎓🌀 Spin to weave course

🗡 started Highland Cow

🌀 started spinning John Arbon Harvest Hues in Rosebay

♣️🌀 joined Ben Wyvis spinning group

🧵 sewing machine repaired and practiced sewing

🎟 Little Women and 1917

📚 The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, Dracula by Bram Stoker

February

🎁 🐑 Gift package from Alissa.

👩‍🔬🌀🧶 Hand dyed fibre, spun and knit a Super Simple Chunky Brioche cowl with BFL, seacell and Corriedale.

🧶 Turtle Dove Jumper in WYS Re:Treat in Calm (purple)
🧶 Converted unused hat into a Swirly Cowl and altered a Perky Little Hat
🧶🐸 Frogged some unworn items
🧶 Business card holder and Two by two hat in yarn gifted to me by Alissa
🧶 started Cabriolet brioche scarf

🧼 Challenge bag at felting group made a little bag for cables.
🧼 4 lampshades, scarf in blue, grey and orange

♣️🌀 Co-hosted Guild Open Day with the Fibre Challenge

📚 Origin by Dan Brown, The Doll Maker by Mary Burton, Dracula by Bram Stoker (audio version).

🎟 Parasite

March

🦠🔒 Lockdown happened so most events cancelled, including ♣️🌀 Ben Wyvis Spin Group, ♣️🧶 Cromarty Yarn Club and ♣️🧼 Felting Group and instead life switched to video calls

🧶 Boxes dishcloth and waffle knit dishcloth

👩‍🎓🕸 Krokbragd weaving course (just squeezed in before lockdown) and made a mini drink mat

🌀Homespun orange batts
🌀 John Arbon Rosebay
🌀 Baby camel & silk

🏡 Stayed at Down House, near Torridon for a long weekend

🥐 banana bread, sultana biscuits

🐪 Highland Wildlife Park on my own

📚 My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, The Summer Children by Dot Hutchison

April

🧶 Finished Void shawl
🧶 3 dishcloths
🧶 Hermione’s Everyday Socks in City Lights

🌀 John Arbon HH

🥐 bread, sultana biscuits and gingerbread cake

🌿 lots of gardening

♣️📷 Re-joined Camera Club committee

📚 Here to Stay by Mark Edwards, The Venus Trap by Louise Voss, The Faded Photo by Sarah Price, The Blood Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff

May

👩‍🎓🕸 signed up to Kelly Casanova’s weaving school (12 months from the 3rd)

🕸 Single and Double width tea towel on 10″ loom

🥐 banana bread and Chelsea buns

🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♂️ started daily yoga with my husband

🌿 cleared wild strawberries
🌿 removed yellow plant and posts in back
🌿 hung rope for honeysuckle

June

🌀 Tour de Fleece 2020 – team Corner of Knit & Tea for 3rd year and hosted a ♣️ Guild team as captain.

🥐 gingerbread

🌿 bought bonsai pots, new water butt, huge pot for curly hazel and bird feeders with birthday money.
🌿 Cut 2 dead trees down.
🌿 Painted new raised bed parts.

📚 In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards

July

🧶 Tailfeather cardigan

🧶 Crocheted a Minion

👩‍🎓🧶 Mosaic crochet sample after online tutorials

🌀 Tour de Fleece 2020 – Handspun baby camel & silk in purples and 🌀 Samoyed dog hair

🛒 Bought 32″ loom and 🕸 wove 2 hand towels

🧵 face masks

🐪 Highland Wildlife Park with Steph

August

🧶Reyna in handspun baby camel and silk
🧶 Shortie socks (hybrid of Rose City Rollers and Hermione’s Everyday Sock)
🧶 Heart, rose, snowman and snowflake with handspun Samoyed dog hair
🧶 2 Hatvent hats
🧶 Mosaic crocheted notebook cover
🧶👩‍🎓 Miniature jumper to learn mosaic knitting

🧼 7 lampshades

🐝 made beeswax wraps

💷 Started selling scarves on Etsy and felted goods at the Alchemist Gallery in Dingwall. Sold 3 x 20cm lampshades, 4 fairies, 1 wreath

🕸 Sunset scarf on 10″ loom (my first multicoloured project)

🏡 Stayed in the Shepherd’s Hut on Kyle of Tongue for 4 nights

♣️🧶 Blogville Knit Group weekly meetings started on Skype

September

🧶 Bricks and mortar cowl in handspun (later felted to shrink it)

🗡 22 fairies.

♣️🧼🗡Joined International Felt Makers.
♣️📷 Camera Club started via Zoom
♣️Started 2nd year as HGWSD Treasurer

💷 Sold 3 x 20cm, 2 x 25cm lampshades, 8 fairies and 1 bauble

🚗 car fixed after months with dead battery

🌿 started Minion topiary

👨🏽‍⚕️ ENT appointment

October

🧶 crocheted small sized Havana Afghan

🧶 knit 2 odd socks (wood pigeon and Christmas)

🌀BritSpin 2020 – ♣️ Guild team captain and spun 🌀 border leicester dyed pink, 🌀 merino single gradient, 🌀 BFL sparkle, 🌀 lace weight baby camel & silk and 🌀 Portland – I spun over a mile and our team came 5th.

🛒bought 2nd hand Ashford Traveller wheel

🧼 made lots of lampshades, some fairies and baubles

💷 Sold 3 x 20cm, 4 x 25cm lampshades, 5 fairies and 2 baubles

👩‍🔬 Dyed some fibres
👩‍🔬 Dyed a Christmas stripy sock yarn

November

🧶 Herriot hat in J&S Shetland Chunky
🧶 finished HES socks without the bumps in WYS wood pigeon
🧶 Strathcona Sweater
🧶 6 dishcloths

🎁 Received gift packages from Marilee and Alissa

🌀 Superfine merino fractal spinning on new wheel

🛒 Drum carder arrived (Bought in Oct with gift money from my mum)

👩‍🔬Dyed some fibres

🗡 baubles and fairies

🏡 Stayed at Polin Croft near Kinlochbervie for a week

💷 Sold 4 Lampshades, 6 Baubles and 11 fairies plus 1 scarf on Etsy

🐕 Ylva had 2 lumps on her gums and 2 teeth removed

December

👩‍🔬 Dyed fibres for lampshades and other projects
👩‍🔬 Dyed a skein of sock yarn as a contrast colour for my ADVENTuresome wrap.

🧶 finished Christmas socks
🧶 knit part of ADVENTuresome wrap
🧶 finished 2nd Turtle Dove jumper

🗡 Made some Nordic Tomte and fluff pom poms

🧵 Made Christmas facemasks

🧼 Lampshade for parents

🏡 Stayed at Down House near Torridon

🎄 Christmas at home with MIL 💣

💷 Sold 4 scarves on Etsy, 14 fairies, 4 baubles, 2 x 20cm lampshades, 1 x 25cm lampshade, 3 wreaths and 6 Nordic Tomte.

📚 The Lucky Ones by Mark Edwards, started The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. There are also a number of other books I started this year but didn’t finished recorded in my Goodreads app.

Gallery

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Edit: total sales for the year 13 baubles, 42 fairies, 22 lampshades, 6 tomte, 5 scarves and 4 wreaths.

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2020 Yarn buying ban…the results

I decided to have 2020 as a year I didn’t buy any yarn, by February I’d added a caveat to that rule, then in July I did a mid-year look at how I was doing. The idea of the ban came after doing last year’s calculations I was worried that the rate of incoming yarn -v- outgoing would lead me to having too much yarn. I wrote a post about it.

So here’s how I’ve done…Well, as you can imagine I’ve done terribly…should I blame the pandemic? or just my own inability to stop buying yarn? I blame the pandemic of course.

Figures in miles!	Incoming	Outgoing/Used	Net Usage in Year	Year End Stash Total
Starting balance pre-2019				7.97
2019	27.64	6.03	21.61	29.58
2020	22.12	5.37	16.75	46.33

So clearly there’s an issue here…in a year that I tried not to acquire any yarn I bought or was gifted 22.12 miles of it! The amount I used is down on last year. My plan is to do a lot more weaving in 2021, so that should definitely help my Outgoing/Used figures, however I also plan to do more spinning and that counts as Incoming.

There are some unfinished projects that haven’t been counted in the Outgoing/Used figures, as only when something is marked as a Completed Project do I count how much yarn it used.