This was the Group’s 11th Year (YOP11), but my 4th Year.

During the previous 3 YOP years I had deviated a lot from my original lists, so I made my YOP 11 list a little less specific and that worked well and allowed me to pick patterns that caught my eye during the year. If items were added during the YOP year they have a 🆕 icon next to them.

I will be carrying forward my unfinished WIPs and some items I didn’t manage to start to next year’s list but more on that next week. I do have two finished objects this week that have their own posts, more on those under Other News at the bottom of this post…if you make it that far. These are always my longest posts of the year, but feel free to just browse the pictures.

Comments and thoughts about some items are in bold italics.

Key:
↪ carried over from a previous YOP year
✳️ started
✅ finished
🆕 added to list after week 1

➡️ carried over to next YOP list
⁉️ fell at a hurdle but back on track
🐸 frogged/abandoned

NB. There are links to the Ravelry pattern, yarn or project page.

---

Acquisitions/Stash Management

• No new superwash sock yarns (My stash has enough to make socks for many years.) ⁉️ Originally this was no new superwash and I amended it to sock yarn after buying a jumper quantity of malabrigo yarn! But I realise superwash just isn’t as warm as non-superwash so I’m going back to it being no new superwash! I was (surprise) gifted some superwash 4 ply and bought some by mistake (not labelled as superwash) for gloves but I think I’ll be fine avoiding it in future! ➡️
• Contain my stash! (Limit stash to only what will fit in existing containers (Kallax unit, fibre divider boxes and weaving shelves) and have no overflow containers or bags, only exception to be hand processed Shetland X fleece.). ⁉️ This did not go well, incoming fibre had exceeded outgoing so I bought a 2nd Kallax unit. I am going to try again in YOP12 but have made some changes ➡️
• Buy yarn for a larger Havana only once I have made space for it! This is hopefully going to keep me motivated to use existing stash for everything else. I’m thinking I should use handspun and not buy yarn but we shall see. At the moment I have projects ahead of this, but one day. ➡️

Well I definitely bought more than planned. The Inklette loom was 2nd hand and the large Inkle loom was technically a gift, but I’d like to record it here so I remember the year I got it.

I was gifted some yarns that aren’t shown here. There’s some some thick cream cotton fabric not shown here as well. The overlocker was a really good price so I couldn’t resist and it will be so useful in securing woven item edges.

Crochet

• Toy pattern (2nd Minion or Eeyore) ✅ 2nd Minion week 22. If anyone writes a good pattern for a different shaped Minion (preferably Bob) then I could see me making a 3rd one day.
• Reusable cotton face pads ✅ week 40 I haven’t actually tried them yet!

Dyeing

• Dye more of my existing fibre and fleece for lampshades. ✅ week 22
• Dye another self striped sock yarn. ✅ Christmas green & red; mauve & pink and an attempt at blue week 22
• 🆕 Dye silk scarves in stash ✅ finished 1 in week 22,
• 🆕 Dye as much fibre as I can before new kitchen goes in. ✅ week 29
• Dye more locks for fairies’ hair ➡️.

Overall I’m really happy with how much dyeing I managed to get done before our new kitchen went in. Time will tell if I do much more dyeing in the garage or try solar dyeing in the greenhouse.

Felting

• Pictures and products to sell/gift/keep. ✅ I’m a little disappointed in my productivity for the shop. I’d certainly like to improve these numbers next year. 76 items to sell and 3 items kept. Sales were great and I sold items every month the shop was open. The numbers below are how many I made.
  • Fairies – 39 (July x 19, October x 3, November x 12, February x 5)
  • Lampshades 20cm – 13 (September x 3, October x 2, April x 5, May x 3)
  • Lampshades 25cm – 5 (October x 1, May x 4)
  • Lampshades 35cm – May x 1
  • Tomte – 10 (4 x October, 2 x November, 5 x December)
  • Baubles – 8 (October x 5, December x 3)
  • Wreath – 1 x October autumn felt fabric then made an autumnal wreath. I also made a Christmas wreath but it’s not felted, just a braid of my hand-dyed fibre attached to a wreath (kept both).
  • Witch and pumpkin – 1 (kept)
• ↪ Needle felted Ylva ✳️ (Started YOP9!) I don’t think I did anything on this all year…or last YOP year! ➡️
• ↪ Needle felted Highland Cow ✳️ (Started YOP9!) Again not worked on at all during the year. I will carry these forward though. ➡️
• Make a handbag using the felting ball ✳️ started week 24 fibres weighed and test felt. Every time I think about making this I think I should be making stock to sell. I will try to tick this off early on YOP12. ➡️
• Make plant pot covers ➡️ Similar to the bag above, when I think of making them I think I should be making stock.

Fibre Prep

• Finish washing BFL/Shetland X (from Katharine) ✳️ started washing and using it YOP 9. ➡️
• Finish washing Shetland X (from Serena) ✳️ started washing week 1 ➡️
• Practice combing and carding ✳️ started combing week 10 and carding week 11. ➡️

I hate washing and prepping fleece. Okay it saves money but my goodness its exhausting and makes me appreciate the price of commercial fibre, however I will continue to process these next YOP year.

Knitting

Jumpers/cardigans

• Knit 3 garments using:
  • hand dyed BFL/silk Aran – 2nd Quick Sand by Heidi Kirrmaier with added short rows at back of neck ✅ started swatching week 5, started knitting week 7, finished week 8. It looks a little odd because of the different colour of one skein but at least I happen to use that one on the yoke (pure luck).
  • a DK or Aran yarn from stash. ✅ started Ship Shape by Heidi Kirrmaier in Drops Belle yarn week 40. The plan was to knit something from stash but I bought this yarn new. Technically I finished the pattern week 51 but I was not happy with it. I needed to shrink it and add a ribbed collar to the neck, so I finally finished and it has its own blog post.
  • New Lanark Aran – Warriston by Kate Davies. 🐸 started week 19 frogged week 30. ✳️ 2nd Such a Winter’s Day jumper by Heidi Kirrmaier started week 42 ➡️
• 🆕 Winding Down jumper by Heidi Kirrmaier in new (superwash 🤦🏼‍♀️ Malabrigo Rios) ✅ started week 11, finished week 18. This jumper was going to be made using some WYS non-superwash but it was scratchy, so I bought the Malabrigo but it isn’t warm so doesn’t get worn much. I love it though and wear it if we go somewhere indoors.
• 🆕 Sunday Sweater by Petite Knits ✳️ started week 43

Shawls

• ↪ Finish or frog Cabriolet brioche scarf by Carolyn Bloom (yarn Cookston Crafts in Crathie (alpaca/merino/nylon) & Emerald (merino/silk/yak)) Started YOP9 week 34! 🐸 YOP11 week 34. I just kept making mistakes I didn’t know how to fix. I need to understand how to correct brioche before I attempt another pattern with it.
• Midtown Magic shawl in yarn above. ✅ started week 35 finished week 40. This is lightweight and goes really well with my new lightweight blue coat and my handwoven town bag.
• 🆕️ Nightshift by Andrea Mowry in handspun ✅ started week 40 finished week 42. ❤ I absolutely love this and it’s the proudest I’ve been to finish a project. It used up some of my earliest handspun and the pattern coped with the unevenness in the yarns really well.

Socks

• Knit a pair of DK socks, Deb’s Super Simple DK socks in Ryeland yarn ✅ #1 week 2. These aren’t superwash and surprisingly haven’t shrunk or felted. They are very warm.
• Knit more pairs of these socks with stashed yarn (# indicates order they were started):
  • Rose City Rollers (RCR) by Mara Catherine Bryner. ✅ #2 Cookston Crafts 4 ply in Thistly Brae colour started week 1, finished week 11,
  • How I Make My Socks by Susan B Anderson ✅ #3 Ripples Crafts 4 ply started week 23, finished week 31. These were for my husband.
  • Hermione’s Everyday Socks (HES) by Erica Lueder RCR with ribbed cuff socks ✅ #4 gothic rainbow started week 31, finished week 32. The yarn was sent to me by Sarah and I hope to get a 2nd pair of socks from the skein.
• ↪️ Knit at least one pair of socks with homespun BFL/seacell yarn. ➡️. My underwear drawer is full to bursting which is why I’m not knitting socks at the moment.
• Try a new sock pattern ➡️

Accessories

• Knit a variety of accessories, such as mittens, cowls, hats (using existing stashed yarn or handspun only):
  • Mostly Warmness (cowl) by Martina Behm in merino/silk yarn ✅ started week 1, finished week 5. I love wearing this.
  • Feather and Fan Short Scarf by Kelly Faller in tencel yarn from Flora Fibres 🐸 started week 1 🐸 week 5. I don’t like knitting tencel on such large needles.
  • Lake Reed hat by Asita Krebs #1 in Ripples Crafts Burras DK ✅ started week 1, finished week 6, #2 in Ripples Crafts Oldany DK ✅ started week 8, finished week 9 I enjoyed this pattern so much I made it twice!
  • 🆕 Point Edward Mitts by Fairlight Fibers in Ripples Crafts Culkein DK ✅ finished week 11 These aren’t as warm as I’d hoped and discovered the yarn was superwash, although not labelled as such
  • Mostly Warmness (fingerless mittens) by Martina Behm in merino/silk ✅ started week 12, finished week 19.
  • 🆕 Versa Cowl by Aimee Pelletier ✅ using Malabrigo Rios scraps started week 20, finished week 21. This isn’t very warm but is ok for mild days.
  • 🆕 Hastings Mitts by Tracie Millar in New Lanark DK ✅ started week 24, finished week 25. I love these, I’m going to definitely knit another pair but planning to change the colour-work design pattern myself!
  • 🆕️ Cowl based on Fisker Cowl in my handdyed chunky BFL ✅ started week 31, finished week 33. This is nice and warm and actually goes well over the Mostly Warmness Cowl I made (detailed above), wearing them together avoids gaps.

Other/household

• Habitation Throw by Helen Stewart using scrap 4 ply. ✳️ started YOP 10 week 45. I ran out of scraps so need to knit more socks. I knit 2 pairs from every skein so this will likely take me a few years to finish. ➡️
• 🆕 use up scraps on project(s). ✅ week 21 I made a cup cosy and a ribbed headband using some malabrigo and alpaca scraps.
• Dish cloths as required. ➡️

Painting & Drawing

• Do a new pastel drawing ✅ week 38. I did a pastel painting of our dog, as a thank you to my husband for looking after me when I had Covid. I also did a beach scape as we were supposed to be on the Isle of Lewis that week.
• Do a new watercolour painting ➡️

Sewing

• ↪ Make a project using denim from old jeans ➡️ I definitely still want to use up the old pairs of jeans I have, just not sure what I’ll make yet.
• Make a project bag with internal and/or external pockets ✅ week 51. Winnie the Pooh project bag with external pockets. Not perfect as lining is sewn the wrong way round but good enough. ✅ week 52 Winnie the Pooh craft bag with internal and external pockets. Separate post.
• Make a garment. ➡️

Spinning

• Host a Guild Team for Tour de Fleece 2021 ✅ week 1. I dropped out of spinning but still led the team.
• ↪ Finish spinning BFL/seacell (Started YOP9) ✅ week 1. There ended up being some difference in thickness, so some of the Aran weight was used on the Nightshift Shawl and some is 4 ply that could make some socks.
• 🆕 Suri alpaca and superfine merino ✅ started week 41, finished week 43. This was hand-dyed by me and was lovely to spin.
• 🆕 Polwarth ✅ finished week 43. Hand-dyed by me, another lovely spin.
• ↪ Finish spinning John Arbon Harvest Hues fibre (✳ Started YOP9!) ➡️ I will finish this during TDF next month!!!
• ↪ Finish spinning 25g breed project (✳️ Started YOP10) This year I have spun Shetland, Wensleydale, Teeswater, Bluefaced Leicester and Polwarth.
• Baby camel and silk colour #4. ✳️ started week 14
• 🆕 BFL/Shetland top from Sky Blue Pink designs ✳️ started week 52.

Overall this last 12 months I haven’t really spun very much at all. I lost my mojo during Tour de Fleece in 2021 and struggled to get it back. I miss the BritSpin competition which was fun and kept me motivated. Perhaps now I’ve used up so much of my handspun in my Nightshift Shawl I’ll be a little more motivated.

Weaving

• Make a selection of wide hand/dish towels:
  • Fibonacci pattern ✅ started week 4, finished week 17
  • Diamond stripe towels ✅ started week 28, finished week 44
• 🆕 Make Dorset Buttons ✅ week 21, 23 and 24. These are addictive to make and I’m sure I will make more!
• 🆕 Make a band on inkle loom ✅ started week 20, finished week 23. Who knew I’d buy an inklet loom!? Ideal for making bag straps though so I will be making more. Now I also have a larger Inkle loom I can try tablet weaving and more intricate designs, so next year this will have its own sub-section.
• Make a woven project using handspun yarns ➡️
• Make fabric to sew at least one garment. ➡️

---

Well that’s it, congratulations if you got this far! I keep notes throughout the year in a draft post and on my project list page. This is a lot in one post though so thank you for following along as I look back on the crafting I’ve done the last 12 months.

My favourite 3 items I made during the last 12 months are my Nightshift Shawl, my Hastings Mitts (they are so warm!) and my Fruit Bowl. Do you have a favourite?

I do love looking back at these posts though and I’m so glad to be a member of such a wonderful group of ladies (although all genders welcome). I appreciate all the comments, moral support and suggestions people make. I continue to be inspired by the beautiful makes of others and cherish the friendships made with others hundreds or thousands of miles away. If you fancy joining us for YOP12 then see the link at the very bottom of this post for more information.

---

Other News

A pretty busy week!

I cut out some fabric and sewed a crafting organisation bag this week. There’s a separate post I published on Friday about it, but there’s also a picture above in the sewing section.

I ordered some new yarn and corrected the neck of my Ship Shape jumper. The FO post for that was also published earlier this week and there’s a photo in the knitting garment section above. To get free postage I bought some sewing related things…costing well above what I needed for free postage🤦‍♀️

On Tuesday evening I attended the spinning zoom call and spun up some Shetland / BFL which is nice to spin. The blend of the white, purple and brown give a nice coloured heathered yarn. I haven’t finished the 1st 100g yet and have another 200g to spin up. Again there’s a photo in the spinning section above.

Saturday was our Felting Group’s day, but having done so much this week I just couldn’t find the energy to go. I need to have a think about whether to continue as a member next year as I hardly ever attend it seems. I joined the weaving group’s morning zoom meeting and managed to cut out 15 x 20cm pre-felt pieces whilst listening to an interesting talk about tapestry weaving.

Last night I cast on a new project but I will just add it to my new list.

I’m continuing to draft next year’s list and I can see that knitting will feature a little less, as I try to learn to sew, try weaving fabric to sew and play with my Inkle loom to make belts and straps. I will still knit, just not as much as previous years.

I went to the cinema again this week, to see Lightyear. What a sweet movie, I burst out laughing at one point and had tears in my eyes another. Everything you want from a Pixar movie. There was a little boy, perhaps 3 or 4 years old, in front of me in his Buzz Lightyear costume…super cute!

So that’s it. Next week’s post will have my list for YOP12. If you have been following my blog and are interested in joining in then check the link below for more information on the group and how to sign up.

---

This is a Year of Projects post. Officially the Group has just ended its 11th year, but this was my 4th year participating. If you would like to find more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry. Year 11 list.