Hello, knitting friends! It’s great to see you again this week. I’ve been extremely busy at my day job this week, so my knitting has taken a bit of a back seat. I did take a little bit of time to gather some ideas for 2014 knitting goals, and I’ll talk about them later in the post. First, let’s review what I’ve been up to in the past week.

I cast on for Dad’s second sock this week.

This Week In Podcasts

This week, I listened to the latest podcast episodes from Knitting Pipeline, Fiber Hooligan, and Ewe University. In Knitting Pipeline Episode 156: Owl Shadows, Paula tells a cool story of seeing the shadow of an owl in flight. The conditions needed to be just right for her to catch a glimpse of that shadow, and as she told the story, you could hear her excitement about seeing it. I also really enjoyed the Ravelry tips Paula shared, especially those surrounding organizing projects. In Fiber Hooligan: John Levisay, Benjamin interviews the CEO of Craftsy. This was a great interview, and I’m always looking forward to hearing how online learning programs like Craftsy works. In Ewe University: Episode 16, Dr. Kelly talks about past and upcoming contests sponsored by Ewe University. In the classroom, she discusses “more about automatic processing, particularly how it relates to acquired motor skills like walking, driving, and knitting.” As always, I really enjoy listening to the academic portion of this podcast. This discussion was particularly exciting because Dr. Kelly describes a scientific study that uses knitting to study how the brain works.

This Week In Ravelry

My Ravelry time has been limited, and I’m finding that I have tons of unread messages in the forums to catch up on. I try to scan through the topics from time to time, but I’m simply not going to be able to read them all. I did add a couple of more patterns to my queue, too:

• Alpha Socks by Tanis Lavallee: This is a pattern my wife liked, so I’ll be looking to knit her a pair of these.
• Little Dragon by Susan B. Anderson: You know I love Susan’s patterns, especially her toys, so when this became available on Ravelry, I immediately queued it. I have a lot of other knitting in my queue before I’ll get a chance to work on it, so I haven’t actually purchased the pattern yet, but I’m sure I will get it soon enough.

Something else has been happening on Ravelry this week. There are problems with the organization of the Ravellenic Games, and the whole thing is going through a big restructuring process. I don’t know exactly what’s behind the difficulties, just enough to know that it has something to do with politics, not knitting, and that I’m really not interested in getting involved. I’m hopeful they’ll sort everything out and I’ll be able to participate and have fun. But even if they don’t, the IBK Group is going forward in the spirit of being laid back and having fun, and that’s the team on which I’m competing. I expect things will be straightened out by the time I write next week’s blog update. I sure hope so.

This Week On My Needles

After last week’s post about not having enough yarn to knit a second sock, I received a bunch of notes from a lot of you with suggestions and encouragement. Thank you all for dropping notes — I really enjoyed them, and the support. I received several suggestions to knit cuffs/heels/toes (or a combination) with a different yarn, which would be a great solution, and probably would have worked if I realized my danger before knitting the first heel. As it turns out, I was able to find the same yarn in a different colorway, and I think a pair of intentionally mismatched socks with it and my existing sock will turn out great. Thanks again for the feedback — I’m hoping to be able to post about the second sock soon.

In addition to the second sock for my dad, I cast on the Mini Sock Yarn Bunny by Susan B. Anderson. I’ve been wanting to do this one for a while, as a “warm-up” for the larger version. I’m almost done with the head, but need to take a break while I source some 6mm safety eyes. Like the socks, this has been good knitting to help “unwind my brain” at the end of a challenging day at work.

I started a mini sock yarn bunny. I need to get some 6mm eyes before going further.

2014 Knitting Goals

For the past few weeks, I’ve been going back and forth about whether or not to declare “formal” goals or resolutions for my 2014 knitting. Some goals have been rattling in my head, so I decided to go ahead and write them down and treat them as official goals. Since I’m pretty laid-back, I’m not going to be unhappy if I don’t complete all of my knitting goals for 2014, but it will give me a good target to shoot at during the year. There is a thread in the IBK Group on Ravelry about 2014 goals, and I posted my goals there. I decided to be trendy and do it “14 in ’14” style. In no particular order, here’s what I posted:

1. Write 1 new blog post every week on my Knitting Daddy blog.
2. Participate in at least 1 KAL.
3. Finish Blueberry’s Adaline cardigan that has been on the needles, like, forever.
4. Participate in at least 3 IBK swaps. (Probably mini-swaps)
5. Knit at least 4 patterns that have been gifted to me.
6. Contribute to every IBK charity drive.
7. Knit at least 1 pair of socks for myself.
8. Knit a fish hat before the November fishing trip.
9. Knit Spud & Chloë from the Spud & Chloë At The Farm book.
10. Knit Mary, Joseph, and Jesus for a nativity.
11. Within a week of buying new yarn, cast it on for a project, unless it is “souvenir yarn.” (This was almost “no new yarn,” but I’ll allow myself to buy yarn for specific projects.)
12. Knit at least 1 hat for myself.
13. Write out and publish patterns for my iPhone Cozy and Dapper Dishcloth.
14. Submit something to the county and/or state fair.

It’s an ambitious list, and doesn’t represent all of the knitting I plan to do this year. I’m planning more toys, dishcloths, gifts, etc. But I think it’s good to have an ambitious list. And, to be fair, some of the items on the list can (and probably will) be combined — for example, anything I knit for the county and/or state fair will likely be from one of the patterns that has been gifted to me.

We’ll see how it goes. It will be fun checking in against the list from time to time throughout the year to see how I’m doing. With this blog post, so far I’m right on track for Goal #1!

Do you have knitting goals for 2014? If you’ve had knitting goals in the past, do they help you focus throughout the year? What are some of your goals for this year? Join the conversation by leaving a comment on this post about your knitting goals for 2014.

Until next week, keep on knitting for the ones you love!

-greg