Howdy, knitters! Welcome back to another week of knitting talk on the Knitting Daddy blog. If this is your first time here, you might want to check out my knitting origin story to read about how and why I started knitting almost two years ago (short version: I knit because of my awesome daughter). I’m so glad you’re reading my blog, and I hope you enjoy your stay.

It’s been a hectic week at work, and with Easter just around the corner, activity at church has been picking up a lot, too. When it gets busy and hectic, it seems like my knitting time is even more important. It helps me stay relaxed, and it often gives my brain the opportunity to think about (and solve!) non-knitting problems I’m working on, especially things that I’m working on at my day job. So even in the rush-rush-rush of the week, I have managed to do a bit of knitting, which is nice.

Since we’re a quarter of the way through 2104 (already!), I’m going to use this post to check in on my knitting goals. But first, let’s take a look at what’s been going on in my knitting world this week.

This baby-sized heart hat was a fun, quick knit that allowed me to use up a lot of my leftover pink yarn. I’m so glad I learned how to do two-handed stranded colorwork.

This Week In Podcasts

I’m definitely catching up on my knitting podcasts. This week, I listened to episodes of 2 Knit Lit Chicks, Fiber Hooligan, Knit Circus, The Lost Geek, and CraftLit.

In 2 Knit Lit Chicks Episode 65, Barb and Ann are podcasting from Hawaii. I’m jealous! They also mentioned the Colorwork KAL they are hosting in their group. Perfect timing for me! I entered the Fair Isle hat I learned how to make in the workshop I attended last week. I also read some more of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, which is turning out to be a fascinating read. I’m late to the party on their read-a-long, but that’s not going to stop me from reading this great book. The things that the book talks about are becoming more and more relevant to me — especially at my day job — as I work to become more comfortable with my introverted self and try to be effective in an extroverted world.

In Fiber Hooligan: On Safari for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Ben interviews Pam Haschke of Halos of Hope and Marian Rose from the Atlanta Knitting Guild. This was a great episode focusing on charity knitting. Charity knitting holds a special place in my heart because of the awesome preemie hats Blueberry received while she was in the NICU, and it was really cool to hear more stories about charity knitting on the podcast. This is my podcast pick of the week.

In Knit Circus #44, Amy announced the Ravelry user account of her great yarn destash sale: RainbowBeard. If you’re looking for some purple yarn, Amy’s got you covered.

In The Lost Geek Podcast #32: Podcasting In The Dark, Arlin talks about diaries and journals. I go back and forth between using a for-real paper journal and using some kind of electronic journal. It was pretty neat to listen to her talk about her organizational style.

Finally, I’m continuing to enjoy North and South via Craftlit.

This Week In Ravelry

Most of my Ravelry group activity continues to be in the IBK group. I also queued a hat pattern for myself: Rathcoran. I’m excited about stranded colorwork, and this hat will make a great hat for a dude. I hope I can find the time to knit it before winter kicks in.

This Week On My Needles

I finished two projects this week, both as a result of the workshops I went to last week. First was another fair isle hat — Heart Hat (pictured near the top of this post). I had enough of the pink yarn left over from the hat I made for Blueberry in the workshop to make another hat, but baby sized. It’s definitely too small for Blueberry, but that’s OK — I’m going to send it off for this month’s IBK charity.

The other project that came off my needles was the String-A-Long Mouse toy I started in the workshop. During the workshop, I managed to get the head and body knit. Last week, the mouse got ears, arms/legs, a tail, and a face. He’s pretty adorable, and I’m looking forward to knitting up some more string-a-longs to join him. So stay tuned for more — frogs, monkeys, and mice!

The String-A-Long Mouse peeks out of my project bag while I’m in line to buy a hot dog during my lunch break at my day job. He hopes he’ll get some more string-a-long friends soon!

Knitting Goals Update

At the beginning of the year, I set some ambitious knitting goals. I’m making progress against them, and now that another month has gone by and we’re a quarter of the way through 2014, it’s a great time to check in on where I stand with them.

1. ON TRACK — Write 1 new blog post every week on my Knitting Daddy blog.
2. IN PROGRESS — Participate in at least 1 KAL.
3. HIBERNATING — Finish Blueberry’s Adaline cardigan that has been on the needles, like, forever.
4. ON TRACK — Participate in at least 3 IBK swaps. (Probably mini-swaps)
5. NOT STARTED — Knit at least 4 patterns that have been gifted to me.
6. ON TRACK — Contribute to every IBK charity drive.
7. NOT STARTED — Knit at least 1 pair of socks for myself.
8. NOT STARTED — Knit a fish hat before the November fishing trip.
9. NOT STARTED — Knit Spud & Chloë from the Spud & Chloë At The Farm book.
10. NOT STARTED — Knit Mary, Joseph, and Jesus for a nativity.
11. ON TRACK — 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. THINKING ABOUT IT — Knit at least 1 hat for myself.
13. NOT STARTED — Write out and publish patterns for my iPhone Cozy and Dapper Dishcloth.
14. NOT STARTED — Submit something to the county and/or state fair.

All in all, I’m OK with my progress. I’m definitely happy to be consistently blogging every week. It looks like I’m moving publication date from Monday to Wednesday, but I’m cool with that. For participating in 1 KAL, I kinda participated in the Egg-to-Alligator KAL in the IBK group. That KAL was in March. I knitted it up in December for a Christmas present, and I shared my pictures in the group. I’m planning on doing the Bunny & Lamb KAL that’s going on right now, and a Milo KAL next month. For the IBK swaps, I’ll have that wrapped up next month: I’ve already participated in a Valentine’s swap and a Bunny swap. I’m currently participating in a Rainbow swap. As far as yarn acquisition goes, I’ve successfully limited my yarn purchasing to only souvenir yarn, or yarn specifically for a project that I quickly started after purchasing the yarn. For a hat for myself, I’ve picked out a pattern, so I think I’ll be good to go with this one.

For the ones I haven’t started yet, there’s a decent chance I’ll make good progress on them as the year goes on. But I also fully expect some of them to drop off my list by the time the year is through. And I’m OK with that, too.

How are you doing with your knitting goals? Join the conversation by leaving a comment sharing what your goals are and how reality is matching up against them. Are there some goals you had at the beginning of the ear that you need to change? Are you adding anything? Dropping something?

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

-greg