Crafty Resolutions 2013

Another new year and another opportunity to take stock, judge our past 12 months, and resolve to create a new and better life in the coming year.

2012 brought an unexpected job change for me and, along with it, a massive distraction that has kept me from any meaningful crafting for months. My life was upended and the ship hasn't righted itself yet. Things are very out of balance.

I miss being driven to "make". My brain has been so filled with all the new stuff I have to learn (a new industry, new people, new tasks), I've had trouble lighting the creative spark. I need to find a way to bring that back to the forefront - to look forward to what's on my needles or what new craft I can learn.

A very wise friend and mentor told me once that resolutions "set us up for failure and feeling sh**ty about ourselves. The resolutions people make are usually about fixing themselves and their lives, based on “there is something wrong here” or even worse, “there is something wrong with me.”

[Editorial tangent: if you're interested in doing something more productive than just making resolutions, I invite you to visit his blog post entitled "Looking Back, Looking Forward" which is a three-part exercise developed to help you create closure for this year and plan for the next.]

So, I figured it might be a good idea to apply this thinking to my crafting. There are a lot of things I'd like to to with my knitting/sewing/upholstery/etc but I need to be realistic about what I can accomplish, especially considering my current "creative block". With this in mind, here are a few crafty goals for 2013:

There's an app for that.

1. More sewing. Cassandra far surpassed me in the sewing category - from her gorgeous Bernina machines to her amazing foray into quilting. I bought the materials to make an apron and have had my eyes on cool aprons that I've seen in stores. My resolution is to make at least one apron from an original design this year. And maybe start a quilt (although that might be stretching it a bit!)

This can't be too hard, right?

2. Knitting cables. For those of you who have read our blog for a while, you may recognize this resolution from a couple of years ago. Sadly, I STILL (two years later) have not actually knitted cables yet. *facepalm* I cannot begin to express how embarrased I am by this admisssion. So... this year for sure! Maybe something easy, like a cabled hat.

Something like this...

3. Needlepoint. Years ago, a dear friend of mine's grandmother needlepointed new seats for her dining room chairs. I was enamored of the finished product. They were sturdy and beautiful and had the advantage of being exactly what she wanted in her dining room. I'm fascinated with the designs of William Morris and want to do something in that style for my chairs. It's a huge undertaking so my resolution is not to do them all but to find some designs I like and to start one. I'll be learning a new skill so I expect my first to be a bit wonky anyway. :)




The chair that started it all.



4. Finish upholstering stuff. I originally took the upholstery class because I didn't want to pay someone to recover a particular chair. I'm now working on chair number six. Sadly, I thought I was going to have all my upholstery completed by December 2011. Ha!! I took one semester off and I had one project that was a total bear and took an entire semester to finish. However, I have no space for new furniture so my goal is to finish what I've got left by the end of fall semester 2013.



I want a Kenyan Top Bar hive.



5. BEES! I've talked about getting bees for the last three years. I came close last year but waited to long and then it was too late to order the actual insects. I've decided on the type of hive I want so I just need to buy one and get the bees at the right time this spring. Fingers crossed that it actually happens in 2013.

I hope that 2013 brings all of you health, happiness, and success in whatever goal(s) you set for yourself. Just remember, don't make resolutions that make you feel sh**ty about yourself. Set goals that, when you reach them, allow you to celebrate how awesome you are.



Happy New Year, friends.

- Alex