Now I’m never one to make New Year’s resolutions (my philosophy is, why bother making standards you know you are never going to live up to) so I rarely set goals for the year, especially for making. I’m a slow crafter. Not slow as in part of the mindful crafting philosophy, though I do appreciate their values, but slow in the literal way. It takes me a while to complete anything. And I work on multiple projects at once so that’s multiple things that get done slowly. Because of this, I have a Ravelry queue as long as my arm and a sewing one to match. Not to mention the amount of stash which potential has yet to be recognized. And not to mention the new patterns that continually appear on my social media feeds. Since designers keep coming up with things I want to make, I easily get overwhelmed, gleefully hopping from one fad to the next, spending way more time planning and fantasizing than actually making.
Enter the Make Nine Challenge.
At the beginning of each year Rochelle of Home Row Fibers hosts the Make Nine Challenge. Its goal is to aid participants in mindful crafting and setting manageable crafting goals. (You can read more about its origins here) It’s not a habit I will inevitably fail to stick to. It’s not something I don’t want to do but will somehow feel bad for not doing. Instead, it’s an approach to manage my crafting goals and time, something I sorely need.
I made my list at the beginning of the year and got to work. Then conversations about racism, diversity, and inclusion took the forefront in the knitting and greater crafting community. A few of my friends re-evaluated their Make Nine lists and found a lack of representation on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) designers and switched out some of their project goals for ones that reflected the diversity of the designer community. I liked that thought and mentally pledged to do the same. Well it was July/August before I chose my projects. Certainly not for lack of choices. In fact, I had so many projects I wanted to make, I changed my list many times before finally settling on this one. It’s a combination of knitting and sewing patterns from BIPOC and non BIPOC designers. I have been so excited to make these things.
From top left to bottom right:
- Mountain View Jeans by Itch to Stitch Status: Completed!
- Find Your Fade by Andrea Mowry in Kim Dyes Yarn and Wandering Wool yarns Status: In Progress
- Ripple Bralette by Jessie Maed Designs Status: Completed!
- The Drifter by Tamy Gore Status: Not started
- Rilla Corset by Scroop Patterns Status: Not started
- Pumpkin Everything Cowlette Status: Not started
- My Boy Lollipop by Nanci Ricci Status: In progress
- Stasia by Sew Liberated Status: Not started
- Metamorphic Dress Status: Not started
How do you set your crafting goals? Do you allow yourself to change them up mid-year or are you more iron willed than I? Do you set making goals at all? Whatever your case, I wish you the best in your crafty pursuits for the rest of the year.