2021 Needlework Goals Update

In my post Year of the UFO Final Round-up, I identified my needlework goals for 2021. I wanted to make a crocheted, twin size blanket for my 3yo son, just like I have for his older siblings; continue doing weekly charity knitting; finish a doily and seaman's scarf that I started ages ago; and prepare various knitting and crochet patterns I've written for sale.  Now that the first quarter of 2021 is complete, it's time to document my progress.


1. I've made most of the boy's blanket. I only need to make eleven more squares and then do the edging and finishing. Since I join the squares in the final round, there's no sewing involved.

2. When I first asked the 3yo about his color preferences for his blanket, he said he wanted orange. After I bought a big skein of orange acrylic, he insisted he wanted red. Once it was clear he wouldn't budge on red, I bought the colors he wanted. The skein of orange turned out to be enough for half a rainbow-themed baby blanket. That blanket, once finished, went in the box with last year's charity knitting, and was shipped off to Warm Up America.

Now I have yarn leftover from that project and leftover hot pink yarn from making slippers for the Octopus. I'm using that to start another baby blanket. I'm also making slippers and have bought cotton for making dishcloths. This year's box will go to The Pink Slipper Project, which provides supplies to women's shelters.

And if the last three photos make it look like I've been making lots of granny squares, that's a fair assessment. I actually haven't done much with the Chameleon's blanket for the last few weeks, because I've needed a change of pace. That's also why I won't be donating to Warm Up America this year.

3. I haven't even looked at the doily or seaman's scarf. My other projects are higher priorities right now. 

4. I've edited and e-published three of my old knitting patterns and one new crochet pattern (you can find that page here). I tested, edited, and photographed those patterns last year, so all that remained was formatting and figuring out how to publish pdfs for download.

This year, I've put those four patterns up for sale here. Figuring out how to publish pdfs for sale has been a learning curve, and still is. I've also created a Stitch Whisper Facebook page, am listing links to patterns on Ravelry, and am trying to post content here regularly.

I'm currently working on testing and formatting some of Practical Crocheter's patterns, and some of the things I've made from those patterns are going in this year's charity box. My goal is to publish two of her patterns by the end of this month. One of those patterns is ready to go, but I've run into some technical difficulties getting it up on the Patterns for Sale page.  I've also written down a list of my writing projects, my patterns, and Practical Crocheter's patterns, added notes about what work they need, and my goals for publication dates.

Finally, since most of my patterns were written 15 or so years ago, the majority are stored on old CDs. I bought an external cd/dvd drive so that I can access them.

5. Now that I have my creative juices flowing again with my needlework, I've started having a few project ideas I'd like to work on. We'll see if I get to any of them this year, but I hope I will.
 
What are you working on? What are your needlework goals for the year, and what progress have you made towards them?

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