I have so much to share (including, um, 10 days of Advent activities – if I can remember them all at this point!). I’ve been sick for the last several days (i.e., all of my vacation so far – ugh!), but I am finally starting to feel more like myself – just in time to say good-bye to 2013! So it’s time for a little look back at the year, craftwise.

2013 :: finished knits

By the numbers, this appears to be my least productive year since I started knitting. In fact, according to my Ravelry records, I am missing huge chunks of time where I neither started nor finished anything (most of February, part of March). This was a real mystery to me, until I finally remembered that there were some designs I was trying to work up then, all of which are in various stages of development (and at least one of which might be scratched entirely). I’ve begun to realize that if I really want to design (and I do), then I need to be prepared for a decrease in my overall knitting output.

At any rate, here’s what I did accomplish, knitwise, in 2013:

socks – 2 pairs

mitts/mittens – 5 + 24 (Smitten)

shawls – 1 (!)

sweaters – 2

baby booties – 2 pairs

hats – 4

cowl – 1

Only four of these items were done in handspun (but all of the projects I was working on designing earlier in the year were handspun). The real surprise is that more than half of what I made was for other people. I think that’s pretty good for a self-proclaimed selfish knitter.

The thing I made that gets the most wear is my Chevron Love Mittens – it makes me so happy on grey days to have something warm and colorful to wear. It was also nice to finish up a project I had started three years earlier. I also released four designs this year, which was exciting.

My knitting goals for 2014 include finishing a pair of sweaters for my kiddos (ideally this season!), knitting something (anything!) for My Old Man, and developing and releasing a few more designs.

I set a lofty spinning goal this year and came nowhere near meeting it. I joined the 13 in 13 Ravelry group, with the goal of spinning 13 pounds of fiber.  But I did manage to spin 5 lbs., 5.2 oz., which is far more than I’ve ever done in a year.

2013 spinning

I became more confident with chain-plying this year, and I also made a couple of cabled yarns for the first time ever. I also spun a couple of my “holy grail” yarns, including one that had been in my stash since before I was actually a spinner. For my birthday in June, I got a new spinning wheel (a Schacht Cherry Matchless), and I love it beyond what is rational. I also got some great spinning books for Christmas, and I am really looking forward to learning and growing as a spinner in 2014.

I had one pretty big craft-related goal for 2013 that I didn’t manage to accomplish, but I did move closer to it, and I hope to achieve it in early 2014. When I do, you’ll be the first to hear about it!

Other things I did in 2013:

• lived in a hotel for a month, with my family and pets, while our house was being repaired following a flood (the fridge water line burst and flooded the kitchen, hallway, and basement) – truly one of the more stressful things I’ve done in awhile
• ran my second half-marathon
• completed my doctoral coursework
• hiked part of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (along Lake Superior) with my husband and kids
• went to New York City for the first time in a decade (and for my kids’ first time ever); took in 3 Broadway shows
• went camping for the first time since my 20s

How about you? How was your 2013, craftwise and otherwise? What craft goals do you have for 2014?