I really wanted to finish up some projects for the end of the year. However, I found new projects that created a bad case of startitis. A road trip to my Mom's and a couple late nights though and somethings got finished.
Woah, using profile mode on my phone makes the glass table look like it's not there! That's kind of freaky.
The hat is
Triangles Brioche hat, available for free. I recommend having some brioche experience. I may have made the brim triangles a bit short because I misunderstood the pattern.
I used Noro "Kuryeon" and Peace Fleece, I think 4.5mm needles and I knit the smaller size. It fits perfect, perhaps a teeny tiny bit loose on the forehead but it's okay.
Rob said I needed a pompom because it'll make me look taller. I dug out the pompom maker (from a Klutz kit).
I used both strands together. I stopped midway through the first half, cut the yarn, then started the second half. Wrapped it full, then went back to the first half. I wanted the yarn to blend more, and not create blotches.
When you cut it open, it looks terrible. It's more football shaped and scraggly. Trim it up (somewhat aggressively!). Then swing it around by the long strand so it gets fluffed up. Then steam! Yes! Especially with natural fibers. The steam opens it up and makes it fluffy and dense.
I sewed it on but it was really floppy. I watched some YouTube videos on how to fix this but I wasn't happy with them. Instead I used a button inside and thread the yarn ends through the button so I could pull them tight and knot, and not have the knot work through the knitting. It seems to have worked well. 96 grams.
I finished the hat in the last 1km of the drive to my Mom's (did the pompom at home). So I went to the back up project, the mitts that have been in my purse for months. As I approached the top of the palm, I had a sneaky suspicion that there wouldn't be enough yarn. So, because they fit me, I switched to making them handwarmers, with ribbing. I tapered the pinky side because I have short pinkies. I'm not planning on keeping these though LOL. 58grams.
I had planned the next project before I left home, so I was prepared. I had somehow found
Hyperbolic Mobius Fidget toy. Well, isn't that cool. I wish I had my own classroom so I could keep a stash of these. The first one, I did have to start it three times LOL. The third one, I had to rip out after 2" because I had forgotten the increases. Once you figure it out, it's easy!
The first two, I did this weird yarn for the last round. It has these 2" caterpillars of fluff every 6". Instead of trying to crochet them, I treated them like a bobble (crocheted the start of the fluff with a SC, skip ahead to the end of the fluff, crochet a SC into the same stitch). The last row made it a bit too thick though. I should have not crocheted as many rows before doing that. The third one, I used a plain black for the last row and made tiny bobbles. I figure this way, I can hand it to a student, and say "find the start of the black row" and they can work it through the centre, driving themselves either crazy or calm. Please watch a video of these fidgets in action. While I did finish that last black row today, I'm going to include it in 2023 totals. I just didn't want to get up last night to get the black yarn LOL. 70gr + 31gr
Alright. Year end totals.
2023:
Yarn In: 0g
Yarn Out: 255gr + 620gr = 875gr
Balance: 875gr more OUT than in
Costs: $0
2022:
Yarn In: 940gr
Yarn Out: 1264gr
Difference: 324gr more OUT than in
Costs: $28.78/365 days = $0.08/day
2021:
Yarn In: 3109gr
Yarn Out: 1053gr + 4586gr = 5369gr
Balance: 2530 gr more OUT than in
Cost: $44.66, 365 days, $0.12/day
2020:
Yarn In: 6477gr
Yarn Out: 11482gr
Balance: 5005gr gr more OUT than in!
Costs: $140.68/365 days = $0.39 per day
2019 2018
Yarn In: 2485.5gr Yarn In: 1501gr
Yarn Out: 3384gr Yarn Out: 4142 gr
Balance: 898gr more OUT than IN Balance: 2641 gr OUT
Costs: $90.24 = $0.25/day Costs: $41.39 = $0.11/day
2017 2016
Yarn In: 2442gr Yarn In: 11 223gr
Yarn Out: 4900gr Yarn Out: 11 260gr
Balance: 2458gr more OUT Balance: 37gr OUT
Costs: $67.30 = $0.18/day Costs: $507.27 = $1.39/day
2015 2014
Yarn In: 9989gr Yarn In: 10 076gr
Yarn Out: 9272gr Yarn Out: 8061gr
Balance: 717gr more IN Balance: 2015gr more IN
Costs: $430.10 = $1.18/day Costs: $511.49 = $1.40
2013 2012
Yarn In: 16 153gr Yarn In: 21 096
Yarn Out: 16 805gr Yarn Out: 16 849gr
Balance: 625gr more OUT Balance: 4247gr more IN
Costs: $378.91 = $1.04/day Costs: 524.43 = $1.43/day
I was surprised last year at how little I bought, and knit. Well, this is my first $0 year. I wish I had started keeping track sooner. These 12 years do represent a huge range of life situations. I was doing some custom knitting, some for sale (which rarely sold after I knit it; I gave away a huge lot of items to my MIL to sell/donate at her church's bazaar this past November); I've done a lot of charity knitting. Some years I had lots of money to spend on yarn, some years I didn't. This past year, I could have spent a lot--but I didn't have time to knit!
Twelve Year Totals and Averages:
Yarn In: 85 491gr
Average: 7 124gr
Yarn Out: 93 663gr
Average: 7805gr
Balance: 8172gr more OUT than in
Costs: $2765.25
Average: $230.44 or $0.63/day
I wonder what this year will bring. I'm still drawing a lot. I'm working on creating digital resources for work, and potentially to sell. I'm hoping to sew more (I just bought a bunch of fabric to try to use up some fabric LOL). I'm going to keep knitting. The charity I used to donate blankets to has stopped, so I'm not sure what I'll knit. I was going to make some fingerless gloves to go with the hat from this post but really, the yarn is thick and they should be mittens. The fingerless gloves I wear daily are from the end of 2015 and are in sock yarn. I still love them even though they've faded. Heavy worsted weight for fingerless gloves seems a bit wrong. Clunky. I could knit a scarf but I really don't need one. More bears? Gnomes?
