Now that the holidays are solidly behind us and all the decorations have been put away, I’ve finally started to think about whether or not I’ll be setting any goals for 2016.  I’m not big into resolutions that just make me feel like a failure halfway through the year.  I’m totally okay with setting goals, though.  It’s a small difference, I know, but I can look at a goal that’s even half-achieved and see the accomplishment.

That being said – I’m not making a ton of knitting goals this year.  Last year, I spent over half the year on one crochet project – a true labor of love – and this year, I just want to knit or crochet whatever I’m drawn to.  I do have a couple projects I definitely want to finish, like a well-deserved sweater I’ve been working on for my mother.  Otherwise, I just want to knit whatever inspires me.

However, I did find that my spinning fell by the wayside last year.  Mostly because I was so determined to finish that one project (I’m clearly not even ready to talk about the project… maybe soon).  I also think I was just in a spinning funk.  The last few spinning projects I worked on all ended up being fingering weight or finer and took me what felt like forever to finish.  In fact, the spinning project I finished today, is a three-ply fingering weight.  I’m ready to cleanse my palate, so to speak, and do some fun and easy spinning.  Mix things up a bit.  Spin some small sample projects, even.  Especially since my biggest goal of all this year is finally spinning my jacob fleece for my Rhinebeck sweater.

I’ve decided to make up a spinning bin.  There is already a group on Revelry that does a Spin Your Bin spin-along.  I’m not taking part in the spin-along, but I’m definitely taking inspiration from it.  I pulled out some of my oldest fiber, as well as other new and interesting things to keep me on my toes.  I’ve gathered it all up, photographed it for some accountability and put it all in a nice clear bin by my spinning wheel.  This way, when I finish one spinning project, I won’t go into analysis paralysis when deciding what to spin next.

As you can see, there is quite a lot in the bin, but I already have a pretty good idea how I want to spin each project.

Some of the projects are already in progress.

Some are samplers of different fiber blends.

Some are even combinations of different fiber braids that I’d like to play with plying together.

The real goal: I want to get back to playing and experimenting with my spinning while getting some major, maybe even looming, spinning projects completed.