my 52 project challenge

With the turn of the New Year, I decided I needed some official inspiration for finishing craft and knitting projects. Browsing through posts in the arts and crafts forum on Mothering, I discovered this thread, 52 Project Challenge and I immediately fell in love! Essentially, the idea is to complete a total of 52 art and craft projects in the year 2010. In 2009, I got a huge number of projects done, including a ton of hand-made gifts. I hope this year will be even more fruitful!

To keep track of my goals, the projects I begin, and my to-do list, I will post pretty often here. I will also rely heavily on my Ravelry queue as well as my projects list. I must say that Ravelry is the most wonderful thing EVER! I also found a fantastic site: Swap-bot, an online site that organizes group swaps and a community of creative individuals. I hope to participate in at least one swap a month, some just for fun, and some for unique gifts, especially as the holidays approach.

My immediate to-do list includes:

• Hand-dying wool yarn
• Valentines for Evelyn to give away at school and for close friends
• Knit headbands for the girls for Valentine's Day
  
• Esme's birthday gift--a knit kitty or Totoro
• Stenciled t-shirts
• Knit DS case for a friend
  

So here is how I stand as of this moment: 47/52, which means I have completed a total of five projects already this year. So far, all of my finished projects are knitted.

Project 52/52

My first project of the new year is a knit shrug. I used a few different patterns as a basis for this project, but I changed various aspects here and there for my own purposes and to accommodate the yarn I used, which was a miscellaneous wool blend that my Oma sent me for Christmas a few years back. I gave it to my friend as a belated Christmas-early birthday gift, and she loved it!

Project 51/52

I knit made a lovely little neck warmer for David, complete with button. This pattern took only an hour or two to finish. I used the pattern Mini-Scarf with Button by Melissa Rotert posted on Craftster.

Project 50/52

Another project I made was a little striped lace scarf which I knit long-ways with a fluffy acrylic yarn for my cousin's daughter's 8th birthday. Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture (Esme puked all over me before they opened gifts at the party, so we cut out early), but it was a fast-knit, fun project. David made two beaded bookmarks for her and we also included a Bare Book and markers. She apparently loved everything.

Project 49/52

I made a knit strawberry from Pezdiv's pattern for the girls. This project took only a little less than two hours to finish! I plan to eventually do more of these before Valentine's Day as fun little gifts. They will make perfect editions to our little wooden play-food set!

Project 48/52

The project I finished most recently is a headband/ear-warmer for myself. I decided I needed to make something for me, and since I am tired of stuffing my hair in hats, an ear-warmer would be perfect. I altered Kathryn Schoendorf's pattern Calorimetry from Knitty to work the yarn in the appropriate gague. I am in love with this Noro-like yarn! It's soft and pretty and I have quite a bit left over. Maybe I can knit a complimentary scarf.

Upcoming projects

Right now, I am in the middle of three knitting projects, including that Log-Cabin blanket for Evelyn (which I have been in the middle of for four months now), a felted mini-backpack for myself, and a baby hat for our friends, who are expecting their first child in about three weeks.

I am really enjoying this personal challenge! Sometimes I need some ground rules and guidelines to keep me going. I also vow to keep track of my projects in 2010 and hand-make most gifts! Let me know what projects you complete this year--I am always up for swapping, if you are interested!