I had been doing the posts the day before to take off the pressure of getting one out in a timely manner. Yesterday though was the last day of the month and I had a personal deadline I was trying to meet. I did! I got two shrugs done, one in I started and finished yesterday!
Lorajean had commented via Facebook about my organizing post that it must be why I'm so productive. I think in the last few months why I have been so productive is because I'm knitting things for five different groups. ;-) Two are similar in that they are sock groups using your stash and doing your own sock club. So I'm knitting a pair of socks each month. When I'm not insane and knitting the DH a pair of mile long kilt hose (even if done on large yarn!), I average about a week to do a pair of socks. My only rule with a sock pattern is that I have to enjoy it. If I don't then the second one would never get done. This helps a lot! If I'm trudging along on the first one, putting it down a lot, then it gets evaluated as to why. If I can't get over the 'why', its frogged and another pattern is found.
One of the other groups is a shawl group. I'm again only using stash and dipping into my handspun yarns so extra special. I have a lot of shawl patterns in my queue and this is helping to get them knit up! I'm not sure what I'm going to do at the end of the year with a dozen shawls, but suspect that some will become gifts.
Which leads to the Christmas monthly make ahead group. I went through the people that we gift to and tied things in my queue to a person and then used the themes that the group came up with each month to decide when to knit them. For March, the two shrugs I finished at the last minute are both for that group. There's monthly prizes if you knit for the theme, so I also get entered into the drawing. (The shawl group also has a drawing)
The 12 in 2011 is to get you to knit something each month. They don't care if you use something that you're using in another group. So for March I'm doing that because the shrug I planned for the nieces gobbled up a few days trying to decide if it was going to work or not, until I decided to go with this other one. I'm using it to get items that don't fall into the Christmas gifts, checking there's three items left to do that are gifts. Everything else are items that I've been meaning to do for myself, but haven't because I've been knitting for everyone else!
I'm being 'selfish' this year and making sure that a portion of my knitting is for me or my family that I get direct feedback saying they appreciate my efforts. Sure people have said when they have received and item that they like it, but do I get pictures of them wearing them? Not so far! Though Judy has told be several times since Christmas how much she has been loving her dishcloths and how they don't sour like others do and that she'd love to get more. That kind of feedback will get her more.
So I really think I'm being more productive because I'm participating in these groups and trying to meet these deadlines. They're artificial deadlines, but I try not to treat them that way. (Why I was up until after midnight getting a shrug done - it was done before, but I had other things to wrap up after it.) There aren't any knitting police that are going to show up if I don't make the deadlines, but I like the sense of accomplishment in knowing that I'm getting stuff done.
Oh! I am also doing a 12 in 2011 for spinning. It seems to be helping there too. I've had a much easier time with getting things spun up and even able to not have to worry about spinning for the rest of the month if I needed to knit, or do some little side spinning. This next month I have fair spinning so a number of one ounce projects that I'll see how much I get done.
Hopefully these groups help me grow in my knitting skills as well as my finished projects pile for me as well as for family members!
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