Bundles of Fun

Have you tried out the "Bundle" feature in Favourites on Ravelry?

I worked with it over the weekend to sort out what I might want to knit for my Autumn wardrobe (here is the page with my new new little bundles - you can click on the Autumn 15 one to see what I've put in there so far.)

I am using it to help me separate the things I'd like to knit from the things I need in my closet and to sort out what I might be able to actually accomplish from what I'd just love to knit.

I need to do this because, in my closet ,there's an excess of cardigans and over sized pullovers where I'd like to be finding some neatly fitting crew neck sweaters yet while I see the disconnect in that picture as I get dressed, my awareness of it evaporates as soon as I am falling in love with knitting patterns ("fav"-ing cardis hand over fist).

The Bundling thing facilitates comments and lets me see them and a variety of images/colours/silhouettes on a group of patterns taken from among my favourites - all at one time.

Even better, editing them out of the bundle doesn't remove them from my larger collection of favourites so I can revisit them, save the idea for later or even add them back into the Bundle.

I particularly like being able to feature any single image of a favourite to better illustrate why I've chosen it. If I like this sleeve or that colour combination, for example,  I choose that image to be foremost on that bundled favourite.

In the notes beneath each image I also highlighted possible remnants I'd like to use and/or the modifications I would make.

This morning then, my "Autumn '15" Bundle shows me a variety of knitted pieces that could all work together in the coming months if I work them up as noted.

What a fantastic tool to search the yarn I have on hand/shop for yarn in the coming weeks and even to decide what next to cast on rather than just chronologically working through my queue as I have in the past.

Nice!

(Especially nice because P.S. in knitting terms, Christmas isn't that far off! 'Gives me an idea for another Bundle!)

Oh and also nice you dropped by today!

The Knitting World is My Oyster

The seamless yoke is drying on the blocking board.

I haven't a WIP - even a long languishing one tucked anywhere.

Save yarn for a couple of pairs of socks there isn't a project's worth of yarn in this house.

I've a couple of things in the queue but nothing super compelling and I don't have an idea or a need or a long loved pattern for which I must source appropriate yarn.

I got zip, nada, an "echo" in the project basket.

I do have the Toronto Knitter's Guild Frolic coming up this Saturday.

I've a printed copy of the vendor's list/floor plan and a mind to strategically plan my "attack"

'Just need "targets" to 'better understand what I'm hunting for.

Off to Ravelry with my tea I go!

"Queue"

a..."...sequence (of knitting) awaiting its turn to be attended to..."

Last year sometime I realized my Ravelry Queue was documenting my knitting fantasies rather than organizing my knitting projects. Nothing I had in house or stash or knitting basket or patterns had any connection to the Queue. Ever.

My seasonal knit/purchase cycle nonetheless seemed suited to expression in queue form so why not give a go to putting the two together?

This required first moving a bunch of things to my Favourites from the Queue but I did that and it seemed the earth continued to rotate around the sun and life as I knew it did not end so I onward I went essentially including in the Queue only projects that I would knit within the upcoming fall/winter or summer knitting season as opposed to what I would like to knit.

Next I used the Queue as a "To Do" list to facilitate assembly of necessary needles/yarn/patterns, documenting acquisition's as I went along.

Now to be honest, even after moving the obvious suspects from Queue to Favs I still was left with more of a  wish list and had to keep editing until I reached a more realistic list. Easier said than done but this was about goals not perfection!

After Christmas I had to review things to incorporate the yarn and patterns I received. Again a bit of shopping. Importantly, I think, I have also left shopping to be done to complete the queue because honestly, that's part of the fun isn't it? I've noted the yardage and yarn still outstanding to take with me on my travels in the coming months.

Then over the weekend as I felt I was past the halfway mark on Ranger I took a look at what the queue told me should be coming up. It was another cardigan followed by, yet another cardigan. A nice expression of blind optimism rather than an honest recognition that I'll want to jump into something small and fun after a big, long, all on one needle men's cardigan! So I shifted things around to reflect that. I even thought about the weather, when I might want to wear things and shifted some more.

Of course its not cast in stone but it feels good. It feels doable from a knitting perspective and useful from a living-in-the-real-world-and-wearing-my-knits perspective too. I cannot lie, I adore the way knitters like Kate Davies dress head to toe in wool but as much as I admire her style and lifestyle, it isn't mine. I'm trying to have the contents of my queue reflect my life, my knitting, my body rather than the helter skelter knitting interests that had me dreaming of cranking out Shetland Style knits I'd never wear.

As I age and tastes/styles change I want to be open to different kinds of patterns so the Queue has to be short enough for me to accomplish its contents before they become obsolete. I'm hoping this will keep me knitting relevant things. For example, the body skimming fit I used to seek has been replaced by an interest in drape and positive ease. If I were still working to accomplish the contents of my old Queue I'd be putting off exploring loose fitting/knitted styles until the others were complete which may have been never.

Instead with my purged Queue I realized I had time to knit something for My Beloved and Ranger, as an example has an almost shockingly open gauge that gives it a soft light drape. New ideas being explored, relevant garments being produced. It feels like my new approach is working.

I'm a list lover and maker at heart so the Queue feature on Ravelry should be useful and relevant to me. Now that I'm starting to think more carefully about how I'm using it, its finally feeling like its just that.

Thanks for dropping by!