Barb called Cynthia on one cold and snowy day toward the end of December and said, "I think it would be fun to have a theme for 2025. I was thinking, wouldn't it be nice to get some things completed? Maybe some things that we haven't worked on for a long time or maybe it's something that we'd like to explore that's completely new? Maybe by giving ourselves permission to go back into the archives and pick something that inspires us or brings us joy, it might be a fun thing to do in each of the months of 2025?"
Cynthia immediately went to the closet in her spare room where she stores her loom, spinning wheel, and unfinished projects. She opened the closet doors and thought, "I have enough unfinished projects for a full year, maybe more! Putting 12 projects in the queue will be a very good start. A very good start, indeed."
We (Barb and Cynthia) have set up some "loose" parameters for ourselves:
- the project can be any craft: knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, sewing, needlework, needlefelting, painting, cooking/baking, etc.
- the project should inspire a positive emotion.
- it can be an unfinished object (UFO) or you might start something from scratch.
- it might be a project that was started by another person and you've decided to finish it. That counts!
- we'll try as much as possible, to use materials from "stash". This might mean frogging a project that we've decided will never get finished and using the yarn to finish something new. Of course, if a new yarn happens to enter the stash, it's fair game!
- it's one finished object each month, so we're leaving large projects (blankets, sweaters, fine lace shawls) out of the this queue. (That doesn't mean there might not be a year-long project going on in the background... it's just not in the FO 2025 list - yet.)
Barb was also inspired by Stephanie Pearl McPhee's sock projects for the year 2024 (Stephanie put 12 sock projects into individual paper bags and each month she opened a new bag and tried to complete a pair of socks each month). We thought about that... putting 12 projects into bags and picking one blindly each month. And you could do that too. After some consideration, we've "aired" out the potential projects and put them into clear bags or projects bags and decided to pick and choose at the beginning of each month, without the "surprise" of not knowing what was coming up.
We want you to join us! If you'd like to commit to finishing 12 projects in 2025, we encourage you to come along. Think about what craft or project or learning opportunity you'd like to finish in a month of 2025. Make a list. Or set aside 12 projects. And jot down a few notes.
We think it's important to document your finished objects. Tell the story, set the scene, talk about the positive emotion and/or what finishing this project means to you. Share the story of why this project motivates or inspires you. We'll be posting our projects on Ravelry and we've set up a Ravelry discussion thread that you can join to talk about your project, ideas, motivations, etc.
You can also post a comment on our YouTube Channel. Click here to see our Podcast On! Episode 97 where we talk about the Year of Finished Objects and tell us, in the comments, what you'll be working on for the month of January 2025.
We'll also be posting about projects here, on this blog, and on our social media. We'd be happy to include photos and stories from you. Just send an email to: info@yarniversity.ca. Attach 1 - 2 photos and tell us what you're working on and why it's your inspiration for the month. We'd be happy to repost it here.
If you'd like to share your progress on social media, be sure to tag us! Or use the hashtag, #yearofthefo (no one's using that one yet, except us!)
Ready? Set? Go!
Comments ()