More excuses and a new goal

It's the same excuse really; I still haven't found my card reader and can't get photos uploaded (though maybe I could make more excuses about why I haven't looked harder for my card reader, gotten another on, taken pictures on my phone and then e-mailed them to myself, or even worked on anything worth taking pictures of, but who wants to read that?). So, yeah, I'm being a bit lazy with the blogging, but rest assured the knitting/spinning/combing is still happening.

Here's the run down of skills and feelings about said skills:
Knitting- Certainly Competent: While I don't know everything there is to know I feel sure that I could quickly learn any technique needed for any desired pattern. I have successfully completed scarves, blankets, stuffed animals, hats, gloves, mittens, socks, and sweaters; lace, cables, and fair isle projects. There is an endless supply of patterns and techniques, and while they might not be the easiest ,quickest, or most fun projects, I do feel I could complete almost any project out there (though I'm sure I would get an interesting set of results if you wanted to "challenge" me with a pattern or two, though no promises that anything would get made).

Spinning- Worsted Fingering- Fairly Adept: I feel I have gotten to a good place with a worsted style fingering weight yarn, even to the point that I have a finished skein of BFL just waiting for some more friends before it heads over to Etsy. Other drafting styles or weights, well that's a different story, but I am working on it with reasonable amounts of progress. That said, I'm not holding my breath for any ribbons at this year's fair now that I'm not a novice anymore.

Dyeing- It's fun, and alot quicker than anything else: I'm still figuring out how to get professional quality dye jobs, but I like what I've made for myself, and my friend that I did some dyeing for liked the results (which lead to another possibly Etsy-worth idea).

So I feel like I can make just about anything I would want for myself (like most crafters I have lower standards for the things I keep than the things I would give or possibly even sell). I am confident that I could keep my family in woolies in a post-apocalyptic world. So what's next? While my current skills are far from perfect, certainly have room for improvement, and keep me pleasantly occupied with wool as often as I want, I can't help but feel that I should try my hand at designing. I have improvised several things, but it would be nice to plan something on paper so that everyone could know what is happening in my head. For some reason I feel like a hat is the place to start. So before my birthday this year, I want to try and design (on paper) a hat, and then see if someone else can make it. The trick will be making it interesting enough for anyone to care while not making it so crazy that nobody understand what on earth I am thinking. We shall see how it goes...