Happy New Year! The has been much more wintry this week. In this episode, I provide some tips for pantry organization. On New Year’s Day, I woke early and spent a few hours cleaning. Not glamorous, but well worth the effort. I found some ingredients I had lost track of, and consolidated duplicate items. Hopefully my industry will pay off in the coming months as I cook with pantry items. I’ve been using my new sewing machine and lazy kate, so there are some projects on the back porch. Plus, I will review my progress on 2014 goals and set new intentions for 2015.

LISTEN:

Chin Waggin’

A review of my 2014 goals was quite gratifying, as I managed to accomplish each of these over the past year.

• knit a sweater
• try a felting project
• buy products from new-to-me purveyors
• record 45 podcast episodes
• host a knit-along
• attend a knitting retreat

As I set goals for 2015, I try to keep in mind my aspirations and intentions, rather than create a list of items to check off. I tend not to think about my goals too much throughout the year; it seems as though the process of declaring my intentions at the start of the year is enough to keep me focused.

• knit 2 sweaters
• learn to knit brioche
• spin 3 and 4-ply yarns
• extend my meditative spindling practice
• more embroidery
• tech-no days

Ever-expanding Skill Set

I invite you to join me in an exploration of ground zero in food preparation: The Pantry.

I’d like to examine the physical space of our kitchens and kitchen storage, the history of the pantry, methods of food storage, issues of economy, and the many skills required to cook delicious food with “what’s on hand.” It’s my assumption that skilled cooks have well-stocked pantries, but what exactly IS a well-stocked pantry?

January’s theme is: Organization.

Question of the Week: submitted by Kelly (1hundredprojects) and co-host of the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures audio cast.

“I wonder if people who cook from their pantries are the same people who knit from stash.  And do people who choose a recipe and then shop for it also pick a project and then buy the yarn?”

Join the Yarns at Yin Hoo group on Ravelry and participate in the conversation thread.

And Sew Forth

I’ve added a new podcast segment so that I can talk about learning how to sew. Finally, Gertrude has a job to do besides model scarves and shawls! She is now adjusted to my exact measurements and was very helpful as I worked on patterns from Heather Ross’ Weekend Sewing book. The first pattern I attempted was the Everything Tote. Then I worked on the Kimono Dress, which is pictured on the episode cover. Finally, I made two Weekend Away Bags. These were very difficult and fiddly, so I hunted for sewing tutorials on YouTube until I found a wedge bag tutorial to try. That bag is coming along nicely. I will keep track of sewing project ideas on Pinterest; feel free to look at my board.