These are resolutions you’ll actually want to keep.

I’ve always viewed New Year’s resolutions like chores: they’re things I must resolve to do because I don’t really want to do them. Things like getting more exercise, going to bed earlier, eating out less, vacuuming more… they all sound icky. I know I should do them, but I really don’t want to and, let’s face it, probably won’t.

Resolutions like that are a recipe for unhappiness: I either resent having to do them or feel guilty about not following through. As a result, I haven’t bothered with New Year’s resolutions for a long, long time. The world is heavy enough already. Why add even more weight by giving myself chores I don’t want to do and feeling guilty when I don’t get them done?

BUT THEN… I saw a meme on Facebook a few days ago that pointed out that resolutions don’t have to be chores! They can be fun instead. The examples given were “eat as many new shapes of pasta as you can find,” and “try a new kind of cheese every month.” 

The idea that resolutions can be fun goals – rewards, even! – rather than icky chores kind of blew my mind. It got me excited about New Year’s resolutions for the first time in years because why not give myself something to look forward to and be excited by? Why not intentionally plan some bright spots for myself in the year ahead?

I am seriously considering the pasta and cheese ideas but they also got me thinking: How can I apply the same idea to weaving resolutions? What fun tasks can I assign myself for the year that I’ll actually be excited about and look forward to?

Here are some ideas I’ve come up with. They’re geared towards what sounds fun and exciting to me, but maybe they’ll work for you, too, or at least get you started on a list of your own that will make you want to get to the loom and get weaving.

Straight-up treats to reward yourself with

• Take a class on a subject you’re excited about or by a teacher you love.
• Get a book you’ve been anxious to read. (Consider interlibrary loans!)
• Get a tool you’ve been wishing for.
• Get some yarn you’ve been lusting after.

Take a new class or buy a new tool and get weaving

• Take a class on a topic you don’t know anything about.
• Try a new weaving tool you’ve never used before. (Borrow from friends or a guild if you don’t want to buy.)
• Weave a project in a structure you’ve never used before.
• Weave a project using a yarn you’ve never used before.

Reading about weaving

• Read every issue of Handwoven (or magazine of your choice) or the HA Blog (or blog of your choice) that comes out during the year.
• If you’ve got a digital subscription or back issues on your bookshelf, read every issue of Handwoven (or magazine of your choice) from a particular year or set of years, or every article on a particular topic you’re interested in.
• Pick a topic. Make a list of books, magazine articles, or blog posts about that topic. Read some of them!
• Read a book on your bookshelf you acquired but never actually read.

Designing projects

(You don’t have to weave these, just design them!)

• Design a project that uses your favourite colors, or the colors in a favourite photograph.
• Design a project using a most liked, most viewed, or newest draft on Handweaving.net.
• Design a project for a certain room – or each room! – in your house.
• Design a project for a specific person.
• Design a project that uses yarns in your stash.

Academy resolutions

• Post a picture in What’s on Your Loom every month – even if it’s the same project several times in a row! 
• Attend Peer Support sessions during the year.
• Use the Twill Generator and Draft Editor to design a twill project.
• Weave a twill and/or color gamp.

You’ll notice that very few of the tasks on my list are actually weaving. For me, learning new stuff, acquiring new toys, designing and planning projects, and interacting with other weavers are what get me fired up and excited. I like weaving too, but if I expect myself to weave certain things, that’ll turn weaving into a chore and sap some of the joy out of the experience. It’ll feel like pressure rather than an opportunity (or excuse!) to do what I want to do anyway. 

You may not feel like that about weaving; the point is to keep in mind what will actually get you excited vs. what will feel like a chore to be done, and then avoid the chores! If weaving is what fires you up, you could change the “designing projects” list to “weaving projects” instead.

I don’t plan on attempting all the tasks on the list above, but I might pick a few to work on for 2025, in addition to the cheese and pasta.

What about you? What would you put on your list of fun and inspiring resolutions that inspire you to get weaving? 

---

From the Community: