ADD Crafting

October 18, 2011 3:00 PM

Inspired by this Conceptual Knitting project. What are some fun long term projects where I can do some small thing every day and end up with something cool after X amount of time.

So with the Sky Scarf I knit one row every day in yarn colors to match the sky. At the end of a year I'll have a really long scarf that will be a kind of weather map of the whole year.

I really love the idea and I'm wondering if there are other things I can do that are similar. If I do X every day then in Y amount of time I'll have Z.

I'm looking for fun things of all sorts. I'm not looking for things like "Floss and you'll have pretty teeth." "Exercise and you'll get healthy." "Eat an apple and make your colon happy."

I want specific projects with specific results and outcomes.

Links are great, and I'd love blogs where people have done similar things.

posted by TooFewShoes to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)

Are you open to other knitting projects? Because HEXIPUFFS. Oh my god, hexipuffs. They are easy and addictive and squishy and you can throw them at the cat. The idea is to make several hundred and turn them into a quilt, but even if you don't make a quilt's worth they will bring you squishy joy.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:08 PM on October 18, 2011 [10 favorites]

Response by poster: While that is a great project, it costs money. I guess I should have clarified that these need to be low cost. As in free ideas and low cost materials.
posted by TooFewShoes at 4:23 PM on October 18, 2011

Skull a day. He published a book, too.
posted by annsunny at 4:42 PM on October 18, 2011

I've bought at least half of the yarn I'm using in my hexipuffs I bought super-cheaply at yard sales, or are remainders from previous projects, but yes, the costs do mount up if you want to go for the quilt. You could use what leftovers you do have to make pillow cases or cat beds or ...

There are lots of blogs where people have taken a picture a day. I have a friend who made a flip book of her orchid - she took a fixed picture every day, so you can see it bud up, bloom, die back, bud up, bloom, etc. The major costs were an ink cartridge and heavy paper (she already had the camera, computer, printer).

I have another friend who took the stamps on mail sent to her house and turned them into a giant paper mosaic collage. It ended up a bit psychodelic because she couldn't predict which stamps would actually come to the house.
posted by julen at 4:43 PM on October 18, 2011

Write a page a day and after about a year you'll end up with a novel.
posted by lollusc at 5:45 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I also like abstract ideas kind of like what lollusc wrote. Maybe I can write one thing I love about my kids and at the end of the year I can give them a list of 365 things that make them awesome.

Feel free to leave similar suggestions.
posted by TooFewShoes at 6:10 PM on October 18, 2011

I'm making a franken blanket maship of the Shelley Kang sockblankie and the mason Dixon mitered square blanket.

I'll send you some of my fun leftovers, if you want to so something with sock scraps.

There are people who do a dress a day for a week or whatever, but you could
Pin pattern one day
Cut the next
Pin pieces the next
Sew
Try on
Adjust

And that's a dress/ other garment in a week.

Embroidery. One letter a night gets you an alphabet a month. Save them for gifts. Design your own font, or don't.

Found poetry. Choose one line from each day's news. Maybe pick a particular source. Stop when the open feels done.

Blanket granny square projects or ripples - one square or a few rows a night. A month gets you a blanket. Check yarn.com for good deals on Comfort or Encore or cascade 220 superwash.
posted by bilabial at 6:59 PM on October 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ann Wood's cardboard stampede is a day at a time project that looked wonderful upon completion. I've downloaded the templates myself, but I still haven't made a horse...
posted by thylacinthine at 7:05 PM on October 18, 2011

I've got a giant pile of granny squares - they're quick and easy and very portable and if i want to get complicated there are plenty of complicated patterns. Now I'm in the process of linking them together.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:05 PM on October 18, 2011

This metatalk almost sounds like it was inspired by this question! You should join in!
posted by lollusc at 5:03 PM on October 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the heads up lollusc!
posted by TooFewShoes at 5:30 PM on October 19, 2011