A Fresh Start Making Challenge 2023
New year! More making!
Thought it would be really fun to start 2023 with a little challenge on Instagram to get us connecting, with our craft and with each other while figuring out how to lay out the year in a meaningful and mindful way.
New Year resolutions and everything else a new year’s pressure brings can be quite heavy. We really don’t have to have it all figured out in the first second of the new year to have a great year. It’s about acting on our intentions daily that makes our goals happen every day, not just in the first month of the new year.
A Fresh Start Challenge will have prompts that not only connect you to your making but also hopefully connect back to life, being human, and connecting with yourself.
So what are the prompts?
Sunday, Day 1: Cast-On Party!
Let’s all cast-on a project together! Already cast-on something recently? Share your WIP with us! Let’s start the new year with a collective cast-on party to celebrate making something new for the new year and bringing with us good intentions.
Monday, Day 2: Making Story
The classic! Tell us how you got into making, whether it is being taught by a loved one or just started with tutorials and videos. However you got to making, we want to hear your story!
Tuesday, Day 3: Word of the Year
I started to set a word of the year for myself in the first few weeks of the year since 2019. This can be as personal as you want or as relaxed as you want. It helps me set my intentions for the year of what I want to work on within myself. While this word can be vague and board, it’s what you make of the word, how you interpret it, and how you work it into your daily life. My word for 2022 was DESERVING. And I fully lived up to that word in 2022.
Wednesday, Day 4: WIP(s) Check
Share your current work in progress! More than one? Even better! We want to see them all!
Thursday, Day 5: Throwback
Another classic! Throwback to an old project or FO or just a good ole photo of you from way back when. Or maybe it’s a retro outfit you like to wear once in a while. Pull them out and share it with us!
Friday, Day 6: Most Recent FO Fit
Take out your most recent finished make and show it off in an outfit!
Saturday, Day 7: Favorite Small Biz - Tools
Every Saturday, take a moment to share your favorite small business in different categories to support them! This Saturday, it’s all about TOOLS! Which small business, or businesses, make your favorite crochet hooks, or stitch markers, or project/notion bag?
Sunday, Day 8: NO PROMPT - Just Make!
Monday, Day 9: Something Old
Whether it’s an old make or an old something in your crafting library or something vintage in your collection, let’s see it!
Tuesday, Day 10: Color Palette Inspo
Have a favorite color palette? Or working on a color combo you’re just loving right now? Let’s see it!
Wednesday, Day 11: WIP(s) Check
Share your current work in progress! More than one? Even better! We want to see them all!
Thursday, Day 12: Cozy for Me
What does a cozy scenery look like to you? Is it a cup of hot chocolate and bingeing your favorite show while knitting? Is it being wrapped in a blanket burrito and cuddling with your furbabies? Is it anywhere you can take your craft with you? Show us what cozy looks like from your perspective!
Friday, Day 13: Body Positive Fit
Trust me, we all have our bad body image days. Even someone like me who loves sharing my knit fits. Share a photo of your favorite outfit, hand made or not, that makes you feel amazing, no matter what your internalized fatphobia might be yelling at you.
Saturday, Day 14: Favorite Small Biz - Fiber
Every Saturday, take a moment to share your favorite small business in different categories to support them! This Saturday, it’s about FIBER! Who dyes your favorite yarn for knitting or crochet project or favorite fiber for spinning? Share your favorite fiber biz because they might be new to someone and a great small business deserves more sales so they can keep their small biz going.
Sunday, Day 15: NO PROMPT - Just Make!
Monday, Day 16: Something Important
Tell us about a person or organization, a cause or non-profit, that is doing the important work, the work that keeps our hope in humanity. It can be within the fiber community or on a global scale that you’d like others to know about and support.
Tuesday, Day 17: Two of a Kind
Matching knits? Maybe you’ve knit the same design twice? Or twinning with your fiber bestie? Show us two of the same make, same colors or different color combos still count!
Wednesday, Day 18: Love for Tina Tse Knits
IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! YUP! This girl is turning 33 and would like to feel all the love and celebration of surviving another year! What better way to help me celebrate by showing me a WIP or FO of a Tina Tse Knits pattern design. If you don’t have either, maybe you’d like to add one of my knitting pattern designs to your making queue from my Pattern Shop! *wink wink*
Thursday, Day 19: Mother Tongue
Or native language. What was your first language? Is it different than the language of your ancestors? What is the language of your ancestors? Connecting to our cultural roots can influence how we create, why we create, and what we create. Take a moment to acknowledge your ancestors. What part of their history can you honor and what can you learn from to never repeat?
Friday, Day 20: Friday Fit
Why make if we don’t wear what we make, right? Show off your makes in an outfit. Outfit repeats are welcomed!
Saturday, Day 21: Favorite Artist
Art can be in many mediums. I personally collect paintings, illustrations, vinyl toys, fiber arts, enamel pins, stickers, so on and on. Artists can express themselves in so many avenues and the ever evolving of their art throughout their lifetime is extremely fascinating to witness. It shows that we don’t have to stay in one box to create. We can change and we will change because we are human. Art has a fine way of showing our humanity. So show us an artist, or artists, that inspire you.
Sunday, Day 22: NO PROMPT - Just Make!
Monday, Day 23: Side Craft
Is there another craft you have dabbled in or have done for a long time but isn’t your main go-to craft? Are you mainly a knitter, sewist, crocheter, spinner, etc. but love to try other crafts? What are those side crafts you also enjoy? The Making app has been one of my favorite places to inspire me to try new ways to make! Check them out on IG too, @making_co.
Tuesday, Day 24: Tip or Trick
Share a tip or trick that you think anyone can benefit from. Or some advice to your fellow makers, making or life related, that you wish someone had told you.
Wednesday, Day 25: WIP(s) Check
Share your current work in progress! More than one? Even better! We want to see them all!
Thursday, Day 26: Thrifted or Secondhand
I’ve been thrifting a lot! Personally, I like the hunt of finding something incredibly special in the wild that you won’t be able to find anywhere else easily, especially not online. Thrifting also lends to a slower pace of fashion and a reduced need for consumerism. Visit @fash_rev and @remakeourworld on Instagram for more information on why to quit fast fashion.
Friday, Day 27: Most Worn Make
There is that one make I know you do not even hesitate to wear when you need it. No matter what outfit or to what event, it’s your go-to. Show us that make that you are making the most of by wearing it the most!
Saturday, Day 28: Favorite Designer
Whether it’s a pattern designer or fashion designer or footwear designer or graphics designer, any kind designer, who is your favorite designer that inspires you? Inspires you to make or to create. Give them a boost!
Sunday, Day 29: NO PROMPT - Just Make!
Monday, Day 30: Something New
We’re almost at the very end of the challenge! What is something new you’ve discovered during the first few weeks of 2023? Maybe you got something new from over the holidays you want to show us? Whether it’s a new to you idea or a new to you object, let’s see it!
Tuesday, Day 31: Making Goals
Now at the end of the challenge, what are your making goals for 2023? Was something shared in this challenge from other fellow makers that inspired you to learn a new technique or new craft? Has this challenged inspired you to finally add that project to your queue or do some stash busting? Whether you came into this challenge to set your making intentions for the year or you came in with a plan and the challenge was your way of sharing with us, thank you for joining! If this is fun enough, we’ll see you in 2024!