Crafting with Intention: Set Creative Goals & Plan Your Year!
Planning comes in many forms: goals, intentions, ideas, or quiet hopes for what you want to make. At its core, planning is simply choosing something that matters to you and giving it space to grow. What that looks like is different for everyone. You might want to learn a new skill, explore a new craft, or finally make that one special project you have been thinking about for a while.
Sometimes those ideas feel bigger than expected. With a little planning, a clear sense of what you hope to achieve, and a gentle commitment to the path you choose, those goals begin to feel much more attainable. In this post, we will cover some of the tips we use to stay focused while planning our goals. And at the bottom of the page, we have a downloadable PDF for you to stay organized with your yearly goals!
Project Planning
When making goals or plans, a few things tend to happen. Schedules change. Distractions appear. Sometimes your interests shift, and you change your mind. All of these are normal and perfectly ok.
While life itself is unpredictable, having a clear vision helps anchor the rest. Knowing why you want to learn a skill, try a new craft, or take on a particular project gives you something solid to return to. Writing your goals down can quiet distractions and gently guide you forward.
Learning from Experience
For small projects, like knitting a hat, planning is often simple. Choose a hat pattern, choose yarn. A swatch helps, but hats are forgiving. If it doesn’t fit, you can reclaim the yarn and begin again.
Now imagine the project is a sweater. The planning grows. Swatching becomes essential. While the yarn can still be reused, the time invested can feel discouraging if you need to start over. Sometimes we choose to give the sweater away and quietly move on, deciding never to knit another sweater again.
Good record-keeping and thoughtful notes help us learn from these projects. One setback does not define the whole experience, and each project teaches us something valuable.
Identifying Obstacles
Sometimes the hardest part is knowing where to begin. Maybe you want to spin yarn to crochet mittens. Do you choose a drop spindle or a wheel? You love Merino yarn, but is it the right fibre to spin? Even early questions like these can feel like hurdles and become the reason a project never gets started. If you don’t know where to start, reach out to a friend, guild, online community, or even a yarn shop to get advice.
It also helps to understand the idea behind “shiny” new projects. Many of us are multicraftual or are always dreaming up new project possibilities. With limited time, juggling too many projects can slow progress on all of them. Finding a way to meet this creative urge matters. Small side projects or using multiple crafts within one larger goal can help you stay focused and motivated.
Breaking Down the Process
Understanding the steps involved in a project brings balance, and writing them out makes the path clearer. A long list can feel overwhelming, but breaking it into smaller pieces makes it feel more attainable. The task might be spinning woollen yarn, and the sub-tasks could be sampling fibre prep or trying different drafting methods.
If a project feels so large that it becomes overwhelming, consider choosing something a bit smaller. A mid-sized project builds confidence and momentum while still moving you toward your larger goal. Instead of weaving curtains, you might begin with towels. Many creative journeys begin with a single small project, followed by the simple question of what might come next; so starting smaller can sometimes be the answer!
Matching Projects to Your Energy
Now take this a step further. What if you want to spin the yarn before knitting a sweater, or dye the yarn before weaving the cloth? How far back do you start? When several crafts come together, a little more planning can be helpful.
Every project is different, and every craft brings its own choices. How much do you want to do yourself? Do you want to take fibre from raw fleece to a finished garment, or begin partway through the process? How many more steps does this involve?
Creative work feels more satisfying when your plans match your energy and interests. Not everyone wants to start at the very beginning, and that is more than okay. Buy the yarn or the fleece, the choice is yours. Start where it feels right for you. This is a hobby, a craft, a passion. There is no single right place to begin. Write out the steps for each craft and decide where your starting point will be.
Skill Building with Purpose
Planning is not only about materials. Skills matter too. Have you spun before? Dyed fibre? Knit cables or crochet with linen? There is a lot of information available through friends, family, and online resources, yet gaps often remain. That is where the School of SweetGeorgia comes in.
At the School of SweetGeorgia, we focus on teaching not just the steps, but the skills that support fibre arts projects, from fluff to fabric.
There is one caveat. Sometimes diving into one new skill can lead you down another rabbit hole. Sometimes you will need to draw a line (temporarily) in your skill building, or the project may never happen. (And hey, there are always future projects to explore all these shiny new ideas!)
Working at a Pace That Fits You
Crafting brings comfort and calm. It is meant to be enjoyed throughout the process. Still, sometimes deadlines happen, whether for a gift or maybe just in time for a seasonal change in weather. The pressure to complete these goals on time can bring a lot of stress. Or, you may just decide to alter your plan halfway through, which means you may not hit your year-end-goal. Give yourself grace.
Creating a gentle outline for each step can help you move forward. But if you don’t make those deadlines, that is fine! While many things can add time to your end goal, it should not take away from the experience. The satisfaction comes from seeing your vision take shape, even if it takes a little longer than expected.
Support for Your Creative Journey
We want to support you in all of your creative journeys. We have gathered some of our favourite resources to help you plan with confidence to achieve your goals.
Downloadable Planning Tools
Throughout the year, we will be offering downloadable PDFs to help you record your projects and skills as they grow. Documentation and reflection are powerful tools. From fibre prep to crochet and everything in between, these resources are designed to make the process feel approachable and simple.
Documentation may not feel as exciting as creating, but when you revisit your notes for future projects, their value becomes clear. We will cover a wide range of fibre arts topics throughout the year, with a few extra surprises along the way. We hope you will come back each month!
Courses to Support Your Plans
With a School of SweetGeorgia All-Access membership, you gain access to courses that support steady skill building and thoughtful planning. From spinning and weaving to knitting, crochet, and dyeing, each pathway begins with the fundamentals and builds forward at a comfortable pace. With over 120+ video-based courses (with more coming), we have a lot of options to help you on your way.
We also offer four workshops in the School of SweetGeorgia to help you stay organized and inspired. These workshops dive deeper into the topics discussed here, plus cover topics such as time management, task organization, creating a crafting space, and more!
Craft Without Chaos
In this workshop, Felicia explores how to make time and space for your craft. She looks at both physical and mental space, helping you create room for creativity in your everyday life.
Epic Cloth Challenge
This workshop grows out of a nine-month project Felicia designed for Slow Fashion Month. While weaving is the focus, the broader theme is about breaking long-term goals into manageable, thoughtful steps.
Plan Your Make Nine
In this workshop, Tabetha shares an approach to choosing nine projects and planning your time so they fit comfortably within a year. It offers a calm balance between ambition and reality.
The Multicraftual Maker
This workshop sits at the heart of this conversation. Many makers work across multiple crafts, and with care and intention, those practices can support one another. When energy and inspiration align, dream projects begin to feel possible.
Exploring Hand-Dyed Colour and Texture with the Hamilton Sweater
The Power of Community
One of the most meaningful resources is community. Learning alongside others brings encouragement, perspective, and shared joy. Whether you are working through a challenge or celebrating a finished piece, a supportive community makes the creative journey richer and more fulfilling.
We offer two supportive community spaces. The School of SweetGeorgia Community Forums allows members to connect with instructors, staff, and fellow makers based on the in-school courses and workshops. The SweetGeorgia Community offers another welcoming place to share and encourage one another outside of traditional social media. Your School of SweetGeorgia membership includes access to both.
Download the Planning Goal PDF Here
We included a blank worksheet along with a few examples to help you get started. There is no right or wrong way to fill it out. This is your journey, your goals, your plan, your projects. We cannot walk the path for you, but we are always happy to walk alongside you and support you with each step!
Join Our Community!
- At the School of SweetGeorgia, we’ve built a vibrant and welcoming community of fibre-loving makers, passionate instructors, and dedicated staff. Whether you’re looking for guidance on a new technique or just need a little creative encouragement, we’re here to support you every step of the way.
- Not yet a member of the School? We invite you to come and see what it is all about! Use the code: EXPLORETHESCHOOL to save 15% on an All-Access monthly membership!
- We welcome you to join us in our SweetGeorgia Community. This is where we share projects that inspire, have fibre-filled conversations, host make-alongs, and participate in a variety of virtual meetings! We discuss all things knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, machine knitting, and more!
- Want to stay in the loop? Subscribe to our newsletter! It’s a simple way to stay updated on what’s new at SweetGeorgia and the School of SweetGeorgia, catch up on the latest articles, watch new SweetGeorgia YouTube videos, and be a part of our community without any pressure to post. We value your presence, no matter how you choose to connect with us!
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