Happy Hogmanay!

I can’t remember if I bothered with new year resolutions this year. It probably seemed pointless back then, when it still felt like ‘normal’ could never happen again.  Next year I want to do something a bit different, but still resolution-ish. 

There are some habits I want to create (or revive) and I plan to do that by working on one habit for three months before introducing the next. In the past I have tended to attack everything I want to change all at once, which obviously fails every time because it’s exhausting. This way will hopefully get the habits to really stick before I try adding in anything else:

1. Get back to running every week – the plan was to start this up again last month, but then I broke my toe and that was that out the window for 4-6 weeks. It feels okay now so this is the first habit I’m going to work on.

2. Get enough sleep – I am so tired of being tired. But I’m also an expert revenge bedtime procrastinator. I know full well that I’m only scrolling Tiktok because if I go to sleep that will make tomorrow (and work) come quicker, and I still can’t make myself stop til silly o’clock in the morning.  Getting a job that doesn’t cause massive anxiety would help with this, but job-hunting has to be pushed down the list of priorities for now so I’m planning other ways to help myself turn off social media and step away from the phone.  

3. Eat more fruits and veggies – With not getting enough sleep I’m usually starving by the time I get home from work, and I do tend to grab crisps or breakfast biscuits as a snack. I’m going to work on having some more nutritious snacks readily available (think carrot sticks) so it takes as little effort to grab them as a packet of crisps.

My theory is that these will all feed into each other, making it easier to cement them into my life as permanent changes. Running should tire me out so I can sleep better, if I sleep better I might be able to grab an apple instead of craving cookie dough, and then eating and sleeping better should give me more energy for running. Win-win-win!

 There are also some fixed goals that I’ll probably be working on all year: to finally get a mortgage and buy our own place, to set a date for our wedding (maybe even start some planning!), and to enter my first powerlifting competition.  

Of the three, I feel closest to achieving the competition at the moment. But that might just be because I’m still 17 years old in my head and owning a house and being married seem like terribly Grown Up things.

As for crafting goals, I’m keeping it short. Learn how to knit socks two at a time, make a Fair Isle jumper, and keep track of how much stash I use. Simple.

I hope you all have a happy new year, and that 2023 brings all the lovely things you deserve!

 Hannah

 xXx

 

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Free time

I’ve been let go from my job. Again. Don’t worry, I’ve already gone through the pit of despair and (mostly) out the other side, and I even have a new job lined up so I’m okay. 

The good news is that my old job has put me on garden leave so I’ll be paid not to work until the end of December, and the new job doesn’t start until January 11th, so I have a whole month to do whatever the heck I want.  

It’s like magic; as soon as I realised I would get to re-live my furlough dream, I stumbled across the Make Nine list I created almost two years ago.

1. Learn brioche knitting
2. Knit a pair of socks
3. Make a jumper/cardigan using super chunky yarn 
4. Learn double knitting
5. Make something using colourwork
6. Knit something from the Knitting Ganseys book 
7. Make a Belladonna dress
8. Make a Strange Signs blanket 
9. Knit some selbu mittens

Having only completed one goal (make socks) in two years I know I’m never going to manage them all in one month, but with serious time to focus I reckon I can cross off two or three of them by the middle of January. Starting with the super chunky jumper. I’ve already hand-wound the skeins into cakes and picked out a pattern, and now I just need to dig out some needles big enough to knit this stuff with. Wish me luck!

Hannah

xXx

Make nine challenge 2020

I’m very late to the Make Nine Challenge (it seems to have started in 2015), but that’s nothing new.

Unlike a lot of posts I’ve seen on Instagram, I’m not aiming for nine specific things I want to make. It’s mainly skills I want to learn, with a couple of specific items thrown in there.

1. Learn brioche knitting
2. Knit a pair of socks
3. Make a jumper/cardigan using the super chunky yarn I bought at a craft fair last year
4. Learn double knitting
5. Make something using colourwork
6. Knit something using this book I got for Christmas:
7. Make a Belladonna dress
8. Make a Strange Signs blanket
9. Knit some selbu mittens

I’d say that’s enough to be getting on with for one year, especially considering what a slow knitter I am. Being realistic, let’s say I want to start these 9 things this year and any finishes will be a bonus.

Hannah

xXx

November goal – week 4

I’m currently dealing with a mild case of start-itis. As well as the cupcake hat I cast on last week:

There’s also a crochet hat in the making, using some new Starlight yarn with reflective thread. I ‘need’ it for going running in the dark, you see, so I had to start it.

With flash so you can see the shiny bits

If I’m honest, these are both procraftination because I’m reluctant to start the sleeves on the baby Flax Light. So tiny. So fiddly. So…possibly needing a brand new-to-me technique that scares me a little bit.

I really should just jump in and get on with it. But at least I’ve done some sort of crafting every day of November so far – I’m pretty proud of that! With only 2 more days to go I’m confident that I’ll meet this month’s goal no problem.

Hannah

xXx

November goal – week 2

I officially love baby knits. It took weeks and weeks (if not months) to plough through the body section of my own Flax Light, but one session in a hospital waiting room and I’m already on to the ribbing for this one.

Look how tiny and cute it is!!

Not quite sure what I’m going to do with the sleeves, as even my short circulars might be a bit too long for this. Maybe third time will be the charm for DPNs? Either way, I’m getting more confident that my wee jumper will be finished in time for baby’s birthday.

I have worked on literally nothing else in the last week, but I’m pleased I’ve picked this up every day so far.

Hannah

xXx

November goal – week 1

I’m doing well with my goal so far. There were three little bits of knitting last Friday (1st), then Saturday I got to flex my little-used face painting skills for a Hallowe’en party at my archery club.

I was pleased with it, but I think I should have made the teeth a little bit wider.

Then every day after that I’ve managed more knitting on the baby Flax Light, and it’s finally up to the body section with 4 weeks til baby’s birthday!

Most of my crafting will be knitting this jumper I think, but I am hoping to make a start on my Christmas cards at some point soon. I’m not going nuts like some years when I made one for every slight acquaintance; instead I’m going to focus on making special cards for the people really important to me. Maybe even some bloggy friends if I can dig out that email with the addresses on.

How’s your November going?

Hannah

xXx

October Review – where did it go?

What on earth happened to October? Seriously, I must have lost a fortnight somewhere. I’d blame the new job, but I’m enjoying it too much to start laying blame on it already. It’s so nice to discover that existential dread isn’t actually a standard part of Sunday afternoon/evenings…

Anyway, I want to say “on to craft talk”, but there really isn’t much to talk about for this month. I did finish Changing Staircases and it’s kept me warm a few times.

And I made some progress with my baby Flax Light, but then stalled with re-doing the same 10 rounds over and over to fix mistakes.

And that’s it. I’ve no idea what I’ve been doing for the last 31 days, but apparently it wasn’t making things!

Things never slow down in the run up to Christmas, so I’m setting more of a process goal for November rather than a results goal: I will do some form of crafting every day for the next 30 days. Even if it’s just one stitch or sticking a peel-off on one card, I will do something.

Today’s crafting was some knitting on the way to and from work so that’s day one – done!

Hannah

xXx

Dragon no more

Current WIP count: 5

It’s a sad day for the amigurumi dragon. The poor thing hasn’t been worked on for months and months, and he’s been moved from pillar to post so often I’m not even sure where all the parts are.

He had reached UFO status and I’d rather lost interest, so I had a frogging session.

I still love dragons and amigurumi; he’s going to get made at some point, but not until I have a chunk of time to dedicate to him. Experience has finally taught me that I’m not organised enough to work on something with lots of parts over a long period of time without losing them.

Which, incidentally, is why Flax Light is perfect for me! Just one long piece on one set of circular needles that I can chuck in my bag any time. I’m actually really glad I frogged the first attempt now, as I switched to smaller needles and I’m much happier with it.

It’s funny how gauge can change so much from one project to the next.

Having lost a week somewhere in October (how are we only 8 days from Halloween already??) I very much doubt I’ll meet my goals for this month. Looking at them from this side, they seem wildly optimistic. Maybe my next goal should be to set more realistic goals…

Hannah

xXx

August Review

White rabbits!

This should be a pretty quick one, as I only worked on 3 projects last month. That’s about as close to a monogamous crafter as I want to get!

The main one was the Lego blanket. I have a week left and it now looks like this:

In between working on that my Changing Tides blanket got a look in now and then.

With Flax Light falling way behind at just a few row’s progress.

My goal for September is to finally cross some projects off my WIP list.

1. Lego blanket – as the only one with a deadline, this one is priority.

2. Changing Tides – this will be my next focus, simply because I’m now almost a month “late” for finishing it if you go by the end of the CAL.

3. Flax Light – Did you know I started this in February? I know I’m a fairly new knitter, but that’s still far too long so I want it done and wearable this month.

4. Needle felted unicorn – It’s small and cute, and will give my hands a rest from knitting/crochet so I’d like to focus on this one as well.

That would exactly halve my WIP list, which feels much more manageable. If I manage to work on any of the other 4 projects then I’ll just count that as a bonus.

Hannah

xXx

18 for 2018 – end of year review

Welcome to 2019 everyone! I hope the holidays and new year were everything you hoped for.

It’s hard to believe a whole year has gone by since I decided on these goals – time just goes so quickly! But a year it has been so without further ado let’s get on with my final review.

1 New blog followed per week – 7/7 (yearly total 52/52) COMPLETE!

I made it!

 

2 New stitches/techniques learned per month – 1/2 (18/24)

This month I figured out how to do a long dc for my African Flower motifs.

No met goal here, but I have learned a lot and developed more confidence with my knitting.

 

3 Instagram posts per week – 14/15 (147/156)

I was so sure I could meet this one, but Christmas and new year kind of knocked me off my game a bit. Still, I’m happy that I managed to post fairly regularly.

 

4 Exercise sessions per week – 22/18 (204/208)

Oooh so close!!

 

5 Blog posts written per week – 10/22 (161/260)

Wow, I really fell behind with this one. Even more than I thought.

 

6 Patterns written up – 5/6 (5/6)

I wrote up the pattern for my crochet crotchet, and then added on some bits to create a pattern for a pair of quavers.

I’m pretty pleased that I managed to get to 5, considering at the beginning of the year I believed I just wasn’t made for pattern writing!

 

7 Areas in my flat sorted – 7/7 (7/7) COMPLETE!

I sorted my kitchen cupboards and got rid of quite a lot. Vitamins and supplements that I took for about a month and then forgot about, a frying pan that was so worn out it was starting to rust, plus some tea that I’d had for over 10 years.

I don’t know if tea can go off and be bad for you, but I figured if I haven’t used it in 10 years then I’m probably never going to!

 

8 Minutes of writing per day COMPLETE! 

 

9 pm bed time – 10/31 (103/365)

Well at least I met my mini goal of 100! Clearly I need to keep working on taking better care of my sleep.

 

10% of wages saved – 10/10 COMPLETE!

I managed this every month so now I’ve got a nice chunk of savings in the bank.

 

12 Hand-written letters – 13/12 COMPLETE!

A lot of things came up around Christmas time so I didn’t get to send all the cards and letters I was planning to. Still, this goal is definitely smashed!

 

13 New recipes tried – 14/13 COMPLETE!

An experiment with leftovers led to a really tasty casserole this month, just nudging me over the goal line.

 

14 Meet ups with friends – 14/14 COMPLETE! (stretch goal 31/25) DOUBLE COMPLETE!

We all knew Christmas would make this one easier, but I never expected to smash my stretch goal quite so much!  There was singing in various pubs, archery parties, cups of tea with friends, chips for breakfast, baby snuggles, and a cheeky Nandos. I’m ready for a wee break now!

 

15 Birthdays on time – 15/15 COMPLETE!

The present for my friend in Germany went out super early this month and then my two friends with birthdays on new year’s eve pushed me over the finish line. I’m so glad I met this one; I always feel like a terrible human being when I miss people’s birthdays, so although I didn’t quite manage them all I’m still feeling good that I got so many on time.

 

16 Christmas cards made – 18/16 COMPLETE!

Done and done.

 

17 Birthday cards made – 9/17

Just one this month for my friend in Germany, although I forgot to take a photo of it.

 

18 Items decluttered – 18/18 COMPLETE!

My frying pan, tea, and bottles of old vitamins bring the total up to 18. I’m definitely going to keep on decluttering as and when the need comes up, I just love the freed-up space and the feeling of achievement that comes with it.

 

That’s 10 goals met, and a couple very nearly met, which is honestly much better than I expected of myself. It was good to have some goals to work toward and something to focus on, but I’ve got a lot of stressors going on in my life right now so I’ve decided not to do this again for 2019.  For now I shall just be all smug and enjoy my success over the last year!

 

Hannah

xXx

18 for 2018 September review

Before I even start this I’m preparing myself for this month being a bust. What with my new role at work and a bunch of job interviews to prepare for, there’s been very little time for my goals.

9

That was a brand new target when we started.

 

15 Birthdays on time – 12/15

One of my friends in choir had a birthday and I got there in time! But I also missed a couple of others so not all great.

 

16 Christmas cards made – 3/16

Nope.

 

17 Birthday cards made – 8/17

Just the one, but that’s more than none.

 

18 Items decluttered – 9/18

Nah.

 

So yeah, a pretty naff month overall. But I’m still trying my best and that was the real goal all along 🙂

How’s everyone else’s goals going, if you set any? Got any exciting plans for October? Let me know in the comments!

Hannah

xXx

18 for 2018 July review

Gosh I’m a week late already! But I didn’t get back from camp til Saturday (and I needed Sunday to recover) so I’m letting myself off.

1 New blog followed per week – 4/4 (yearly total 29/29)

I branched out a bit this month and followed some papercrafting blogs.

 

2 New stitches/techniques learned per month – 2/2 (12/14)

This month I had a look at Bosnian crochet and the extended single crochet stitch. I swear I’ll get on and post about them soon…

 

3 Instagram posts per week – 10/14 (98/89)

Not too bad, considering I wasn’t feeling it at all.

 

4 Exercise sessions per week – 19/18 (119/118)

I’m still keeping up with my walks. In fact it’s been going so well that I’ve upped my daily step goal from 6,000 to 7,000. Still not back up to 10,000 yet because I’d rather go super slowly and make sure I don’t re-injure my knee, but I know I’ll get there eventually.

 

5 Blog posts written per week – 16/22 (121/147)

I’m actually surprised I managed this many, what with being at camp for a week. It really helps to do a bundle of Tangle of the Week posts at once and schedule them in so I’ll try to keep doing that.

 

6 Patterns written up – 2.5/6 (1.5/6)

I typed up the pattern for the bunny lovey I made this month.

 

7 Areas in my flat sorted – 3.5/7 (3.5/7)

Nope, but I am proud of myself for unpacking and putting everything away the day after I got back from camp. I seem to be turning into a somewhat tidy person!

 

8 Minutes of writing per day

Not at all when I was at camp, but I did okay the rest of the month.

 

9 pm bed time – 7/31 (66/212)

Same as last month.

 

10% of wages saved – 10/10

Done.

 

12 Hand-written letters – 7/12

It’s a set activity at camp to send a postcard home. I’ve been a leader for 12 years now and I still send mine!

 

13 New recipes tried – 9/13

This month I discovered honey mustard chicken thighs, and I cannot stop making them. Once I ran out of lemon juice and tried it with white vinegar instead and it still tasted amazing, so it’s a double win!

I also tried a slow cooker turkey lasagne, which worked out okay. I do love using the slow cooker, but in this case I think the proper oven version is better.

 

14 Meet ups with friends – 14/14 COMPLETE! (stretch goal 16/25)

Seeing as I finished this one so early, I’ve set myself a stretch goal. I’m going for 25 because I like round numbers.

This month I met up with my friend who’s having a baby, we went for ice cream and a walk, and had a good long natter.

We also had a day out to Millport (my favourite place) with my women’s singing group and a male singing group, which was possibly my favourite thing ever. We got to sing all day, have a barbecue on the beach, drink buckets of tea, and laugh til my sides hurt.

 

15 Birthdays on time – 11/15

No birthdays this month.

 

16 Christmas cards made – 3/16

I was so close. I went to a friend’s place and took my Christmas card set with me, but then I got there and realised I’d left all the backing papers at home! All my motivation disappeared after that.

 

17 Birthday cards made – 7/17

None this month.

 

18 Items decluttered – 7/18

I took back some clothes I had bought but later realised I didn’t like. My usual practice is to leave them lying around for months until it’s too late to return them and I have to send them to a charity shop, so I’m counting this because I got them sorted out in time!

 

Not terribly great progress this time, but I don’t mind too much as I knew camp would have an effect on quite a few of them. This month (now the normal Scottish weather has returned) I’m going to focus on getting these Christmas cards made and getting to my bed on time.

Hannah

xXx