Sweater Progress and Scaling Back

Yesterday I finally cast on the underarms and joined the front and back of my Old Harry for the Wayward KAL. It's going to be all stockinette in the round for a while, but I need to take a look at how much yarn I have. I think I might have to make this sweater fully cropped, hitting just below my natural waist, instead of the slight crop that's written in the pattern. Fortunately, I have a few high-waisted skirts that these colors will go great with, so I think a more cropped Old Harry will work great in my wardrobe. The KAL goes through February, so I think I'd like to finish the body by the end of the month so I'll have plenty of time to avoid working on the sleeves.

This week I'm working on my social media involvement. I really love Twitter, and I'm only Facebook friends with people I care about and want to keep in touch with, and I've spent a lot of time curating my social media feeds so that I don't see much abuse or vitriol. But I have civically engaged friends (and I'm so glad I do, and I'm so thankful I have people in my life who care and are involved), and lately it's been hard to see some of the stories they've been sharing. The one that finally got to me was the furloughed government worker who can't afford insulin, which would be upsetting to me at the best of times, but I'm currently in the middle of trying to convince my insurance company to cover my blood sugar testing strips, and it's all a bit too much right now.

I don't know what the right balance is going to be yet. Like I said, I love the friends and communities I'm in touch with on social media, and I don't want to miss out on any of that, but I definitely need to prioritize my own mental well-being right now.

Sockening Time

Good morning, kittens! I hope you all had a restful weekend. I spent most of Saturday working—unfortunately, I don't have anything to show for it other than a big pile of what didn't work, but that's a big part of the creative process, and it's important even if it's kind of a bummer sometimes.

I let myself have Sunday off completely. I started a new book, I took a bath, I baked a coffee cake, and I finally cast on my Ex Nine socks for the Juntos KAL. I've loved these socks ever since Kristen released them, and I had planned to knit them for the Gift Along, but then December was an over-scheduled disaster and I never got them cast on. I've just got the barest start of the cuff so far, but I'm really excited to see how these knit up.

Tap class starts up again this week, so I'm back up to two nights out of the house. I didn't get quite as much sample knitting done over the weekend as I'd hoped, and I'm behind where I wanted to be, but I reworked my progress goal for this week and I still feel pretty good about where I am. I'd love to get this sweater pattern done for February, and that should still be more than doable.

Do you have any fun plans for the week?

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On Making Goals

Happy Friday! I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend. I have some writing to catch up on, and some sketches and swatches to work through, but I'm really looking forward to taking it slow the next couple days. My Netflix queue has gotten really long over the past couple months, so I definitely want to take some time to settle in with a project and a warm beverage and try to put a dent in that.

My goal for my KAL sweater this week was to join the fronts, and I'm just a few more rows away from reaching that. One of my projects in 2019 is to set reasonable goals for myself. Too often, I try to just plow through things, or I'll tell myself that I need to finish something as quickly as possible. Then I get frustrated when I inevitably need a night off, and I feel unproductive and disappointed. So I'm trying something new.

This week, when I was setting my progress goals, I was a few rows away from finishing the upper back of this sweater, and I decided that getting the fronts picked up and joined was a good goal. Similarly, my goal on my current sample was to join the fronts and the back and get six more inches of the body knit. Once I've hit my goal for the week, I can put the project aside. Nothing is stopping me from going further if I want to, but I've taken the pressure off to keep going until I can't go anymore. So far this seems to be working well for me, and I think it will be really good for me to integrate it and make it a natural practice over the course of the year.

Honestly, I should have started this years ago, and it's amazing how much better I feel since I've started intentionally being gentle with myself as regular practice, and not just when I'm feeling too burnt out to move. I've spent my whole life worrying about not being good enough, or productive enough, or creative enough, or clever enough, and it's a big change for me to say that I'm already enough, and that I don't need to be any more or any less than I already am, and that it's okay to release that pressure. It's not an easy change—my default has always been anxiety, even with meds an therapy, but I think it's a good thing for me to be working on, and I'm really pleased with the progress I'm already seeing.

Easing In

I can't believe it's already Wednesday. It hasn't been the most productive week for me yet—I haven't worked on Old Harry since last week, and I don't think I knit at all yesterday, but I'm a quarter of the way through The Nordic Theory of Everything, and I finally started working on my novel draft again, albeit slowly.

Choir rehearsals start back up tonight, after four weeks off, and I'm looking forward to that. Dance doesn't start until next week, and handbells won't start for another month or so. As much as I'd like to dive back in, I'm glad that everything's staggered and that I can just ease back into activities. 

Weekending and Sweatering

Happy Monday, kittens! I hope you all had a restful weekend. I finished the jigsaw puzzle I started on New Year's (now I just have to manage to not knock it off the table until I get glue and a frame!) and started a new book. Saturday morning I had to work at the dance studio—the first big delivery of costumes came over winter break, and now everything I own is covered in tutu glitter. (At least I love glitter; I'm very well-suited to dance costuming, it seems.)

I've also been knitting away on a new sweater sample. I've got 24 more rows on the right front before I can join the fronts and back, and I'm hoping to get at least six more rows on the body knit this week. I really love this yarn—I actually bought it for a different sweater idea that didn't pan out, but I'm loving how it's knitting up here so far.

Linking up with Crafting On

Knitalongs and Cakes

I am so ready for the weekend. Because of New Year's, I only had a three-day week in the library, but after taking eleven days off at the end of December, I definitely needed the short week to ease back into things. This weekend my plans are to work on a sweater sample, read one of my library books, and work on my current jigsaw puzzle—The easiest parts are done now, which means a slow slog while I figure out how acres of tan and white fit together.

This is the fourth day of the Wayward KAL, and I'm really enjoying working on my marled Old Harry. This photo is from the other day—I'm actually almost finished with the upper back now. The KAL thread on Ravelry is pretty quiet, but I'm hoping some more of you decide to come on over.

Today is also my diabetes anniversary! It's been ten years since I was diagnosed, and I can't believe I've spent more than a third of my life on insulin. Diabetes is frustrating and expensive, but I'm so lucky to be as healthy as I am. As is my tradition, I'll have cake tonight to mark the anniversary of my diagnosis. The plan was to make a Victoria Sandwich (yes, I rewatched all of GBBO last month), but when I made the sponges last night they...didn't turn out quite like Mary Berry's. I don't think I've ever fucked up a bake quite this badly, and these cakes are the funniest things I've ever seen. I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe!

Fortunately, they're still edible, and not entirely unlike a shortcake or a slightly less-dry shortbread. So instead of Victoria Sandwich, I'll swing by the store after work for strawberries and whipped cream. I'm sure there's some kind of allegory here for diabetes, and how things don't work out as planned, but I'm mostly happy for ten years of cake. Here's to many, many more anniversary cakes in my future.

The Last Knits of 2018

Happy 2019, friends! I spent my New Year's Day knitting, drinking coffee, watching the new Marie Kondo series on Netflix, and working on a new puzzle. It felt like the perfect way to ease into the new year, and I can't wait to see what this year has in store for all of us (hopefully mostly good things!).

I have just a couple knits to share from last year before I focus completely on this year's knits! I finished my Finn and Fullerton cardigans back in October (!!) but I only just got the buttons sewn on last weekend. I have never claimed not to be lazy.

Anyway, I love my Finn. The color is just about my favorite shade of orange, and I knit it with a bit of positive ease because I wanted a more casual version. I've worn this around my apartment nonstop since I put the buttons on it, and it's going to work great to wear to the library too.

Ravelry Page: Finn

Pattern: Finn by Kat Riddell

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage 150 "5716 Autumn Sunset"

Fullerton was a quick knit, and it's a great sweater. It's heavier than the Finn, but because it's mostly cotton and synthetic, it's much cooler to wear. My apartment's been just above freezing for the past week, but once it warms up some, I'll definitely be wearing this a lot more.

Ravelry Page: Fullerton Cardigan

Pattern: Fullerton Cardigan by Kephren Pritchett

Yarn: Berroco Remix "3971 Cameo Pink"

Finally, we have my mum's xmas present! This ended up being gifted still on the needles (note to self; don't knit giant wraps for xmas when you're also doing a play!) and finished on Monday. I really love Amy's patterns, and this was a lot of fun to knit, even though I was going a little bit mad trying to get it all done as quickly as possible. I love this bright green, and I still have 72g of this yarn left over, so I can squeeze out a pair of matching socks for myself!

Ravelry Page: Whitewater Wrap

Pattern: Whitewater Wrap by Amy van den Laar

Yarn: ModeKnit Yarn ModeWerk Fingering "Gilmarite"

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Ready for 2019

It's almost 2019! I, for one, am ready to put 2018 behind me. There was quite a bit of good stuff, but overall the year was busy and overwhelming, and I'm sitting here at the end of it feeling a bit out of sorts. I haven't picked a word for the year before, but going into 2019 I think I'm going to start, and my word is "Balance."

I did some great things in 2018. I published some great patterns, I wrote some great poems and stories, and I did some great theater projects. I'm very proud of all of that, but I'm not proud of how "all or nothing" my progress felt like, or how exhausted I felt at times, or how I'd get something cool done at the expense of everything else in my life. I don't necessarily want to scale back any of what I'm working on, but I know there has to be a better way for me to go about doing it all, and I hope 2019 is the year I figure it out.

Tomorrow is the start of the 2019 Wayward KAL, and I can't wait to cast on. I've decided to knit Old Harry, but I'm going to skip the colorblocked yoke and sleeve caps. Instead, I'm going to hold together these two strands of fingering weight to get an allover marled effect. I think it's going to look great, and I can't wait to see what everyone else knits up over the next two months. We're chatting away in my Ravelry Group, so feel free to come join in! 

2018 in Review

Well, this year has been pretty non-stop, and it's not looking like it's going to wind down too much in this last week and a half. I didn't get as much knitting done this year as I have in years past, but I also moved into my apartment, which completely ate up my life for almost three months, and I got nothing else done during that time.

I finished nine garments this year (ten, if you count the fact that one of them had to be completely reknit after blocking). I still have two sweaters that I haven't shared with you yet because they only have half their buttons sewn on, oops! I finished eleven accessories (hopefully that number will go up by New Year's—I have my mum's xmas present still on the needles, and a couple quick accessories for myself on the needles that I might be able to bang out once that's done).

I released eleven patterns this year, including a couple shawls that I'd been working on and fighting with for quite a while, and I'm ultimately very pleased with how they came out. I also hosted the Easy A-long, and it was so much fun that we're doing another sweater KAL starting January 1st! 

This year I was in three plays, and my writing started taking off. I wrote over one hundred poems, four short stories, and I wrote 25k words on the first draft of my novel. I had a poem published and a story included in a collection.

As much as 2018 felt like a constant whirlwind, it was also a pretty good year. I made some great new friends and I got my apartment all set up (and I cannot stress how wonderful it is to have a space all my own, with all the things I love in it!). I already know that 2019 is going to be kind of a tough year in a few ways, but I strongly believe that it's going to be a year of intense growth, and I really can't wait to see what direction things take. 

Time to Catch Up

Boy howdy, has it been a weekend. I did pretty much nothing all weekend other than the play and sleep, although last night I did manage to squeeze in a couple hours of catching up on xmas knitting. I'm still behind, and I don't know how I'm going to get everything done this week, but every year it all comes together somehow.

The play went really well, and we had nearly sold-out houses every night. I brought along this little orange cowl to work on in the dressing room, and while I only managed to get one or two round done all weekend, it was nice to know I had it with me.

This week, I'm looking forward to watching a lot of GBBO, getting xmas presents finished, and drinking lots of hot beverages. You?

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