Sunday, 31 January 2016

January 2016

Completely unrelated to crafting of any sort, but something that I feel will make for a better new year, I am saying good bye to my fish tank, really it has just become a fishy morgue. I like the sound of the running water, but I have no interest in figuring out how to keep them alive.

Art, is going well. I know I have never shared any of my art on here, but I hope that will change in the near future. The hold up right now though is we cannot get our hands on any suede which does rather complicate matters. 

The month of January has seen me finishing 4 hats! Just call me The Slouchy Beret, but not really. 3 of them were started this month one was started last year to help me stay on the treadmill for longer. But they are done and into the drawer, I have 22 slouchy berets floating around, and I NEVER seem to wear a hat. Ah well. But at least I finished something for the month. 

I have been reading this month but I have not finished a book. Sad, I am 30% of the way through one though so give me a break. 

FO's:

  1. Reverie Beret (I have done so many of these I could do them in my sleep, but I have made 1 or 2 minor adjustments to make it my own)
    1. If I sat down and just went with it this would be finished in a heart beat!
  2. Reverie
  3. Ashley Beret
  4. Ashley Beret
Knitting I have on the go:
  1. Dragon Stole: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dragon-stole
  2. Illuminated Lines Blanket: Thank you Knit Picks
    1. I looked the other day and this blanket has been in the works since 2013. So it is my goal to finish this!!! Very soon. 
      1. I have about 22 pieces of 50, so I will keep knitting as though my life depended on it. 

  3. Circlet Cardigan: Thank you Knit Picks
  4. Feather and Fan Blanket
  5. Mitered Square blanket in Parrot...I was crocheting this into something, but I did not like it, I still don't really like it but it will happen. 
  6. Banana Bunches - Eager to finish this sucker!
  7. Hue shift in 5 colours not 10


Crocheting:
  1. Corner to corner blanket in red, black, and white
Books:
  1. Wives and Daughters
  2. Pride and Prejudice
  3. The Scarlet Pimpernel
Personal Goals:
I have been on the treadmill pretty much every day since December 28th 2015. There were a couple of days I missed, but I still managed to accomplish 10,000 steps every day!! Win for me. I am very pleased. 

Sunday, 3 January 2016

Happy New Year - Summary


2015 I set myself some very (what I thought) easy goals to accomplish or maintain. They were:

  • Finish every knitting project you start - I would have to say I stuck to this. I did not finish any projects started in 2014, but all the ones started in 2015 were finished in 2015
  • Finish a knitting project every month - total of 17 finished!
  • Finish a book every month - total 15 finished
  • Treadmill 3 times a week - FAILED its true
  • Weights 6 times a week - FAILED its true
  • 8,000 steps a day - This was accomplished for 72% of the year. Better than some but less than I would have anticipated. My total steps for last year was 3.6 million which in itself is not a shabby number at all. 

So for 2016 here is the plan:
  • Knit 4 rows every day (1,460 rows)
  • Read minimum 5 pages every day(1,825 pages) 
  • Treadmill 3 times a week minimum
  • Weights 3 times a week
  • At least 8,000 steps a day 2 days a week (Saturday and Sunday)
  • At least 10,000 steps a day for 5 days a week (Monday through Friday)
    • Total of 66,000 steps a week 
  • Finish 3 art projects (this is a crazy one, but possibly doable)......

Wish me luck everyone!!!!!!!!

Saturday, 2 January 2016

What I Accomplished This Year 2015

It is December 31, 2015 tomorrow is 2016, so I thought I would summarize everything I have finished this year, just to you know make myself feel accomplished, and a summary helps me see my progress.

  1. Knitting
    1. I Like Lime 
    2. Opart in Purple and White
    3. Tardis Blanket
    4. Blue Giant Needle Blanket
    5. Physlais Lace
    6. Tardis Blanket
    7. Moss Diamond Blanket - Purple
    8. Union Jack Blanket
    9. Tardis 2
    10. Revonulti Scarf
    11. Finger-less gloves (started two years ago)
    12. 10 stitch Square
    13. OpArt in Dragonfly
    14. Diagonal Knit
    15. Cozy Cabled Hat
    16. Grammy's Mittens
    17. Elise
  2. Crocheting
    1. Blue and Light Blue Corner to Corner
    2. Purple and Grey Corner to Corner
    3. Green, Pink, and White Corner to Corner
  3. Reading
    1. Duff
    2. The Heir
    3. Persuasion
    4. Heartless
    5. The Feast of Roses
    6. Charles_HRH's Guide to Great Britishness
    7. Jane Eyre's Daughter
    8. Charm
    9. Grey
    10. The Fortune Hunter
    11. Longbourn
    12. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
    13. The American Heiress
    14. Catherine Called Birdy
  4. Beading
    1. 4 hair pieces for the bridesmaids extraordinaire in Lake Como


I Like Lime 
Tardis 1
Physalis Lace

OpArt
Moss Diamond Purple

Corner to Corner, seeing double?
Tardis 2

Union Jack Blanket



Pink and Green corner to corner



Blue Corner to Corner









Finger-less Mittens (there are 2)


Friday, 1 January 2016

December

I am going to have two posts for December, but one is the What I accomplished this month, and the other is what I managed to accomplish this year, one is a counting down list, the other counts up.
When it comes to reading I feel very stuck. I want to get a bunch of reading finished, but I do not have a clue which book I should even start with. I feel like I could have gotten one more knitted project in for the year, but you win some, you lose some, and besides my overall count for what is actually finished is amazing, and far more than I anticipated.

Knitting I have on the go:
  1. Dragon Stole: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dragon-stole
  2. Illuminated Lines Blanket: Thank you Knit Picks
  3. Circlet Cardigan: Thank you Knit Picks
  4. Reverie Beret (I have done so many of these I could do them in my sleep, but I have made 1 or 2 minor adjustments to make it my own)
  5. Feather and Fan Blanket
  6. Mitered Square blanket in Parrot...I was crocheting this into something, but I did not like it, I still don't really like it but it will happen. 
  7. Banana Bunches
  8. Hue shift in 5 colours not 10
    1. I need more yarn for this one.
  9. Elise
    1. This is a giant knit so it should not take all that long, the effect is gorgeous. I have completed 2 pattern repeats, and it is about 6 inches long, here's hoping that the rest will go as swimmingly. 



















Crocheting:
  1. Corner to corner blanket in red, black, and white
Books:
  1. The American Heiress
  2. Outlander
  3. Pride and Prejudice
  4. Catherine Called Birdy (I am re-reading this from Grade 7)