Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Looking ahead

Happy New Year! In the spirit of the season, I've been thinking about what I want to do/accomplish/take care of in the new year (and, in many cases, before baby #2 makes her appearance). This year I'm focusing on setting reasonable expectations for myself. There is always so much on my to do list and I want to be able to take pleasure in what I can cross off it but not feel too guilty when I don't get to something. So I'm trying a new technique -- the list can stay as long as it always is but has two categories: realistic goals and aspirational ones. If I get to the latter, that's great, and if not that's ok, too.

Here goes on the crafting front:

  1. Knit a sweater for me this year.
  2. Finish Armas before knitting that sweater for me (I've told myself that I don't get to cast on for the Rocky Coast Cardigan I've been eyeing for ages until I finish Mr. Tinks and Frogs' current sweater-in-the works).
  3. Finish at least one more sweater, two hats, and a blanket for Sprout (#2) before she arrives. (Maybe 2 hats is aspirational; might need to change this one to "find appropriately sized knits that I made for Tadpole").
  4. Actually complete a quilting project. I've started a couple of quilting projects over the years but have never made it past working on the quilt top and I'd like to change that.
  5. Finish Tadpole's purple pinwheel quilt around the time she moves to a big-girl bed [ETA March-ish].
  6. Make a quilt for Sprout by the time she moves out of our room and into her own room [ETA June-ish].
  7. Spin more. (Hopefully this won't be too hard since today was the first time I had sat down at the wheel since we moved into the new house in August).
  8. Publish another knitting pattern. (This one is aspirational - I'd love to make it happen but I'm not going to stress out if I don't get around to putting the pattern together. And yes, the design is on the needles. Now I just have to see if it is going to work and whether it is worth trying to scale for multiple sizes or just leave as is).
  9. Post on the blog at least once a month. (Again, I'd love to blog more frequently than that but once a month seems like a realistic commitment for now).
  10. Figure out how to take better pictures in low light with my camera. We have a lovely new house but it's winter, which means I have maybe an hour a day (assuming I'm home and not at the office) in which to snap a good knitting shot since there is no obviously sunny spot. It would be really nice to know my way around my camera a bit more so I don't have to resort to the phone to get a shot capturing any kind of detail. For example the pic below shows the lovely soft light reflecting off the snow but doesn't exactly capture accurate color or stitch definition.

Making progress here - I've actually finished the first sleeve and started the second. Unfortunately, I'm utterly distracted by the little crib blanket I started for Sprout last week. Progress on Armas will recommence when the blanket is done.

Here's to a happy, healthy, and relatively stress-free 2014.

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

Since it looks like I didn't manage to comment on your previous posts, I would like to first congratulate you on the upcoming addition to you family. Secondly, before the current arctic blast, I wore the Wurm hat several times. Turns out I had a pair of suede gloves in the closet of almost the exact same color!

Lastly, it seems you came up with a wonderful list of goals. I'm not sure what mine are, but I don't put too much pressure on myself in this regard. Life has been busy enough with DD becoming a toddler (18m) and keeping up with home and work. I usually pick knitting projects based on what I feel like at the time, but I've decided to sign up for the Ysolda mystery KAL and both of my parents would like another pair of socks. I think I'll likely skip a spring sweater for Emma and just try to figure out the correct size for a fall sweater that will be completed in time. (I have two skeins of Madelinetosh Merino DK in a fall leaves looking colorway that I purchased when I was pregnant.)

Hope you had a good holiday, happy 2014, and best of luck with the preparations for Sprout. (sjn821 on Rav)

Kathy said...

Wait, you've got another little girl on the way?! When did you announce this? I must have missed it!

Good luck with your goals for the year! I want to get my goals up soon as well!

xx