I’ve been spending about 5 hours a day in my sewing room. I love it!
Last Monday’s blog hop was incredibly rewarding. Reading those posts to our 20-yo selves was moving. Chloe has a wonderful follow-up that captures perfectly how I was feeling after reading the posts. Chloe was sweet to even link to my post.
Have you had a chance to read any of the other notes to 20-year-old selves?
January has affected me differently this year. It feels like a fresh start. It’s as if Spring has arrived five months early with its promise of bright warm days ahead. (I tried to find a video of this song. No luck. This is as close as I could get)
My newfound hopefulness surely has something to do with the Celexa. *rejoicing*
This past week I decided to put myself on a computer fast so that I would be more able to focus on projects in my house that have been needing my attention for too long. I have allowed myself to get on Facebook for brief periods but only AFTER accomplishing something. Like dusting the decorations on top of my kitchen cabinets.
Brace yourself.
BEFORE
It was no small job!
AFTER
I got rid of several items, too
A friend made this for me over 25 years ago.
Next, I cleaned the refrigerator. You don’t want to know how much dog hair was in the bottom.
Dog hair.
In. The. Fridge.
Another accomplishment: I wrote a list of twelve big creative projects I want to complete this year. I won’t bore you with the entire list (yet).
Here’s my plan for the first two months;
January – Finish the quilt I started in December.
Here’s a sneak peek
I love these prints.
February – Finish this flower shawl I discovered on Pinterest via the help of my friend Janet. The pattern is from the book Motif Book Volume 4 and can be purchased (as far as I could find) on etsy. I ordered my yarn from KnitPicks. I chose Capra. This is their description –
“Capra, our elegant Merino and cashmere wool yarn, is as pleasurable to knit with as it is to wear. Available in a DK weight, Capra is a perfect weight for garments intended to be worn next to the skin, or special cold weather accessories. If you think this yarn feels soft in the skein, wait until you hand wash your project! After the yarn blooms, you won’t be able to keep your hands off of Capra!”
I chose a range of blues and one neutral (cream). The actual names of the colors I chose are; Admiral, Caviar, Celestial, Cream, Harbor and Platinum
I hope to finish it by the end of Feb. or mid-March at the latest (the year is young. I’m still optimistic).
Have you set any goals for 2012?
My head is so thoroughly filled with air that there is no hope of covering this page with pithy thoughts of high hopes for the coming year.
I hope this Celexa starts doing it’s job soon. There. That’s a hope and I believe it rates pretty high.
I hope I make up my mind as to whether or not to continue crafting stuff for my little etsy shop. I’m [this] close to shutting it all down. I’ve spent an ungodly amount of time in front of the computer this year and my body and my home show the sorry signs. Of course the fault doesn’t lie entirely with trying to run an online business. There’s also Pinterest to blame.
OH Pinterest! How I do love, thee!!
ANYway…
I hope to learn to knit socks this year. I’ve got 12 whole months to make it happen.
We’ll see how that goes.
Since I’m feeling blah and useless I think now is a good time to look back and see how much I actually DID accomplish. I’ll focus on stuff I made.
Here are some of my favorites:
I finished this in 2011. Yarn = Leche by Queensland
My daughter uses these now. She loves them.
This was a fun project that seems so long ago.
My first Wish Bird. Still makes me smile.
I didn't make these. But I'm glad I made the decision to buy them.
Fresh Cut Quilt made entirely from scraps from my stash. Woot.
This one will be MINE if it hasn't sold by March 1st.
I adore this little guy!
I made a cover for my Nook.
Okay. That was helpful. It’s nice to see the year wasn’t totally consumed by the virtual world.
Still. I think it’s possible Pinterest may take over my life.
I bought this book (Practical Guide to Patchwork)recently and I’m already working on two projects that it inspired!
Elizabeth is smart and practical and is also officially on my Hero list because of her boldness in challenging convention and pressing seam allowances OPEN on her quilts. *GASP* I’ve never liked the trickiness of pressing the seam allowances to one side because there are invariably some complications at intersections from time to time. So, I tried it Elizabeth’s way and I really love the results. Everything looks neat and tidy.
I hope to have this project finished within the week.
Oh. In other news: I finally took a photo of my Fresh-Cut Quilt almost in it’s entirety (that means the ruffle is more easily seen than in my original post). I just couldn’t seem to get the whole thing.
I posted yesterday about Heather Bailey’s free pattern.
I’ve gotten all of the pieces cut and am now piecing blocks together! WOO HOO!
So – should I leave off the ruffles around the border? I’m considering it.
