happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling
I finished the hat I started on Tuesday. It’s a combination of small mohair scraps and some yellow wool.
It’s rather slouchy on my head and I’m not sure about the colors. Still, it’s incredibly warm and soft and it was fun to make. It will probably end up in the package I’m preparing for KAS.
I’m still not sick of making hats, so moments after I finished weaving in all those ends I cast on for the next one…
After I finished the hat yesterday, I made myself finish the dishcloth.
(pictured with the one I knit before I started blogging again)
I wrote “made myself” because I really was itching to make another hat. Let’s face it, I like making hats. I love making hats. I’d be very happy just knitting hats and nothing else.
Maybe I’d better rename my blog to “hatmad” or “she knits hats” or something like that. Seriously, constantly thinking about that. I’m also considering a “52 hats challenge” next year. If only I could count on my hands to keep up with all that knitting…
I promised myself a yarn shopping spree in January, but for now I’m working with the scraps I have, so I’m not sure where this is going color wise. So far I like it.
linking up with Frontier Dreams’ Crafting On
Those socks. Hmn. I started out feeling pretty confident. But when I got to the legs, I tried to incorporate a bit of a pattern in knit and purl stitches. I went for diamonds, but I kept loosing track. Then I considered Karen’s suggestion to do a simple checkerboard, but I noticed the knit was very loose. I would have to change to thinner needles (that I don’t have) or knit with two strands. Either way, I had to frog them.
And while I was doing that, I decided I’d rather make a hat (this is probably not a surprise to you if you’ve been hanging around on my blog for a longer time). Since winging it without a pattern didn’t really work out for the socks I grabbed an old favorite: Soulemama’s Rosa hat.
Ah! (sigh of relief) I knit with four strands, cast on 80 stitches (child size), but made the height adult size. I guess I have a small head. Or maybe I just like my hats to sit tight.
Gosh I look old and tired. But maybe that’s just because I am. I’d better get used to that face, it won’t get any younger 😉 Anyway, I love this hat (can you tell I like green?)
Linking up with Jeannie Gray knits’ Makers’ Monday
I’m following Bohoberry’s journaling prompts to review my year. You can read the first part here.
9 COULD HAVE GONE BETTER – What could have gone better this year? Were there any mistakes that you can avoid in the future? I’m not happy about the amount of time – and the quality of it – I spent online. I have tried to get offline completely for a while, but found myself mindlessly browsing pinterest or blogs that I’m not really interested in. I think quitting completely was a mistake. Next year I want to be mindful about my time online and use this time to connect (I really missed that when I quit blogging and social media) and to be inspired. I do want to stay informed about what’s going on in the world, but I think moderation is key.
10 MONEY WELL SPENT – What was money well spent this year? We spent a big amount of money on something I can’t talk about (not my story). But it was worth every cent. And then there was the money we spent on upgrading our house. We’re still far from done with this renovation, but it was money well spent since it will either mean having a better house or – eventually – selling it for a higher price.
11 PROGRESS TOWARDS GOALS – Did you make any progress towards your big goals? Were you able to check any off your list? I’m not sure if I had big goals for 2017. I had some writing career plans that fell short because of my burnout (I’ve had writer’s block the whole year), so that didn’t work out. But I also decided to rest and take better care of myself and I did make progress in that. I didn’t gain weight and I am working through some mental issues. It’s just going very slow.
12 NEW SKILLS LEARNED – What new skills did you learn this year? These could be business skills, something in your education, or even new creative techniques. Oh, that’s a hard one. I don’t feel like I learned anything new. I tried to learn about website monetizing and marketing, but I didn’t have time to focus, so I don’t think I could call that learning new skills. Wait! I know something! I learned to read crochet patterns. Or at least I learned enough to understand the one that I made the wavy scarf from. Branching out from granny squares is a big thing for me 😉
13 BREAK-THROUGH MOMENT – Was there a moment this year where you felt like you broke through a barrier or mental block? I’m close to a break-through. Or at least it feels like I am. Since I started answering these questions and even putting it all out there (that is scary), I’m noticing a shift in the way I think about things that have been stuck in my mind for a while. Examples? Well, I just realized recently that even though I had good reasons to quit personal blogging (I did quit and start a few times, more than ever since 2014), I also need the connections, the friendships, the opportunity to talk about simple things like knitting and home-making and things like that. I’m feeling lonely if I don’t have that. So now I’m trying to find a way to make it work.
:: :: :: Want to join in? You can find all about the BohoBerryChallenge here.
If you decide to follow my lead and blog about it, let me know. I’d love to read your answers to the prompts.
Well, actually it’s more like a light breeze. But it’s going rather well compared to the rest of the year. I finished the dishcloth. I could have made it bigger, but I feared I would run out of the brown cotton. And then I found I did have enough to crochet a border and still had some scraps left. Oh well, it is about the right size now. I did the border about three times until I realized I was putting way too much thought into something I will use to wipe my counters. Anyway, I think I like what I did.
So I started another one in different colors (these are all scraps from the thrift store).
I also finished the hat. I had to add some other yarn and it still was barely enough to make the hat big enough to fit over my ears. It’s warm and soft though. And since we’re having a snowstorm again I might even actually need to wear it.
Since I loved making a hat so much I now feel like I should start another one. But I’m also still working on those socks and maybe two projects at once is enough… I’m having a hard time to decide how to proceed with those socks though. I would love to move on from plain socks and add some fancy knitting. But I don’t want to make it too complicated either. Hmn. Sometimes choosing a pattern beforehand is easier than winging it… Then again this is more fun 😉
visit more crafty people via Nicole’s (Frontier Dreams) Crafting On
This weekend …
:: we got the tree down from the attic to set it up
:: and decorated it too (never mind that leaning top – it always does that, but it’s straight(er) now)
:: I put out some other decorations (I love that Santa Claus. He’s been with us for over 20 years now)
:: I wrote some Christmas cards. I have to admit I just sign our names under the preprinted text. Each year I tell myself to up my game, but it just never happens. I know it’s strange, being a writer, but I’m really bad at writing best wishes and things like that.
:: we got a snow storm
and that’s really rare around here, especially this early in winter (technically still autumn even)
so our whole little country is a big mess right now (we’re not really prepared for snowfall)
but I had nowhere to go, so I just sat inside near our (fake) fireplace with my knitting.
I cast on for socks. So exciting. Though I don’t know why I find that exciting, I’ve knit several socks before. Still, it feels like “real knitting” every time I knit them. In case you’re wondering about the jumble of needles in this picture, I usually try to avoid the second sock syndrom by knitting two at the same time. I keep switching between them at every sock-knitting-phase (cast on, border, leg, heel, etc.). Works for me.
It was a good weekend. How was yours?
(linking up with Jeannie Gray Knits’ Makers’ Monday)
1. Introductions I’m late to start this, but I scrolled past this challenge again (I visit her site often) and suddenly thought it might be good to force myself to think through the past year and look ahead to the new year I can’t really join though, since I don’t do facebook or instagram anymore (you don’t want to hear my reasons, it would be a long rant), but I can put it here on my blog. I don’t think I’ll post daily when I’m done catching up, that feels like too much of a commitment, but we’ll see what happens. I’ll skip the rest of the introductions, if you don’t know me from the rest of my blog, my about page is right here.
2. 2017 in three words – What 3 words best describe your year so far? tired – helping – fear Hmn. Really? So negative. But it’s true. The first word that came to me when I thought about this prompt is tired. Cause I am. And I have been most of the year. The year started with a real burn-out (I had pains in the chest, panic attacks etc.) and when I finally started to feel better, that second word came about. I helped one of my girls move to an apartment that she will be sharing with her boyfriend, I helped my parents move into a (much) smaller apartment and sort through their belongings to make it all fit, I’m currently helping someone to get grip on her household again, after being sick for quite a while. And I helped lots of other people lots of other times with lots of other things. It’s all done out of free will and with love. But I am tired. Both physically and mentally. And fear… I don’t want to get into details too much, but yes. Constant fear. Finances, health problems of loved ones, world problems. I try to shake it off and sometimes I succeed. But it does impact my life.
3. Favorite memory – What was your favorite memory of 2017 so far? Oh, there have been good times this year, really. My favorite memory must be sitting in an Irish bar on Gran Canaria (we always seem to end up at Irish bars when we’re on vacation) and singing my heart (and lungs) out with the live music. What kind of music, you ask? Rock, mostly hard rock even. I know. But it was just what I needed. (here’s a link to the performer. If you ignore his accent and focus on the guitar, he’s really good. And okay, everything sounds better if you’re on a sunny vacation island.)
4. Biggest accomplishment – What was your biggest accomplishment this year? How did you achieve it? I kept the weight off! I have to explain that, I guess. In 2016 I lost a lot of weight. I was really happy about that. But I’m an emotional eater, I binge when I’m having a hard time and all the other times I lost that much weight (I’m also a yo-yo dieter) it came back on when things went wrong in my life. But this year I didn’t. It has been a really hard year in so many ways, but I kept telling myself I didn’t need food, I needed to work through it. And I did. In fact I lost even more weight along the way.
5. Biggest challenge – What was your biggest challenge or obstacle this year? How did you overcome it? Well, apart from and related to no. 4, I guess my biggest challenge was to work through burn-out, depression and anxiety. I’m still not there, but I think I am doing better now. For me the best way to do this is to analyze what’s going on in my mind. Why am I thinking this? Is this realistic thinking? Where does it come from? What can I do to stop thinking like this? It’s hard work, but it does help.
6. This year I … – There are so many ways to interpret today’s prompt. Complete the sentence with whatever is in your heart about this past year. This year I tried to pick up the pieces of things that have gone bad in past years. I realize that is actually what living is about most of the time, but there were a lot of pieces this year in so many ways. Anyway, it had to be done.
7. Time spent well – What was time well spent this year? Helping my parents. Even though the downsizing was not an easy job to do, we’ve spent so much precious time together. Talking about what really matters in life, curating the mountain of stuff they couldn’t fit into the new apartment into a beautiful selection of their most precious memories.
8. Successes – What felt successful about 2017? Again? I guess I’m not good in these things. It feels like I’m constantly repeating myself. The weight, helping my parents. Really, I don’t think there was more. That sounds so negative, I know. I don’t mean to. It’s just the way it is. I had plans, ideas, things I worked on. I don’t feel they were failures, but none of those were a success. Yet. Maybe next year.
:: :: :: Want to join in? You can find all about the BohoBerryChallenge here.
If you decide to follow my lead and blog about it, let me know. I’d love to read your answers to the prompts. I don’t have (don’t want) an Instagram account or the app, but I sometimes view/read from my computer. I can’t see stories or private accounts and I can’t comment, but I can see pictures and read captures and comments, so I can follow along if you decide to join the challenge there (yes, it is kind of hypocrit not to avoid all that is Instagram, I know that. It’s complicated..) Facebook won’t let me view without an account though.
I guess knitting is like blogging for me. So many reasons to quit (for knitting the main reason is my arthritis), but I’m always coming back to it. Last week I started knitting a dishcloth, thinking a small project that I actually would use was more fun than dragging along on a sweater I didn’t even like (I frogged the lilac sweater I was working on). It’s coming along nicely (I’m sooo slow these days), but it’s a bit boring.
Yesterday I couldn’t take it anymore: I just had to knit a hat. I love knitting hats. Not sure why, but I do.
Problem is that I hardly ever wear hats (it just doesn’t get that cold around here) and I have lots of them already. But then again, it’s a hobby. People who paint don’t really need another thing to hang on their walls, do they? It’s all about having fun, being creative.
So I just grabbed some yarn and started. I’m not even sure if I have enough of this (it was a thriftshop find) to make a hat, I may have to get creative with some other yarn. But I am having fun.
visit more crafty people via Nicole’s (Frontier Dreams) Crafting On
(it always is)
I’ts not about the presents (we do really low-budget gifts), but about the rhymes, the fun. About being together as a family. Saturday Extended family (my parents, my sister and her family and the six* of us.
Sunday Just the six* of us.
*One of the girls has a serious (as in: moved in together) relationship now, so we added a son-in-law to the mix. He was a good sport and actually enjoyed his first taste of our noisy, busy, chaotic Sinterklaas festivities.
Gearing up for our annual Sinterklaas festivities. So much fun!
NOT A STATION 