A Box of Choc... Crafts

A hat, a hat! I finally made a Sockhead Slouch Hat, after seeing nearly every knitter I know make multiples of them years ago. This one was accelerated by being iced in, in part because it was very cold outside, and in part because I persuaded my littlest to let me cut his hair (which was in his face and he kept asking to have cut but then deciding he wasn't comfortable with the trimmer) by letting him cut mine, so we have matching #3 buzzes, and let's just say there's a reason I usually buzz my hair in August rather than February.

I also got to do a lettering commission for someone, which was an enjoyable project. I haven't done many of those recently, and it is something that I like doing. The challenge of fitting specific words nicely into a given space, and needing it to look nice at the same time, provides a pleasant sense of accomplishment when done.

We had a Target pick up (I'm still not going in anywhere I don't have to) the day before Valentine's Day and they included a kit to make heart friendship bracelets. The included materials were better suited to trussing a chicken for roasting than knotting with, but we'll use them as bookmarks so it's fine - and I enjoyed learning a new pattern (to try later in a better quality of floss).

I didn't actually get a whole lot of making done this past month - it was nice enough for walks a surprising amount of the time, but one thing we did with the warmer weather was try tie dyeing T-shirts. I got some great kits from Camp Arkansas and the Bigs had a delightful time making shirts. My only regret is that there aren't kits with adult sizes!

The Pi'ksii is currently on sleeve island. I did work on it a bit, although it's currently set aside so I can do a quick test knit (I'll share photos of that when I can). This coming month will (hopefully) be a bit more routine than the past few have been - I'm not sure what that will mean for my knitting time. Just have to wait and see!

Comments

Reading and Writing

#attunedpracticetuesdays: where we share the rituals and routines that are aligned with our sense of peace and wellbeing A couple of months ago, while working on a commission project , I started a new practice. I was listening to audio books while working since the project required my eyes but not my full attention, and since it was fairly labor intensive, I took the weekends off (not something I would normally do). Lacking something to do with my hands, the first Saturday I decided to put my speedy reading to good use and read a novel in one sitting (my preferred method, anyway). Then I read another novel the next Saturday. And now it has becomes a weekly thing. The only rule is that it has to be fiction - I read enough non fiction that a novel a week isn't going to hurt anything (and it wouldn't anyway, reading is reading). Helping out with Paper Heart Books and attending a bring-your-own-book-club meeting last week helped restock my dwindling supply. I like to get hard cop...

The Margin and the Manuscript

My partner and I came from households with two contrasting money management strategies: one household who sorted cash from every paycheck into labeled envelopes and still sits down together on Sunday evenings to write everything in a ledger, and one household who had more of a "spend it when you get it so you'll have food to eat when the money runs out" philosophy. As the more financially literate partner, budgeting fell to me when we got married. I initially tried to track everything but found that to be a soul-sucking endeavor that didn't really help me accomplish my goals. I have finally landed on a simplified system where I keep a list of each pay period's major recurring expenses, check them off as they occur, and then divide the remaining balance to produce a "daily spending limit." The bills are paid and I'm not trying to figure out what line item flavored coffee syrup should fall under (groceries? eating out? personal spending?) I recently re...

Festivals and Fairs

October is the Month of Fun Outings. The weather is generally pleasant, many things are less crowded than they are in summer because school has started back, and there are also an array of local events. We try to make the most of it, since I got used to not getting sick while we stayed in for a couple years so now we ride out the germiest months at home. But before that, we frolic. We'll miss our favorite fall festival due to scheduling conflict, but there will be a small one at my eldest's dance studio, and we're all going to the state fair this year. There are street fairs and at some point soon we'll go and each choose a pumpkin to stack on the front step five deep, and my littlest will name each family member while pointing at their pumpkin every time we go in or out the door. I've started leaving windows open at night, and sometimes it's been cool enough to have them open during the day, too. My desk candle has expanded to three candles on a cheese board b...

Search This Blog