Do you go through different phases with your knitting? Or whatever craft(s) you like to do?
After a few years of knitting it's becoming apparent to me that I do. For a while it was socks. I couldn't get enough of knitting socks. I even started this year out (again!) with my stash-sock-club, and I did well with that until my new phase started to take over...
Next it was scarves and cowls. Particularly cowls. I think this was fueled by the super-bulky and extremely lovely Head, Heart & Hands range. Of course I nabbed some of this when it first came out and then wondered what on earth I'd do with one skein of super-bulky yarn! Scarves and cowls it was! I couldn't get enough of them. Strangely so, considering scarves were never really something I wore and not something I really wanted to knit because I perceive them to be generally boring. Not so when they're done in chunky yarn! And they've come in extremely handy when I'm standing at the bus stop at 7.45am and it's only 5 degrees!
But now I can feel a new phase coming on... this time it's cardigans. I can't get enough of looking at them on Rav and queueing them or favouriting them. I've even finally cast one on for myself!
Hopefully I can finish it before the next phase starts. Socks are looking good again.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Planning
Do you plan your days/lives at all? Even just a little?
I try to. We menu plan and I've also tried out a few purchased things to help me keep things in order and running smoothly. I have finally decided though, that good old Microsoft Outlook works well for making sure that appointments and deadlines are noted and easily seen. I just put everything into the calender, print out the month and put it up on the magnetic board. Anything that comes up can be written in and we (hopefully!) don't miss or forget anything.
That is as long as I remember to check it. But it is up there and it means that I don't necessarily have to have all the information in my head. Anyone else in the family can look at it and see what's going on too. At least that is my theory.
Recently though, things have gone a bit pear-shaped. I've lost my focus and I'm starting to do things on the fly again, rather than plan it out and stay on top of things. One of the big problems I'm finding is fitting in homework with everything else. We now have two children at school and we also changed to a new school at the beginning of the year. Not only do we now have two lots of homework to supervise each night, but the level and commitment expected at this new school is much higher than we've previously been exposed to. Add to that a 3-yo who is the Queen of Tantrums (especially in the afternoon when I'm not paying as much attention to her!) and things get kind of crazy around here. Just tonight we've been doing a last minute project due tomorrow which I completely forgot about and of course the 8-yo has not been proactive about. Of course most of this falls to me to supervise because I'm at home with the children most afternoons. It's draining to say the least!
So I've been reading Planning With Kids. I now feel even more disorganised than I already did! I don't know that I want or need to be as structured as their family is, but there are certainly some tools available which might help me get things back on track here. This page has lots of things that I'm interested in giving a go. I certainly need help with making sure our afternoons run smoothly and it's definitely time to get the kids doing some regular household chores.
My biggest problems really are that I don't seem to be able to sustain any long-term organisation. I find myself giving myself a break (and knitting when I really shouldn't be, or procrastinating on the computer) when I think I'm on top of things, and then within a few days we're back to chaos, and forgotten homework, and the big one - what on earth will I make for dinner?!? I love getting organised, it's just staying organised that I have a problem with!
So this weekend I'm planning to plan! As long as someone remembers to get new printer cartridges so I can print all my plans out. I should put that on the calender.
I try to. We menu plan and I've also tried out a few purchased things to help me keep things in order and running smoothly. I have finally decided though, that good old Microsoft Outlook works well for making sure that appointments and deadlines are noted and easily seen. I just put everything into the calender, print out the month and put it up on the magnetic board. Anything that comes up can be written in and we (hopefully!) don't miss or forget anything.
That is as long as I remember to check it. But it is up there and it means that I don't necessarily have to have all the information in my head. Anyone else in the family can look at it and see what's going on too. At least that is my theory.
Recently though, things have gone a bit pear-shaped. I've lost my focus and I'm starting to do things on the fly again, rather than plan it out and stay on top of things. One of the big problems I'm finding is fitting in homework with everything else. We now have two children at school and we also changed to a new school at the beginning of the year. Not only do we now have two lots of homework to supervise each night, but the level and commitment expected at this new school is much higher than we've previously been exposed to. Add to that a 3-yo who is the Queen of Tantrums (especially in the afternoon when I'm not paying as much attention to her!) and things get kind of crazy around here. Just tonight we've been doing a last minute project due tomorrow which I completely forgot about and of course the 8-yo has not been proactive about. Of course most of this falls to me to supervise because I'm at home with the children most afternoons. It's draining to say the least!
So I've been reading Planning With Kids. I now feel even more disorganised than I already did! I don't know that I want or need to be as structured as their family is, but there are certainly some tools available which might help me get things back on track here. This page has lots of things that I'm interested in giving a go. I certainly need help with making sure our afternoons run smoothly and it's definitely time to get the kids doing some regular household chores.
My biggest problems really are that I don't seem to be able to sustain any long-term organisation. I find myself giving myself a break (and knitting when I really shouldn't be, or procrastinating on the computer) when I think I'm on top of things, and then within a few days we're back to chaos, and forgotten homework, and the big one - what on earth will I make for dinner?!? I love getting organised, it's just staying organised that I have a problem with!
So this weekend I'm planning to plan! As long as someone remembers to get new printer cartridges so I can print all my plans out. I should put that on the calender.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Milo Madness
There was a Milo KAL over on Ravelry during May. Of course I completely abandoned all my other knitting projects to take part in this event.
It was a lot of fun seeing all the different Milos popping up on Tikki's Ravelry group. The Milo would be one of my favourite kids patterns. It's so adaptable and suits girls and boys. Plus it knits up really quickly, which is always a bonus with growing (and fickle!) children!
I managed to churn 3 out during the month.
I charted the cupcakes and the hearts myself with the help of some online knitting graph paper. It was a lot of fun making them up and then tweaking them to get them to fit.
Fortunately Miss F has deigned to wear them all and even wore all three in one day! I'd call that a completely success! There's plenty more KAL Milos to be seen on Rav, so go check them out if you're already a member there.
It was a lot of fun seeing all the different Milos popping up on Tikki's Ravelry group. The Milo would be one of my favourite kids patterns. It's so adaptable and suits girls and boys. Plus it knits up really quickly, which is always a bonus with growing (and fickle!) children!
I managed to churn 3 out during the month.
I charted the cupcakes and the hearts myself with the help of some online knitting graph paper. It was a lot of fun making them up and then tweaking them to get them to fit.
Fortunately Miss F has deigned to wear them all and even wore all three in one day! I'd call that a completely success! There's plenty more KAL Milos to be seen on Rav, so go check them out if you're already a member there.
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