New Year, New Goals

I am super, super excited for this year. God-willing, Keith will graduate and we will move--hopefully to a house. But all of that is incredibly unpredictable right now, so I've spent some time imagining staying where we are (meaning this apartment, Keith in school, etc), and while we both really want to move this year (and it would be really frustrating for Keith if he didn't finish his degree this summer), I know I can be happy even if moving gets put on hold. :)

There is so much apart from that to be excited about, though. Michael's first birthday, and all the milestones he will hit. (He is gearing up to crawl within the next month and a half, I think.) Getting outside more this summer. (Last summer I was a hermit ... I was exhausted and a bit overwhelmed with the adjustment to motherhood.) Continuing to learn about being a stay-at-home mom and domestic diva. ;) Seeing what God has in store for our little family.

So excited!

And my goals for this year have me excited too. Although this list seems a LOT longer than last year's. Uh-oh. I have a feeling that means I won't get much of it done.  We'll see. I've started a Pinterest board for my 2013 goals to keep me motivated, although it's still a bit sparse.

Knitting 

-a sweater for myself

-a sweater for someone else (other than Michael--he kind of goes without saying)

-100 hexipuffs (2 down, 98 to go! I need a concrete goal rather than just "a lot." This might be a bit ambitious, but we'll see!)

-Bigger on the Inside (my friends and I did a "knitalong" on this one and I seriously missed the boat--they're all finished and I haven't even cast on!)

-a panel for Knit the Bridge

-mittens (also planning on doing a knitalong with friends for this)


Things Otherwise Crafty

-Learn to dye yarn. My father-in-law has a lot of black walnut trees on his property, and is all too happy to have someone take the nuts off his hands once they start falling to the ground.

-Sew for real this year, which means I need to have concrete projects in mind. Either or all of these: a knitting needle case, pajamas, a summer dress for myself. (This is where I'm starting to have misgivings about how ambitious this list is, haha.) 

-Make Christmas stockings for our family.

-Learn to make macarons. I am pretty psyched to do this.


Other Goals

-Read 50 books. (Specifically Reckless (how have I not read this yet??), Call the Midwife, The Hobbit, Drowned Cities, Character Building, and the Catechism.)

-Get in the habit of spiritual reading each day.

-Revamp my blog's layout and try to post once each week. (I think I should decide on a day of the week that I always post, no matter what.)

-Submit three stories for publication. (I thought about setting a writing goal of some sort, but couldn't decide on a good one. At the bare minimum this will require me to write even if I'm not producing much new work.)

-Plan and throw a birthday party for Michael.

Halfway

Since we're halfway through the year (yikes), I thought I'd check in with the goals I set for 2012.

1. Graduate with my Master of Fine Arts. Check.
2. Have a baby. (Hopefully in that order!) Check. Except NOT in that order. :)
3. Sign up for a regular adoration hour. Not yet. I really need to get on this. 
4. Read 50 books. Just finished #32. Woot. 

And then there are my crafty resolutions. 

-Knit baby sweaters (check), a baby blanket (check), a sweater for myself, a shawl for Nicole (hibernating), hexipuffs, and an afghan (hibernating). 

-Learn brioche and entrelac. Not yet. 

-Learn to crochet. Getting there. I learned the basic stitches and some increases and decreases, although I could do with a refresher since it was a few months ago. Next up is learning to crochet in the round and make granny squares (yay!). 

-I haven't yet touched my sewing machine, but I'm hoping that will change this month. 

Something New

Remember how one of my crafty resolutions for 2012 was learning to crochet?

Let me introduce you to my first crochet swatch! (I was too lazy to weave in the ends.)

Now that I've learned the single, half-double, double, treble, and double-treble (sheesh) crochet stitches, I'm ready to move on to increasing, decreasing, working in the round, and so on. I'm using the excellent Crochet School videos over at Crafty Minx's blog.

It took me until double crochet to find "groove", so to speak. As I moved along, I kept finding myself holding the yarn between my ring and middle fingers, which meant having to move my entire hand to wrap it around the hook--very awkward and tiring. But I seem to have found a more practical way to hold it that still feels natural to me.

My allegiance is still to knitting, but it feels good to learn something new, doesn't it?

The End of February

Time to check in for February's goals! (Although technically I still have a whole extra day to knock them off, eh?)

Knit Baby C's blanket.

Yes! I don't think I can get a yarn along post in today, because I am really busy and have no camera (my husband took it to California with him), but all it needs is a good soak and block--hopefully something I'll accomplish tonight.

And then I can start a sweater or something. :)

Make a registry/join St. Paul's/baptism classes.

Yes to all of the above. Hurrah!

Register for a birth class/clean out the second bedroom.

Well, all I can say is that I tried on both of these. The class at the hospital (the only one before my due date) is full, and we are on a waiting list. When Keith gets back we'll probably look into other classes at other hospitals nearby, but I don't have much hope. In all honesty, I know that all the information we'd get in a class is more than readily available to us from other sources; but taking an actual class just helps you feel more prepared.

As for the second bedroom ... it's getting there. We have a changing dresser (now full of baby clothes from my shower!), and the twin bed is gone, and there are fewer boxes.

Change my name at the university/apply for graduation.

Yep. All I have to do is get a new student ID. Which seems kind of silly, since I'll only need it for seven weeks or so, but oh well.

Revise 3 stories.

No. I have not done this. Partly because I have been really busy with other school--it seems that every week this month there have been two or three things other things that needed IMMEDIATE doing, like grading stories or writing a paper or what have you. (This week it's student conferences.) But the other part of the story is that I am terrified to tackle the stories in most need of revision, and I haven't been able to meet with my committee members about them for various reasons to get some needed guidance. Next week is spring break, and I intend (I need!) to get a good start on them.

Close my old bank account.

No. This has become a spring break goal.

February Goals

New month, new goals. I still have to cast on my friend's shawl and register for a class/tour at the hospital, but I'm hoping to get those things done pretty soon.

Crafty goals:

• Knit Baby C's blanket. (On the 12th repeat! Hopefully I'll have a pic for the next yarn along.)
• Thread my sewing machine. This is a low-key goal.

Baby goals:

• Make a registry. This is way overdue. We've gotten started, but it's a slow process, and very overwhelming for me. I've already had one pregnant-woman-meltdown over it. Hopefully I'll have it finished by next week.
• Clean out the second bedroom to make way for a crib and other baby things. Another slow process, but that's okay.
• Join St. Paul's so we can get the baby baptized. :)

Other things:

• Change my name with the university.
• Apply for graduation (and pay the late fee ... sigh).
• Revise 3 stories.
• Finish up any necessary business with my old bank account so we can transfer everything and close it before the baby arrives.

It's a little frustrating, because if I wasn't in grad school right now--reading 200 pages a week, teaching three days a week, grading grading grading, all the various little deadlines that must be met, and then that pesky manuscript that needs revision--all this other stuff would already have been done already. Plus the laundry basket wouldn't be always on the verge of exploding, and there wouldn't be spans of time where the dishes just sort of piled up for a few days. (Aside from those days, they are usually nicely washed, because I like a clean sink. Especially when I'm supposed to be doing something else.) Just thinking about juggling all this stuff makes me want to cry on bad days. I don't understand how working mothers do it--I mean, this kid is still in utero and I'm having trouble!--and I am so grateful that once Baby C is here, I will be able to stay home with him, even though I will miss the structure of school.

(I was just working on the registry, which is why you get to read this little rant.)

The End of January

Time to check in for my January goals! Originally I wanted to include pictures, but alas, I am camera-less during the day (which is also why I haven't been participating in the yarn along), so.

The list:

Hang up all of our pictures, artwork, etc.

This almost happened. I have one picture that I intend to hang up today. The goal itself was kind of vague; I can't remember now whether it included putting photos in picture frames and hanging those, but I know it included getting a poster framed that didn't.

Finish Keith's second sock.

Yes! Still some ends to weave in, but I'm counting this goal as met.

Cast on Nicole's shawl.

Nope.

Buy yarn for a baby blanket.

Yes! This is one lucky kiddo--he is getting a Madeline Tosh blanket. :) The colorway is Mica, the yarn is Tosh DK. I think I need to get another skein; I won't complain about that.

Finish the last short story of my manuscript.

Yes. It was a long and painful process, but yes. My manuscript is now in the hands (or mailboxes) of all my committee members; I will probably be meeting with one of them this week to discuss the first batch of stories I sent her.

Revise a short story.

No.

Register for classes--baptism, birthing, and possibly breastfeeding.

No. But I think we've decided to look into having a priest we know do the baptism, which means we won't have to register for a class. I've decided not to take a breastfeeding class, because 1) I just have too much on my plate as it is, and 2) someone gave me a book about nursing that seems to be pretty thorough and helpful. If I end up needing some sort of help or guidance, there is a breastfeeding center within walking distance of our apartment which I plan to take advantage of. (I'll probably even stop by there sometime within the next month or two.)

As for birth classes and hospital tours and such, this week I hope to sit down with Keith and the schedule and figure out what works with both of our schedules.

Write letters to my cousins at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.

Done and mailed.

Set a date for a knitting party.

Yes! It's "Facebook official."

February goals to come soon!

January Goals

I posted earlier about my craft-oriented resolutions for 2012. My non-craft resolutions are pretty simple:

1. Graduate with my Master of Fine Arts.
2. Have a baby. (Hopefully in that order!)
3. Sign up for a regular adoration hour.
4. Read 50 books.

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but there you go.

These have made it onto my year-long resolution list because they are either huge events, and/or require a sustained effort to achieve. I'll also have goals for each month, some of work towards my bigger resolutions and some of which will be their own things. I guess they're not that much different than to-do lists. :)

Here is January's, in no particular order:

• Hang up all of our pictures, artwork, etc.
• Finish Keith's second sock.
• Cast on Nicole's shawl.
• Buy yarn for a baby blanket.
• Finish the last short story of my manuscript.
• Revise a short story.
• Register for classes--baptism, birthing, and possibly breastfeeding.
• Write letters to my cousins at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.
• Set a date for a knitting party.

Phew--looks like a lot to do in the remaining 14 days of this month, huh? Luckily I've started working on some of these things already--I'm hoping to knock one short story, one class, the date, and the letters off the list by the end of this week.

Right now the idea is that I'll post my goals here at the beginning of each month and do a recap of sorts near the end.

Crafty Resolutions: 2012

I'm not usually the type to make resolutions, mostly because I'm not good at it. My goals are always too abstract, or too big. (Praying the rosary every day? Realistically, that habit is not going to happen by the end of this month, and if it's not going to happen within a month, I will forget about it.)

But this year, I am trying to make some concrete resolutions that I can actually tackle. Some of them are things I pretty much have to do anyways (graduate, give birth to a baby ...), but maybe those are the best kind for me. ;)

I also think I'll have smaller resolutions month by month ... in other words a monthly "to do" list. But I'd rather think of these things as resolutions. :)

Recently I joined Pinterest, and I started a board there for my craft-specific resolutions, which I will now post here. (Non-crafty resolutions will come in another post so this doesn't get too terribly long!)


Knitting

In 2012, I want to knit:

-baby sweaters
-a baby blanket
-a sweater for myself
-a shawl for Nicole
-lots of hexipuffs
-an afghan

I also want to learn brioche, and possibly entrelac.

I imagine/hope I shall knit more than just these things, but those are the resolutions. :)


Crochet

I want to learn to crochet this year. I am pretty sure that knitting will always be my first love, because I simply like the way it looks better, I feel that it can produce things that crochet can't (crocheted socks just look odd to me!), and because I am fairly good at it (I can't lie--this is an important factor). But knitting cannot reproduce the structural quality of granny squares:



or pretty lace-covered rocks (believe me I've thought a lot about this and I don't think it's possible with knitting):



so obviously I must learn to crochet.

The problem is, see, that I am a perfectionist. I have always loved taking on new crafts (scrapbooking, polymer clay, beading, wire jewelry), and I will love them for a while and then leave them. Knitting hasn't been like this for me, and if I try to psychoanalyze myself--apart from the need to create something tactile and beautiful, and the feel of yarn and needles in my hands--I think it's because I knit and can make mistakes and it still looks good.

Beginner-level projects bore me. I know that I won't be able to make those lovely rocks right away; I've had to make some crochet chains for a few projects and they haven't exactly been pretty. But my mom picked me up some crochet hooks of varying sizes at an estate sale ... so I'm resolved to be patient with myself and really try to learn.


Sewing

I GOT A SEWING MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS. I have no idea how to thread it and set it up yet, but this year I will learn to use it, and I will MAKE THINGS. Specifically:

-curtains
-knitting needle cases
-a mobile?



I may be getting ahead of myself.


Other crafty possibilities:

-I would like to work with felt, make something simple but pretty like these leaves.(Or these--but again, I am too ambitious.) One of my many loved-then-left hobbies was needle felting, which I wasn't very good at; but this year I'd like to buy some nice, wool felt and make things with it.

-I also keep seeing these awesome embroidery projects. Here is another case of perfectionism: I used to do cross-stitch (one of my projects is hanging in my parents' house), but the thought of taking that up simply doesn't grab my interest. It's all these beautiful things I see online that are way out of my range of talent. So perhaps my embroidery will be limited to things like the leaves. We'll see!