Sometimes I Knit Things

February, as has been stated in the Monthly Mary Sue Post, is for Finishing.  (And this?  This is super late, though not because I've been to busy knitting, I'm sorry to say.  My original plan had been to have this post and a week one wrap up both posted by now. ha.)

We've been doing some variation of this for nigh until ten years now, and it's usually a great way for me to kick-start myself back into crafting, which tends to lag at the end of the year (BECAUSE NaNoWriMo, and I still haven't figured out how to knit and type at the same time).  And then, well, there's the Holidays, which usually involves either a last minute scramble to finish a knitted gift, or more likely, that one "stupid knitting" project that you do a row on here or there while socializing with family and friends, but really spends more time in your bag than your lap when all is said and done.

By February, though, I'm "people-d" out, my writing muses are usually taking an extended holiday in Bali without me, there's not enough sunlight in a given day to inspire me to excessive feats of organization, and the idea of spending hours (days) sitting around catching up on TV and just knitting sounds delightful.

But first, there must be an accounting of projects in progress, a bit of orienteering, and a game plan.



I ended January with nine active projects on the needles*:

Clockwise, from the black lump at the top, we've got: 

• Even Flow Cardi (by Joji Locatelli) in Morning Meadows black sport-weight alpaca 
• This Bliss Cowl (by Fatimah Hinds) out of Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in Big Sky
• Burkhardt Wristers (by Tanis Gray) out of Dragonfly Fibers Traveler (DK weight) in Jocelyn
• (Pink) Cloud Hat (by Maria Petikhina) out of 1855 Fiber Company Alpaca Merino in Petal Pink
• Lithos Cardi (by Jennifer Dassau) out of Knit Picks Biggo in Rabbit Heather
• Nurmilintu (by Heidi Alexander) out of Dragonfly Fibers Damsel in Mossy Bank
• Wee Capt. Marvel Cardi (based on the Wee Brock Cardi by Gudrun Johnston) out of Knit Picks Comfy Sport in Planetarium, Creme Brulee, and Pomegranate
• Uncommon Dragon Sock (by Lara Neel) in Knit Picks Stroll Peapod
• Granny Spectrum Afghan (various) in Plymouth Encore

To start with, I dug all of them out, made sure my Ravelry was up to date, and then proceeded to make sure I had printed copies of all the relevant patterns in my midori (complete with any relevant notes about what the hell I'm doing, because I rarely follow a pattern to spec).  An important component of planning for February is going over each project and pattern and making sure that I know where I am, what I'm supposed to be doing, and that I have all the supplies I need.  Everything needs to be ready to pick up and go on February 1st.

The Accounting and Orienteering part of our Adventure...

Then, I bundled them all up into their own project bags with all their accouterments: 

As for my plan of attack, I started with the (Pink) Cloud Hat, since it's for the 25,000 Tuques project and I needed to get it finished.

Then I moved on to the Burkhardt Wristers, since they were almost finished anyway.

After that, I'm going to pick one of the cardigans to focus on in an attempt to finish it (it's cold in the yoga studio this winter!), with the sock to break up the monotony.

*I have about four projects in very deep hibernation that I don't count for the purposes of February.  They're typically things that are so very fiddly, or just so far outside what I have a desire to knit that I don't intend to work on them at all during the month, but still want to finish someday.  This just isn't their year.

Intentionally Begin

2016's word is "Intention".

The year got off to a little bit of a rocky start thanks to a wicked head cold and the attendant effed-up sleep schedule it created, but I think after this weekend we're back on track and ready to roll.

So let me share with you how I intend for February to go. (Otherwise known as The Very Public Blog Post of this Month's Project Mary Sue Goals That I'm Hoping Will Guilt Me Into Help Me With Sticking to Them.*)

Goals:

• As everyone should know by now, February is for Finishing.  I have a solid goal of finishing at least four projects, with another two that for stretch goals.
• Reread (by which I mean "listen to during the above-mentioned knit-a-thon) Robin Hobb's Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven for February's fiction books.
• Finish Linda Lafferty's House of Bathory (January's fiction pick)
• Rewatch and post recaps for the first half of season one of Blindspot
• Continue to work on Journal52 prompts each week
• Participate in the #Planwithmechallenge on Instagram (run by the awesome @boho.berry, @prettyprintsandpaper, and @tinyrayofsunshine)
• Read (listen to) Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic and Danielle LaPorte's The Desire Map Experience (February's non-fiction picks)
• Various health and wellness goals (er... that's a separate post. Hold, please. ::hums Girl from Ipanema until she gets it uploaded so she can put a link here::)

My plan is to update how things are going each weekend.  Somebody hold me to that, 'kay?

*For those of you who are playing the home game, the rules of the Project Mary Sue Dance Party are pretty simple: be your own wishfulfillment character.  Or, to put it bluntly, imagine who you want to be, and do your best to become that person.  Because there's not a damn thing wrong with wish fulfillment.