february is *not* for finishing...

Well knitting this month has been a somewhat spectacular flop.

Super adorable cat being super adorable next to barely touched knitting.  Yes, she tucks her nose under her leg when she sleeps sometimes.  And yes, she has an exclamation point on her forehead.

It's been a rough month all the way 'round, actually.  Most nights and weekends I've found myself sitting on my couch or the floor in my living room, next to my knitting and fighting with myself about whether or not to pick it up.  Other (usually winning, options) have involved pixel flowers and click-click-boom games (or logic puzzles) on my phone while listening to an insane amount of true crime podcasts.

Well, mostly true crime.  Also Lovecraft, because I finally found a podcast with engaging, insightful hosts that summarize and analyze the complete works of HP Lovecraft which means that I can immerse myself in the mythos and phenomenon without actually having to read it.  Normally, I'm not an advocate of this method, but dude. I don't actually like his writing *style* in large doses and am more interested in the socio-cultural phenomenon, so.

The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast

You're welcome.  (They're also on all the podcasting platforms.  My personal favorite is PocketCast.)

I'm also mainlining the relatively new Cults of Our Lives podcast hosted by the lovely Halle George and Stasie Sereda.  It's brilliant and funny as hell and I love it.  I found it on Monday and have about 3 or 4 eps left to go.

I really need to do a podcast round-up post again one of these days.

Right now I'm climbing the walls.  I still don't feel like I have my year game plan in place yet.   I'm still struggling with project management and follow through.  I'm still struggling with using my planner as completely and regularly as I'd like.

The struggle is real...

Sunday night in my living room.

Struggle seems to be the watch word there.

Mostly I find I'm struggling with *myself* - there's a sh-t-ton of resistance going on in my brain that I haven't found a way around yet, mostly because I haven't pinned down where it's actually coming from.

It's trying to be spring outside and I'm torn between being like "THANK G_D YES PLEASE I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE" and "... ... ... ... ...".

Also, ACHOOOOOO!

(Let the sneezing begin.)

Ahhh, February...

When a knitter's heart turns to thoughts of FINISHING ALL THE THINGS.

February is for Finishing has been a tradition in these parts of the world/blogosphere for years now (please see Kade's blog for a more compleat accounting of such goings on).  As such, it's usually when, if I'm going to get any knitting or crocheting momentum going for the year, that's gonna happen.

I very much want to get both my knitting and my ravelry mojo back.  Plskthnx.

At the same time, I am trying to invest more energy into, and retain the ground I've gained with, my planning system.  Well, not so much the system itself as the habit of using said system.  And journaling, which I've discovered over the past year.  And all those little health habits I'm supposed to do daily (and not just "supposed to" be doing because someone said so, but no, really, actually am supposed to be doing because I know from experience these things make me happier, more comfortable, and saner, like, IDK, drinking plenty of water?  Yes, that.)

Clear as mud so far? Good.  Thought so.

I've been thinking about blogging, too.  About why I've had *so much* trouble blogging the last few years, and where the confusion or resistance is coming from.  At least part of it has been because I'm not really sure what this blog should be.  I want to write, and feel connected, I feel like I'm more myself and more the person I *want* to be when I do blog, so I know my generalized reasons for wanting to.  But what I don't feel like I have is a central "theme".  The other thirds of our little hive mind (Kade and Jess) have ostensibly knitting-themed blogs.

I've found though, that I want something much more holistic.  I don't always want to talk about knitting.  Sometimes I don't have any knitting to talk about.  (We won't get into my yardage knit for the last two or three years, k?)  Sometimes I want to talk about other things I'm passionate about: tarot and oracle cards, for instance, or witchcraft, or fandom (maybe someday maybe), or podcasts, or writing, or planning, or art journaling... or heck, even cooking*.

But in the spirit of February first, I'm going to at least start with the knitting.

The Projects in Progress (not counting deep, deep hibernation on one or two very long term things) are, in no particular order:

"Uncommon Dragon" socks (Lara Neel) in KP Stroll "peapod"

Even Flow Cardigan (Joji Locatelli) in Morning Meadows Alpaca

Comfort and Joy "Project Peace Cowl" (Chrstina Campbell) in Dragonfly Fibers Pixie "Urban Fox"

Knit Your Love (Martina Behm) in Wandering Wool's Saranac Fingering

This Bliss Cowl (Fatimah Hinds) in Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock "Big Sky"

Lithos Cardigan (Jennifer Dassau) in KP Biggo "Rabbit Heather"

Please note that the extant photos are the most recent taken, but do not necessarily show the actual progress on the project(s) in question.   ;)


* We're doing HomeChef now and it's been both a life changer and a life saver, really for real.  

Presented With (little) Additional Comment: #TarotSpreadDecember Days 1-5

Also, my deck collection, my crystals, and gratuitous cat, knitting, and planner pictures.

the "Month Ahead" Spread from the #tarotspreaddecember challenge

my usual Monthly spread from Angie's Tarot Planner

the Past/Present/Future spread from the challenge

my Project Peace cowl and relevant notes from the daily blog posts over at The Healthy Knitter.

my Current (ish) reading space.  except when I use the kitchen table.  or my desk. (this is the pretty one.)

  

the cards, the cat, and cards+cat

the current collection of stones and crystals

planning tools for the #planwithmechallenge

the week ahead spread for the december challenge

a variation on the celtic cross from the december challenge

a deck interview spread with my Gaian tarot

Monday's card for the day

The decks (in order of appearance in the spreads above):
Rome Choi and Kwon Shina's "Dreaming Way Tarot"
Julia Jeffrey and Barbara Moore's "Tarot of the Hidden Realms"
Vanessa Decort's "Sun and Moon Tarot"
Gertrude Hirschi's Mudra Cards
Joanna Powell Colbert's "Gaian Tarot"

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.