5 of 52

In which we confess the things we aren’t giving a fuck about, but later

Does this look vaguely familiar? It should. This is a mini Fourth Doctor scarf, suitably sized for my five foot frame. It is going a bit quicker than the last one, being approximately half the size. I’m a hair over half way done with it.

Guys. I am bored with garter stitch. And these are not even colors I particularly like. But I am fangirling hard, and I NEED this scarf in my life, because reasons. Therefore, I am knitting on. There’s one more left after mine, and I am just gonna grit my teeth and plow through.

Here are the books I am reading. I broke my unannounced reading rule of one book at a time, because February got here before I finished Anansi Boys, and so I needed to start Sarah’s Cousins Book Club selection in a timely manner. I’m two chapters into both, and you can see from the post’s tag line that I am taking the material to heart already.

Now then, a discussion of things I now find worthy and unworthy of my personal fucks. I know you can’t wait to read this part. HA!

So, near the end of December, I decided that I wanted to do the following things on a daily basis in 2018:

Create things
Express appreciation to others
Haiku
Make music
Read
Write stories from my days

I even made myself a handy-dandy year long tracker for each item in my bullet journal.

Here’s what I notice I give a fuck about, because I do them at least five of seven days: Create, Express appreciation, Haiku, Read. I do not make music or write prose. I want to be a writer and musician, but I am not willing to consistently put my energy into these things. Perhaps because they aren’t concrete goals like knit 12 items and read 12 books. Perhaps because I have limited resources of time and find other things more enjoyable. Perhaps because I could do these things, but it would require running through my evenings with a timer in my hand and not interacting with my family and this is unacceptable to me. Maybe after my tangible creativity goals for the year are met. Maybe not. Maybe what I am getting around to on a regular basis is an accurate representation of what is actually important to me. And that’s okay. I can practice giving and not giving fucks any way that increases my personal life satisfaction.

4 of 52

Jan27

In Which We Vow To Knit Smarter As you can see, I finished the first Fourth Doctor Scarf. I promise the recipient isn’t always as grumpy as he appears here. There have been a few shake-ups this week, and we’re all kinda trying to roll with the punches. You’ll note that I’m keeping my face out of this blog post. Here’s a picture of the giant scarf roll. This is a picture of the other side, and the proof that I need to knit smarter. That, my friends, is 104 ends that need weaving in. And you can’t even see the ones in the work itself where the yarn ball ran out in the middle of a stripe. Oi! Here’s 18 feet of jumbled up finished scarf. There’s really no way to get a picture of the whole thing laid out. I started a new book, third for the year; and picked my in-between project. I’ll be working on this until February 1st: I’ll start it tomorrow and may or may not get it finished by Wednesday night. Knitting will recommence Thursday. There was also working, a bit of cooking, and plenty of wine drinking. And that, dear reader, is your weekly update. One day ahead of schedule. Go me!

3 of 52

Jan21

We’ll call this one “The Nope Edition.” Nope, I didn’t finish the Fourth Doctor Scarf, though I only have 72 rows to go. Nope, I didn’t finish Illusions, though another 20 minutes should do it. I did go to Frederick today, where I picked up another copy of Illusions for a friend, and this delightful yarn.

It’s wound into cakes and ready to become Edison by Lynn Di Cristina, and I can cast on as soon as I quit typing.

1 of 52

Jan7

So. Here I am, with a goal of 52 posts in 2018. There is no way I am going to try to bring you all up to speed on the last however many months it’s been. We’ll just start with current stories, the first of which has old antecedents. Last Christmas (that would be 2016) I gave out six knitting coupons “for a hand knitted item of your choice.” And one of the recipients said “Anything?” And I said “Sure,” because I love him and am also naÃ¯ve. And then he said “a Fourth Doctor Scarf.” And then a second recipient changed her mind, and said she wanted that, too, but not full size. And then I said, “Well, I’ve been meaning to knit one for myself anyway, so three Fourth Doctor scarves it is!” Then I had a thyroid flare which aggravated my carpal tunnel to the point that I could not knit for about 10 months. But here, at long last, is the first of three Fourth Doctor scarves approaching the finish line. This one is full size. I’m 1492 rows in, a bit less than 600 rows to go. Â Goal for the year: 12 finished pieces, six for others and six for me. Â General craftiness goal: Â At least 30 minutes on five of seven days.

Look at me go: Â SMART goals in my personal life. Â You’d almost think I write a lot of treatment plans or something. Â Like a Social Worker.

This is what I am reading. Â I bought two copies of this book, one for me and one for Sarah. Â We’re trying again to start a long distance book club, since she’s moved back to North Carolina, and this book looked fun. Â And it is! Â I’m sure she’s finished by now because she reads much faster than I do. Â I’ve finally accepted that I just don’t have the liberty to sit for hours and read on a regular basis, so I have cut my reading goal to an achievable 12 books this year. Â A long way for my 50+ days, but more realistic. Â Again, I aim for 30 minutes a day on five of seven days.

And this was the highlight of the week! Â We attended the Midwinter Night’s Dream Masquerade Ball last night. Â Here I am dancing, dressed as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Â I somehow managed to lose about 5 pounds between the time my dress was fitted on Wednesday morning and putting it on for the party Saturday night. Â No lie. Â Not complaining, mind you, but it is a bit of a seamstress’s nightmare.