New Year, New Beginnings - 2017 Edition

I took quite the hiatus while I finished up my MFA. I needed to focus on what my next steps were. The good news is I took the plunge and started my own business - Exceptional Editorial, LLC. I haven't double-checked my receipts and expenses against the revenue for 2016, but tentatively I think I made a small profit!

Looking back at my resolutions for 2016, I know I didn't accomplish many of them. The priorities in my life started to shift dramatically as I finished up my MFA - I wanted to focus on publication and working to find a way to better have the time and energy to write and create.

Let's look at what I said last year (2016), re: goals.

1. Knit (or finish) at least two projects from kits or Craftsy classes. I'm working on Drachenfels and should finish it shortly after the New Year. I have other projects like Lunaris, Tunisian Crochet Multi-Garment, Tree of Life Afghan, Beyond Basic Broomstick Lace (class), My First Raglan Cardigan (class, plus I bought the kit), Shawlscapes by Stephen West (class), and Choose Your Own Sweater Adventure (class), among others.
   
   Nope. Didn't even finish Drachenfels. It's at like 280+ stitches per row and living in a project bag/time out because it doesn't bring me joy. I did, however, go the entire year without buying any yarn. Complete cold sheep success. The only yarn that came in was a free sample I got with my book order from Knitpicks and a skein that was a gift from my sister. Otherwise, I worked on knitting down the stash.
   
2. I want to finish my MFA thesis by the end of next year. I have sent in my thesis proposal and I'm waiting to see if it was approved or not. I'm hoping to finish by August, but I'm giving myself an extra semester in case my proposal is not accepted in January.
   
   I finished and defended two weeks before my grandfather died. I've been sending the finalized project off to publishers for consideration. If I don't get any bites by May or June, I'll spend some time this summer revising.
   
3. Unread Books Project. Moving twice in less than two months, I realized I have a lot of books, many of which I have dragged state to state, all unread. So, to remedy this, the Unread Books Project is me picking at least one book per week to read for fun and/or pleasure from the stack of books that have sat and sat and sat in my home. To achieve this goal, I will read 45 to 52 books over the course of the year and do a biweekly or monthly report on what I've read. I also want to recall when and where I bought the book (or was gifted the book) when writing up which book or books I've finished.
   
   I put the blog on hiatus and with it, the unread books project. I'm still pretty burned out from reading after the PhD and MFA programs. I've been gifted several books I'm genuinely excited to read, so I'm hoping to get back in the saddle as far as reading in 2017.

I didn't really accomplish as much as I wanted. It's OK. I made a lateral move at work to a position that is far less stressful and, so far, has been very rewarding. I'm still shocked I managed to land two clients within a month of putting up my shingle. I'm grateful.

I also joined Instagram. I post knitting pictures, because knitting really brings me joy. I finished a very sweet sweater that was a free pattern from Lion Brand. I borrowed my mom's Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmermann to make a baby surprise jacket. I cast on today and hope I can follow the older-style instructions.

I don't know what goals I want to set for myself this year. I've got a lot of energy going into a lot of places. I find that very few of my goals get accomplished because my priorities dramatically shift. I'm going to focus on a few attainable touchstones rather than goals for 2017:

1. Continue working on decluttering my new house. I've got limited space and too much stuff to fit comfortably in it. I'll continue to cold sheep - no new yarn unless I have a specific project I will start right away. It's the seduction of potential - these papers/markers/yarn could all become something. The siren song of making and doing is difficult to ignore.
2. Keep working on Exceptional Editorial. I would love to make a profit three out of five years for tax purposes.

Here's to 2017.

Knitted Chainmail - Review Time

I knit chainmail for my Halloween costume (Lagertha from the TV show Vikings). I used sock-weight yarn, which was nice and soft, but didn't hold up to being worn all day. Unfortunately, it got snagged in a few places and I ended up with some holes.

I think the folks on Ravelry who knit their chainmail with worsted weight, acrylic yarn had the right idea. I think the nylon/acrylic blend of the sock yarn wasn't enough to stand up to the rigors of being worn around the office all day.

That being said, it looked really good and authentic. I'll write up the pattern later this month and put it up on Ravelry.

First Week of New Job, Third Week of Semester

This week marked my first week at my new job. It was fast-paced and intense, but I really enjoyed it. I ended up having to go into the office twice yesterday, but everything got taken care of and aside from an OK Cupid date backing out because I took too long, it was uneventful.

I met up for teriyaki and then ice cream with someone from OK Cupid. It went well. Not really feeling more than friendship, but I'm teaching him how to knit next week! Winning!

My new place is really great. The landlord is really thoughtful and kind. The view, as you'll see below, is fabulous. I'll hopefully have my furniture by next weekend so I'm not sleeping on an air mattress or yoga mat. I'm really looking forward to having my stuff again.

View from my new apartment.

I'm still knitting. My mom gave me some cotton yarn and I'm almost finished with the ball. I'm going to try and finish the Little Lady Garter Blanket in the next week or so, but it's really a boring knit and I'm sick of the color.

I bought Defarge Does Shakespeare on Ravelry. There were at least three patterns I wanted to make, so after several weeks of having it in my cart, I bought it on Ravelry.

I'm thinking I'll knit Lady M; Ravel'd Sleeve of Care; and Exeunt, Pursued by a Bear.

I've also been knitting a bunch of dishcloths. I've got two patterns memorized: Almost Lost Dishcloth and Grandmother's Favorite.

Almost Lost Dishcloth. Requires knitting short rows. It looks better in person. The easier-to-read pattern is from this website.

I don't have reliable Internet at home yet. There's a WiFi hotspot login I'm borrowing from my dad, but it's hit or miss. Some times I can watch an hour show on Hulu or Netflix without buffering and sometimes it drops every five minutes.

I'm down to my last five classes for my MFA. It's been hard to juggle the start of the semester with my classes, but I'm accepting the fact that good is good enough.

All in all, things are getting settled. I'm really happy to be home.

Stash Dash 2015

I enjoy watching the video podcast The Knit Girllls and I follow their group on Ravelry. For most of the summer, one of the hosts, Laura (also known as La La) hosts a "stash dash" where members are encouraged to use up the yarn already in their house; you also can count any projects you finish up during this time. For the first time, there are three finish line options: a 3K, 5K, and 10K.

The distances refer to how much yarn you knit. I started a $5 in Paris sweater last Sunday and it is going fast!

I cast this sweater on Sunday, May 24, 2015, and a week later I'm at the ribbing on the bottom. Once I finish with the body and bind it off, I'll be ready to finish up the sleeves!

I haven't really knit the Little Lady Garter Blanket much since I started the sweater, but with more than 24 inches left to knit, well, it's going to be a long time knitting garter stitch. Sadly, even though I'm holding the yarn double, the Stash Dash 2015 rules state you can't count the second skein's yardage in your total. So, even though I'll be creating a double-thick blanket with two skeins of yarn, only one skein's yardage counts. There's lots of disagreement with this rule in the thread; it might change next year, but I won't be knitting double again any time soon because it's such a pain in the butt to work with.

This is the garter stitch that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friend ...

I still need to press the fabric, cut out the bunnies, and stitch them onto my Bunnie Blankie. It's been in hibernation for nearly three weeks. It's on the to-do list that won't get done for awhile. It also won't count for Stash Dash 2015 since I bound it off before the competition started. Sewing finishing touches doesn't count, unfortunately.

I really hate this project at this point. If I hadn't bought the fabric, I would say that I'm done with it, but I'm another $10 of materials in and I want to see how it looks completed. This will happen. Eventually.

I did buy some silk yarn to make the Tunisian crochet multigarment for the Craftsy class "Tunisian Crochet: Revolutions in Color and Style" class I bought a few weeks ago. Thanks to the really low prices at Tuesday Morning, I was able to purchase enough silk yarn for the project for half of other websites. I'm not 100 percent in love with the green I picked for color C in the pattern, but I also am not in love with paying almost $70 in materials for a new-skill project. The wooden Tunisian crochet hooks I bought from Amazon are okay, but they're not great. I bought a second set of sturdier plastic ones, which should arrive here in a few days. We'll see. The right tools make for a better crafting experience!

I will say I was very pleased with the two Craftsy classes I bought that I've already looked into. Eunny Jang's "Choose Your Own Sweater Adventure" has been helpful on my $5 in Paris sweater. I didn't understand some of the directions in the $5 in Paris sweater pattern, but after going to the appropriate (and well outlined) sections in Jang's video, I was able to complete the more technical parts of my first sweater. I'm looking forward to trying her patterns, even though they're written for bulky yarn.

The yarn I bought at Craftsy at the same time as I bought the classes arrived very quickly. I was impressed that all of my yarn (even when I bought 12 of one type) were from the same dye lot. I'm going to try to make the Tree of Life afghan, but probably won't start it until after the summer is over given its level of technical difficulty and sheer size.

As the summer progresses, we'll see if I have time to do more than the 3K. I might not even finish that, especially once summer classes start.

I'm going to be taking four summer classes - two first session and two second session. I still owe the university money for my summer classes. I'll get right on that after I get back from my knitting group that happens at 10:30 a.m.