Of goals and ambitions (Day 1 of Knitting Every Day for a Year)

Day One

I make a lot of goals for myself. Small things like "I will exercise every day this week," or "I will write one journal entry every day," or "I will do dishes every evening." Most of the time, I actually do these things for about three or four days and then quit. 

I was up to about three weeks on the "write a new journal entry every day" thing before a bad case of depression took over and I didn't want to write down that today was another shitty day for no apparent reason. 

And I don't work out every day but I am getting good at working out every other day which, hey, I'll take. 

And dishes are getting done every day but only because I have nothing else to do while waiting for food to cook and it takes just a few minutes to throw some plates into the dish washer.

There are a few people about the internet who are doing neat projects like 100 sewn dresses in a year  or creating something small every day for a year. It's projects like these that make me want to accomplish something similar. 

I knit every day. There are very, very few days where I haven't knit anything and most of those days were because I was resting my wrist because I have terrible posture and form. So I figured why not actually prove that I knit every day. Show some progress that isn't just me tweeting about random complaints I have about the pattern or yarn or my own cock ups. I already knit all of the time so why not try to make a project out of it? 

And if I make a blog post to go with it, I figure then I am forcing myself to write every day too which, as someone who calls herself a writer, I should really do more often. 

So here it is. The first post in my attempt to knit and record my knitting every day for a year. 

Should be fun, right?

Not Even Socks

I finished my pattern this week. It felt awesome. It is currently being tested by some test knitters and I might be looking for more to test the other sizes. Right now I'm feeling mostly terrified. This is my first pattern and I want it to be perfect even though I know it won't be. I hope I did my math correctly even though history has shown that I can't do math to save my life. 

But I'm trying not to think about that right now. 

I've already started another sock prototype. I like how it's going so far even though you can't really see the pattern in this yarn. I'm also choosing to do a different heel so that the math will hopefully be easier. 

So that's where I'm at right now. Lots of knitting and doodling and scribbling and freaking out about math.

I did make myself some sock blockers. I used this tutorial and some place mats I got from Target. I've needed sock blockers for a while but now that I'm actually taking pictures of my socks and putting them in patterns, I need them to look a bit nicer than what I was doing which was hand washing or throwing them in the regular wash, depending on the yarn, and hoping for the best. So far, the socks look much nicer. Definitely worth the $4 and about 15 minutes it took to make them. I recommend every le broke knitter to make their own blockers to use until they can afford the really nice wood ones. 

Mmm. Wood sock blockers. 

Lies we tell ourselves

I've been busy lately. (I haven't.)

I wanted to keep a regular blog but every time I thought, "I should do a blog post," something came up. (It didn't.)

I have been working on things though. (It's actually true!) I've been working on finishing up my first pattern. I have about half of it typed up and formatted, I just need to finish typing it up and take some pictures for it before I can send it out to my test knitters.

I like this pattern a lot. I like how it looks and how it feels on my feet but I hate knitting it. At this point I am knitting the 5th sock I've knit in this pattern. I rarely knit the same sock twice let alone five times. So many things have changed though and I want to make sure that people will feel like they spent their money well if/when they buy the pattern instead of feeling ripped off.

I don't expect to become rich off of selling sock patterns but I would like to be able to make some money so maybe I can eventually start chipping away at the mountain of student loan debt I have. One can hope. (It's hard to though.)

The next week I hope to get the pattern sent out to test knitters. I hope to finish a swatch of another pattern or two and maybe even start a new sock. That would be nice.

I honestly don't know how other designers do it.

Malaise (Finished Friday of sorts)

Malaise probably isn't the right word but I haven't found a good enough synonym to replace it.

I haven't felt...right this week. Not sick or depressed really just...off. Okay I did feel sick that I have reached that age where if I don't get a good night sleep, I feel sick the next day. I've also had a couple of head aches this week but I blame that on the constantly changing pressure systems here in Florida. Sure, it's all sunshine and rainbows most of the time but talk to any Floridian and they will tell you that it rains every day. It might not rain a lot or for very long but it rains every day.

If you can name the show I was watching, you get 50 Internet Points

This malaise, for lack of a better word, hasn't stopped my knitting though which makes me believe further that I'm not sick or depressed. I knit a sock (but not the one that I needed to work on), I've worked on a blanket to donate to charity along with some baby booties that took me less than two hours to knit, and I've been working on my Inheritance shawl/scarflette thinger. I've also found another scrap blanket that I want to work on but I'm forcing myself to finish at least one other blanket, preferably one to donate to charity, before I start it. See, I'm showing restraint on making another scrap blanket. Possibly only because I don't know if I actually have enough scraps to dedicate to another blanket. I have a lot of scrap blankets in the works...I am definitely not a monogamous knitter. Being a monogamous knitter is boring.

I did learn some new techniques this week. I learned how to do an afterthought heel with was really fun. I paired that with a crochet provisional cast on and this might be my new favorite way to make socks. It was fun and easy. The afterthought heel did make it difficult trying the sock on though, especially since I am constantly worried that somehow my count gets off or I accidentally change needles or something and the fit gets all messed up.

There hasn't really been much excitement here really. I think the cat is trying to kill me but I haven't discovered her secret plans yet so I can't confirm it. Once I can confirm it, I'll let you know, mainly so I have witnesses if I happen to go missing.

You'd do that for me, right?

Inheritance

Boy, that last post sure was a bummer!

As you may recall, I recently inherited a lot of yarn from a family friend. A lot of the yarn was baby yarn that is designated to make baby blankets with for someone or to donate. But included was a box of yarn that our family friend's daughter had given her. And it was good stuff. Completely untouched. Included were three skeins of Hello Yarn's Fat Sock.

I don't get to knit with nice yarn often or ever. I'm a frugal person by nature and even more so when I don't have any extra spending money, like the past six or so years. The few times I allowed myself to splurge on things that I didn't need but I had money for, I was always on vacation which was really just a conference that I was calling a vacation. I don't think I've ever been on a vacation. I've gone on family trips but those are sometimes more stressful than regular life. 

This yarn has been sitting on my desk since I unpacked it. I've wanted to make SOMETHING out of it but I didn't know what. I was dead-set on making socks even though I now live in Florida where sock, especially thick ones, are not really ever needed (so I'm told.) And then I realized I had enough for a small shawl/scarflette thingy. So that's what I did. I found a cute French pattern that I had to translate (I only had to translate three words. It's a simple pattern). So far it sorta feels like knitting a washcloth. A bit at least. Not a whole lot. I'm hoping to get something to wear when it gets chilly, because again, I'm told it doesn't really get "cold" here.  

I'm hoping one day that I'll have the ability to buy myself nice yarn. Not all the time, but every once in a while as a little present to me. Gotta get me a job first though. 

In an attempt to end on a lighter note than last time, I just accidentally elbowed the cat in the face. She more of jumped into my elbow as I was moving my arm. I didn't do it on purpose and she seems fine, although she is now giving me a death glare...

The Hot, Hot Heat

I'm now in Florida!

And it's hot.

My boyfriend and I are slowly settling into our new surroundings. We've had fun exploring the various local restaurants and Florida-only chains. Our new local grocery store is very GF friendly so I am extremely happy. The move itself was uneventful. I got a little teary as I crossed the Indiana/Kentucky border, I won't lie, but I am excited about what's ahead for us.

So far, lots of knitting. It's hard to find a job when you don't know the area, you don't know anyone, you don't have a car and the public transportation system in the city you live in is laughable. My boyfriend and I were driving to meet his parents at a restaurant near the beach (I can say things like that now) before they had gone home from helping us with the move. I saw the first bus I had seen since moving to Florida and it was stopped. We stopped at a light near the bus and I tried to figure out why the bus was stopped for so long. The driver then stepped out of a convenience store close to where he had parked the bus. He stopped the bus, in the middle of his route, to get a drink. Laughable.

So I'm knitting. A lot.

I've already finished two socks and started a third multiple times now. I want to do a self challenge sometime where I knit a whole pair of socks in two days. I think I could. Both of the socks didn't take too long and the second one could've been finished in a day if I hadn't taken a nap during the F1 race. Maybe sometime soon.

I'm trying to find some sort of job but so far it's not going well. It would also help if I knew what the heck I wanted to do. Sure, I'd love to knit all day but so far I haven't found a test knitter position open, or at least not one that pays. I have been working on my own patterns for eventual publication and hopefully to make a little bit of money but it's slow going. I don't know how other designers do it. It seems like every one of them pumps out a new pattern daily (I'm sure this is hyperbole) and I don't even have one finished pattern yet.

It doesn't help my mood with the fact that everyone I talk to about my move then instantly asks me how my job search is going or what I plan to do now that I'm down here. Each time I'm asked that, I want to crawl into a hole even more and the self pity spiral starts up.

On the plus side, the cat and I are getting along much better than I thought we were going to. She has a history of swiping at me and generally being mean to me so I was expecting the worse but she has been my companion the past two days as I clean up and finish unpacking while my boyfriend is at work. It's been a little nice if not completely suspicious.

This sure was a bummer of a post.

Florida Bound

The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful for my boyfriend and I. He had a job interview at a great company that happened to be in Florida. We're from Indiana. We currently live in Indiana and have lived in Indiana for at least 20 years (I'll get to that in a minute). My boyfriend was so excited about this opportunity and once he got home, the waiting began. Would he get a phone call? Would he get an email? Would they be positive or would they be breaking bad news to him?

Last Friday while we were at work, he got a phone call. It was good news. I jumped up and down as our coworkers looked at us and congratulated us, mostly him, on the great job and pretty perfect location. I ran outside and called my family, the first person I got ahold of was my dad. We talked about  specifics like when and where. We ended the call with him saying, "So, going back to the state of your birth, huh?"

I was born in Florida. I was there for such a short time though that I don't really talk about it, let alone mention it. When we left work that day, my boyfriend asked me, "So, how's it feel to be a Floridian?" And I responded, "What? Again?" My boyfriend of almost four years didn't even know I was born in Florida, or at least didn't remember it, that's how little I talk about it. My dad was in the Air Force and a few months after I was born, we were residents of Wiesbaden, Germany. So, Florida, don't take it personal that I don't really talk about you much when it comes to the History of Leigh.

There are a bunch of mixed emotions right now. I am excited because I have hit my mid twenties and the Wanderlust that effects most post-collegiate grads has hit me hard. I want an adventure. I love Indiana, I love the cornfields and the Hoosier fanaticism, especially when it comes to Peyton Manning. Many Hoosiers refuse to believe that Peyton Manning is playing for a different team although Andrew Luck is quickly gaining popularity 'round these parts. I've lived in Indiana for the majority of my life. There are very few memories that I have from when we lived in Germany, before I lived in Indiana. I'm going to miss this place with its two seasons, winter and summer (or basketball and construction). I'm going to miss local places like Sno Castle and the Park, places you can't replace. The best you can do is find a mediocre substitute. But most of all, I'm going to miss my family and friends.

I'm not worried about making new friends or new acquaintances. When I do want to be around people, I can actually be quite pleasant and enjoyable and I've even been called fun, but that was after most of a giant margarita. You can find new friends, that's not hard. You of course can't replace old ones, the ones that were there to eat ice cream with you after a bad break up, or those who bought you your first Jaegerbomb and you decided it was nasty and that you'd never have one again, or those who you've known since middle school. They can't be replaced, you just find mediocre substitutions.

But what I'm going to miss most of all? My family. We've had our rough spots and times when we haven't talked much or gotten along well but they're still my family. A couple of weeks ago, after my boyfriend had his interview and came back to Indiana, I visited with my mom. She told me about when she left Indiana with my dad to go to Florida. She sat and cried as she talked about leaving her grandmother and about my dad being compassionate, something that doesn't happen too often.

"You'll see her again." He said as he grabbed her hand and she sat crying in the cab of the moving truck.

I feel like history repeats itself and sometimes in very eerie ways.