Today is Friday, March 11, 2022. Let's start with the fact I am writing these notes BEFORE the show, so hopefully, I stay somewhat on track.
On The Needles
all links are to my project pages - if I have made a project page - I did declare website bankruptcy this week!
Earth Day Shorty Socks
Above the Fold
C2C Crochet Blanket
False Start
Hibernation Throw
Off The Needles
Next Up
links to Ravelry are noted
Tiny Dancer Sweater (RAV link) - but you can get other Lyrical Knits patterns on her site
Felici Socks for my sister
Boxed Block Stitch Blanket by Make and Do Crew
MOTI Update Through March 10
I was doing great in February, and then my birthday came at the end of the month, so I went yarn shopping. Some folks say "gift yarn doesn't count," but I am going to count it, just because I want to know how much yarn I actually brought into my house in a year. Spoiler: it's a LOT.
I ended February with a negative balance of (1269) more yards out than in.
And then I bought some basic yarns. 3,178 yards of it, to be exact. And my monthly Apple Yarns subscription arrived, which was another 400 in stash. So through March 10, including my most recent socks knit out, I am up 1,989 yards.
The good news is that the 3,200 yards I bought last week were grey and navy, to be used with some single sock skeins to knit those down. So just like I cut my hair last week to help it grow out better, I added to the stash, to knit it down.
That's why I have those big projects like a sweater and the blanket on my list for what's next.
The sad news: moths
But here's a good article on how to get rid of them. I may go try some dry ice this weekend!
5 Things Making My Life Better Right Now
Tovala. I LOVE this thing. Let's start with the fact that there are just two of us, so this makes dinner easier than if we had kids and stuff. Then add in how much I HATE cooking. Not dislike it, I hate it. I am not bad at it, but it brings me ZERO joy. At all. It's the worst. So on Black Friday, I got a Tovala oven and agreed to get six weeks of six meals a week. It's been much longer than six weeks, and we are so in love with this thing! You can make anything in it, you are not bound by their meals, but dang, they are actually really good. They always seem to have deals on the oven, but here’s an affiliate link to get $100 off the oven (so it should probably be $99), and I think I get some free meals or something if you use the link. https://my.tovala.com/referral/1U90Y6BCNot pushing the link, just saying that the thing is awesome. Here’s a photo of one of the salmon meals we made. It’s something I made all the time prior to getting the oven, but now it’s totally effortless.
Sally Hansen Gel Polish. In the 90s, SallyHansen was the worst, using formaldehyde in their polish and stuff. But now they are much better, and some of their polishes are even 7 free, or whatever. The gel polish isn’t real gel, and that works for me, as I hate taking off gel polish (there’s a theme here - I am lazy). It lasts all week, and I am super hard on my hands. I was using Olive and June, but the only way I can get a week out of that is if I put on a topcoat every single night. With the SH polish, I can get a week by doing a quick topcoat with Orly Sec N Dry mid-week. If I don’t, it lasts about 5 days.
The Lazy Genius (again, a theme). I first found Kendra when I was looking for some resources on planning, I think. I’ve been getting her newsletter for years, but I don’t know why, which is pretty normal for me. She recently had a newsletter article that drew me in. I am not sure what was in there, but I started listening to her podcast and pretty much drank the kool-aid. Her concepts are very basic, but dang, if they don't work. The big one for me is "name what matters." Spend the time on the things that matter, and be lazy about those that don't. In my work, I do a lot of stuff, and I can't do everything perfectly, and I don't always have someone to assist me. I have not started to figure out what really matters, and focus on that, and it works. Really well.
My home gym. I say this from what I recognize is some privilege. In late 2020 we purchased a Proform elliptical, as it was something that ideally both of us could use (note: the man couldn't use it because he needed a new hip, but anyway). Then late last year, we bought the matching bike. Now, we didn't sink $2000 into these each time - they were about $1300 each, and we got a zero-interest offer, so honestly, they are no more than one of my yarn clubs a month and equally as important to me! I love that no matter the time of day, or the weather, I can get moving for as little as 10 minutes, or a lot more. There's no way I would stop at the gym 6 days a week, especially with mask mandates, and I hate running in the cold, so this has been fantastic. Also, we put them in the dining room (gasp), because it was an empty room in our house, so I have to walk by them all the time, and there is a low-level pressure to use them.
A new phone home screen, and removing notifications from my phone. My job isn't overly stressful compared to so many other folks' positions. I know this, and I love that. But there is a little anxiety for me in unread emails, and seeing that little red bubble on my phone would make me check it. It wasn't ever urgent. Like ever. Because if it were urgent, someone would have called me, I am sure. I removed all of the badges and stopped all banners, etc. from the home screen. The only things that get through are some texts and messages from my spouse. There wasn't like an exhale when I did this, but it is so much nicer. I check my phone still more than I should, but I am really not interrupted, and that's wonderful.
And that is about it for this episode! I hope to actually do more knitting in the next two weeks so I have more of that content to share! Happy Spring and yay for Daylight Savings Time - I am the dork who doesn't mind getting up early and I LOVE the daylight later in the day!