(mis)adventures of spindlerose

Week off review

I wasn't nearly as productive during my week off as I'd hoped. Here's what I accomplished:

1. Warped loom and wove off about half of the warp (color samples and 3 towels).
2. Cooked Thanksgiving dinner, including 3 pies.
3. Cleaned studio for a few hours.
4. Knit most of a sock foot.
5. Piles and piles of laundry.

I ended up watching more football than planned with a cat and no knitting on my lap. And reading more news and Facebook than I really wanted to.

This week, I'm recommitting to consciously using social media and news apps--this weekend I slipped back into the mindless surfing habit, and my creative productivity, sense of well being, and blogging suffered as a result. I've set 3 non-work goals for this week to keep me on track--and I'' sharing them for a bit of public accountability.

1. Practice yoga every weekday (2 classes and 3 times at home).
2. Finish the towels.
3. Write something (blog or journal) every day.

Week off goals

I have next week off. I'll do some work on Monday and Tuesday, but I don't have to go into the office. I'll keep up with email, answer the phone, and do some planning.

I plan to spend this week making things. There's a new warp on the loom. I bought a small pile of fabric today. We're hosting a few people for Thanksgiving.

I have an overwhelming list of possible things to make this week. If I don't make a list, I'll end up frittering away the whole week doing nothing much at all.

1. Weave off the towels on the loom now.
2. Make yoga pants.
3. Create some order in the studio. Spend 2 hours every day (except Thursday) cleaning up and finding things to move to new homes.

I'm keeping the list short on purpose. If I finish the first two projects, I'll choose two more.

Goals week 4

My colleague and I enjoyed our walk around Temple Square on Thursday. I had fun playing with the late afternoon light and HDR capability of my iPhone camera. Blogging frequently means I'm taking more pictures, looking at them, and sharing them. 

Since the public goal setting is mostly working, I'm still doing it. I did OK, but not great, last week:

• Write a blog post every day and take a photo for at least 4 of them.

• Spin for at least 20 minutes every day. I managed to spin only once. That business trip kicked my butt, and I never got back to the wheel yesterday or today.

• Take care of myself by practicing yoga or doing back PT exercises daily—ideally first thing in the morning. I saw the physical therapist for an evaluation and learned what I can do safely right now and what I should not be doing right now. I was mostly on the right track, but I do need to wo some exercises every day instead of some days.

• I decided to frog the red cardigan. Thank you everyone for mostly confirming what I knew I needed to do.  I may look for a complementary yarn to make something striped, or I'll find pattern for a short sleeved or sleeveless sweater that buttons at the top and will work up to a better gauge for the yarn. But first I'm going to finish at least two other projects.

This week's goals:

1. Write a blog post every day and take a photo for at least 4 of them.

2. Take care of myself by doing back PT exercises daily—ideally first thing in the morning. As soon as I sign off here, I'm going to do those exercises since I did not do them first thing this morning.

3. Knit the hat I promised to finish by Friday. I'll root around for yarn first thing tomorrow morning and pack that as my only project for this week's trip.

4. Spin for at least 20 minutes on the merino-silk 3 times.

 

December Goals

I did it. I blogged every day in November, and I'm signing up to do it again in December to cement the habit. Simply looking at the world with a photographers and bloggers eye has brought me back to the community I lost a bit of when we moved across the country. Even though I haven't been as diligent as I would have liked to be about responding to comments, I have read and appreciated all of them. I had fun blogging every day last month even on the days when there were no words.

Looking ahead, daily posts in December should be easier. I have a handful of drafts nearly ready to post and ideas for a few more. Between those posts, and some regular features like sharing my weekly goals on Sunday and Ten on Tuesday, I'm over halfway through the month. Once I add some spinning and knitting project updates, some interesting recipes (turtles, anyone?), a cute cat picture or six, and snapshots from my business travels, I see a clear path to 31 posts in December. And perhaps a few in January, too. 

Writing down some creative and household management goals has worked. I may not meet every goal I set, but I have made more forward progress in the past few weeks than I had in several previous months.

This month, I'm going to continue slowing down, taking care of myself, and focusing on doing something creative every day. Watching significantly less television has improved my outlook immensely. Blogging daily has, too. The theme for December's NaBloPoMo is JOY. I'll be looking for joy as I prepare for the holidays, close out 2014, and prepare for 2015.

This week I will

1. Write a blog post every day and take a photo for at least 4 of them.

2. Spin for at least 20 minutes every day: merino-silk when I'm home, Abby Batt while I'm away.

3. Take care of myself by practicing yoga or doing back PT exercises daily—ideally first thing in the morning. This is the one goal I fell down on last week, and I've paid for it with stiffness and pain over the past couple of days.

4. Decide to finish or frog the red cardigan. I finally blocked it on Saturday. It should be dry enough to try on tomorrow.

Goals week 2

I did OK on my goals last week.

• I blogged every day and included quite a few photos. 

• I did not spin every day, but there is more yarn on the bobbin today than there was last Sunday.

• I did not practice yoga or do PT exercises every day. Three days is not seven.

• I did not unpack every day I was home, but the big push yesterday made a big dent and moved all my boxes out of the guest room.  

• Most of the stuff is out of the guest room, but there is a bit more to move out.

My goals for this week are similar, with one key addition.

1. Write a blog post every day. Take a photo for at least 4 of them.

2. Spin for at least 20 minutes every day on the merino-silk.

3. Take care of myself by practicing yoga or doing back PT exercises daily—ideally first thing in the morning.

4. Move everything left in the guest room to a permanent location. Unpack the boxes in the guest bathroom. Before Tuesday.

5. Have fun with Mom and Dad. We're planning to get out and do fun Bay Area things. Dad wants to visit the Ghiradelli Outlet. Mom wants to see coastal redwoods. We'll probably spend a day doing San Francisco tourist things. We'll watch the Packers-Patriots game on Sunday.