I am slightly shocked that February is over already. (I suspect I'll be feeling that way for every single month this year.)
The month started and almost immediately became A Lot To Handle. The school term started the last week of January, and that meant the return to extracurriculars for me and the kids. It's amazing how much time and energy that takes up, even when it's a thing that's both enjoyable and looked forward to.
Two strings of 37ºC+ weather didn't help matters - I become a useless puddle of falling over and sadness when the temperature goes above 35ºC. Thus I spent a good chunk of the month wobbling between the couch and the kitchen, ducking outside just long enough to keep the plants and chickens alive, and catching up on my pile of reading.
Still, projects were worked on and progress was made.
- Words written: 2,394
- Weaving time (goal 650 min): 662 minutes
- *Note:* 150 minutes per week becomes 650 minutes per month, when spread over a year
- WIPs finished: 2.5
Goal progress
1. Writing
1.1 Finish my current novel
1.2 Work on improving my writing skills via further education
I started revising my NaNo novel in earnest, using Holly Lisle's How to Revise Your Novel course. The first lesson in the course is one of the most intense, so I've spent all my time just on it.
1.2 Revise my previous NaNoWriMo novel
My first full pass through the manuscript is done. While I *could* leave it at that and move onto the next stage in the game, I'd rather do a second pass to be sure I've found every little plot-hole and character quirk before I wade into trying to fix them.
1.3 Publish at least one blog post a month
I managed TWO this month, which was delightful. I much prefer setting the bar low enough to comfortably jump, and actually making it over, than to make every goal a stretch and miss them all.
3. Weaving and WIPs
3.1 Weave for at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) per week
I did 11 hours and 2 minutes, total.
Some of this was finishing one of last year's WIPs (below). Quite a lot of the rest (about 8.5 hours) went on weaving a strip of tape for an apron for the younger child, which just happens to be another thing in the WIP pile. (Because why use ready-made tape, or make fabric ties from my extensive fabric stash, when I could vastly overcomplicate things by weaving ties, right?) Plus, just over two hours working on getting the first two exercises for the below point set up.
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| The child chose the colours and the stripes. |
3.1 Work through “The Key to Weaving”
I really ought to post about these separately, since this book forms the basis of my weaving practice. Suffice to say I'm still setting up for the first set of "problems" (what the book calls the exercises you're supposed to do) - it's been slower going than expected.
3.2 Finish at least 12 WIPs (1 per month) from Area 52
I finished two this month - posts and pictures forthcoming.
3.3 Make some clothes for me, not just for the kids (at least 2 items)
I'm aiming to finish at least two current sewing projects before I start a new one, so while I was technically working on clothes for me (one of my WIPs is a pair of gym shorts I started last year), I haven't done anything specific to this goal yet.
WIPs
"Remembrance" acrylic shawl
I started this shawl the day after TDOR last year. It was *almost* finished - only four inches of weaving and the finishing left - by the end of January. So naturally I procrastinated it in favour of other projects for a week or two, before I finally buckled down and got it done.
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| "Remembrance", fresh off the loom and unfinished. |
Socks - "Reverso"
These were a nice, fairly brainless knit, accomplished mostly (as most of my socks are) on public transport and while waiting for appointments. The hardest part was making sure they were the same length. Alas, I haven't had time to photograph them yet, and completely forgot to take in-progress pictures. (This is a sadly common state of affairs for the socks I knit.)
FROGGED: brown alpaca samples
This was a fleece bought via a friend, sight unseen. There are three bags of it. It is, to put it nicely, more like pubic hair than alpaca. It's rough and and weirdly frizzy, and the staple is about 2" at the very longest. Its previous owner also washed it, and not to its benefit. I find alpaca spins more nicely for me raw, as long as it's fairly clean of VM (that's vegetable matter - prickles, grass, seeds and so on - for the uninitiated).
No matter how I tried to spin it, the stuff *refused* to stay together. I couldn't even draft it properly on a spindle, that's how bad it was. The fleece held together a *little* better using my wheel, but a) I need to give up my wheel because it gives me wicked knee pain, and b) the moment you applied any kind of pressure to the yarn, it drifted apart - no matter how much twist I put in.
I haven't yet decided whether to cut my losses and mulch the vegetables with it, or save it for stuffing things. I don't have *that* much on the list that needs stuffing. And most charities won't accept anything that hasn't been stuffed with new polyfil anyway. I suspect it will lurk in the back of shelves until I have a need for more storage space, and then be consigned to the garden.
A weeny YouTube video
I also made a little YouTube video on how avoid ladders in your knitting while working in the round on DPNs.
I was hoping to publish two videos this month, but alas - the weather got in the way. All the videos I currently have on the go either need more filming, more editing, or both. I only have a few hours every week where I can do either of those. If those hours don't line up with the light, or the quiet, then it doesn't get to happen that week.
I've decided not to stress about that. None of my videos-in-progress are exactly time sensitive, and I'm quite aware that I still suck at making them. I'd rather take my time when I can get it, and do the best job I'm currently able. So I'm going to finish and upload things when I get to it, rather than trying (and failing) to stick to some arbitrary schedule.
In all, a good and productive month was had. And hey, this is only coming midway through March, instead of at the very end - that's definitely progress!
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