February Craftings

Candy Stripe Hat

Start: 1st February 2019

Finished: 1st February 2019

Pink Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap
Started: 1st February 2019
Finished: 2nd February 2019

Blue Diamonds 

Started: 2nd February 2019

Finished: 3rd February 2019

Purple Fair Isle
Started: 3rd February 2019
Finished: 3rd February 2019

Pink Flowers
Started: 3rd February 2019
Finished: 4th February 2019

Yarn bought: 34

Yarn finished: 

Yarn bought this year: 0

Yarn finished: 

February Goals - Review

This month didn't go too well in terms of meeting my goals. My primary goal was to complete 28 hats this month. This I did not achieve. My wrists decided they had had enough and wanted time to rest. Instead, I managed 21 hats. I'm disappointed I didn't reach the magic number, but it's still equates to 21 warm heads. 

The second knitting goal was to reach 60 green squares. About 3 were made! This was a long way short of the goal. 

Around the house, the back vestibule was decluttered and tidied. I love the results. Unfortunately, the Beloved was ill during his holiday week, and nothing happened in the front vestibule. 

Honey, Vanilla and Oatmeal Soup

A little something I whipped up, honey, vanilla and oatmeal soap. It is utterly fantastic to use after gardening, or other dirty jobs. The oatmeal given just a little bit of exfoliation, but not too much.

A Full Day!

There's quite a lot to fit into today. It's half past nine, and so far, dinner has been started, laundry has been hung on the line, and second load is in the washing machine, breakfast has been made for the dog, and lunch for The Beloved...

The dining room has been reconfigured for sewing and quilting. The plan is to make six pinwheels for the Quilters Guild raffle quilt. I'll also practise quilting, and then round off the crafting with a light spot of knitting.

This beautiful crochet block was made by Celine using Terrazzo Afghan by Tinna Thórudóttir Thorvaldsdóttir. The pattern is available on Ravelry.

After staring at its beauty for a few minutes, I realised it was a variation of the Optical Illusion Zig Zag Blanket I made last year. This wonderful design is fully within my grasp!

A few moments later, several balls of yarn appeared in my Deramores shopping basket. They looked a tad lonely, and a few more jumped in too. That's when I realised the yarn, Deramores Studio DK, was 15% off. It struck me, if I took it up to £40, I could get free shipping.  Then a little realisation kicked in, I had a 15% off voucher. In the end, I ordered 24 balls of yarn. Last week, it would have been £48, but today, it was £34. 

I started this year 'cold sheeping' (not buying yarn). With the yarns Dorothy and Cat gave me, I needed some neutrals to enable the yarn to become hats. Ten balls were bought, and now and additional 24. This destashing exercise is not quite going to plan. No more yarn until after Easter!

Free Motion Quilting Workshop

For ages, I have wanted to learn how to free motion quilt. I was incredibly sad when I learned the Quilting Guild was organising a pair of workshops, but it was all booked up. Then, such joy was mine when I was informed someone had dropped out and a place was available!

Three hours (including breaks) of quilting later, and I have made significant improvement on my first attempts at home. I learned big stitches means you're going too slowly, and tiny stitches you aren't going quickly enough. This really is a "practise, practise, practise" thing. The time must be spent learning the skills, and the muscle coordination.

At the end of the session, it felt like I had been in the gym for three hours! My plan is to practise every day, and work on my skills.  I can see so many ways I want to use it, but a great deal of practise is required. It would be great to be able to show the tutor the improvement I'm hopping to make by next Saturday.

Good Home Cooking

"Good home cooking" is where I'm at. Id love to create stunning meals, but the reality is I am not prepared to put in the consistent effort required to elevate my game.

We had family friends over for dinner tonight, and I was going to make stunning things. But yesterday I was a bit under weather and felt most unlike myself. The day for preparation became a day of doing practically nothing.

Instead of beautiful creations, we had chicken tagine, quorn lasagna, and big bowl of salad. This was followed by apple crumble and ice cream. It was all gluten-free, apart from one flavour of ice cream (strawberry cheesecake), and there were dairy-free choices. These dishes were chosen because they could be made throughout the day, and then set aside until cooking/serving.

Everyone expressed their thanks for the meal, and all had second helpings. This got me to thinking, this is where I want to spend my time, with the people I love, not alone in a kitchen. There's a concept I've come across, reportedly from Italy, the cook should not spend more time in the kitchen than they do at the dinner table. Good food is great, but it's the people you eat with who are important.

Blergh!

Something's wrong, and I don't know what it is. Everything is blergh. 

Blergh

Blergh!

BLERGH!

Today's To Do

There's stuff to be done this week and I'm the one to do it. Here's my To Do list.

To Do

make brownies

make chocolate collars for Friday

study Italian
photograph hats
upload hats onto blog and Ravelry

Ta Da!
walk dog
remove chicken from freezer
put away dishes
make cauliflower cheese
knit a hat
sweep sitting room floor
de-hair sofas
dust sitting room
tidy dining room
dust dining room
sweep dining room floor
set table
make lemon cake
sweep kitchen floor sweep hall
remove crafting things from sitting room, apart from current project

No Decoration

So many plans, so many sneezes. It really sucks when holiday plans are made, and nasty little viruses come along and scupper them. One of the plans was to re-decorate the vestibule. Sadly, it hasn't happened. However, the Beloved is almost over his cold, and he has had time to decompress and rest. I'd rather have a happy, well husband than a newly decorated vestibule. 

New Yarn!

It has been lovely to have yarn donated, and using up new (to me) bits and pieces. Some balls of yarn are too small for hats and gloves//mittens and need to be teamed with other colours. I was running out of suitable pairings of yarn, and the yarn above is my solution.

Over the last few years, I've needed to buy quite a few balls of neutrals for just this purpose.  It's the first yarn purchase of the new year.  Oh! I've just bought a kilo of yarn! But it will be able to be used with lots of the donate yarn, and also the balls I have left in my stash.

I would be really happy if all of the yarn from Dorothy was used up by the end of the month, and all the yarn from Cat used by the end of March.

Glen Wyllin Beach

I have put myself in charge of tide tables, the consulting of, and found the beach at Glen Wyllin! It was beautiful, but there was a howling wind from the southwest, and the low February sun was having a hard job rising over the sandy cliffs. 

We were warned by a fellow dog walker the wind was blowing lots of  of sand just around the little headland. We decided against walking that far. On our return, we reached a wonderful section in the sunshine, and out of the wind. It was significantly warmer.

We will be returning to this beach, but later in the year, on a sunny, non-windy day.

A Clean Loo and Sink

After taking "The Four Tendencies" test, I bought the book, "Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives", by Gretchen Rubin. It has proved to be rather interesting. One of the observations is habits work best when you don't have to think about them or make decisions. Doing things without conscious thought is a huge deal easier, and means they are more likely to be done. Another idea is to tag a new habit on to an existing one.

Over the last week I have amended my morning and evening 'rituals'. Each morning I waken, and fairly soon need to use the loo. I've now tied in to this need the habits of swishing the loo brush around the loo. When I wash my hands I also brush my teeth, and wipe the sink. These cleaning tasks take but a few seconds, but are making a noticeable difference. 

Green Swaps

A while back, I decided to make a 'green swap' each month, and see how we liked it.  I tried bees wax wraps, and didn't get on with them terribly well. I am so not a fan of the smell of honey or bees wax, and the wraps simply didn't smell good to me. 

The Beloved made a compost bin for me in the summer. This has lead to a significant reduction in our household waste. It's now full, and he made another one. Whilst the contents of the first bin break down, I'll be adding to the second bin. 

Also in the summer, the Elder Offspring sent me a shampoo bar from Lush. I made the switch almost immediately. Currently we are using 'Jason and the Argon Oil' bars. When my supplies of conditioner started dwindling, a local shop started a re-fill service. We now have conditioner from them. The Beloved also uses their bodywash. I use some homemade soaps in a shower puff, and like that better. The soaps have also replaced the liquid soaps by the sinks.

Before Christmas, I increased my supply of fabric bags: this cut down hugely on wrapping paper. 

January was for 'no single-use plastic bottles'. It was a difficult challenge, but I managed it. Although, I could be seen in the supermarket gently flicking bottles to check if they were plastic. Two multiple-use bottles were bought to use with Top Banana's re-fill service.  The only BBQ sauce I could find in glass contained Jimmy Bean whisky. The sauce is just about okay, but when it has been used up, I will buy Heinz BBQ sauce in plastic. The taste is so superior. Thankfully, I don't use sauce frequently at all. It might amount to 6 bottles a year, and all of them will be recycled. The others are still using single-use plastic bottles at time, but there has been a significant reduction in them.

February's swap is  soap nuts for laundry powder. This is going really well. I've been really pleased.

The green swap for March is sitting in the pantry, white vinegar with citrus oil. The peel from citrus fruits was placed in a clip-top jar, and then covered with white vinegar. It's then left in the dark for 4-6 weeks, and then vinegar strained into a spray bottle. It's a food grade product (vinegar, orange and lemon), and can be safely used around the home for all sorts of cleaning. I'll see how it goes when I strain the vinegar on the 1st of March.

The idea was one green swap per month. This is to allow me the chance to evaluate the swap, and see if we want to keep it. It also means the swap gets a chance to become the new normal. So far, it's working well. 

The Four Tendencies

Over on Ravelry, someone made mention of The Four Tendencies, and linked to the Quiz. I took it and was not impressed to be labeled a 'Obliger', but as I read more about these groups, I realised it was very true. Although, as people are complex beings, I have might fine 'Questioner' and 'Rebel' streaks. My underlying nature is 'Obliger'.

"Obligers meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet inner expectations. They[re motivated by external accountability; they wake up and think, "What must I do today?" Because Obligers excel at meeting external demands and deadline, and go to great lengths to meet their responsibilities, they make terrific colleagues, family members, and friends."

Because Obligers resist inner expectations, it's difficult for them to self-motivate - to work on a PhD thesis, to attend networking events, to get their car services, Obligers depend on external accountability, with consequences such as deadlines, late fees, or the dear of letting other people down. One Obliger summarised, "Promises made to yourself can be broken. It's the promises made to others that should never be broken." Better Than Before by Gretchen Ruben

Oh! That's me. I recognise myself. And, the brilliant thing is I just need a bit of external accountability, and I'll be able to transfer my inner expectations into outer ones.  I had already started doing that by simply putting up goals on my blog. Doing so made them public, even if no-one reads the blog, it's still out there. Even better has been using the monthly goals threads on Ravelry. I'm able to set some goals, and report back as progress is made. 

The knitted Christmas tree project is an excellent example of this. The idea has been running around in my head for a few years, but it wasn't until I spoke with Ona about it that it became 'something that needed to be done'. She was utterly delighted with idea and very keen it should happen. She knows exactly where to send the finished blankets, mittens and hats. Later, I spoke to Cat, and her eyes lit up. She wants to get involved with publicity, something she is great at. With all of this behind me, I am working on knitting side of things. I'm doing it with determination, with joy. I have planned it so I can make a small knitted Christmas tree all by myself, but after Easter, we are going to launch it properly and hopefully more people will want to join in too. 

It's an Ex-Bag, It's an Ex-Scarf

People's tastes can be very different. A friend asked if I might be able to rip back a knitted bag and scarf she was given. She just did not like the gifts, and was wanting to see if they could be re-used or re-made. 

The last few days have been spent the last few days ripping back and disentangling the various colours. I too did not like the scarf or bag. I had wondered if the scarf might be able to be donated, but there were so many mistakes (creative alternatives) that I couldn't bear to put it in my Winter Woollies box. Instead, there's going to be lots of Christmas tree squares made, and some hats and mittens. 

A gift was given and received in love. Now, this gift is going to help keep many more people warm.

Goodbye, Things

I've just finished listening to "Goodbye, Things" by Fumio Sasaki. I'm so glad I was doing other things whilst listening to it, otherwise it would have been a waste of time. The author is self-obsessed, and the content is shallow. 

One reviewer wrote "What becomes immediately obvious, is that minimalism is for the author an aesthetic lifestyle choice, not an ascetic philosophy that aspires to any lofty ideals. The purpose seems pre-occupied wholly with external appearance. It's apt that the book begins with several "case studies" of fellow minimalist bloggers, because that's the quality the reader gets - a 258 page blog post." It's also incredibly weird the number of times he quote "Fight Club".

If you are after a book on minimalism. I'd suggest The Joy of Less.

Cutlery Heaven

The mis-matched cutlery has been replaced with Viners Bead pattern. I look in the drawer, and it makes me happy. Just as the decluttered and tidied cupboard under the stairs, and the back vestibule make me happy. It feels good when it all looks clean, tidy and organised. 

Currently, there's a dark brown plastic cutlery tray in the drawer. It is not ideal. I will be on the lookout for something, perhaps the tray in the image above, that will be a better fit.

One of the cafes in town uses mis-matched cutlery. I shall take my unwanted mis-matched ones along and offer them to the owners.

Viners Bead Cutlery

When we got married, just over 25 years ago, we received two sets of cutlery. One we used every day, and over time had to start supplementing as items were damaged or lost. The second set was 'kept for best'. Recently, I noticed the every day cutlery was a horrible mish-mash of so many different styles and sizes. I was on the verge of buying a new set of every day cutlery, but I couldn't find something I really liked.

Then a little thought hit me, "You already have a set you like. It's a good weight without being too heavy, nor too big." I made the decision to replace a missing dessert spoon, and three missing teaspoons. This was then extended into taking everything up to an 8 person service. Well, I say 8 person, but really, it can be used for more as there's a table knife and fork, a dessert knife, fork and spoon, a soup spoon and a teaspoon in each setting. My preference is for the dessert knife and fork, and a teaspoon. I'm happy to use a soup spoon when having soup. I'd be quite happy to serve 12 people with this cutlery set.

Tomorrow I'll clear out the old mish-mash, clean the drawer, and put in place the 'best'. It brings me joy to see a matched set, even when some are new, bright and shiny, and others are 25 years old, and the lustre has been worn off. 

What To Do Today?

Yesterday was a 'doing day', and I'm still delighted with the results of the decluttering and organising. Neat, tidy, organised spaces make me smile.

What do I need to do today? Well, there's a pinwheel block for Quilters, another hat to be made for the hatathon, dishes to be washed, dried and put away, the same for some laundry, dinner needs to be decided upon, soups needs to be made, and Italian homework has yet to be done. Yup, there's a few things in there to keep me busy. 

I think the first order of business is making the pinwheel block for Quilters. One of the founding members of the Quilters Guild died recently. A large display of her quilts happened over the summer, and many of the quilts were sold for charity. She left behind a stash of fabric. The quilters are each going to make a pinwheel block. These will then be cut into a different design and stitched. The completed blocks with be sewn together and quilted. The finished quilt will be raffled off at the next quilting exhibition. 

-----

I am delighted. The points of my pinwheel are perfect!

Search and Rescue

The utility drawers have been decluttered and re-ordered. The top drawer is 'light'. There's candles, a torch, light bulbs and light fittings in there. The second drawer is 'household stuff' and batteries. This is the drawer for a washing line, coat hooks, plumber's tape, picture hangers etc. The bottom two drawers have become craft drawers, one for candle making, and the other for soap.

Leaving these drawers are a couple of manuals, dried up glue, two old phones, plus a charger that doesn't match either, and various tool box things.

The boxes on top of the tumble dryer contain the Beloved's search and rescue gear. Nothing in those boxes has been decluttered, only folded or rolled. Tonight, he is going to see if anything needs to be decluttered, and then organise the boxes according to the items he needs most frequently.

I'm hoping at the end of the month we will be able to remove the old, unused dishwasher from the laundry, and replace it with the dryer. In the space where the dryer currently is I'll put a clothes rack like the one below. This will be for the Beloved's search and rescue stuff.

Sunflowers in Winter

The half of the hall at the back door has been decluttered and tidied. The new compost bin has been put in the garden. Hiding behind the compost bin is a bag of gritting salt. This has been put away. The clean, dry laundry has been moved elsewhere to be dealt with by the Offspring. The stick in the corner has been decluttered, and the stuff on the window sill has either been decluttered or put away properly. 

I'll start on the other side tomorrow. Most of the things are either the Beloved's hill gear, or household bit (batteries, light bulbs, etc). These will be tackled together, with the Beloved having the only say over his belongings.

Glen Wyllin

I must learn to consult tide tables before agreeing to go to a beech with the Beloved. He seems incredibly talented at choosing beaches at times when the tide is in, and there's almost no beach to be seen.

Today it was Glen Wyllin, and there was absolutely no beach to be seen. The section the Beloved is standing on is a bit of road that goes down to the beach!

We didn't have a beach walk, but it the glen was a lovely sheltered spot to walk the dog. Ava enjoyed it, and enjoyed meeting other dogs.

February Goals

My primary goal this month is to complete the Hatathon - 28 hats finished this month. My second goal is to have 60 completed green squares by the end of the month. I didn't quite manage last month's goal of 31, but I would like to catch up this month.

Around the home, I would like two areas to be decluttered, the back and front vestibules. The Beloved has holidays this month, and we have agreed the decluttered front vestibule will be re-decorated and given a makeover.

February Hatathon

Hatathon season has come around once more. Previously it has been later in the year, and the objective was to make 26 hats in one month. This year, things have changed a little, and it's finish 28 hats in February. 

Rather than having 28 posts of hats, I plan to edit this one blog entry with all of my hatathon hats.

Let the hats begin!

Candy Stripes
Started: 1st February 2019
Finished: 2nd February 2019

Pink Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap

Started: 1st February 2019

Finished: 2nd February 2019

Blue Diamonds 

Started: 2nd February 2019

Finished: 3rd February 2019

Purple Fair Isle
Started: 3rd February 2019
Finished: 3rd February 2019

Pink Flowers
Started: 3rd February 2019
Finished: 4th February 2019

Blue and Pink Stripes
Started: 4th February 2019
Finished: 4th February 2019