During hot weather, I tend to crochet more for some reason. I often make bags or hats during the summer. Or any other cotton or raffia project I fancy. Last year I knitted a lace cardigan from lyocell yarn, and started a t-shirt from linen yarn that I stashed away because knitting with 3mm needles turned out to take an eternity, it was already mid-autumn and I still had managed to do ⅔ of the project. At the beginning of this summer, I had ideas for 2 tops, started designing them and bought the pattern for two more. Then I bought the yard for one of the patterns I bought and one of my designs. I was looking for the yarn of the other two tops, but I suddenly decided this was ridiculous. And I stopped my yarn shopping and project plotting. In all honesty 2023 was a year full of UFOs. I had planned to change this and wanted to alternate with new projects and finish the UFOs. And my summer knit plans went totally against that resolution.I also realised that I tend to make plans for knits on a monthly basis, then get yarn and cast on... and then the season changes and I have 3 or 4 projects on the go, which I then stash to start a whole lot of new projects, repeat the entire thing all over again in 3-4months. So I did not cast on my lace cardigan design, because I had already started my summer top. I've been pretty good about it. But I am a slow-mo, so I am still knitting the same thing since mid-July in mid-September. I am determined to finish it, hope it will only be another 2 weeks or so. I am not casting on anything. I haven't bought yarn in several months as well. Once this is done I am thinking of starting a winter project (I got this idea and the yarn last February) which will take me at least 3 months. And I am planning to have small projects on the side. So just two things on the go. I hope to remedy the 3 socks suffering from single-sock-syndrome during autumn. Currently on my needles Cilla Sun Pattern by Anne Ventzel For details to my version click on the title.
September Morning Musings
Can you believe nearly ¾ of the year has already flown by? This fact quite strikes me. I feel a sense of urgency atm. Oddly it's an urgency to slow down, treasure time and live in the moment. I feel very aware of my time being limited. I am currently visiting home, as a family member is not well. It is the main reason I have spent a lot of time in Switzerland this past year. First and foremost I am very grateful that I am able to do this. Freelancing is a massive gift for me. Also being faced with our mortality puts many things in perspective for me. I feel very aware of my priorities in life. It puts into perspective who and what is most important to me. Second I also feel strongly that there are things I still would love to learn and explore, and don't want to make excuses to postpone them. I saw a reel on IG the other day, about how two years passed and nothing changed... the excuses are the same-but if one just starts moving towards one's dreams in small steps, two years later most things won't be much different, except we have small experiences that change our lives. This spoke to me and I am now writing a list of skills I still want to learn and things I want to do. A sort of bucket list of skills. I might share them later here. (Don't hold your breath, since I am terrible at writing posts these days)Do you have skills you want to learn? I am also reflecting on the year so far. The 100 Day Project was an interesting experience for me. It's been interesting sketching for 100 consecutive days. My inner overachiever still preens with the fact, that she managed to finish the 100 days. From a skill point of view, it was interesting and creatively I found it very expansive, even though I was worried I would run out of ideas or feel stifled.I did however not feel like it was very interactive with other artists. Maybe it's about the algorithms or we are all social media overloaded. Who knows? But one of the reasons I loved Damn Early Days was the sense of community it created. While I did my own thing and was one of the few people in my time zone who took part, others were struggling with me. There was an exchange of ideas and experiences. Also most importantly reminders to be patient with ourselves and our intentions. It helped me get even better at setting goals and pursuing them. And it helped me overcome my fear of routine, and how to build one that helps me expand rather than stiffle me. And last but certainly not least I learnt a whole lot about habits. When I told a friend about these experiences I had the idea to do another 100 days- for the last 100 days of the year. But then life happened and I kinda forgot that the last 100 days of 2024 start on the 23rd of September, so I decided to do a 30-day challenge instead with whoever is keen to join. Starting in October. The idea is to write a goal and make an intention to do something consistently for 30 days. This could be something creative or physical or studying whatever, for at least 5 minutes every day. Or if one wants the goal could be walking 3km or reading one page.. the sky is the limit. I think it is important to make time and to challenge oneself but not to make it impossible. For example, I would not be able to finish a sketch every day because it usually takes me at least 3 hours. Would you be interested in taking part in a 30-day challenge?