2015 The Year of Finish It or Forget it

A woman in a group I belong to inspired me to make this the year of finish it or forget it. Part of finishing it will be starting it though. :-)

I'm really going to try and incorporate a 15 minute rule this year too. Just work on something for 15 minutes a day. It's amazing what can be accomplished in 15 minutes especially over time.

Here's the list of what I'll be working on:

Knitting

• In Progress--Hedgerow mitts. I've been working on these for several years. I think it's time to forget them, but we'll see.
• Ilse skirt. I would like to finish this one. It just languished after a bit of drama with the yarn)
• Flowers for my felted bag. I made a felted bag ages ago and ever finished it by making the flowers.
• In progress--A week in the life of a knitter's cat--7 lace scarves. I haven't made any of these, but I happen to have 7 skeins of lace year. I'll use this to see if I still like lace knitting.
• Deco ribbon jacket--I think I need to let this one go. I tried two or three times and can't get the gauge right, which means it won't turn out the right size. My mom gave me the yarn as a present one year, and that makes it harder to give up. Plus it is a cool project.
• In progress--Felted rose trellis bag. I've had the yarn to make this for ages.
• Hemlock Ring Blanket. I've had the yarn to make this for ages.

Painting

• Finish santa
• Finish Mary Wiseman landscapes
• Paint the stool
• Paint the chest
• Paint landscape for over the bed

Embroidery

• Embroider states
• In progress--Make winter stitch club placemats

Misc

• Finish calligraphy for flower pirate piece
• Forget--Finish Christmas tree skirt
• Make holiday ornaments
• Make snowman decorations
• Finish travel collage

Sewing

• In progress---Finish shark costume
• Finish a-line skirt
• Make Washi dress
• Make skirts you have fabric for
• Make Dahlia dress
• Make towel cover up
• Make shower caps

Christmas Tree Skirt

I started this in the Holiday Magic Lab at my favorite place, Stitch Lab. I got the ball fringe sewn on today. I have a few more things I'd like to add, but for this year, I think it's done!

Coffee table

I got this cool door panel at Roundtop this fall and turned it into a coffee table. Not pictured is the glass top. It's a fun addition to my living room, plus more surfaces to pile stuff on!! :-)

New paint

I painted the bedroom this weekend. While I do love the Kimono Violet, it felt too energizing in the bedroom. So I went with Serene Breeze, a soft aqua color. It feels much more peaceful now, and looks so lovely with my mirrored gray dressers. I can't wait to finish putting the room back together.

I had just enough paint! :-O

Katrina Rib Sweater

I don't often write about my knitting on this blog, but I haven't been knitting much lately, and there's a bit of a personal story to tell about this. In 2005, I bought the Katrina Rib pattern to help support folks affected by Hurricane Katrina and of course to feed my need to hoard all things knitting! I bought yarn a few years later to make the sweater. And in 2009, I went though a horrible divorce (as if there's any other kind). A few weeks after the announcement that my then husband, now rat bastard, was divorcing me, I started this sweater. I kept thinking knitting will help. Each stitch will help ensure I keep it together. I worked on it diligently for a few months, and then I lost my knitting mojo. It was no longer a joy to knit, and it got pushed aside. I'd pick it up here and there, but not work on it consistently. Finally I started to enjoy knitting again and decided that I should really finish this sweater.

I think there's a nice symmetry that I started this during the divorce, and that now 5 years later I do feel like I've come out the other side. I think this sweater just wasn't meant to be finished until I felt like I had stitched the last piece of myself back together. So this sweater and I have been through a lot together. There's some rough parts in it, and maybe a couple of small holes, but my life is in these stitches. And in the end, I have something beautiful to show for it. Who could ask for more?

Thanks to the support of my dear friends in monthly craft night for encouraging me to finish, and for being there to make me laugh and acknowledge a big moment. Thanks for everyone who has had to listen to me talk ad nausem about the horrible divorce. It's helped me process it.

16-30 book a day

I realized I never published the last bit of the 30 books a day. One of the things that struck me about this is how often I repeat some of the same titles. :-)

16th Can’t believe more people haven’t read --Charlie Bone series! I think it's better than Harry Potter

17th Future classic -- hmmm... not sure I have one for this

18th Bought on a recommendation -- hmmm tough since I don't buy books usually

19th Still can’t stop talking about it -- Robopocolypse. It wasn't the best written book, but I'm convinced the robots will take over the world! 

20th Favourite cover-- Beautiful Ruins

21st Summer read-- Harry Dresden or Stephanie Plum series

22nd Out of print-- Foxes of Harrow

23rd Made to read at school-- Great Expectations...I still can't bring myself to read Dickens!

24th Hooked me in to reading-- Probably Little House on the Prairie. Emily of the New Moon made me want to be a writer.

25th Never finished it --The Brothers Karamazov

26th Should have sold more copies--Graffiti Moon

27th Want to be one of the characters--That's so hard to choose! Probably almost any book I'm reading!

28th Bought at my fave independent bookshop--I don't usually buy books.

29th The one I have reread most often--It's tough...I go in cycles with rereading...Gone with the Wind, Foxes of Harrow, Dubliners, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Tolkien are all ones I reread. It's gotten to where most of the books I own are ones I reread.

30th Would save if my house burned down My Winnie-the-Pooh books from when I was a kid.

Swimsuit coverup

I've been wanting a swimsuit coverup for awhile, and just couldn't bring myself to buy one when they seem so easy to make. A long time ago I bought some knit sheets with the idea of using them as fabric. Well, that was a disaster. It was really crappy fabric and just tough to work with. I did make a coverup out of it, but the size wasn't quite right. So at least that pain served as my "muslin".

I used this set of instructions, but was kind of frustrated that there wasn't a good feel for the size. So I found a similar set of instructions that had a better measuring scheme. So in the end, I came up with a wearable coverup!

Just notes for my self, the two front pieces were 14" and the back piece was 30", all were 40" long. I sewed the casing 17" from the top.