Still Around

Yikes, it's been a while since I posted. It wasn't for a lack of want -- things have been very busy around here. But stuff is happening...

• I finished up the granny squares (now I have to join them)
• I did a bunch more crocheting
• I visited my 90 year old grandmother who gave me a giant pile of her old crochet hooks
• The garden is started, the blueberries are forming, the lemon, lime, key lime, and tangelo potted trees are all loving their new places in the yard.
• The chickens are going gangbusters, we had a couple 3-egg days in a row(!)
• Major changes to my job
• All the arugula bolted again 
• We built window cornices for the kitchen and they came out great

I don't have a good picture to add to the post. But I'm hoping to finally take a picture of the cornices and maybe some of the crochet projects...

More Crochet: the Grey Bag

My 13 year old daughter and I have been taking crochet lessons together and Sunday was our last "class." My daughter finished two hats and a neat baby blanket.

Today I finished my most recent project (here on Ravelry) - a neat grey tote/bag thing:

It's about 10" by 10" give or take.

In other crochet news, I am up to about 105 granny squares, and with the target size of 11x14 (squares) I still need to make 49 more squares. Still not sure how I want to edge/join/finish this, but the girls want to help figure out how to lay out the squares and I think that in itself will be fun.

Spring

After taking about 4 months off from laying (last egg in 2012 was laid the first week of October, and the first one of 2013 was laid the 10th of February), the birds are finally (mostly) back at it. In 6 days, the three birds have given us 8 eggs.

We're looking at a noticeable drop in laying this year, but that just means we won't have extras to give away. Next year, though, might be the year that we have to start making some tough decisions...

In other garden news, bugs have begun infesting our "space broccoli" (can't recall of the top of my head what it's really called, but it's got these little pyramid shaped bumps that form in a spiral cone...) and so we're trying to find a good way to rid the plants of them. We ripped out two plants that were just too infested. The bugs seem to have sprung up over night.

All of the daffodils are blooming and spring seems just around the corner. We have some other bulbs that we planted a bit late, and so we're hoping that they still get a chance to bloom this year.

Time to start thinking about getting the garden planted for the spring/summer.

Granny Square Check-In: 50

Ok, here's what 50 granny squares looks like:

I'm just using left overs/odds and ends. Some wool, some cotton, plenty of acrylic and various blends, this thing runs the gamut. The final quilt will be an eyesore, but I can't wait. :)

I'm trying to keep up a pace of at least 10 squares a week, and the final total I'm hoping to get is about 240 or maybe a bit more.

2012 -> 2013

Yes, yet another "year in review" blog post. Everyone does them, and yes, they can get repetitive, and filled with navel gazing, but I like the idea of a summary...

Believe it or not, I went in to 2012 with a plan. I was going to continue my late 2011 exercising push. I was going to spend more time with the kids. I was going to eat better. 

I spent a lot of time in 2012 focusing on health.

• I ate less, and what I ate was better for me.
• I exercised quite a bunch (178 "workouts" or activities, including over 26 thousand crunches and over 10 thousand push ups). I even managed to do 20 pull ups in one set.
• I took up some new "skills" with the intent of keeping my mind sharp (learned to juggle and started crocheting).
• In November I moved to a standing desk at work.

I'm giving myself an A on the health goals. 

I did spend a bit more time with the kids, though my older daughter stopped playing softball so I stopped coaching her, running practices, etc. We found other ways to spend time together, though. I'm going to give myself a C+ on this goal and will certainly carry this one forward into 2013.

For 2013, I'm going to adopt two mottoes and see how that works out for me.

Motto 1

The first, I admit, scares the pants off of me. It's far too ambitious and will certainly require too much of a commitment, but I'm adding it here anyway:

“Make no little plans: they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” - Daniel H. Burnham

Yes, that's a bit over the top. I've always been a guy who takes small, sure steps. I'm not afraid to fail, but I don't like it at all. I'd much rather reduce a lot of the risk and take the safer bet.

Maybe I'll make some larger strides in 2013.

Motto 2

The second motto is something I read last year from Paul Graham:

"Don't ignore your dreams; don't work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy."

He says he keeps that at the top of his To Do list and I like it. It's much more approachable. I especially like the part about friendships. I don't have enough of them. I'm too shy to make new friends, it's such hard work!

Now, those two goals can be at odds, but I think that they can work together, too. It's all in how you look at it.

Knots

Well, the end of the year has arrived and we're still in one piece. I have been working on my crochet a bit -- even managed to make a couple of quick gifts for my daughters. I made an "infinity" scarf and a small headband (which you can see on Ravelry). Oh, and I've slowed down on the granny squares -- only have 26 of them. I'll get back on them shortly.

A relative sent me a neat book about making knots called Paracord Fusion Ties. I've had a lot of fun going through and tying some of the knots with the left over paracord from when my daughters wanted to make paracord bracelets last December. This one took about 5 minutes:

I've made a HUGE list of "to do" items for 2013. Not sure we'll get through all of them, but most of them were left over from 2012 so I'm extra motivated to get them done.

Looking forward to the new  year!

November Update

Been typing furiously, zeroing in on 50k words for National Novel Writing Month. I'm right on target so things look good again this year.

I've been crocheting "granny squares" from various yarns that I've come across. This is a great way to get experience with yarns and fibers so I'll know what I like working with and what I don't when I attempt larger projects later.

My neighbor handed me a few small balls of left over yarn and they're all very different. One is a very rough fiber, but it didn't come with a label. It started to hurt my hand after a while and it wasn't very easy to work with. The resulting square was pretty scratchy, but still, I sort of enjoyed it.

The next ball was the direct opposite. It felt incredibly soft sliding through my fingers. A ring of "fuzz" formed around the yarn as I worked and I just kept pushing that ring further down the yarn toward the ball.

My neighbor also gave me a skein of some acrylic stuff she didn't want to use. I have to say, it's so great to work with! I managed to take about 5 minutes off of the time it takes me to make a square just by using that acrylic stuff. But when I make my next project, it will likely be from wool.

I haven't used cotton yet, but I figure I'll come across some of that soon.

I don't know how many squares I'll make but I'm already up to 10 of them. How many does it take for a blanket? 400? :)