in the craft room: an update

My experiment in blog scheduling has taught me a few things. 1.) My current life circumstances don’t fit with making blogging a priority, so keeping up a schedule of 4-5 planned posts a week just isn’t going to happen. And 2.) While that may be the case, I’ve also found that having a little focus does help. So I might give simplifying the schedule a try–Saturdays for book stuff, Wednesdays for crafty stuff, and another day for good stuff/around here these days sort of posts. We’ll see.

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So how did I do on the goals I set myself in my last “in the craft room” post? Not so great. And I had three weeks to meet those goals, so it makes me extra sad that I did so poorly.

1. Make that damn schedule.

I DID NOT meet this goal. In fact, I sort of went backwards in this regard. Instead of scheduling all the projects I want to complete for Christmas, I went and added a bunch more projects to the list. I’m an idiot. 😉

2. Finish crocheting granny squares that I currently have the yarn for. (I still need to buy quite a bit.)

I DID NOT meet this goal. I worked on it, but didn’t come close to actually finishing. I had nine skeins waiting to become granny squares, only four got there.

3. Begin crocheting granny squares together.

I DID NOT meet this goal.

4. 60 hours on in-progress cross-stitch picture.

I DID NOT meet this goal. Doing the math, I find that I only got 2% of the way towards this one (which is why I didn’t even bother to take a photo). For whatever reason, I just have not felt like cross-stitching lately.

5. Get supplies for Ana’s gift.

I DID NOT meet this goal. Though I did make an effort. The store just didn’t have what I wanted. So I bought yarn to make Max’s afghan and for Mom’s scarf instead, and will now have to wait until next pay day to try another store.

6. Work 5 hours on Mom’s tote.

I DID meet this goal! Woohoo! But the whole project is taking longer than I’d hoped, so 5 hours didn’t get me as far along as I’d imagined. I figure I have slightly more than 1/3 of the “fabric” made for outside of this tote. I’ll be buying fabric for the lining, and haven’t definitely decided how I’m going to do the straps.

7. Find good piece of wood for Gray’s pencil holder.

I DID NOT meet this goal. In fact, I’d completely forgotten about it. Doh.

8. Make Annie’s variegated cowl.

I DID meet this goal. Despite deciding partway through that I didn’t like how it was turning out, ripping it all out, and trying something different.

9. Decide which Pokemon to make for Gray.

I DID meet this goal. At least sort of. I’ve narrowed it down to six (Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Jigglypuff, Lugia, Mew, and Pichu), but I’m just not sure how many I’m going to actually make for this Christmas yet.

10. Make Max’s hat.

I DID NOT meet this goal. Completely forgot about this one too. Oops.

I did do a few things that weren’t on my list though. As mentioned, I bought the yarn for Max’s afghan, and last night I began crocheting. Obviously, I’m not far yet, but at least it’s started so will now be easy to pick up to work on any time I have a few minutes.

I also made a pair of mittens that “match” the cowl I made for Annie. So yay, together that makes one of her Christmas presents done!

All told, it doesn’t seem like I accomplished much on the crafting front in the last three weeks, but it felt like I was working away. Not sure why that disconnect.

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Goals for the week:

1. Make Annie’s ornament.
2. Make Gray’s ornament.
3. Make Max’s ornament.
4. Finish making granny squares with the yarn I’ve currently got for Rich’s afghan.
5. Get through at least two repeats of pattern on Max’s afghan.
6. Finish making “fabric” for outside of Mom’s tote.
7. Start Mom’s “tweed” scarf.
8. Find sticks for experimental project. 😛
9. Find piece of wood appropriate for Gray’s pencil holder.

Ever the realist (HA!).

in the craft room: the countdown continues…

14 weeks. Just 14 short weeks until Christmas. How can this freakin’ be?!! I know it’s time to admit defeat, but for some reason, my brain just won’t do it. If I follow pattern, I’ll keep unrealistically hoping that I’ll actually finish all the gifts I want to make right up until about 3 days before Christmas, when I admit that the 500 hours left of work I have to do simply cannot be crammed into those 72 hours. Yep, been there, done that…will be there again, will do that again. 😛

So how did I do with my goals for the past two weeks? Not so great..

1. Reassess, organize, and schedule all Christmas gift projects:

I did pull out my gift binder, and reevaluated. I made a list of the people that I definitely wanted to make something for. I already had ideas for most people, but I’d been racking my brains for months trying to come up with an idea for Ana. And I finally stumbled upon what I hope is the perfect idea. That alone makes me feel accomplished on goal #1. But technically, no, I did not finish this. I made this revised list of all the gifts I want to make. (Actually, there is this “priority” list and a “maybe” list and an “unlikely, but one can dream” list.) Where I failed, however, is in the scheduling. I know I should do it, to better keep myself on track, but I’m daunted by the idea. This list has soooo many big projects on it.

2. Make 50 granny squares.

I guess I get a very low C on this one–I got 35 made.

3. Put in 20 hours of work on x-stitch picture.

Not quite, but close. I got in 19 hours. And see some progress, though there’s still an awfully long way to go.

4. Make two small gifts.

Complete fail. Didn’t start anything new, let alone finish.

I have my next update scheduled for three weeks from now. My goal for these three weeks:

1. Make that damn schedule.
2. Finish crocheting granny squares that I currently have the yarn for. (I still need to buy quite a bit.)
3. Begin crocheting granny squares together.
4. 60 hours on in-progress cross-stitch picture.
5. Get supplies for Ana’s gift.
6. Work 5 hours on Mom’s tote.
7. Find good piece of wood for Gray’s pencil holder.
8. Make Annie’s variegated cowl.
9. Decide which Pokemon to make for Gray.
10. Make Max’s hat.

Too much, I know. But we’ll see how it goes.

in the craft room: already the panic sets in

If I counted correctly, Christmas is a mere 16 weeks away. Why do I let this happen every damn year?!! It’s so easy to say, “Oh there’s plenty of time to get all your Christmas gifts made” back in January and February and March. And apparently in June and July and August too. But now here it is September and the seeds of panic are sprouting! How the hell am I ever going to get my entire list done?!! The honest answer is, “I’m not.” And it definitely does not help that I’ve put so many big (as in mega-time-consuming) projects on the list this year. It’s obviously time to get organized and reassess what might realistically be accomplished.

In the meantime, these are the two projects I’ve been focused on the last two weeks. Both gifts. Both coming along…but at way too slow a pace.

Lots of granny squares made. But if my math skills didn’t fail me, I figure I need slightly more than 500 of these little critters. Loooong way to go.

And I love that I’m starting to see the picture come alive here, but oh my. Progress in a large cross-stitch project comes so slowly, and I’ve got oh-so-far to go.

Goals for the next two weeks:

*reassess, organize, and schedule list of gift projects

*50 granny squares

*20 hours work on cross-stitch picture

*make 2 small gifts