2023 - The Year To Get Stuff Done!

Again, I have been away for AGES - why does this always happen?!

I have started a new job and it is keeping me very busy. After being a SAHM for 25 years, it is taking a little getting used to juggling all the housework, kids' stuff and work.

But I still want 2023 to be the year of getting stuff done. All those languishing WIPs, project plans that I really want to make but never quite got to, books I have been meaning to read for ages, organising the spare (aka junk) room, all the things! 

So let's roll up our sleeves and get to it! 

Knitting

I will be continuing on with my 35c earned per 10g knitted rule. Believe me, there is no way in this world that I need any more yarn, so I may allow my 'earnings' in different categories to be spent across any of the categories. 
It is 38 degrees C here today (100F) so knitting is not really on my mind today! But autumn/winter will be on us soon, thank goodness, and then the real knitting can begin.
And I will continue, slowly, slowly, with my vintage knitting, in particular from Stitchcraft magazines. 

Quilting

While I do not have any specific earning goals for quilting, I certainly have projects that I would like to finish and fabric stash that needs to be used up. Some of this fabric will sneak on over to the cross stitch category to use as finishes. And I really want to make some project bags using Elizabethanncanstitch's Youtube tutorial.

Cross Stitch

Again, I will be continuing on with previous earnings projects for cross stitch, using the guidelines from the Stitch From Stash Facebook group. 
I will also be participating in WIPGO, hosted by Jessie Marie Does Stuff  (this link will take you to the How To WIPGO video).

I do not have enough WIPs (in cross stitch, anyway!) to fill all the squares on the board once, so have chosen to add projects multiple times. Hopefully this will lead to at least a few finishes in 2023.

I will be working on each project for 14 hours in the month it is called.
So January's calls were squares 6 and 10 - the 2020 Pandemic Sampler by Sarcygurl and Ice Angel by Lavender and Lace. 
Ice Angel is one of my oldest WIPs. I couldn't say exactly how long I have been working on this. Let's just say, the last time I remember stitching on it was when I was in hospital for the birth of my oldest son and he turned 18 last year! It needs to be finished! 

This is my progress as at the beginning of January on the 2020 Pandemic Sampler.

And for Ice Angel.

Let's see how far 14 hours of stitching on each can get me! 

I picked up these planners from Amazon (using Christmas gift money) to help keep me on track. 

Reading

I have a ridiculously high Goodreads goal this year - feel free to friend me over there. 

I would like to focus on more Australian authors and nonfiction this year as well as continuing with my reading from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall. 

I participate in a number of reading challenge groups as I always like a list or prompt to follow! 

Walking

Not a crafty goal but I am finding this to be a lot of fun and quite motivating. I found this free app (or you can use it on your computer) called World Walking. It links to the health app on my iPhone so I can add my steps for the day to my chosen walk. 
And always one to take on the biggest challenge, I have of course chosen to 'walk' from London to Lapland! 
It is fun as you can look at a street view of where you are currently (except for when you are crossing an ocean!) as well as follow on the map. 

As you can see, this will take a while! My movement is hardly registering on the map but I am almost at Canterbury. Looking forward to reaching Dover and heading across to the Dunkirk Ferry Terminal. 

You can also set up walking groups, so you can walk with friends.

I may walk Transylvania next - after I make it to Lapland! 

So that is some of what I have planned for 2023 - I will expand on each section soon. I am attempting to publish two blog posts a week - fingers crossed! 

Happy crafting, reading, walking, or whatever you have planned! 

Crafting Goals for 2020

I know, it is a bit late in the year to be setting goals, but better late than never!
I have had some unformed goals in my head, but as I am now commiting to blogging more, I should put them in writing and make myself accountable.

My motivation came from reading this post at Snapdragon Crafts. 
So let's give this a go!

1. Stash busting must be number 1 on the list as this is getting slightly out of control! It doesn't help that I now have lots of shop stock that I need to store as well.  I agree with Snapdragon Crafts that it is pretty much unachievable to say you will not purchase ANY yarn or fabric, but it must be seriously curtailed. Definitely I will not allow myself to make any of those impulse purchases. You know, the ones where you say to yourself that you don't know what you will make but it will come in handy for something. This is my go-to story to myself when purchasing at sales! I am going to borrow Snapdragon Craft's 3:1 ratio - 3 times as much yarn/fabric must go out as finished objects as comes in as new purchases.

2. Now that I have rebooted Adventures In Stitchcraft, I must make sure that I keep going! 

3. I must, must, must gather together all my UFOs, knitting, quilting and sewing, and make some hard decisions. Either finish them or move them on. 

Oh well, if Jamie says so then it must be OK! 

4. I was watching a podcast the other day and she said that her son will only accept gifts that are secondhand or handmade. I will want to move towards all my gifts fitting this criteria. 

5. I will also try not to buy any new patterns/books as believe me, I have enough already! There are also so many free patterns online and in borrowed library books that this should not be that difficult (except for the willpower part!) Much as I would like to own all the Stitchcrafts, it is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to find the ones I need to fill in my collection. After joining the KCG and knowing that they have nearly every issue, this need has been tamed somewhat! 

So these are my craft goals. Let's see if I can keep them in 2020! Do you have any crafting goals/resolutions? Maybe, like me, you have some languishing projects that need to see the light of day? Or maybe, also like me, your stash is slowly taking over your home? 

P.S. You may or may not have noticed that I have added an Etsy affiliate link to my sidebar. If you click through this link and purchase something from Etsy, I may earn a little something. Thank you if you choose to support me in this way. 

This Week's To-Dos

Let's see how I did with last week's list!

Gardening and Homestead

• Dead head rose bushes to hopefully get an autumn flush of flowers.
• Veggie garden - don't even look in there! You may have seen the photos last week - terrible, I know! I did a bit of weeding last week, not a noticeable amount though.

Knitting, sewing and crafting

• Winding skeins ready for dyeing and plan some dyeing colour schemes.
• Finish Amy Pinafore - so close!
• Finish Ugly Yarn Monster.
• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt - yes, this is still not finished!

Household

• Freezer inventory -who knew we still had so much beef left in there!
• Sort out two boxes from shed.
• Start organising recipe folder. - Finished - hooray! And I have even started using some of the recipes from it.

So some of the items are back on the list for this week, as they are never-ending, revolving list items.

Gardening and Homestead

• Weeding veggie garden
• Sow seeds of silverbeet, peas, coriander, lettuce, kale
• Clean out chicken pen and lay new straw

Knitting, sewing and crafting

• Finish Amy pinafore
• Finish Ugly Yarn Monster
• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt
• Make bath mat using old towel

Household

• Pantry inventory
• Sort out two boxes from shed
• Make pizza bases for the freezer

How is your week shaping up? Looking busy or relaxing?

To-Do List and What We Have Been Up To

It is school holidays here, so I haven't been on the computer much. Just hanging out, kicking the footy, shooting hoops, gardening together, movies, library, playground. 

We just returned home from a weekend in Melbourne - the big smoke! We did a little bit of shopping and visited with family. My dad is doing well. He is walking now, using a cane, but the pain is pretty much gone. He did lose most of his hair. He thought he had managed to avoid that as it did not start falling out until about four weeks after he finished his chemo. He is hoping he may even be able to start driving again. God is good!

I took the two younger boys to see Oddball. If you are looking for a gorgeous family movie, this is it! 

It was very exciting to see our local area up on the big screen too. Lots of fun to recognise all the places we go to - the boys were thrilled to see the island they swim to was where the penguins live.

And being me, I was swooning over the gorgeous knitwear worn by the mother and daughter. I have my eye on this cable jumper!

The movie was shown as an activity run by the library so beforehand there was a craft activity to make your own felt fairy penguin. They turned out so cute!

The other family movie we watched this week and really enjoyed was Paper Planes, another Australian movie. 

Who knew there were world paper plane championships?! I was really pleased to find two enjoyable movies that you didn't have to worry about the content. Just good fun - I highly recommend both of them. 


My last list has a few carry overs, as I was expecting really, with the holidays.


Garden and Homestead

• Weed and plant out wine barrel planter.

• Plant seeds of: coriander, parsley, silverbeet, spinach, spring onion, pak choi and lettuce.

• Plant gladioli tubers.

• Finish weeding in front flower bed.

Knitting, sewing, crafting

• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt.

• One night knitting on Minecraft pickaxe.

• One night knitting on rainbow bunting - for front fence.

• Research sock patterns for dad's Christmas present.

Household

• Make Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate.

• Make Lemon Cordial, and then with the peels, make Candied Lemon Peel.

• Sort out two boxes from garage.

• Take spare books up to Little Free Library.

• Sort out baby clothes.

• School holiday planning.

Actually, lots of carry overs! So this week's list looks like it will be pretty much the same content.

Garden and Homestead

• Weed and plant out wine barrel planter.

• Plant seeds of: coriander, parsley, silverbeet, spinach, spring onion, pak choi and lettuce.

• Plant gladioli tubers.

• Plant potatoes.

• Finish weeding in front flower bed.

Knitting, sewing, crafting

• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt.

• One night knitting on Minecraft pickaxe.

• One night knitting on rainbow bunting - for front fence.

• Research sock patterns for dad's Christmas present.

Household

• Make Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate.

• Make Lemon Cordial, and then with the peels, make Candied Lemon Peel.

• Sort out two boxes from garage.

• Take spare books up to Little Free Library.

• Sort out baby clothes.

• Do lots of cooking with eggs! You will see why when I do my weekly menu post later today.

To-Do List For This Week

Not too bad (but not very good) this week. I am quite pleased with there being any progress at all as it has been more hectic than usual with the boys home. I am definitely finding since they stopped homeschooling that they need constant entertainment or I hear the dreaded B word! They just don't seem to be content to just be anymore. It can get quite frustrating!

Garden and homestead

• Veggie garden - continue weeding and mulching, plant out areas as completed.

• Finish narrower new path in veggie garden. 

• Start seeds and plant snow pea seeds.

• Start new potato patch - all ready to go in about 6 weeks or so. I will top it up with another bale of straw before planting. 

Just a pretty boring pile of straw and manure!

• Set potatoes to chit.

• Weed bed outside kitchen window and sow with wildflower mix - definitely coming along. I am so happy I removed those grasses - although there is still one more to go in this bed and I discovered another one lurking under a tree!

Knitting, sewing, crafting

• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt. 

• Finish back of Shoulder Rolls jumper from November 1933 Stitchcraft - I still can't seem to commit to the length I would like! I need to decide so I can start the shaping. I just need to dive in and hope for the best.

• Finish baby jersey from April 1934 Stitchcraft - half way.

• Knit one night on Girl On Fire shawl.

• Start Minecraft pickaxe.

Household

• Freezer inventory.

• Clean up clutter corner in our bedroom.

• Make air drying clay for Whirlwind - he wants to make snowmen - I need to go to the supermarket tonight to buy the ingredients as I haven't made it there yet!

So for this week, I am going to scale it right back. Hubby is also taking some time off work so my plans tend to go out the window then.

Garden and homestead

• Veggie garden - continue weeding and mulching, plant out areas as completed.

• Finish narrower new path in veggie garden. 

• Start seeds and plant snow pea seeds.

• Weed bed outside kitchen window and sow with wildflower mix.

Knitting, sewing, crafting

• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt. 

• Finish back of Shoulder Rolls jumper from November 1933 Stitchcraft.

• Finish baby jersey from April 1934 Stitchcraft.

• Knit one night on Girl On Fire shawl.

• Knit one night on Minecraft pickaxe.

Household

• Freezer inventory.

• Clean up clutter corner in our bedroom.

• Make air drying clay for Whirlwind.

My list is seeming strangely deja vu from one week to the next!
And might be too busy holidaying to achieve much of this! But hey, there is always next week (and the week after!)

But the holidays just aren't long enough!

I

To-Do List For This Week

This is last week's list:

Garden and homestead

• Veggie garden - continue weeding and mulching, plant out areas as completed.

• Finish narrower new path in veggie garden. (half way)

• Start seeds and plant snow pea seeds.

• Start new potato patch. 

• Weed bed outside kitchen window and sow with wildflower mix. (half done)

Knitting, sewing, crafting

• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt. 

• Finish back of Shoulder Rolls jumper from November 1933 Stitchcraft. (so close - one, maybe two repeats to go!)

• Finish daffodil tea cosy. 

• Start Girl On Fire shawl.

Yarn for shawl

• Start Minecraft pickaxe.

Household

• Freezer inventory.

• Clean up clutter corner in our bedroom.

• The boys finish school this weekend for a three week winter holiday. So plan some activities for these holidays, allowing for the fact that it will probably be pouring with rain for half of the time!

And for this week's list:

Garden and homestead

• Veggie garden - continue weeding and mulching, plant out areas as completed.

• Finish narrower new path in veggie garden. 

• Start seeds and plant snow pea seeds.

• Start new potato patch. 

• Set potatoes to chit.

• Weed bed outside kitchen window and sow with wildflower mix. 

Knitting, sewing, crafting

• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt. 

• Finish back of Shoulder Rolls jumper from November 1933 Stitchcraft. 

• Finish baby jersey from April 1934 Stitchcraft. 

• Knit one night on Girl On Fire shawl.

• Start Minecraft pickaxe.

Household

• Freezer inventory.

• Clean up clutter corner in our bedroom.

• Make air drying clay for Whirlwind - he wants to make snowmen.

I am trying to keep the lists a bit shorter for the next three weeks of school holidays. Although the gardening can stay as Whirlwind is so happy to be on holidays so he can help in the garden.
So I really don't know how much I will achieve! 

And look! The first daffodil of the season!
It is only the first month of winter and there is already one very brave daffodil showing its face. Excuse the weeds - there are still some daffodils in the weedy bed outside the kitchen window. And I can't even see this daffodil from the window as it is behind a horrible ugly grass plant that I am hoping to remove. We removed two a while ago and it is difficult! There are two more in this garden bed, so a lot of digging involved!

We watched Paddington today. I loved the Paddington books growing up, but of course they have altered the movie to add extra intrigue and excitement. But what was I looking at the most? The interiors, of course, and the mother's clothing!

Oh my, I love this house! This is what I would do in my house - bright colours, painted murals, lots of china on display, gorgeous.

This isn't from Paddington, but it has the blue and yellow that I love, and I absolutely wish to have a cherry red Aga!

Achievements For The Past Week, and Plans For This Week

Joining today with Porch Swing Quilts for Make-A-List Colour Monday.

It is the first day of winter here and we woke up to ice all over everything. Whirlwind, in his usual crazy rush, slipped in the ice heading out the door to school and landed flat on his backside.

Yesterday, a lovely time was spent at Crafternoon. I worked on Miss Ballerina's quilt. The boys raced off with all the other children there, and had a great time. On the way home, Whirlwind said it was the best day of his life. Oh to be six years old and so happy and easy to please!

I have been working on the garden. I want to get it all weeded and mulched, ready for some planting. Hubby mowed down all the thistles and nettles in the paddock again. We will do it a few times over their growing season, before they flower, so all the nutrients return to the soil and hopefully, no seed sets.

So this week's list is:

Garden and homestead

• Veggie garden - continue weeding and mulching, plant out areas as completed.

• Clean out deep litter from chicken pen to the compost and lay new straw.

• Weed daffodil bed. (three quarters of the way!)

• Plant new plants.

• Sprout wheat grain for chickens.

Knitting, sewing, crafting

• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt. 

• Finish back of Shoulder Rolls jumper from November 1933 Stitchcraft. 

• Make item from February 1934 Stitchcraft. 

• Graph Minecraft quilt for Whirlwind's birthday, using this one as a guide.

Looks like the garden stole all my crafting time this week! Low achievement in this area.

Household

• Inventory pantry items and determine use by dates. Meal plan accordingly, then keep pantry inventory up to date.

• Write letters to my sponsor children.

• Clean up clutter corner in our bedroom.

• Make lemon butter as our lemon tree is bursting with lemons.

This was the first preserving/pantry book I ever bought, published in 1993. It has great recipes, including recipes for every type of curry paste you can imagine.

Also stole time from here! But the garden is starting to come along nicely. I really need it to be ready for a big spring planting.

Daisy bushes planted to fill in the fence line

Just look at the lovely mulched part in the front - ignore the spreading green in the background!

Pea trellis ready to go

Ir is shoots are poking their heads up

Lemon tree with so many lemons ready to ripen

This week's list (with way too many carry forwards - again!)

Garden and homestead

• Veggie garden - continue weeding and mulching, plant out areas as completed.

• Lay new paths in veggie garden and garden bed under apple tree.

• Source native grasses for the bed near the back porch.

• Start seeds and plant pea seeds.

• Sprout wheat grain for chickens.

Knitting, sewing, crafting

• Three hours of hand quilting on Miss Ballerina's quilt. 

• Finish back of Shoulder Rolls jumper from November 1933 Stitchcraft. 

• Make item from February 1934 Stitchcraft. 

• Graph Minecraft quilt for Whirlwind's birthday, using this one as a guide.

Wow, this stays pretty much the same!

Household

• Inventory pantry items and determine use by dates. Meal plan accordingly, then keep pantry inventory up to date.

• Write letters to my sponsor children.

• Clean up clutter corner in our bedroom.

• Make lime pickle and lime marmalade.

Now, onto Colour Monday! This week's theme is summer sipping; what do you like to sip on in summer? For me, of course, it is more like hot chocolate in front of the fire at the moment. But it is good to reflect on other seasons than the one you are currently in.

This would what I would regularly sip in summer - homemade lemon cordial (all those lemons again!)

But had to include this one as well; even though you are not likely to see me sipping cocktails on a beach in Hawaii any time soon!

Christmas Crafting

After receiving a kind email from a toy company reminding me that it was only 53 sleeps until Santa (are you kidding?!), I thought it was time to get serious about Christmas crafting.

And where else to go for the best inspiration? Why, to your trusty stock of Living Crafts magazines. 

I adore this magazine and was totally devastated when they ceased publication. I do not know if there is a comparable magazine available, certainly not here in Australia.

And then my favourite website would have to be Wee Folk Art. There are always lots of amazing projects to be found here.

So far though, all I have been working on are these quilts (Miss Butterfly's isn't pictured as there is not much to show yet!) 

And now, I will have to add some Lantern Children to the crafting list, as we are celebrating Laternenfest in our local community, culminating in a lantern parade.

Need to decide on which lanterns to make as well.

Thanks to Nicole at Frontier Dreams for sharing the Lantern Child pattern in today's KCCO, where I am joining in.