Vanilla

This past…umm, some vague unit of time? Maybe the entire month? I’ve forgotten, that isn’t the point. This past time has been stressful. Work has been ramping up, I’ve decided to stop forgetting that Christmas is around the corner, I finaly feel like my harp playing has reached the first major milestone of ‘my brain isn’t quite so melted at my lessons’ and there have been some other big personal upheavels. So it’s been predominantly positive, just insanely busy.

So when I got home yesterday from my harp lesson and realised I had the entire evening *to myself!*, I did what any sane person would do. I turned my laptop off, sat in near complete silence and crocheted. It took a while for my brain to realise it didn’t have to work, but I swear I felt when it did and just plonked down into zombie mode.

I only did about 4 rounds of DC (single crochet for my American friends 😉 ), but speed wasn’t the point. The point was sitting there doing the same thing over and over again, not having to think about anything (and trying to gently draw my brain away from anything it did try to think about).

In the end, I was there for about 45 minutes, listening to my clock and the sound of the yarn over the hook. It was (in hindsight) very necessary, and something I should aim to do more often. (It’s just finding the time to do so!).

So, my question to all of you- when was the last time you did something vanilla and repetative and didn’t try to distract yourself from the boring mundanity of it? As for me? I think I see more vanilla socks in my life (which I’m sure I don’t need, but not having to think about a pattern is the entire point of this…)

Feeding the Stash- I will use it soon (promise!) edition

So, since it is getting near the end of the year (I may in denial about Christmas, but the end of the year has no such connotations, so that’s alright. The New Year is allowed!) I’m looking forward to 2019, but I’m also aware that I’m currently piling too much on my plate, and I should do something about it. (But not right now, everything I’ve started needs finishing!)

So, next year will be the year I (try to) pace myself, and not end up saying yes to too many things. For one thing, I think I might make it a no handmade (by me) Christmas present year… Other than maybe the socks for my mother. That feels kinda scary to write, and quite possibly I will have forgotten by then, but we shall see.

Some of you may remember that this year my word of the year was preparation. I feel like I do now prepare more for things (hello monthly plans, I intend on keeping you!), and (drumroll please!), this year I have chosen:

BREATHE! This is a custom kit from Etsy designer NogPepperMe. I am very much looking forward to starting this (hopefully before 2019, but we shall see…), but I need to finish the socks and elephant first *lesigh*.

This word is going to be a challenge for me. I like making things, and I want to make all the things *now* (because tomorrow I’ll have a new pile of things to make). Remembering to breathe and not do everything I want because there isn’t enough time will be hard, but hopefully it will also make me more focussed and mindful of what things are actually important to me. I don’t have the time to do everything, and I need to remember that. I will try to bring back the timing myself to see how many hours I spend on things to hopefully learn how many craft hours I have in a week. (I have this vague craft plan to make lollipop sticks with units of time on so I have a visual way of seeing things, but that involves making things, and I’m trying to not do that so much…)

If anyone has any suggestions of things they’ve tried and worked, or things they’ve tried and didn’t work, or books I can read about it, please *please* leave them in the comments. I think I’m gonna need the help with this. But next year, I have too many things on right now!

My life is slightly hectic right now and this is why

In list format

• I just got back (well, technically yesterday) from a very busy summer school. Great fun, but exhausting
• That means I’m kinda dealing with con crud (Which is totally exacerbated by the sort of food they were serving. Very few vegetables)
• I’m leaving again on Thursday for a 200 mile bike ride
• Sposer me here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/josgunns1
• How many vegetables can I eat before then??? (Food is provided, I’m expecting limited vegetables again)
• It keeps raining. While this isn’t in itself a problem, I have washing that I need to dry which is proving awkward
• I finished a thing! (Totally the highlight of the summer school… :P) (yes, that was sarcasm)
• I’m thinking I might take another kit on the bike ride, rather than socks. Beads are so pretty 🙂
• I wrote a list of lists I need to write. This is stressing me out because I’m not sure when I’m going to have the free time to write them
• I finally understand the yarn harlot all the times she was talking about getting home to just walk out the door again!
• It doesn’t end after the bike ride either…
• Ok, I should go tidy up my room or pack, or practice my harp, or…(you get the picture)
• Normal posts will resume at some point (donating won’t speed that up, but I’ll feel better if you do donate 😉 )

It is just over a week to Christmas…

…and I am ridiculously stressed. I have a permanent headache, which I can’t tell if it comes from needing new glasses, the stress I’m in, or the fact that I’m not eating and drinking properly thanks to the stress. I’ve admitted defeat on the blanket, so the presents are nearly done (I should be able to finish them this evening/tomorrow morning before the train).

I’m catching the train home tomorrow, which I’m figuring will ease the stress somewhat (no working out what I’m eating, and whether I’ve taken it out the freezer, and whether I have enough milk in!)

But, naturally, I’m stressing about what to take home. I’ll still be writing lots(hello, third year of a PhD!), so I need my books for that. I also need the Christmas presents(!), and my mum wants to see me juggle (which I haven’t done in a while, so I think I’ve misplaced the balls…), I need my chargers for everything, I’m thinking that my keyboard should come too, since I’m used to writing with it, rather than the tiny keyboard of my netbook…, and of course I need crafty things to do too. I’m taking the advent scarf (which has unfortunately fallen by the wayside what with everything else I have to do), and the next lot of juggling balls to make, and I’m also thinking that the blanket I’m knitting should come too. I can’t fit all the yarn I’ve got for it, so I’ll have to pick a selection. *sigh*, more choices to make! I also know that I’m getting yarn and pattern for another cardigan at Christmas, so my interchangeable needles are a must! I also need to dig out my 2.5mm and 2mm needles, since this pattern uses going down a needle size to tighten, rather than ribbing. Hmm, must remember that one!

Then I also need to make a batch of cookies, to munch on the train tomorrow. That will have to happen this evening, after I’ve seen my supervisor. Life is very complicated sometimes!

So, what I really came on here to say (and should probably go at the top of this, rather than the rather random ramblings of my mine, but hey ho), is that I’ll probably not be on here again until after Christmas, and I’ve had a break from everything except writing maths and about teaching maths. So, if I don’t see you again, I hope you all have a very merry Christmas, happy Solstice, or just generally a good break (or a great religious festival of your choice, if I’ve missed it)