Hey!

Guess what I did? I technically finished my sweater!! Neat huh?

Except for what you say? That button band is making the sweater all cinchy where it shouldn't? Yup, pretty much. So I ripped the whole band out and than I remembered, I was going to add a little length once I finished the sleeves, so I undid that edge and will continue the rib a little farther and try a swing at that band again. And believe me, there was no amount of blocking that would fix that problem. It is an easy fix and she will be done before I know it!

What have you been working on? :)

Sleeves are done!

And I've already started on the hood (finally!) she's starting to come together! But it's Santa Ana season over here and it's been stupid hot… we've been hosing Watson down a few nights a week in order to cool him off and I finally went out and replaced our broken fan, so it's been hard to sit down and power through like I want too. Still, I'm managing to get a few rows done in the morning before I head off to work to melt!

Hope you're getting work done on your projects too! (And getting some cooler weather unlike us!)

Ps: if you care, I've been posting my progress on Instagram fairly regularly, so feel free to follow me if you want more updates!! :)

Charleston Tea Progress

I've finally gotten around to working on my sweater… only took to almost my 3rd trimester! (To be fair, work has been particularly challenging this summer, which is normally my busy months anyway!

The body is done! 

Here you can see the detail on the back. I'm not entirely convinced that its as long as I want it to be, and is possibly to wide as well. Unfortunately, as it is my first sweater, I'm not comfortable making adjustments until the sleeves are done, at which point I should have a better idea of what I'm looking for.

What do you think? I'm pretty happy so far, but I tend to get sick of big projects after a while, does this happen to you?

June Up-date: Resolutions!!!

Updates!
 (PST! Don't forget I would love to hear from you about your own goals (resolution or not) and your progress as well, so that we can help each other stick to it!)
So here it is, my list of things I want to accomplish this year and how I am going about it. Here is how I'm doing so far:

• Knit a sweater

Soooo...... I'm trying. I really am. But I am into that part of a project where you just can't stand it any more! The rows take forever!! (no not really, but with my attention span lately it seems like it...) I am getting a bit in here and there, I just cant seem to sit down and plow through it like I was when I started. 

• Get this blog consistent traffic

HA! This seems like a joke to me now.... with all the things going on in my life at the moment this blog just isn't a priority. I really want it to be, but alas, I have a lot of wants. I'm not looking at it as giving up just quite yet, but putting it on hold until other things are smoothed out.

• Sell 6 projects on Esty or elsewhere  DONE!

Yay! And I managed another sale! And with what little effort I've put in it makes me happy that the store is doing fine without my constant supervision. (Although it would probably do better if I ever introduced the new items I keep promising myself I will make...)

• Learn to cross stitch

Sooo.... that stitch-a-long turned out to be uninteresting. Boo. Not to despair! That friend I mentioned last month is still trying to wine and dine me into her fold. So we shall see.

• Buy a car

Instead we're going to play musical chairs with my parents. The chairs being the drivers seat in our cars. And no, we don't know how it's going to play out yet because the music hasn't started.

• Help patrons in Spanish

FAIL. I haven't touched it in months.... but now that I am back in a predominantly Spanish speaking area again (did I mention I got quasi-promoted?) I have a renewed sense of urgency in this department.

• Schedule my time effectively 

Hilarious! I wish I could laugh in my face when I wrote that in February!

• Get back in "working order"

Not in my future. We can't even seem to keep on our dishes let alone in 'working order.' Alas, this has been relegated to me 'wants' list.

Not so impressive. It seems the year is catching up to me... I haven't given up on any of them yet, I'm going to call it 'prioritizing' that way it sounds like I'm being efficient. :)

How are you doing on your goals? Are you 'prioritizing' like me?

New Years Resolutions- May update!

Updates!
 (PST! Don't forget I would love to hear from you about your own goals (resolution or not) and your progress as well, so that we can help each other stick to it!)
So here it is, my list of things I want to accomplish this year and how I am going about it. Here is how I'm doing so far:

• Knit a sweater

I'm into the shaping portion of my sweater, and while I've had a difficult time lately knitting it (or knitting in general for that matter) I am having a great time knitting it! I really like the way it is coming out. I cannot wait to wear it!

• Get this blog consistent traffic

Last post I told you that I opened a Facebook page, twitter account, flickr specific to my blog and informed you of my personal Pinterest and Instagram accounts. And since then I have decided that it was too much to fast, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even like twitter. :/ So I am stepping back, and while Pinterest and Instagram will be updated still (since they are personal not necessarily related to the blog or shop)

• Sell 6 projects on Esty or elsewhere  DONE!

I did it! But to be fair, looking back, that wasn't much of a goal. I haven't yet decided what to replace this goal with, seeing as I don't have a great grasp of what is a realistic yet challenging goal to reach for, I will need some time to think about it.

• Learn to cross stitch

A friend of mine who cross stitches has plans to drag me into a stitch-a-long with her, so whenever that happens (I think it's in June) I will begin to conquer this resolution!

• Buy a car

We aren't really any closer, however we are slowly but surely saving money for it. Our goal is to try by September or October to apply for a loan. Fingers crossed!

• Help patrons in Spanish

Since the last update I am sad to say that my time on Rosetta has dwindled significantly. Work and life has been getting in the way, so hopefully once all these trainings and moving and such has occurred I will be able to get back to it!

• Schedule my time effectively 

Put on hold for the time being.

• Get back in "working order"

Put on hold for the time being.

So that's how I did last month, not super impressive, but I'm sticking to my big one, mostly. How have you done?

New Years Resolutions- April Update

Updates!
Here is how I'm doing so far:  (PST! Don't forget I would love to hear from you about your own goals (resolution or not) and your progress as well, so that we can help each other stick to it!) So here it is, my list of things I want to accomplish this year and how I am going about it:

• Knit a sweater

I bought this pattern, bought my yarn (I chose Lilac) 

 

I am almost done with the top shaping! (I know it's not the best photo, but I was halfway through a row when I had to run out the door this morning!)

 

I am so happy with how it's turning out so far! I like the yarn a lot, so soft and it glides on my needled effortlessly! 

 

You may see more sweaters in the future if this is how the whole thing goes, but we will see where I am in a month!

 

I am almost onto the 3rd of 11 skeins of yarn. Never have I ever used so many in one project!

• Get this blog consistent traffic

This is a work in progress. As you know I opened the Facebook page. I've also set up accounts on twitter and flickr,  and I plan on using my personal accounts for Pinterest and Instagram too.I am having a bit of trouble remembering to use some of those places for more than browsing and personal use... but at least I got them started. I'm starting to believe I'm trying to do too much too fast, so I might actually hold off on trying to push those other venues and focus on this here blog and shop. I mean, I haven't even added links over on the side bar yet!

• Sell 6 projects on Esty or elsewhere 

Adding to the 1 sale in January, I have another Shark Towel in the works and I made my first ever Etsy sale last month! Totally stoked! I need to update that store with more stuff, but I've been working on birthdays and such... it's a busy time of year for me! At least I'm killing 2 birds with one stone, some of the presents I'm making are prototypes for items I will eventually sell in my shop!

• Learn to cross stitch

Still working on it. I am no closer than last time.

• Buy a car

We had an interesting turn of events in this vein... and they happened this morning! Turns out my parents might be buy a new car too, making John and I the beneficiaries of their used vehicle. SCORE! We need to hash out the details, but lets just say my parents take good care of their vehicles and do not want any of them out of the family anytime soon...

• Help patrons in Spanish

I've now been using Rosetta Stone for a few weeks and I love it so far! Yes it's expensive, but my mom want halvsies with me (It's a goal for her as well) so it wasn't as bad. And I got it on sale. :) I am having a hard time remember to sign on and do the lessons, but the few i have are helping immensely. Bilinguality, here I come!

• Schedule my time effectively

 Being your own boss? Way harder than it sounds. I'm used to have a defined job description or a supervisor that it is a continuing struggle to keep myself on task and motivated. And I do not supervise myself well. Work in progress.

• Get back in working order

This is in line with scheduling my time effectively, I am not good at being my own boss. Due to some personal stuff I've gone easy on this section, but I feel I am doing better. My goal for this next month is to make sure all dishes are done on time, and when I do laundry it gets put away immediately and not sit in the hamper getting covered in kitty fur. (Someone thinks it's his hammock.)

• Start saving for a home

Another one that has had some interested changes. While we are still not currently looking at homes to buy my dad has agreed to look into some first time home buyer incentives and see if we are a good match for any of them. So who knows? Maybe we will get a house this year, anything can happen!

There is the laundry list of goals for myself... I am actually quite happy with the progress! What do you think? How are your goals coming?