by Kat | Apr 14, 2016 | General, Words
If you Google “planners” you will get about a zillion results almost instantly. (Actually, I got 139,000,000 in .39 seconds) There is so much information available from Pinterest boards, to blog posts, to YouTube videos all with volumes of information on what people think is successful.
Perhaps the reason that there is so much information is that there is not one perfect system for everyone and this is absolutely true for me!
So, what I have done is taken parts of things from a variety of “planning styles” to create a system that works very well for me. This took a bit of work, because when I worked in the corporate world – Outlook worked perfectly for my needs. I combined that with some other online programs and my work life was well-organized.
However, now that I am self-employed and I work from home a digital planning system did not work as well. I am not sure why – perhaps the fact that I am a team of one, and what I am doing does not need to be accessible to others.
Now, I do use some excellent online resources for my work, Trello, Slack, and Harvest are wonderful resources for working on projects – and they make working remotely seem less remote! But, for my daily, weekly, and monthly goals – I really like a paper planner.
Last year I moved to the Midori Traveler Planner. It has become the best thing I have ever used. I did a bit of modification to it (thanks to Bradley at Stuff & Things) and now it is just perfect for me. I am not an “art” planner person. You won’t find stickers, washi tape, or collages of stuff on my pages – just simple planning – daily, weekly, and monthly/yearly. I use this insert for my planner. It helps me “stay in the week” and focus on the tasks that I need to complete. It helps me know where I need to focus my hours and how many hours I am spending on a project.
I borrow a few things from the Bullet Journal System – not many, just a few.
Sometimes, I have a task that cannot be completed in a week – a little arrow shows me I need to move it to the next week. In the new week, it gets an arrow to tell me this was a carryover project. Sometimes it gets cancelled entirely. I can easily look back to see how my week’s went and can keep clear records of the work I did. I think this will make tax time next year infinitely better.
I also have a journal insert for my Midori, which I use daily for my creative writing. This year, I have been trying to work on my creative writing so I am using Spunky Eclectic’s monthly journal prompts. I look forward to expanding my writing as the year continues.
The last insert I have in my notebook is just a simple graph paper insert. I use it to keep track of inks I like, of projects I would like to make, recipe ideas, Breed School notes, and just plain doodling.
Not in my planner – my monthly calendar – this sits on my desk open and visible. I use this to remember birthdays, anniversaries, personal appointments, etc. Things that are not work related, but I need to remember.
There you have my planning style in a very portable planner. Tell me – what is your “Planner Style”?
by Kat | Apr 13, 2016 | General, Making
It’s Wednesday and that means Ginny is rounding up the knitters and the readers for her Yarn Along. I am about half way through Raven Black and I really want to get it finished today. I am not totally loving this book, but I have started it and I want to finish it. And, if you are looking for some titles to round out your reading list, yesterday’s 10 on Tuesday hosted by CaroleKnits was all about 10 books that make you D.E.A.R. and the participants all had fantastic book lists – if you are looking for a book to read, head on over there and you will be sure to find a more than a few good reads!
On the knitting front – I seem to have stalled on knitting projects recently. I still have socks in the works, but I have been kind of aimlessly casting on, knitting a few rows, and ripping out. Swatching that is not working – pattern and yarn are not loving each other.
However, this swatching is working out beautifully. My sample is knitting up nicely. I should have this done and washed today. I won’t know that my yarn will match and work completely until I have washed it. Once I am certain that my handspun will work, I will be back carding the Shetland to get ready to spin. This week is supposed to be lovely here and yesterday afternoon saw the completion of the Pergola – and we both lived to tell about it!! I will have pictures later this week, but it will make the perfect place to card that Shetland!
I have been putting the waste wool from the carding process out for the birds, because they don’t think it is waste at all! In fact, they are gleefully snatching it up to line their nests! I know this because of the war we are having with Mr. Robin (who every year wants to build his nest around the light on our porch) thus far, we are winning, but the collection of nesting materials that the wind is blowing all over includes bits of papers from the neighborhood, sticks, grasses, and my wool waste! I would love to let him stay, but the first year he abandoned the nest due to our activity – this is the only door out to our back yard, which we use multiple times a day. I am hoping that our spending more time outdoors will move his efforts to a more suitable place.
And, speaking of Shetland/UK – Ann and Kay are in search of the Knitter’s Holy Grail – Kay is knitting a Kaffe Fassett design and Ann has cast on a Jade Starmore sweater. A knitter’s battle for the ages and a rabbit hole for this knitter to avoid! However, it will be fun to see these projects progress. Kay wants to wear hers to Rhinebeck! What say you Ann? Will you wear yours too? While I might have pulled out my Alice Starmore book, I am in no means jumping on this bandwagon. I have other sweater dreams dancing in my head!
Anyways, enough rambling for today – I have a book to read! Tell me – what knitting successes are you having?!
by Kat | Apr 12, 2016 | General, Words
You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.
– C. S. Lewis
This week’s 10 on Tuesday topic is a special one in honor of Beverly Cleary’s 100th birthday and Drop Everything and Read Day! Carole wants to know:
10 Books That Made YOU Want to Drop Everything and Read
Oh, man. How to choose! I am going to do a bit of a different take on this and go with my top 10 authors, which will still be almost impossible to narrow down, but I will try!
- E. B. White – Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan. Three fantastic books that I just devoured. More. Than. Once.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder – The Little House Series. I have read these books dozens of times. Really. Dozens.
- C. S. Lewis – The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity – books that transformed my life as a child and an adult.
- Mario Puzo – The Godfather, Fools Die, The Sicilian, The Last Don. Gritty novels that grab you from the very first sentence and don’t let you go even after you are done reading them!
- Hugh Howey – The Wool Omnibus. Science Fiction at its best.
- Tom Rob Smith – The Child 44 Trilogy, The Farm – a new to me writer who writes a fantastic novel!
- Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games Trilogy. LOVED! Such great writing. I devoured these books and could not wait to start the next one!
- J.K. Rowling – The Harry Potter Series. These I loved with my children. We read them together, or sometimes out loud, or sometimes impatiently waited for each other to finish them!
- Jussi Adler-Olsen – The Department Q Series. I simply adore Carl Morck and his imperfect but lovely manner.
- Dan Jones – The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England is the only book of his I have read, but it was absolutely fantastic. I read this with a boss as we drove to a conference. We did not want to stop!
- Diana Gabaldon – The Outlander Series. The first “romance” novels that I actually liked! I am adding this one as a bonus because season 2 of Outlander just started! If you have not read these – you should! They are so good!!
There are so many others I could add here – stories by that expert story-teller, Garrison Keillor; yarny tales shared by the Yarn Harlot; those lovely letters that EZ wrote from Schoolhouse Press; anything that Ernest Hemingway put to paper; the vivid poetry of Pablo Neruda – things that make you lose track of your day and get lost in the words of their world.
There you have my list – some timeless, some classic, some new literature – all incredible. Today is all about reading, so tell me what makes you D.E.A.R.???
by Kat | Apr 11, 2016 | General, In This Moment
After a very cold, snowy, blowy weekend a milder Monday has arrived. Milder temperatures, softer breezes, and gentle rains greeted my morning.
It was so bitterly icy and cold on Sunday morning I am afraid I may have lost my poppy and yarrow, which were growing nicely and this morning look quite miserable. I could just cry!
But, there was some fun this weekend!!
There was a simple, but delicious Friday Cocktail Supper. A bit of hummus, salami, carrots, grapes, crackers, and Manhattans were perfect to usher in the weekend.
There were new herbs obtained. They smell so much like summer! I am itching to get in my garden, but these little beauties are a nice way to pacify that urge until the weather is more conducive to gardening!
There was some spinning. I think I did a fairly good job of replicating the singles in the Briar Rose Yarn, I won’t know until I have washed the yarn though. I hope to ply and finish the sample skein later today and maybe it will be dry enough to knit a sample with it tomorrow or Wednesday!
And there was an impromptu get away on Saturday night – a change of scenery can have a positive impact! And, confession time – I took knitting, but I did not knit one stitch! There was some discussion of Sheep and Wool in Maryland, and while I know Steve is not overly thrilled about the prospect, I think we figured out an option to satisfy (okay, maybe not satisfy exactly) err, make it work.
On our way home we stopped for lunch at Fathead’s – two words – Buffalo Cauliflower. The sandwiches and beers were fantastic (I mean, a Reuben with Kimchi?? YUM!!) but the Buffalo Cauliflower stole the show! The cauliflower was not at all over cooked, and it was not breaded! I think this might be a fairly healthy option if you are a fan of wings! There was much discussion of how we could replicate this for our Friday Night cocktail suppers. I think we might have figured it out, stay tuned to see.
I hope your Monday is like the weather here today – mild, soft, and gentle.
Slowly spinning wool
Into yarn that yearns to be
The perfect sweater
Read more
