A Day of Intention

Happy new year! Though I didn't plan it to work out this way, it's a happy accident that the first day of the new year falls on a blog day. The start of a new year is a time when many people make resolutions; me, I find that resolutions are quickly broken, so I prefer to start off January with intentions for the new year, as it's always easier to move forward with intent and hope that you will accomplish something and not feel any guilt if you don't.

I have three main intentions for 2019. The first, as you will expect, is an intention to craft a lot over the coming year. I want to be more mindful about using up my stash and not buying more yarn or fiber just for the sake of buying it. With that in mind, I've hopped on the bandwagon of a creating a Make Nine grid for the coming year. These aren't necessarily the only things I'm planning to make in the next 12 months, but I certainly hope that they will be among my finished projects by this time next year.

From top to bottom, left to right:

• Little Boxy by Joji Locatelli: This will be for Rainbow, and I already bought the yarn for it: three skeins of Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce in Peacock Blue.
• Cailleach-Oidche by Liz Corke: This was a Giftalong pattern purchase, and I think it will look lovely in the two skeins of Dusty Tree Dyeworks Root that I purchased this past fall at Indie Knit & Spin.
• Tegna by Caitlin Hunter: This one has been planned for a while, and my first spinning order of business when we get home is to get started on the second skein of handspun to make it.
• Archer by Elizabeth Doherty: I've got three skeins of Stranded Dyeworks fingering weight already in the stash for this one.
• Cathedral Grove by Faye Kennington: I might make more than one of these, one for me and one (or more) for charity.
• Boxy by Joji Locatelli: I love my handspun Boxy so much that I'm planning another one (likely in a smaller size) in FDW Bounce.
• Coronal by Allison Janocha: This will be another charity knit. I really want to see how that crown is created!
• Darkwater by Jennifer Steingass: This was my first impulse purchase of the year, and I think that despite the fact that it's written for fingering weight, I might be able to make it work with the HipStrings Buoy DK I have (it's more a sport weight in my opinion anyway).
• Edinburgh by Kate Bostwick: This is the pattern my brother picked out when he asked me to knit him a sweater, and I conveniently already owned the pattern. I ordered yarn from Knit Picks on Cyber Monday and it's waiting patiently at home. 

I'm sure there are other patterns I've been wanting to make that I've forgotten, but as I said, this isn't an exhaustive list.

My second intention for 2019 is to read more. I really surprised myself by how much I read in 2018 (70 books -- even more impressive when you consider that my initial goal was only 25!). I've set my reading challenge on Goodreads for this year at 50 books, which seems reasonable without being too lofty. If I have the same pace as I did last year, I'm sure I'll exceed that, but reading time is tough to predict. (If you're also on Goodreads and would like to connect with me there, you can find my profile here.)

My third and final intention for 2019 is to continue to be good to myself. Last spring I made some pretty major changes in my diet and my habits to make a difference in my health; as a result, I'm starting this year weighing less, in better shape, and with significantly reduced cholesterol (which was the main objective). I feel better and stronger, and I want to continue to feel that way, so I intended to keep up the good habits I've started.

A phrase I've been thinking about and reading a lot today is "Start as you mean to go on." I think that's a good mantra in general and for the first day of a new year specifically. So this morning I took a long walk before brunch, I spent some time with an old WIP this afternoon, and later on I'll spend some time with a good book.

Here's to a healthy, happy, crafty 2019!