Notes for 2024

 January 1 of the new year always brings to me a sense of refreshing and evaluating my plans and goal for the year ahead. I'm not into 'resolutions', because I don't think that's a terribly useful way to think. I read someone else's thoughts about resolution coming from resolve, as in fix the problem, and that's not the note I want to start my year off on. New habits can form any time, and over time habits are what we live our lives through. I am intrigued by the 'word of the year' concept, but again haven't wanted to directly engage with it. 

One of our views on NYE

This January I decided to take a month off Instagram by deleting the app from my phone. This isn't necessarily a plan or goal, more just a try of something. I feel like I spend way too much time on it, despite setting a daily app time limit and having notifications turned off. I think this has led to excess phone time each day, culminating in hours each week spent staring a box in my hand. Every time I receive a Close Knit note I'm inspired by Ani's practice, and the way she has continued to share and build community in a different form.  

My understanding is that boredom is healthy for the mind but modern life doesn't leave a lot of openings for it. I already don't have facebook on my phone and utilise a bedtime mode with greyscale each evening. This is in an effort to reduce screentime, and yet every Monday the Wellbeing function results in feeling guilty with how many hours a week I spend looking at my bloody phone. One day recently with our wifi turned off at home (and terrible reception in the house) I had suddenly accomplished a stack of tasks that otherwise wouldn't have happened, and I felt light and excited to engage in something other than TV or streaming. This lead to another loose goal for the new year to have one day a week with the wifi turned off, forcing me to look around and engage with something else. 

The reason I went into so much detail about my phone/internet use is that we almost all have an addictive relationship with our phones, and I feel it's helpful to describe exactly how I plan to reduce that. A general "use my phone less" statement is too broad. It doesn't give guidance to anyone who might resonate with the idea of how to go about achieving it. 

This change mean's I'll try and channel the Instagram energy into writing notes on my knitting and spinning projects. I used to call this neglected site my blog. But this January, and this post, I am attempting to find an alternative online spot to share my thoughts. I'm going to try and think of it as a "site" going forward. I'll try and give the colours and look a bit of a refresh too. I imagine I might share anything else I happen to work on, like sewing and weaving. I don't want to commit to a timed weekly update but have roughed out some ideas. Mostly I'm eager to better document my projects, the mindset I had throughout them and the results of the process. I'm not great at taking handwritten notes throughout a project. Readership of each of my posts is low, so I feel like I can please myself in terms of content. If it grabs interest, great! If not, I'm flexing a slightly different creative muscle and getting thoughts out of my head. 

Starting 2024 with a healthy collection of WIPs

Entering 2024 I had a few WIPs (works in progress). They are all fairly well progressed, and I don't have much desire for a new cast on at the moment. In the week between drafting this and publishing however, I have finished a pair of socks and started a new shawl as a palate cleanser and stash buster. I'm about 2/3 the way through a beautiful test knit, the Marie in Paris (read as Ma-REE in Pa-REE) for Elizabeth Margaret Designs, one half of One Wild Designs. Elizabeth's patterns are almost all knit in a fine gauge with impeccable attention to fit detail. There's also a top that's having a time out due to yarn shortage and fit/design uncertainty (should have swatched, really, I know better). And I finished my Christmas cast on sick on NYE, so just one more to go. I've also got less that 1/2 a sock from a different pair to do (now complete). 

Spinning wise, nothing is on the wheels at the moment. I've spun a sample of a sock yarn from Waratah Fibres, which I spun as a chain ply. It needs a little more singles twist which I will achieve by changing to the smaller whorl, but otherwise is really lovely and should make some soft socks. I find summer is just too sticky and hot to spin comfortably, but come March I'll probably have a few things on the go. 

Any thoughts on 2024 goals? Hope you are well and your knitting hands are busy - Ellen.