Time Management

At this months bipolar support group meeting we learnt about time management and the extra stresses our condition has when suffering from a higher or lower than average mood.  It was very interesting and going round the table it was apparent that making lists was popular but that we needed to be kinder to ourselves and generally relax the pressure to do everything.
They do a "hot cross bun" to show the way a feeling can affect the biology and the whole thing was interesting.
I like a list!  A list makes me feel secure and confident!  I make lists for shopping and menu planning and I use ravelry to make my own version of a list to control my knitting. I often wish I could start again on ravelry, there are things I'd do differently like using the queue function and favourites to show what I really intend knitting vs what I'd like to knit!
With my friend's help I am slowly getting organised in my craft room and starting to manage my extensive stash a little better, for example we are writing pattern suggestions and putting it into a bag with the yarn.
Being organised helps my thinking- at the moment I am hypomanic which means I have racing thoughts (of the knitterly variety especially) and feel I can do far more than is reasonable and am liable to get get excited at the thought of casting on yet another project.
I thought I would do a review of what I currently have on the go and this includes my lovely crochet blanket, my striped shawl, colourwork cowl and the newest projects - toe up socks and the year of techniques arm warmers!
Next time I will blog about my knitting in particular the helical stripes technique which is simply delicious!
Next month at the bipolar group we are having a Pharmacist visit to talk about meds!

My socks are finished!

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I finally finished my socks!  They've taken me just short of two years to complete!  Never mind they are done now and are a perfect fit!  Next new project is the lovely Susie, a colourwork hat, by the lovely Sarah Hazell. I plan to use the hand dyed mini skeins as above.   Of course there will be more socks on the needles, just a question of deciding which!

A selection of photos

I'm still here

I'm still here and still knitting!
I thought of creating a brand new blog for the next year but then thought it a shame to discard all my lovely references to patterns and photographs so in the end decided on a new title instead.  And a commitment to blog more frequently.
I've joined up with Jen and Jim's A Year of Techniques and splashed out on their spring kit.
The first pattern and technique comes out in March and I shall blog my progress.

As well as aiming to follow the Year of Techniques I am aiming to challenge myself to a/ finish more wips and b/ knit from stash this year. Further I want to learn more about crocheting and doing two projects to keep my hand in while I wait for a lovely course my friend, Jan, and I plan to go on.

With my mood disorder, Bipolar, it can be difficult at times to control certain behaviours such as pattern buying, yarn buying and I suffer dreadfully with caston-itis!  Ha ha!  But with the help of supportive friends and a friendly support group I am hoping to learn more solutions to this problem.

The shawls

Shawls

OFF the needles almost as soon as it went on them is the lively Fantoosh! By Kate Davies which is a shame because I was desperate to knit this and had the perfect yarn for it!  Essentially I could not get the pattern to work and it was stressing me too much even with the help of a kind knitalong friend there was no way it was working!
Instead! ON the needles is a lovely hitchhiker. I've wanted to knit one for ages and my two friends are also knitting one so I couldn't say no!
I'm still knitting socks - they are going well. I am still knitting Dune - also going well.
Elsewhere in the family, our no.1.son has his first exam today and no.2.son has his next week - we wish them both well.

Stash Diving

Well it's been a busy week this week on the knitting front and none more so than yesterday when two of my knit night pals and I went to see the marvellous Woman in Gold and following a lovely lunch we enjoyed the film very much.
We then went back to our friend's house and did some stash diving and bought several skeins of scrummy yarns each!  You can see what I bought below.