My latest knitted project finished

It's finally Friday and I'm so ready for the weekend, if only the weather here can cooperate then it would be the perfect combination. Unfortunately we've been having some weird weather here lately. One day sunny and gorgeous and the next windy, cold and even snow. Yuck! I'm so ready for Spring. 

The one thing I'm happy about the cold weather is that I'm still able to sport my new knitted cowl. One of my crafty pursuits is knitting. I still consider myself as a beginner and have not graduated from the "knitting" stitch but I use this craft to unwind and de-stress. It helps me relax and although I wish I have more time to devote to learning more about it, for now I'm happy that every so often, I get to pick up my knitting needles, yarn and create something one-of-a-kind. 

So with the projects I've made, most of them have been scarves for me and/or my kids. It's the easiest to create cause it's basically just a long rectangle. I wanted to stay on the "simple" side but wanted a different version of a scarf so I went with a cowl. I googled a few tutorials on how to make it and ended up with my own "pattern". I started with a size 13 needle and 2 skeins of soft yarn (purchased at Hobby Lobby), casted on 55 stitches and knitted it all the way till I used up both skeins. I left a few yarn at the end so I can use it to stitch up the top and bottom part of the "scarf" to create my cowl or a big "o". 

Here's some pictures of the result....

and two more ways I found that I can wear the cowl...

I can even clip a flower to add some more interest to the scarf...

so there you have it. Easy peasy and totally doable. To see more of my latest "yarn" projects that I've pinned, you can always go here. 

How about you...what's your favorite hobby/craft to de-stress or unwind with?

Have a great weekend.

Till next time,

Grace

Mantra 2013

Hello friends and Happy Monday!

 

Hope you all had a great Holiday break. I took a break myself and spend my Christmas in California with family and some friends and then New Year's back in Colorado with my step daugther and her husband coming to spend a few days with us. It was a great two weeks full of new memories and photographs that captured the essence of the season. I love being with family during the Holidays. It was the perfect gift! I hope to get through the big file of digital images I've taken through the break sometime this week and share the highlights with all of you by next week.

 

Now that our visiting family members have gone back home and my little family is slowly getting back to our routine, it's time to look forward and actually plan out 2013. If you've followed me and my blog through the years, you know that I always start the year off with a "mantra". It's the words that I want to live by during the upcoming year.

 

I like organization and having a plan. It gives me purpose and a path to follow as I go on my year.In the past, I would always take a moment to reflect what the past year looked like. What I've accomplished, the challenges I've faced and of course, what do I need to improve on. So with that, my 2013 Mantra is...

 

 

This came about as I was taking stock of how crazy 2012 seemed like to me. I felt like I was always hustling and bustling; that my to-do list never ended and at the end of the year finding myself looking forward to my "vacation" with excitement not only because I get to see my family but also because I wanted to "get away". That was a sign for me that I was putting way too much on my plate. It was a signal that things need to change here or I'll only be repeating 2012.

 

So for 2013, I'm committing myself to simplifying life. I'm not going to attempt a new recipe every single night (that was one of my obsessions last year), instead I will cook from my "tried and true" recipe file. I will not obsess in trying to make everything in my Pinterest board and feel guilty that someone else is more creative than me. And finally, learning to say "no". That's going to be hard for me but I will try.

 

Another thing I want to concentrate on is "mastering the skills I already have". No more of the "jack of all trades, master of none!" This year I'm committing myself to learning everything I can about my camera and learning new techniques to capture that "special moment". I also want to learn new techniques in papercrafting. I feel like for me to continue to be a viable part of the papercrafting industry, I need to broaden my knowledge of the craft. Like what I said above in  my mantra frame, there's always room for improvement.

 

So with that I welcome 2013. Thank you for your continued support. I'm always surprised at who reads my blog and where my readers are coming from. Stop by and leave a comment when you can, I read them all and try to respond as soon as I can. I'm very honored that you choose to visit my little "home on the web", so please continue to stop by here and I wish each and everyone of you a prosperous New Year!

 

Till next time,

Grace