Warming up those hands

'Tis the season to start warming up my fingers and start an Olympic-level knitting and crocheting spree.

The holiday season is but a few short months away, anyway in my eyes it's short.  I've got tons of projects I want completed before December 25ish and less than 4 months to get it all done!  Add to that mix a variety of birthdays, holidays and NaNoWriMo and I've probably got less than 2 months of actual crafting time to get gifts done!

Here's what I've got on my plate:
Current Projects
1. Operation Gratitude hats - I'm shooting to have 3 done by this Saturday.  I have one finished, I've still got one on the needles that I'm hoping to complete tonight, and have another one cast on by tomorrow, luckily I've got 'til 5pm on Saturday to finish that last one.  It'll be a knit sprint to the finish on Saturday though.

2. Salt adored the fingerless mitts that I gave to my oldest niece for her birthday, and commissioned me to crochet her a pair for those early morning yard duty stints she has to do during the winter months.  Instead of outright payment to me, she paid for the most beautiful shade of Malabrigo yarn in Purple Mystery.  Gorgeous!

She bought two skeins of it, and one pair of mitts takes maybe 1/3 of a skein.  I had already decided that I would knit her a scarf with what was left, so she had a matching set.  That may be an X-mas present, though I'll give her the mitts as soon as I'm done with them.  That leads us to:

Projects to complete before December 25ish

1. Salt's scarf - I had anguished for weeks about a design for this scarf, I combed Ravelry for a pattern I liked, and a pattern suited to my knitting skill level (which at this point I would deem "beginner plus").  It came to me this morning: why the heck not just make up my own pattern.  I knew exactly what I was looking for in Ravelry...but couldn't find a pre-made pattern that I liked, so as soon as I could, I grabbed my notebook and a pencil and sketched out the design I wanted.  I think it'll be good!

2. Red Scarf Project - It's become my mission this year to do some charity knitting/crocheting.  The hats were my first endeavor and I heard about the Red Scarf Project through one of the blogs I read (Now Norma Knits - read it, she's hilarious!).  It's a worthy group doing good things to help kids transition from the foster care system into successful adults.  The Red Scarf Project is designed to be part of a care package that is sent to college students around Valentine's Day to say "someone loves you."  They accept submissions from September 1 (that's today!!!) to December 15.  I encourage my crafty friends to knit or crochet a red scarf, check out the details in the link above.

Due to time constraints, I'll probably only knit one this year.  I'll get a head start next year though and hopefully donate the maximum (which is 5).

3. Niecy knitting - Last X-mas I busily crocheted two afghans, one for each niece.  I'm not going to be quite so ambitious this year.  For the youngest's birthday (whom we'll call Girly from here on out), I made a cute little beany.  She's a girly-girl so it was hot pink.  I'm not too sure she wears it, but it's the thought that counts right?!  She was envious of her sister's (Chicka's) birthday gift though, of the fingerless mitts.

At that point I decided I should round out their sets: I want to make Girly a scarf and mitts, and Chicka (I'm spelling it that way on purpose) a scarf and a beany.  I already have the patterns picked out on Ravelry.  I just need to find the yarn I want and buy the interchangeable needle set I've been coveting so I have the sizes I need.  Money's tight though....I need to con someone into buying it for my birthday....if I didn't want a new necklace so bad, I'd just request it from Wino.

4. I haven't been in communication much with my brother-in-law down in Texas, so I had the idea that I would send him a care package with some cookies and a hand knit scarf and hat set.  I'm sure he's lonely out there on the plains with just the dogs, cats and chickens to talk to.  He seems like he's doing ok though (from what I hear through the grapevine).  I still can't believe it's been almost 4 years since Dawn passed away.  It's still hard to conceptualize that she's gone, since I hardly saw her even when she was alive.  I still miss her just the same though.

Anywho, (wiping a tear from my eye), back to more pleasant topics: I wanted to surprise him and let him know that I still care and think about him and Dawn frequently.  What says "I care" more than homemade goods?!

On that note, please donate to my Race for the Cure campaign this year by clicking here.  This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart, and always will be since breast cancer stole my big sister away from all of us.

**********************

That's pretty much the extent of my projects, but it's still a huge undertaking since #3 is actually 4 items, and #4 is actually 2 items.  I'll make it though, I somehow always find a way.

Back to the regularly scheduled tedium

I'm thankful that I was able to finish NaNoWriMo this year, and even more thankful that it got done with it before the 30th.

November is a notoriously difficult month for me mentally.  I usually have to use every ounce of  my strength to make it through this month without a mental breakdown.  I had some spare braincells this year, somehow.  Let me explain:

Item number one that comes up in November is spring registration.  That's enough said if you've been reading my blog for a while.  These buggers I work with can be so taxing on my mental health that I usually go home and fall straight into bed.  This month was different, for some reason the students were quieter.... it's almost eerie!

Item number two, of course, is NaNoWriMo.  I start off at full speed, but usually putter our about the time registration starts, but again, that was quiet, so I'm sure that contributed to my successful run at writing this year!

Item number three plagues most of us US writers: Thanksgiving.  The notorious food fest that renders you useless for an entire weekend.  Not so for me this year!  With Weight Watchers' tools under my belt I went in, ate smart and ended up losing 1.2 lbs over thanksgiving weekend.  I am SO proud of myself!  Along with Thanksgiving comes Black Friday which then kills my Friday for writing, because I get up at the crack of dawn and shop 'til I can't no more!  Then I go home and sleep.  (I was useless on Friday, I will admit).

Item number four is what gets me every year (for the past three anyway):  The 30th.  This one day kills my entire November and December.  It's the day, back in 2007, that my sister passed away.  Every year, right before Thanksgiving I start getting immensely depressed.  To the point where I can't move.  That on top of everything else going on in November makes me just quit, every year.  I start reliving my trip to Texas to say goodbye to my sister who I hadn't seen in nearly 10 years.  I still don't know if she knew who I was.  I remember how I should have been excited that week, and been celebrating for passing my Comprehensive Exam (the final step to receive my master's degree), but I had to cancel my party, which was planned on the 30th.  My degree is bitter-sweet now.  I never did get a chance to really celebrate or feel those feelings of elation when you accomplish something SO big.

I think that's what has made these past six months so great for me.  I have finally accomplished something BIG in my life.  I do so with my sister in my heart, guiding me, motivating me.  I ran the 5K for her and truly this novel is for her.  I had to make a choice this year: I couldn't let her death control my November any more, or my life for that matter, I had to move on, she would want that.

So please permit me a final note to my sister:  I miss you, Dawn.  I'm sad that so much time and distance passed between us.  I know that we can't change the past; what's done is done.  I know that you loved me, even if you didn't say so, or if you didn't call or write to tell me, Fred told me so when we came to say goodbye.  I appreciate that.  I really do.  I know that you're still watching out for me, and for all of us.  I have felt your presence this year, pushing me to become more, to strive harder, to fight for what I want.  Thank you, it was just the kick in the pants I needed. xo

And so, now I continue on this journey toward a new Kathy that I started nearly six months ago.  I will continue to eat right, I will start running again, I will crochet harder, I will finish my NaNovel.  Who knows what else will come out of my self-transformation.  I would never have guessed on this day last year that I would be sitting here writing such a victorious blog entry.  I'm excited to see what the next year will bring!

Tick-tock

My countdown has begun for NaNoWriMo '10.  I always start getting SUPER excited about it right before my race.  I love that they coincide, I get all inspired at the race, and that carries over to the month of November.

I cleaned off my desk, which is SO much nicer than my writing hole last year (literally a hole in the boxes with a used desk in a random bedroom).  This is my new desk space:

Looks nice dontcha think? Technically my desk is in the hallway (it's a built-in we had made special just for me!) so I'm concerned about noise pollution....we'll see how this works out.  Next year I may have to dedicate the guest bedroom to my writing so I can close the door.

I'm not too sure how much I will use the typewriter, but I'm going to try it. I need to get some cartridges for it though.  It was a lovely inheritance, and I appreciate Wino's mom for letting me take it home.  I know it's also a nice memento for Wino of his grandparents.

This year I'm feeling much more confident that I can hit 50K words.  I have this great high coming off completing the C25K program.  That was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done, so if I can get off my butt and get around to running a 5K, I can certainly write 1667 words a day to win this thing this year!

Ok, race day is tomorrow, and I'm much too excited to think any more about NaNoWriMo....after tomorrow I'm going to get down to business and do some serious plotting.  I've been lax this year, so hopefully my novel wont end up being mostly passages from the Dares thread!

We're Getting Close Folks!

I just checked my calendar and it says 12 days until NaNoWriMo '09 begins! Yipee! I've been working hard on my outline notecards. It stalled for a bit because I had my wisdom teeth yanked out (that's how it felt anyway), and a rather painful recovery--stupid crappy teeth!

I'm all awash in this amazing excited feeling this year. It's almost November, which is time to start writing like a maniac, and we found out when our new house will be finished (before the winter holidays--which was what I had been hoping for). I'm all tingly to get this month started because the sooner NaNoWriMo is over, the sooner I can move into my new house! I'm still nervous that my anticipation of the house will overrule my drive for WriMo....but maybe all the pent up energy I'll have can be put to good use....we'll see :)

My plot this year is pretty intriguing....I'm excited to see where it leads...my MC wakes up in a mental institution with no idea how she got there, and the story is from her POV and her psychiatrist's as they both deal with what life has dealt them. There is a lot that can happen and a lot of twists I can take the plot so I'm really, really hoping for my first win this year.

As with last year, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is this coming weekend. A fitting way for me to remember my sister, before I try to forget and just write. I love the race, and we have a huge team this year....almost 20! It's great! I always get all choked up when the starting shot is fired, and I look around at all the people, there for the same reason. All of whom have their own story, or know someone else's. It's moving, really moving.

My NaNo Eve is going to be spent in my kitty costume passing out candy to the neighborhood kids. I'm so pumped that this year we're actually in a real house (our interim place until ours is finished) so we will get trick-or-treaters. I love passing out candy. Then (and this was someone's tradition from on the forums) I will take a shower as it gets closer to midnight...in hopes of waking myself up some. I will watch SNL with the gang, start chugging my Diet Mountain Dew, and pray to stay awake to start my novel at 12:00am Nov. 1. Plus I'd like to take advantage of the return to normal time from Daylight Savings Time...I'm totally not a night owl, but the crew is there for support (even if they did all bail on me last year in favor of sleep!).

Happy planning to all of the NaNo-ers out there!

November is almost here!

I realized last night, while at a wine tasting event, that I had made plans to be away for an entire weekend in November. I made the plans long before I even had thought about NaNoWriMo. Now, I'm stuck.
While I still fully intend to go (who wants to miss a wine release party, after all), I plan to take my computer and spend at least a couple hours each day typing away upstairs at the beach house. Either that, or my daily word goals for the first week are going to be raised so that I can already be ahead when we leave that Friday...what to do?
This weekend, my last of freedom, will be spent in reflection. I am doing the local Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to honor my sister who passed away last year. It's going to be a rough weekend, but I'm always exhilarated by this event, and I know that being around so many others who have gone through similar trials will be comforting on some level. I'm just going to do my best to keep composed, it's still such a fresh wound since it hasn't yet been a year.
Because of that, I'm hoping to have my novel done before the end of November, since the final day of the competition is the one-year anniversary. I'd prefer to spend that day with my family.
Needless to say it's going to be one tough month. But I'm determined and I will win this year.