There is a flurry of New Year activity across the blogs. Lots of people are starting 2013 by making a regular commitment: to read a book a week, knit a pair of socks every month, take a photo every day – the list goes on. I love projects like that! I am a very goal-centred person and I like having milestones and project plans (…and Gantt Charts and Excel Spreadsheets – what a geek!)
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| Please ignore crumbs on the tablecloth… Cranberry Orange Loaf since you ask! |
I was thinking about what I might want to do, and how it needs to fit in with my other goals: having less clutter, creating permanence. It mustn’t be a gimmick. It has to be fun. It has to serve a purpose.
Over the holidays, I went through my collection of Knit Now magazines and made of list of everything I wanted to knit. It came to 54 patterns. FIFTY FOUR patterns in 16 issues – that’s amazing! But realistically, I have no immediate use for that many cowls / mitts / socks / scarves / baby jumpers. So I was thinking that what I could do is to start a stock-pile of hand-made gifts. How many times a year am I caught out by birthdays / babies / Christmas?
And it has such great potential for stash-busting too! I can indulge myself in knitting up all the pretty stuff that isn’t necessarily “me” but is bound to suit someone sometime. And as I work my way through the stash, I can reward myself. So when I knit something altruistic, I am allowed a little treat :)
What sort of treats, Roo?
This is where it gets fun! I am far too strict with myself and rarely indulge in “girly consumables” like make-up or flowers or funky stationery or posh tea or smelly candles. My plan is to reward myself with something lovely every time I finish a gift for someone else. This is a multiple-win scenario: I get the pleasure of knitting the item, the satisfaction of completing a queued project, the joy of stash-busting, I save myself a future gift-gap panic AND I get a present for myself! Just a little something that I will use, so it won’t add to my burden of stuff.
It is very much in the spirit of Romancing the Ordinary, a book which has brought me such inspiration and comfort in the past, when life has felt difficult. It’s not about going crazy and buying all of the stuff, in a mad supermarket sweep of retail therapy, it is about caring for others and caring for myself at the same time. And I reckon we all need a bit of that.
My first Small Indulgence project is the Acorn Mitts. I am 3/4 of the way through the second mitt. Ooh! Soon I can choose a prize! What will it be? A bar of hand-made soap? A notebook?
This is fun!