No TV

     I am still trying to get settled into this year. The house is kind of chaotic with Christmas stuff still around, one of our cars broke down and we have to donate it, the garbage disposal is leaking, and I have so much I want to do I don't know where to start. But it's all good! Except the TV is broken too. It was acting weird before we went away so we had a repair man out, and for some reason he forgot to order the part. So here we are after not watching for a week, thinking about the poor DVR filling to the brink, and there's nothing to be done but wait. It would be tempting to get one of those snazzy new smart TVs but this one is only about 6 years old. We're seriously tempted to cut the cord on FIOS - it's great and all but there's really no reason for it anymore. Between Netflix, Hulu Plus and HBO Go I think we'd barely even miss it.
     We were just on vacation with my cousin and his wife, who've been married for 30+ years. She was talking about their wedding vows and how she changed them. Instead of saying she "promised", she said, "it's my intention". I was there but it was easy enough to miss. I think intentions are a good replacement for resolutions. Resolutions, like promises, are hard and fast, and when we inevitably fail to keep them we beat ourselves up. So instead, I have intentions for the year ahead. I'm going put them into categories. The first is arts and crafts related. Here we go:
     1. Finish up everything on the needles. Take photos of projects that are missing them.
     2. Start my first quilt. I have a kit from Craftsy that I ordered in August.

Stacked Fats Quilt Kit

     Is this not adorable? I'm making it for our condo in Palm Springs. I also ordered some Aurifil thread to go with it from Amazon. While we're on the subject:

     3. Take more Craftsy classes. If you're unfamiliar, Craftsy is awesome. I watched one of their free quilt classes and I was hooked. They are very well produced and the platform is innovative. I even took a TV production course last year because I was so inspired by what they're doing. I bought the spindling class which got me started spinning. I have a bunch of free classes to watch on various topics, plus I'd like to take one of their knitwear design classes, maybe Lace Shawl Design with Miriam Felton or Shawlscapes with Stephen West.

     4. Break out the wheel. As I mentioned, I am the proud owner of an Ashford Kiwi 2. Looks like Craftsy has a few wheel spinning classes, plus there's plenty on You Tube. The important thing is to get it out of the box.

     5. Make art, specially mixed-media art. I have been obsessed with this for years and have collected and read many books on it, but have done almost none. This is the year to break out the art supplies and play. 

     6. Get better at photography. I am also in possession of a new macro lens for my Nikon. I love macro photography, and I live in a great place for it. All I have to do is go outside any day of the year. I really hope to be sharing some of this with you.

     7. Upgrade my Schacht Cricket loom and start making stuff. I got the 10" a few years ago, and a few months later they came out with the 15". This is the story of my life. I made exactly one thing on that loom, and that was the starter project. Here's my cutie modeling it.

Modeling is the operative word, because kids don't wear wool scarves in LA. What I really want to make besides scarves and spa washcloths are placemats, and you do need the wider width for that.

     8. Dye. My mom sent me the Jacquard Acid Yarn Dye Starter Kit  from Knitpicks. I've always wanted to try it, and who knows, I may have an indie dyer in me waiting to get out. I have dyed fabric before in the Shibori method and that was super cool.

     9. Read. I also received several reference books that had been on my list for a while, including The Principles of Knitting, Circular Knitting Workshop and Knitting Without Tears. The first two are pretty impressive tomes with a lot of detailed information. And I will admit right now that I have never read E. Z. I know, right? Time to remedy that.

     10. Be social, both online and in person. I'm not a social knitter, mostly because I don't want to drag my son around and my DH is not always here, but it would be great to get together for crafty pursuits with other people. I love going to festivals and fairs and plan to hit the LA Yarn Crawl and Vogue Knitting Live in Pasadena this Spring. I also want to start getting the word out about the blog, networking and making it bigger and better. And if there's any time left, starting a podcast.

     Well, that's a lot, so I'll stop at a nice even number. I'm not one for making lists but I know that there is great power in writing things down to manifest your intentions and put them into perspective. It's the starting point for prioritizing and seeing what's realistic in your life.