Knitting

Here’s The Honest Truth

Advice. Feedback. Input.

Those are three things I am in need of today (and every day, if we’re honest). I started this blog December 4th 2018. Not so long ago, right? As it stands I have 54 followers (thank you very much by the way!) and have been going through a long dry spell of views.

I try to be honest to myself and post what I’m thinking, feeling, or wanting to do that day. It seemed like the best approach, but I’m stuck. While this has kept me writing something every day, it doesn’t seem to be pushing me on my book (though I am doing more with it than I was).

This comes down to my own personal drive, I know that. However I don’t know how to fix it. I see words or phrases like “Writing Schedule” and “SEO” and such…. And I’m lost on it. I don’t know where to find information on it (Google is not my friend, it seems). So I turn to you guys, my readers and followers for advice, feedback, input.

I’d love to see more comments on my posts telling me that it is what they want to read or pointing out issues or asking questions. To see this, I should start doing the same to the posts I try and read every day.

Also, I want to know what you guys want to see on my blog so that I am able to work on it. I love writing poems, attempting drawings, showing knitted projects (which I haven’t done in a while), and sharing my family struggles (or day to day ones).

I’m human and as such, I’m reaching out for a hand. How do you create a writing schedule? Where did you learn the whole SEO thing(s)? I don’t want to drown at this. I want it to work, and I’m sure we’ve all had these moments (be it days, weeks, months long).

I thank you all in advance for reading this and hopefully throwing a life line to a sinking swimmer!

 

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Dig Deep, Fight Forward

Managed to be productive over the weekend. We finished the storage room (previously known as the small animal room), and are working on the linen closet now. I tidied the upstairs while Andrew slept, and he was pleasantly surprised.

However I failed myself already today. I swore last night I would wake up at 5 am, and I didn’t, I slept in. The late start has butchered my day. I had an hour round trip to make to get my one dog’s food (joys of feeding a prescription diet only available at a veterinarian clinic), and items to drop off at my parents, and brief grocery shopping to do, too.

This all meant I got home at 11 am, and my dogs got the latest breakfast ever. It means I had a very late start to a day I meant to be filled with energy and creativity. Instead I feel sapped of every ambition I ever had, and want to waste the rest of the day away.

I HATE feeling like that.

Forcing myself to sit at the computer is one thing. Actually writing something worthwhile is another. That’s the hardest pill for me to swallow at the moment.

The truth is I feel lost, and this blog post is simply a stream of consciousness.

I am unsure of what to post, and this fills the void in a rather lackluster way. I like the poems I write (some from imaginative places and some from the emotional truths of day to day life). I want to push past that which I’ve said before, but I’m stuck on how to do it.

Instead I post about knitting (I’ve started a baby cocoon now from soft rainbow/white yarn). I talk about baking with my mom, and other familial experiences. I have posted some artsy endeavours.

Why?

Because my life is random as hell and yet predictable, too.

The rut I’m in seems to be unending, and I look into my past to analyze all the other choices I could have made. I like to think I know where they would have taken me in life, but I don’t.

What I do know is, I need to find something that works, because I definitely love writing and want to do it for the rest of my life. The problem is, I struggle with my insecurities and the ‘normal’ life everyone around is living, the natural progression of their lives. The comparisons I constantly make about my life versus others is a waste of my (and your) time, too.

I need to find a way to work on my book, and shit getting done, too. Searching for distractions is slowing me down too much, and I’m tired of feeling like I’m failing day after day.

Good news though. Tomorrow is another day to make it happen. That doesn’t mean I don’t try and salvage what I can from what is left of today. It means I can pick myself up tomorrow and do what needs doing. It is in me after all.

Thanks for reading my rant, and maybe relating to elements of it. Any tips on what you do to overcome these moments are welcome.

Blanket of Hope Pt. 2

I finally finished it! The Blanket about which the short story earlier was about!

Blanket.of.hope.jpg

Obviously the story I wrote did not happen though it is what I wished for, but I still got a somewhat good reaction from my husband, Andrew. (He is not in tune with his emotions, but he is getting better!)

Red is his favourite colour, but the deeper shades towards crimson. Sadly the photo shows it as an apple red which it is not.

It is a simple basket weave stitch, and calls only for knit and purl stitches. I expanded it to make a baby blanket which put it at 150 stitches (though I messed up from the get go so it was only 149).
I used stitch markers to keep track of it, and put them at the 25 marker. Orange and teal were the colours of my markers, so I alternated them which helped me keep track of the pattern too. Thankfully, I did not make too many mistakes, and only had to reverse knit once (with my mother’s help).

I am hoping we get a chance at using it sooner rather than later, but it will happen when it is meant to.

P.S. Unsure if I will be posting anything tomorrow. I got my feedback for my book, and have scheduled a brainstorm session tomorrow. Some of the input will result in major changes to my book, but I do believe it will make it better!