I need structure in my life. I don’t accomplish much without a plan and I’m not talking about a general plan. I need a very specific plan – like I will knit 20 rows today.
At the end of 2019, I felt like my knitting had become too scripted. I was trying to do the Eat, Sleep, Knit yarnathon every year and while I love the structure, the deadlines, the motivation, and mostly that we can use stash yarn so long as it came from ESK, there were other yarns I wanted to use so I decided to not push myself to finish the Yarnathon in 2020.
You know what I’ve accomplished in 2020? Hardly anything! I started a lot and finished very little. I need deadlines. I need a plan and a reason to stick with it. That’s why I have to set a goal for myself with packing each day.
Sometime within the last few weeks, I decided I do want to do the 2020 Yarnathon. I want to finish it. I want the VIP prize. That leaves less than three months to knit a year’s worth of projects, pack up a house and move, then get at least enough unpacked to survive. What could possibly go wrong with this plan?
I did have some things done; some points already earned, some projects close to completion so they could be finished and submitted. I had done the first quarter knit along and earned stars for that.
Just typing this, it all seems a bit childish – knitting for points and stars, but there are thousands of people who are totally addicted to ESK’s Yarnathon, and it’s probably safe to say that I am one of them.
Can I catch up, get it all done and reach VIP status by the end of the year AND get moved? Doubtful but the knitting and the desire to be knitting will help me get through this move.
Today we go through most of what’s upstairs; then I can sit and knit for one hour before I go back to packing boxes.
Teri says
Love your ambition! Hope you win the prize!
Joyce says
goals and deadlines are good motivators for a project if the project is something you really want to do!
Claudia Duke says
I tried to follow your color of the month projects this year. I did pretty good for about 4 months, then I got off track. I need a specific plan too. I’m blaming COVID for everything this year! Good luck with your plan for winning the prize. Right now I’m waiting for friends to arrive from Lake Charles to stay for a couple of days. They were lucky with Laura and only had minimal damage, but the emotional stress is awful. Best wishes for your family and friends.
Karen Sutton says
I’m digging out All the Light this evening – going to start knitting on it tomorrow. Thought maybe you might want to add that to your Yarnathon goal.
Judy Laquidara says
I do want to finish that but it’s packed and at the moment, I couldn’t find it if I tried. Have fun with yours.
Denise Russart says
I’ll be cheering you on (even if you are on a rival team!) 🙂 I don’t plan to finish the yarnathon this year – I’ve been pulling out older projects to finish lately. It’s possible I may earn some more points with a few current projects but I think I’m only at 12 stars so far since I’ve been knitting more NESKY stuff.
Nelle Coursey says
You may be stretching yourself a little thin right now. Don’t overdo. There is always 2020!!
Nelle Coursey says
Sorry, that should be 2021!!
Emma says
There are a lot of things where external motivation absolutely is my main push, so to speak. It’s that way for fitness – Someone telling me what to do or having a way to compete against others makes me much more willing to be active. I knew that people telling me what to do was a big help, but have only realized recently about having people to compete against, even if it’s just virtual. (I started using an app on my phone to track how far/fast I was walking/running when I’d go out for a walk/run. They have challenges you can join occasionally, so even though I didn’t start using this app until July I decided to join the try to get to 1,020km walk/jog/run/bike in 2020. Obviously I’m not going to get there. But every time I go for a walk I love to go check the ‘challenge’ and see how I stack up. I’ve gotten to where I’m in the top half of women, women in my age group, and the combined genders for my age group. Every time I get one of those to go a little higher I get a little happier inside. Is it silly? Yes. Do I care? No.)