February Resolution Review

Since Shane will be home and our weekend will begin tomorrow, and since the last day of February is today, I decided to write my Friday post today.

I set some goals at the beginning of the year, so I thought I'd give a quick monthly update on my progress in February. 


Reading: 

• Goal - 18 Books and more than a year of Mother Earth News and Hobby Farm Home back issues (and yes, I've let the subscriptions to those magazines expire).
• February Progress - Read 2 books (5 of 18 total), and 5 of the  magazines (6 of 38 total). 

The books I read were:

• Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
• During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase

Crafting:

• Goal - 12 completed projects, preferably one a month, with one being a quilted item and another being knit socks.
• February Progress - Started and completed one toe-up knitted socks. ( 1.5 of 12 total)

I taught myself to crochet around the age of 12 or 13.  A few years later, I taught myself to knit.  I don't consider myself an accomplished knitter, and think it's more difficult than crocheting, but I usually do alright.  These socks were probably the most challenging knitting project I've tackled.  The work itself is not difficult, but just finding a pattern I could make sense of took days.  I made irreparable mistakes causing me to start over several times, but with each re-do, the quality improved.  A few nights ago I was determined to finish the sock, but come 2:00 a.m. when the yarn was about to run out, I completely forgot to consider that I needed a stretchy bind-off.  I bound off in a traditional way and couldn't get the thing over my foot.  So, I had to rework that, and now it might be too stretchy, but at least I'll be able to wear it (and learned a stretchy bind-off to boot!).

The sock isn't without flaws, by far, but it will be wearable, and I'm looking forward to finishing the pair.  What's more, now that I have a clue what I'm doing, I'll probably make more socks in the future.

My first sock!  It's in Paton Kroy washable wool
sock yarn; the colorway is Clover Colors.

Gardening: 

• Goal - Organized planning, leading to an organized garden.
• February Progress - Our printer quit working and I haven't replaced it yet, so I haven't been able to use the garden planning downloads I bought.  However, I've been planning all the same.  I know what we will be planting, in approximate quantities, and have ordered seeds.

Diet/Nutrition:

• Goal - To switch over to less harmful types of sweeteners and/or reduce sugars in our foods.  To grow more of our food in our backyard.
• February Progress - I have to admit that I haven't made any progress toward finding less harmful sweeteners since last month.

In other nutrition news, I've started making kombucha tea and tibicos soda (aka, water kefir) again after letting both go dormant for a few months at the end of last year.  Since re-establishing the habit of drinking a cup of one or the other -- or both -- daily again, I've felt a noticeable improvement in the way I feel.  To me, they are like safer, more natural energy drink and they are good for your gut.  IMO, they taste good, too.


Fitness:

• Goal - To join a local yoga class better flexibility, balance and overall health.
• February Progress - I have not found a different yoga class to join and to be honest, haven't given it much thought.

Finances:

• Goal - To pay off our RV.
• February Progress - A little.  When we first bought the RV, I padded our first two monthly payment by about $90, rounding it to the next hundred dollar amount.  For the next five months, though, I wasn't comfortable doing that.  We are in a position now that I can start paying extra again each month and even start catching up on the five months when I wasn't able to pay extra.  Every little bit helps.