Flying solo

twiggy86

Had a fairly productive evening last night and pretty much sorted out my craft materials - I'm sure I could still be more ruthless but I am donating a big box of things! I now have two empty containers in my kallax unit, as well as an empty under bed storage box. So this morning I have texted the lady from the domestic violence charity who wanted crafting supplies and should be dropping it off on my way home tomorrow! I also asked if she knew where I could donate a barely used king-sized duvet and a pillow as was too thick for bf, so we got a thinner one. 

I didn't have much time for crafting myself, other than a small amount of crochet on my blanket. I did measure my jumper though and am now possibly at the right length to start the ribbing - however, I think I'm going to put the stitches on hold, add one sleeve and then try it on! Whilst I didn't sew in any ends on my cowl (the project I want to completely finalise this week) but I counted and have 21 ends to weave in and have it with me at work today to possibly do a couple! So that's the crafty update! 

I have acro tonight so won't have too much time this evening. But my plan is to pull out a few more bits to add to the donation box, grab a quick dinner and change the bed (as pooch decided it was a great place to puke!!!) 

Today's list of bits and pieces... 

• Text person re donation 
• Make lunch to take to work 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Sew in at least a couple of ends 
• Do maths on knitted top to work out any required adjustments 
• Cook chicken that needs using for a quick dinner 
• Pay lowest amount at acro 

twiggy86

After reading the latest MSE email and the bit about energy credit, I logged into my account and they were actually saying I should apply for a £111 refund... but that it would mean my DD goes up by £10 per month?! I can't quite work out how they worked that out - surely if I have too much credit it means that I've been over-paying? However, I just went with it! So now waiting for the refund which I think I will put towards my "house/ DIY" pot - alternatively will throw at the CC. My reason for putting towards the house is 1) there is work I want to do on the house; and 2) now that bf pays towards the energy bill, it seems wrong for me to solely benefit from the refund?! 

Also, I managed to sneak in a bit of time to sew in the ends on the cowl earlier so that job is now complete! I just need to block it and then will put it away until winter along with the matching hat! However, trying to work out how/ when to drop off the craft materials is proving more difficult due to needing to drop them off during office hours! 

twiggy86

Busy but productive evening last night! Dog was sick in the car on the way home so had to clean that up as the first priority! Then ticked a few jobs off my list before I went to acro - so put printed label on green bin (as waiting for proper sticker to be delivered), blocked the cowl, re-made bed, grabbed a quick dinner, did the washing up, washed bf's jacket that was a victim of the dog's incident in the car and got to the point on my jumper where I want to stop before potentially adding the ribbing! Not bad for an hour! 

Tonight I have netball at 8pm - last game of the season we could finish top of the league if we win! The reward is just a small sew on patch and the league starts again next, so not a huge deal but would be the first time we've finished top! Plans before that will probably be more chilled! I now can't drop off the craft supplies until probably next Tuesday, so gives me the weekend to finish the sorting out. 

I've re-checked my list of goals for the week and today I need to "take the plunge" and book the acro workshop! The only reason I haven't is because plans keep falling through this year and I don't have money to waste! I have ticked a few things off the weekly list - I think it helps as my daily list feels very repetitive and so I don't always see the progress! I also think I've been feeling a bit torn again with my prioritise - as want to pay debts down, do work on the house and I've changed how I'm managing my sinking funds! So for example, when the refund comes back from the electric company, I can't decide where to allocate it! (I know I said house but I'm still debating!) Meaning there doesn't feel like there's particularly been progress in any one of those areas! 

Any way, enough waffle and on to today... 

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Book acro workshop 
• Dinner from stores 
• Park for free at netball 
• Make some progress on crochet blanket 

twiggy86

I don't tend to post when I'm not at work and after today I'm not working until next Wednesday, so thought I'd set out my weekend plans in case anyone was interested! 

Tomorrow bf is going to play golf in the afternoon so I'm meeting a friend for a cuppa - will either be at hers or mine. Then on Sunday me and bf are going out with some of my friends - will probably be drinking, so some spending involved but need to not be silly! Then Monday night I'm going out for dinner with my best friend and then I think she's staying over. Those are the only defined plans at the moment, although something was mentioned at acro last night which might be something different - some sort of acro performance fairly locally but waiting for more details. 

I had mentioned as part of my weekly plans about possibly painting the fence, but I'm not sure the weather is looking right for that. I should really wax my own legs (note to self to check if I have enough strips or need to grab some) and will also need to finish the sorting out in the spare room - especially if bestie is staying. I think the rest of the time will be spent chilling and crafting! 

Tuesday I am off work to attend a funeral in the afternoon - it's my friend's sister who sadly committed suicide a couple of weeks ago. I may use the time to visit another friend who I don't manage to catch up with very often, death always acts as a reminder to cherish your friends and family a bit more. 

So some spending involved but hopefully some money-saving measures too! 

dawnybabes

Hope it goes as well as it can this afternoon. 

twiggy86

Thank you @dawnybabes - it went as well as it could. 

Had a fairly frugal weekend but there was the anticipated spends involved. However, my best friend paid for dinner on Monday as a treat - which was so lovely of her! I have updated my spreadsheet already to reflect all the spending. I did move £50 from my grocery budget to my personal spends, but may need to shuffle some money around still. I do have £200 set aside for debt payments, so can utilise that if necessary. However, I don't have much planned for the weekend and bf has his kids, so hopefully can stick within my remaining funds! To make me feel better about the pots getting low, I have paid another £50 off my CC this morning! 

In crafting news... I am making good progress on my projects and met all the goals I'd set for last week! I have made a decision on the crochet blanket, which is that it needs extending otherwise the proportions are too weird! The blanket is kind of a fade/ rainbow, with a grey accent colour - so I have decided that one end will have to have a grey section! It may look slightly "off" but will function better and I have enough of the grey - so it will also help me use up more stash! Speaking of stash - I took the box of craft supplier to donate yesterday!  However, I did add 4 balls to my stash from bf's mum's supplies as she can no longer use it. I had a pattern in mind when I picked it out as I was concious of aimlessly adding more back in! She did smoke though so it smells(!), so I have put an air freshener in the drawer but when the weather is nicer I may put it outside to air it out! I have also weighed some frogged yarn and had more than I thought (assumed it was 2 balls but must have been 3) so that means I won't have to play "yarn chicken" with the project I have in mind! 

Anyway on to today...

• Weigh some yarn 
• Work on crochet blanket in bed 
• Make lunch to take to work 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Make CC payment 
• Check back on goals for last week!
• Work on knitting project at lunch  
• Quick dinner from stores 
• Pay lowest amount at acro 

twiggy86

Although it's Wednesday already, here are my goals for the week...

Finances:

• Finalise May budget 
• Due a couple of refunds which should come in this week so will allocate them to pots/ debt 

House:

• Donate box of craft bits 
• Put some bits in loft 
• Get something down from loft to sort/ dump/ donate
• Cut the grass 

Crafting: 

• Add one colour to crochet blanket (and make decision re size etc) 
• Finish one arm on knitted jumper - then can block to check sizing 
• Get to point of joining on knitted top - then can block to check sizing 

joedenise

Would the blanket look more balanced if you do some grey at each end rather than just one end?  I think that's what I'd do rather than adding a wider band of grey at one end.

twiggy86

I wish I had known at the start that it would end up too short @joedenise as that's what I would have done! But unfortunately it started with the border (which is in grey) and so I can't now go back and do it! Maybe there is a way that I could cut off the border (can you do that in crochet?!) but I'm not sure I'm fussed enough to go back and work that out! It will definitely look slightly unbalanced but I'm sure it will still look good - just maybe have to fold it so that the "grey" end is hidden! 

joedenise

Not sure it's possible to cut off the border!  Could you perhaps just pick up the stitches across the bottom and crochet downwards (hope that makes sense!).  Alternatively just crochet the border separately and then join using the same yarn to the bottom of the blanket.  Of course this makes more work so maybe not worth the effort!  Good luck with whatever you decide.