18 for 2018 – February update

Happy Friday and welcome to February!

I can’t believe that January is already over, the first month of the year has just gone by so fast! This is my update for my 18 for 2018, and I’m quite excited with what I’ve accomplished this month!

18 letters sent to friends – 0/18
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

None this month, but this is because I’m actually visiting back next month. I think I might next month though, as I got my best friend into knitting and would like to send her some new knitting needles 🙂 

17 new recipes tried – 5/17
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

I’ve tried a few new recipes this month. The first one was the ginger snap recipe from the fantastic bake-along. I have also tried to make crackers, and they were so amazing I’ve made several batches already! I got the recipe here. I’ve also made a few recipes from one of Jamie Oliver’s cooking book I got for Christmas.

Gingersnaps

Crackers

Tapenade white fish

Puff pastry chicken

Peach pork

16 painted units of miniatures – 0/16
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

I have been working on two units but I haven’t finished any yet. Hopefully in February. 

15 books read – 0/15
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

This month just has been so busy I didn’t get time to read books, lots of papers for my thesis, but unfortunately that doesn’t count! 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 0/14
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

I haven’t added any square this month, but I have a few projects using 4ply yarn, so I will be able to add more soon hopefully!

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 2/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

I have done two this month, one was the gingersnaps and I made montecaos again, as they are my husband’s absolute favourite!

Gingersnaps

12 pairs of socks – 1/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

I have finished my Candy Corn socks and I have made a start on a pair for hubby, so I’m doing pretty well with this goal.

11 new stitch markers made – 0/11
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

I haven’t really thought about this goal yet, but I am thinking I’d like to use some scientific drawings or nerdy themes. 

10 new movies seen – 3/10
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

I feel like there weren’t that many good movies coming out in January but I still managed three, Pitch Perfect, The Greatest Showman and the last Maze Runner. My favourite was the Greatest Showman, it really had a great story and I loved the songs ❤ 

9 amigurumi made – 1/9
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

I have finished an awesome whale amigurumi that I talked about on Wednesday. I’m in love with it and can’t wait to give it to my friend!

8 months cross-stitched on the Snowflower diaries Joyful world calendar – 1/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

I’ve actually finished the May instalment of the Joyful world. Very excited to have started on this again, it’s just so cute!

7 games of 40k played with hubby 1/7
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

We’ve had one game so far, and I’ve smashed hubby mwahaha! I forgot to take a picture of the massacre though but I will next time for sure!

6 new designs published – 2/6
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

I’m stoked with this goal, I can’t believe I managed to publish both Wiley and Sandy‘s patterns this month, yay! 

5 km ran without stopping – in progress
This doesn’t seem like much but currently I can’t run more than a few minutes without having to slow down to a walk, so I’d like to be able to actually run without dying for 5 km!

I’ve been actively training for this, I’ve gone for several 30 min runs, with intervals to increase my cardio and I’m feeling really good about it. I haven’t done much last week though as it’s been consistently above 35°C during the day and well above 25°C at night. Hopefully it cools down in the next few weeks and I can train some more.

4 LOTR squares finished – 1/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

I’ve gotten back into this as well, yay! I’ve finished Gimli and I think he is pretty awesome 🙂 

3 jumpers knitted – 0/3
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

I haven’t cast this on yet but I do have the yarn ready so maybe I’ll cast on in February 🙂 although I have a lot of WIPs as usual!

2 getaway trips – 0/2
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July.

We have planned to go back to Brisbane for a wedding in March, does that count as a getaway? If yes that will be the first one of the year 🙂 

1 thesis submitted – 0/1
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

I have my thesis review next week, so this is definitely getting closer, wish me luck!

I hope you have all been getting on great with your goals too