18 for 2018 – November update

Happy Monday readers!

There hasn’t been much progress on my goals over November but I still thought I would give you somewhat of an update with my 18 for 2018.

18 letters sent to friends – 4/18
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.

I might still achieve this with Christmas cards, does it count if I write a personal message on each? 😅

17 new recipes tried – Completed in July
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 actually tried 2 new recipes this month, but forgot to take a picture for one of them. The first was chicken filets with a garlic and bread crumbing (it was totally delicious, the garlic really made a big difference) and the second was white fish fillets wrapped in bacon and served with lentils, yum!

16 painted units of miniatures – 5/16
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.

There is no way I’m completing this goal this year but that’s okay! I’m still 5 units closer to have all my miniatures painted. 

15 books read – 9/15
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.

Do 10 pages long children books count? 😂 More seriously, I’m still reading several books at the moment depending on my mood, including the 6th Harry Potter which I’m reading to Clark aloud before bed. We’re enjoying going slow on this.

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 5/14
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.

None added this month but I still have hope!

13 batches of baked goodsmade and eaten – Completed in August
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

I tried Tracy’s orange glazed cookies on Friday and they were so delicious! Thanks again for the recipe Tracy!

12 pairs of socks – 4/12
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’m not finishing this goal either but I’ve started on a pair of tube socks for Clark, and they are going to be so cute! I’m using the same yarn I used to make hubby his pair too, so they’ll have matchy socks. 

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

10 new movies seen – Completed in May
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.

We actually managed to go to the movies this month thanks to my wonderful MIL coming down to watch Clark. We saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and I absolutely loved it!! 

9 amigurumi made – 7/9
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.

No new amis this month, but I think I might be able to make 2 small ones in the next month, I just need to figure out which ones! (if you have patterns to recommend, I’d be keen, anything as long as they are cute ☺️)

8 months cross-stitched on the snowflower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

I’ve given up on my cross stitch for the year, I think this goal will carry on to next year as I still want to finish it.

7 games of 40k played with hubby – Completed in September
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 have played a lot more games, mostly small, and we just got a new battlefield to try out next weekend!

6 new designs published – 3/6 
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’ve finished designing Nate the Narwhal and Archie the Archaeopteryx but I haven’t put together the PDFs yet. Considering I’ll also need to have them tested before publishing the patterns, this goal is pretty unlikely to be completed this year!

5 k steps walked every day 13/30
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

I’ve almost walked my goal half of the month! and I had a day at a whooping 11000 steps, so not bad overall

4 LOTR squares finished – 2/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

OMG this is taking me so long. I also had some drama with my hook, the outside soft plastic handle started coming off so I had to glue it back together. December will be the month!

3 jumpers knitted – 1/3
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 only have half of the second sleeve left to do, so close!

2 getaway trips – Completed in July
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

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

So overall, I didn’t actually get any goal done this month but I’ve still been able to work on a few projects at the time so I’m happy with where I’m at! A lot of those goals won’t be reached by the end of the year but overall the year has been very productive which is what I was hoping to achieve by setting those goals.

How have you guys been getting along on your goals? I’d love to know

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18 for 2018 – October update

Happy Monday!

I’m a bit late this month but here is my update for my yearly goals. And guess what? I’ve finally made my stitch marker!

18 letters sent to friends – 4/18
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.

One more this month, I still need to print out pictures of baby Clark and send them to friends overseas.

17 new recipes tried – Completed in July
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!

My MIL and I made a shepherd’s pie, and it was my first time trying her recipe, it was super yum!

16 painted units of miniatures – 5/16
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’ve had no time to paint this month, I prioritised crochet instead!

15 books read – 9/15
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.

One more book, I’ve finished ‘Your baby and child’ from Penelope Leach. It was a nice read and I’ll probably go back to it as Clark grows older.

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 5/14
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.

None this month.

13 batches of baked goodsmade and eaten – Completed in August
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

I’ve made banana bread and peanut butter cookies this month.

12 pairs of socks – 4/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

No new socks this month.

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

You guys! I’ve made it!!! I used different finishes, some rings to fit on knitting needles and clasps for crochet.

10 new movies seen – Completed in May
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.

We went to see Venom this month.

9 amigurumi made – 7/9
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’ve made a cute little jellyfish for a friend’s baby.

8 months cross-stitched on the snowflower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

No cross stitch this month again.

7 games of 40k played with hubby – Completed in September
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 played some more model games with hubby and his best friend who visited us.

6 new designs published – 3/6 
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 currently working on writing up Nate the Narwhal’s pattern and I’m also working on a design for the amigurumi.net yearly contest.

5 k steps walked every day – 7/31
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

Still not great last month but I’ve now recovered okay so I should do better in November.

4 LOTR squares finished – 2/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

Definitely been working on a square but I don’t have enough time it would seen to actually finish it!

3 jumpers knitted – 1/3
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.

Almost finished the first sleeve on my second jumper, getting there. 

2 getaway trips – Completed in July
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

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

And that’s it! Have a great week!

18 for 2018 – September update

Hello everyone and welcome October!

I can’t believe there are only 3 months left to the year, and what a year it’s been so far! Here is my monthly update to my goals for this year. As you can imagine I didn’t get much done as I spent a while in hospital but I still ticked a few things off the list!

18 letters sent to friends – 3/18
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.

I sent a birthday card to my best friend this month, I may have been a bit early but at least I’m sure she got it on time!

17 new recipes tried – Completed in July
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!

Very strangely, I made burgers for the first time this month. I’m usually not a big fan of burgers but they are quite different when made from scratch and I really liked the ones I made. 

16 painted units of miniatures – 5/16
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 finished one more model! yay! Very pleased with how this one turned out, and I got back into the swing of painting with another unit on the way.

15 books read – 9/15
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.

I finished the last book of the trilogy I mentioned, ‘Ellana, la prophétie’. It was great to re-read those books and I’m looking forward to when Clark is old enough to read them too. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 5/14
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.

None this month, my knitting has been rather slow.

13 batches of baked goodsmade and eaten – Finished in August
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

I haven’t really been keeping track of this goal, but I have at least made a batch of savoury cakes and a batch of mini quiches that I froze before I went to hospital.

12 pairs of socks – 4/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

None again this month, this goal isn’t looking too good (unless I decide to make 8 pairs for Clark, those should be pretty fast!)

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.

Ahem… 

10 new movies seen – Completed in May
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.

For the first time ever we haven’t been to the movies this month! But I have watched two movies I hadn’t seen before. I finally got around to watch Coco (twice!) and I loved loved it! And I also watched Wonder, which was so good too. 

9 amigurumi made – 6/9
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.

No new amigurumi this month.

8 months cross-stitched on the snowflower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

I haven’t done any cross stitch in ages, so no progress here.

7 games of 40k played with hubby – Completed in September
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 have actually played heaps of games of miniatures this month. I got a new game for hubby early September and we’ve played at least 3 times each week, including when we were stuck at the hospital. So that’s another goal completed!

6 new designs published – 3/6 
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!

One more off the list this month! I’ve published Cooper the Copepod‘s pattern

5 k steps walked every day – 5/30 
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

Not too great again this month but that should be changing as I recover! Plus, baby Clark loves going on walks in his stroller so hopefully that means I’ll be more active in October. 

4 LOTR squares finished – 2/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

Still working on the second to last square, hoping for a finish this month.

3 jumpers knitted – 1/3
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 have now reached the sleeves on my summer jumper! I’ve tried the body and the fit is nice so I can’t wait to finish that one to wear it. 

2 getaway trips – Completed in July
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

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

That’s it for me this month, it’s been surprisingly productive considering how busy I’ve been. I hope you are all getting on well with your goals too!

18 for 2018 – August update

Happy Monday!

It’s the beginning of a new month which means it’s time for another update for my yearly goals! Not a huge amount of progress but any progress is good progress with how drained I’ve been feeling.

18 letters sent to friends – 2/18
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.

No letters sent, I might still make up for this goal around Christmas, we shall see. 

17 new recipes tried – Completed in July
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!

No new recipe this month at all, I’ve not been feeling very adventurous with meals and we didn’t bake along. 

16 painted units of miniatures – 4/16
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.

None this month but I’ve started painting a new unit. I don’t think I’ll get 16 done this year but I still have done more than last year so it’s a win!

15 books read – 8/15
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.

I’ve read the two next books in the French series I’ve already talked about, Ellana and Ellana, l’envol. Those are real tear jerkers so I had to make sure I was safely at home with a box of tissues before reading them but I still enjoyed them so much. There is something very special about how those books are written that gets me every time. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 5/14
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.

One more added this month. I should be able to add a couple more next month as I have some left over sock yarn from previous projects.

13 batches of baked goods made and eaten – Finished in August
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

I’ve baked so much again this month, with 2 new batches of the peanut butter cookies (Kate they really are amazing and they have been perfect pregnancy snacks) and another batch of montecaos at the express demand of hubby who loves them. 

12 pairs of socks – 4/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

None this month as I was trying to get my jumper done as much as possible but my needles are hitching to start a new pair!

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.

Does receiving at least 50 stitch markers counts? Still haven’t gotten around to play with shrinking plastic. I think I might end up failing this goal 😅

10 new movies seen – Completed in May
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.

We are taking advantage of baby now being here yet to go to the movies almost every week still. This month we went to see the newest Mission Impossible, Darkest Minds and Crazy, Rich Asians.

9 amigurumi made – 6/9
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 the second Orbit and I’ve also made two Eevee for a grand total of 3 new amigurumi this month, not bad!

8 months cross-stitched on the snowflower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

It’s funny that winter really makes me lose all want to cross stitch. One of my new friends I made at the pre-natal class does embroidery and cross stitch though so I might get back to it with her. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 3/7
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.

No game of 40k this month but I just got hubby a new miniature war game so we will be playing a lot of that (and as a bonus the game uses the same miniatures, win!)

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 really wanted to publish the pattern for Cooper this month but I’m still waiting on pictures from one of my testers so that should come soon. I’ve also been working on a whole new pattern that I’m pretty excited about, a blue whale/narwhal convertible amigurumi!

5 k steps walked every day – 4/31 
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

Hum hum, can we talk about an epic fail here? Okay I got a great excuse but I’ve just been feeling a bit down about this goal. On the other hand, I can’t really walk more than 10 minutes without feeling pelvic pain at the moment so it’s probably better that I didn’t overdo it. 

4 LOTR squares finished – 2/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

Still working on the third square, but not much as I focused on my jumper and my spinning mostly.

3 jumpers knitted – 1/3
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’ve made progress on my second jumper yay! I’m not dividing for the front and back, and I hope that means I’m almost there!

2 getaway trips – Completed in July
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

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

That’s it for me this month. I hope you’ve been productive too and have achieved what you wanted. It was a bit slow for me but I’m still happy there was progress on some bigger tasks. Bring on September!

 

18 for 2018 – July update

Happy Wednesday and welcome to August! Which means I only have 2 more months to go before baby is born and I just can’t wait! Because I’ve submitted my thesis, I did actually get a lot done this month and I can’t wait to share with you. Ready? Here we go!

18 letters sent to friends – 2/18
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.

Hum, I haven’t been good at all with this goal, have I? On the bright side I did send message to everyone for their birthdays (there were a few) this month so I guess I’m still catching up with friends but not really sending snail mail. 

17 new recipes tried – Completed in July
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 made a delicious batch of shortbread biscuits for the Fantastic Bake Along this month, and they were amazing! I’ve also made Kate’s peanut butter cookies and tried a new recipe for banana bread that a friend gave to me. So this goal is finished! yay! I will be baking more over the next few months for sure though so I will probably share more pictures for this goal.

P.S. I don’t have a pic of the completed banana bread because when it came out of the oven it went straight to hubby’s office (I kept him company that day) and was never seen again! 

16 painted units of miniatures – 4/16
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.

None this month but we have played a game (see below) which motivated me to paint for next month!

15 books read – 6/15
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.

One more book this month, the last in the series I previously mentioned reading (Les tentacules du mal). I have two new books on the go though, one set in the same universe as the series I was reading (it’s another trilogy) and a book about babies and children (hoping to pick up some advice before bub is here). 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 4/14
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 finally knit on this! yay! I added three more squares last week and now have what will probably be the final width, 10 squares in total.

13 batches of baked goodsmade and eaten – 10/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

You can tell I’ve submitted my thesis, I’ve been baking a lot these past weeks! On top of the shortbread biscuits and peanut cookies, I’ve made banana granola cookies and another batch (or three) of scones (those were for the baby shower we had earlier this month).

12 pairs of socks – 4/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

Two pairs of socks this month, I was on fire! I’m still a bit late on my ‘one pair a month’ but I know I can catch up!

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 say that every month, still nothing on this front (why did I even make this a goal again?)

10 new movies seen – Completed in May
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 know I’ve completed this goal a while ago, but we went to see Hotel Transylvania 3 and Antman 2 and those were both so good! I actually really loved Hotel Transylvania, the story was great, the new characters were great and the old ones were just as fun as usual. Antman was also such a good movie, I just love how it tied up into the other Marvel movies. 

9 amigurumi made – 3/9
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 completed one of my Orbit the Dragon! The next one still needs to be assembled, I though I might manage that today but I ended up having to do other things (mostly boring admin stuff, which took me all afternoon). I’ll do a proper post with more pictures on Friday but here is Orbit #1!

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

I haven’t been feeling like cross stitching so I’m not forcing it. Maybe when it gets warmer I’ll be back to it. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 3/7
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 had another game and I destroyed hubby again mwahahahaha! My army is the one on the left, and although I had less miniatures than him I killed all his stuff, giving me a major victory.

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!

Not quite but I actually did work on the pattern for Cooper the Copepod, I just need to take more tutorial pictures for the pattern and get testers before I can release it (hopefully in August). I’ve also been drawing a couple of designs I had in mind, I’m thinking to make a two in one pattern for an orca/narwhal 🙂 

5 k steps walked every day – 15/31
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

Ouch, not great with this goal this month, it’s been getting increasingly tiring to go for long walks, especially with our dog as he is quite eager to walk faster and I just can’t do it at the moment. There were a few days when I did walk a lot though, especially two days when I walked 8 and 10 km (12,000 and 16,000 steps respectively) and I have been going to the pool to swim so I’m not feeling too unfit yet. 

4 LOTR squares finished – 2/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

I have just started the second to last square, which should be done this month if all goes well (touching wood here). 

3 jumpers knitted – 1/3
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 have cast on my second jumper of the year, but I’m afraid it will end up too big for me (even though I got gauge with the yarn and needles I’m using) fingers crossed that it works out or I will have to gift it to someone else. 

2 getaway trips – Completed in July
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 went to Bendigo and it was great! I loved catching up with my spinning friends and looking at all the sheep/goat, it was super cool!

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

It took them almost the whole month but the Grad school has acknowledged that they have received my thesis so that I didn’t have to pay extra fees, yay!

That is it for this month, I’m super proud of my progress and I’m super keen for August! I hope you’ve had a great month too and that you achieved what you wanted to do!

 

18 for 2018 – June update

Happy Monday and welcome to July!

I feel like I repeat this every month but where did the time go? I feel like the time is just going way too fast, and half the year is already gone. I have tackled a few big goals this month though and I am very pleased about that!

18 letters sent to friends – 2/18
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.

I feel like I’m failing miserably at this goal! But I have been keeping in touch with people more by text and Facebook so not all is lost. 

17 new recipes tried – 15/17
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!

Three more recipes this month, I’ve been busy in the kitchen! I’ve made plain scones for the first time and then the Bake along made me try another recipe for sweet scones this time (and yes I am counting both as new recipes!). My best friend also sent me a recipe for oats biscuits and they were great!

16 painted units of miniatures – 4/16
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.

No new unit this month but I did take a picture for last month’s finish! I think my two next units will be from the same army, so using similar colours. 

15 books read – 5/15
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.

I have re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this month, it’s my least favourite of the series so it probably took me more time than it should have. I’m planning on finishing the series before the end of the year. I’ve also started re-reading the last book of the trilogy I talked about last time, and I think I’ll finish it this month. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
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.

Haven’t added any square, I think I’ll tackle all the squares at the same time at one point. 

13 batches of baked goods made and eaten – 7/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

Three more, which were also my new recipes for this month. 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

None completed this month, but I have started a new pair (almost already finished actually) and I’m planning on making two more this month. 

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.

Still nothing here, I’ve been more interested in my yarn than in shrinking plastic!

10 new movies seen – Completed in May
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 have still seen 2 new movies this month, The Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World 2. I think both were enjoyable, I really liked the look of the new dino in Jurassic World and I thought the Incredibles 2 was just as good as the first one (which is pretty rare for an animated movie sequel).

9 amigurumi made – 2/9
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 am still working on mini-me and I’ve started Orbit the Dragon, which hopefully will both be finished this month. 

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

No motivation to cross stitch, all my stitching effort has been focused on my EPP this month. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
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.

No games this month, we definitely need to get back to it!

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 still didn’t get around writing up my copepod pattern. I am thinking about new designs though, I was thinking of maybe releasing a sea creature collection next year that would include some freebies and some paid patterns. It’s still very early stages though so no promises!

5 k steps walked every day 15/30
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

I’ve been doing quite bad this month for this goal. Only half of the days I’ve managed to fit in my 5k steps. I do have to say I have been feeling very tired with the extra weight and I’ve shortened my walks with the puppy as a result. Last week I did go to the pool though, and I think that will become my main exercise as it is less straining to move in the water. 

4 LOTR squares finished – 2/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

I have finished Aragorn this month, yay! next is Arwen’s pendant. 

3 jumpers knitted – 1/3
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 have finished my Arwen jumper, my beautifully soft and warm jumper. Very pleased with it and I have chosen my next pattern, which I will start when I come back home in a couple of weeks.

2 getaway trips – 1/2
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

Bendigo is in 3 weeks!!! I’m so excited and I am now meeting up some of the lovely ladies from my spinning class there. It will be a blast!

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

OH MY GOODNESS!!! I’ve started the submission process on Friday last week, so it’s officially done! Next step will be to wait for comments, fix the comments and then I will be a Doctor of Philosophy in veterinary immunology! How exciting!!! (yes I’m so excited to be finished, sorry about all the exclamation marks) 

Wow, what a productive month! And what a productive half year. I hope you guys have had a good one too, and if not, that’s okay too, as long as you’re proud of what you’ve accomplished!

18 for 2018 – May update

18 letters sent to friends – 2/18
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.

I’ve sent all my invitations for my baby shower (that was almost 30!). I’m only counting it as 1 letter as it was the same invitation sent to everyone! 

17 new recipes tried – 12/17
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!

Another recipe tried this month with our Fantastic Bake along. Those muffins were just to die for! 

16 painted units of miniatures – 4/16
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’ve painted a new unit but haven’t had time to take a good picture yet. I will make sure to take one for next time. 

15 books read – 4/15
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.

I’ve re-read a book from one of my favourite French series. The author, Pierre Bottero, is amazing, I’ve read pretty much all of his work and I was so very sad when he passed in 2009. I’m planning on re-reading all the series before the end of the year. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
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.

No extra squares this month, I should probably get onto this goal 🙈

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 4/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

I’ve made another batch of madeleine, which are little French cakes. Hubby loves them and me too! 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
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’ve been really slack with this goal, I need to cast some socks back on!

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.

Hum hum, next month?

10 new movies seen – Complete!
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’ve actually seen two more movies this month, Deadpool 2 and Solo and I loved them both. Deadpool was just so funny (as you could expect based on the first movie 😂) and I thought Solo was great with awesome action and a really good story. 

9 amigurumi made – 2/9
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.

This month I’ve made the little owls I’ve shown you last week. I did miss making amigurumi so I’ll try to make a few more next month.

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

No month finished this time around, it’s been a bit cold which hasn’t made me very motivated to work on it but I’ll make an effort for next month. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
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.

No new game this month, we’ve been really busy on weekends and haven’t had time to go to the store. 

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!

No new design this month, I still need to write up a couple of patterns I have ready but I’ve been too busy with work to really dedicate any time to it. 

5 k steps walked every day – 23/31
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

I feel like I’ve done quite good with that. Our dog was definitely very happy to go on long walks every day! 

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!

Nothing new here, because I have been really slow with crochet lately. 

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.

The jumper is almost finished! So there will be one finished jumper next month!

2 getaway trips – 1/2
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

July couldn’t come faster! I’ve actually met some lovely ladies in my spinning class who will also be going to Bendigo and I’m so excited! 

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

Submission is due before the end of the month! How exciting!

That’s it for me this month! A little progress on some goals, with a lot more going on on the side! I hope you’ve all had a great month 😊

 

18 for 2018 – April update

Hello readers!

That’s it, another month already! Again, it wasn’t very productive craft-wise as I was away for work again in Queensland. It was very productive for work though so that’s a great thing! Here we go!

18 letters sent to friends – 1/18
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.

No new letter this month, but I’ll be sending a few next month for my baby shower invitations! How exciting!

17 new recipes tried – 11/17
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!

Only one new recipe tried this month, and it was the delicious caramels from our bake-along (although mine were a bit hard as you may remember, caramels are hard work!)

16 painted units of miniatures – 3/16
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 painting this month but I haven’t finished any unit of miniatures. So no new unit this month but I’ll probably have progress next month!

15 books read – 3/15
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.

I’ve read not one but two books this month! I guess being away from hubby makes me read more 😂 I’ve finished All the lights we cannot see by Anthony Doerr and it was an amazing book, I did cry very hard though at the end, it just such an emotional story and so beautifully written. The other book I read is Masters of death by Olivie Blake. I’ve been reading lots of fan-fictions from this author and I think she is amazing. This book was her first full story and it really didn’t disappoint. I fell in love with the characters straight away and the story was so well thought I couldn’t put it down!

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
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.

None this month again sadly but I’ll be knitting some this month, promise!

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 3/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

Sadly again, none this month because I was far away from home and I didn’t want to eat all the biscuits by myself! 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

Zero here too but do gloves count? 😅

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.

Again, it’s just a matter of making them but I didn’t get time. They will happen eventually!

10 new movies seen – 9/10
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’m almost done with this goal already, with two new movies seen this month. I’ve seen Ready player one, which I thought was fantastic! I loved all the nerdy references to pop culture and video games in it. The second movies I saw was Avengers: infinity war and it was awesome! That was one of the movies I was really looking forward to seeing this year and it was so cool. I won’t give any spoiler but I just can’t wait for the next Marvel movies in the next few years!

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’ve made a couple of my own designs again but none from other designers. I’m still working on mini me and I hope to finish her this month.

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

I’ve finished June! That means I’m half way done with the calendar. I would really like to have this displayed in baby’s room when it’s done so I’ll try to get cracking on it!

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
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.

None played this month but we will probably have a few games this month.

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’ve published my updated design for Naiad the nudibranch, but I don’t really count it as it was already a published design. I’m putting together the pdf for my copepod at the moment so hopefully I’ll have another publish next month!

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’m kind of giving up for this goal as I’ve not been able to run in the last month. I get really out of breath so I think that instead of running 5 km I’m going to try to walk 5 km at least 5 days out of 7 in the week to still keep active. I’m also trying to keep my pace around 10-12 min/km. I’ll let you know how I do next month! 

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!

None this month, I don’t actually think I’ll get started on a new square for a little while, as I already have wayyyy too many projects!

3 jumpers knitted – 0.2/3
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 cast on! I’ve bought Arwen, a beautiful jumper design from Isabell Kraemer and I’ve made a start on Monday. It’s knitting up really fast so I’m hoping it will be done in no time. Very excited to add another jumper to my wardrobe!

2 getaway trips – 1/2
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

Next trip has been booked for July to go to Bendigo! I’m still so excited about it!

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

Another paper submitted this month for my thesis so it’s really shaping up now! Supervisors are happy which is always a good feeling. Submission date is still set to 1st of July so not far now!

That’s it for me! I hope your month has been productive 😘

 

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18 for 2018 – March update

Happy Sunday everyone!

I am not dead, I am in fact quite invigorated after these couple of weeks on holidays and I am ready to take on April (what? that started a week ago? Oh well!)

I have been keeping track of my goals as usual and here is where I’m at on my 18 for 2018 goals. Not much progress in some areas but I am reaching some of my bigger goals so that’s okay!

18 letters sent to friends – 1/18
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.

I’ve written and delivered a wedding card to one of my first Australian friend who got married at the end of March, the ceremony was beautiful and we had lots of fun catching up with uni friends at dinner. 

17 new recipes tried – 10/17
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 two new recipes this month, a prawn stir fry and blinnies. The recipe for blinnies was so easy and delicious I will definitely make them again and they were great with some cream and jam. 

16 painted units of miniatures – 3/16
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’ve already shown you two of the units I’ve painted, and I’ve added a third one, still from the same army. I’m getting a break from orks at the moment though and I’ve been painting from another army, so I’m going great with this goal. 

15 books read – 1/15
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.

I’m afraid that unless you count fan fiction, I haven’t done much reading in March either. Maybe this month, as I’m away from hubby again so I might get bored and read more. We’ll see. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
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.

No new square this month.

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 3/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

No Bake-along for me this month but I’ve made some delicious chocolate clusters that I will count for this goal!

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

None this month but I’m working on a pair of gloves as I found my fingers to be rather freezing on my afternoon walks. 

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’ve made some really pretty earrings with shrinking plastic but no stitch marker yet. This will happen soon though and I think I might make them all at the same time. I currently have about 8 designs so I also need to think about a few more to reach 11. 

10 new movies seen – 7/10
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.

Three more movies this month, we’ve seen Game Night, Red Sparrow and Tomb Raider. All of them were pretty good but nothing really special either. I’m really looking forward to Infinity Wars this month though!

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.

No amis from other designers this month, I feel like I didn’t get much crochet done actually. 

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

None this month but I took it with me so I will be working on it this month. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
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 played a second game hurray! It was really fun and we were quite close until the end on the board but I had way too many points for poor hubby to come back. I thought of taking a picture though! I was playing the scary looking monsters/aliens that are mostly painted. 

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!

No designs published but I’ve been reworking my nudibranch pattern and I designed a new amigurumi that needs writing up. Pretty excited about both of those.

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!

Still going on this one, my routine jogging route is about 3 km now so I’m definitely getting closer. 

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!

Not even started on the next one! Whoops! 

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.

Still not started because I desperately need to cast off my RBTL shawl first! This is killing me I think I will try to finish the RBTL in April but I’ll need all the concentration I can get. 

2 getaway trips – 1/2
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 booked Bendigo!! I’m so excited about it I just can’t wait 😀 we have also obviously just finished a week and a half holidays in Queensland and it was great to spend time with family and friends. We even went to our very fist escape room and it was so much fun! 

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

This is going well, only the last paragraphs of the discussion to polish up, but I have until July so no stress! 

That’s it for me! I also really wanted to thank you so much for all your support on my previous 18 for 2018 posts, you guys are the best and really keep me motivated! I’ll be back a bit more regularly from this week on, with at least WIP Wednesday posts to show you what I’ve been up to lately.

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18 for 2018 – February update

Happy Friday readers!

February is up, and it was not a very productive month for me craft wise, but on the bright side I actually got heaps of stuff done for work. So not much progress this month but hopefully I’ll be back on track in March 🙂

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.

Still none this month, but I did receive a very nice card from some of my family in France that I will answer. 

17 new recipes tried – 8/17
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!

Three new recipes tried this month, some shiitake noodles (for which I completely forgot to take a picture), chocolate mousse choux and strawberry jam.

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.

Still none, as I didn’t take those up to Brisbane with me. But on the bright side I’m going to the hobby shop tomorrow with hubby to get some painting done! 

15 books read – 1/15
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.

I’ve read “Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine” by Gail Honeyman. I’ve really loved it, the story is told from the point of view of Eleonor and she is just the most interesting character. I am also currently reading “All the lights we cannot see” by Anthony Doerr and I’m really liking it so far. It’s taking place between France and Germany during WWII and I really enjoy how the book is written with switches between places and times. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
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’ve done one new square so far, yay! That brings the total of squares on this to 7 in total, so I definitely need a lot more if I want to finish it, but it’s a slow project that will probably take me years so that’s okay!

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 3/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

Adding the choux here brings my total to 3 for the year. I’m sure I’ll make some more this month for hubby as he loves his biscuits! 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

With hubby’s socks finished, I’m keeping to my goal of 1 pair a month! 

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.

None this month but I have been drawing some plankton which I might use for this.

10 new movies seen – 4/10
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.

Only one more movie seen this month (I had to wait for hubby to watch movies when I was away) and that was Black Panther. I quite enjoyed it, I thought that the story was simple but well done and the special effects were spectacular! 

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.

No new one made this month but I did start to make a mini me from Kerry Lord’s “Edward’s crochet doll emporium”. I’m loving it! 

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

None this month, I didn’t bring any cross stitch on my trip up to Brisbane.

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.

No game this month either, maybe we will have one this weekend though.

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’ve been working on my shawl design as well as a new amigurumi design, which you may have seen if you’ve been over on Instagram. 

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 didn’t run much in Brisbane as it was so so hot but I’ve been back at it towards the end of the month and I think I’m going good still with this goal. 

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!

No new square this month but I need to start the next one so that I don’t lose momentum.

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 bought yarn for a second jumper, does that count? (trying to find excuses to add to my stash here!) 

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

First trip planned at the end of March, I’m excited for some holidays with hubby, it will be nice.

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

Not submitted yet, but I have now done my thesis review so I am ready to submit as soon as I have finished writing my thesis! Super excited about that, now I ‘just have’ to finish writing 🙂 

That’s it for me, I hope you have been doing better than me this month, and if not I think we all deserve a break 🙂