KnitterGatherer Focusing On What She Loves

[CoderGatherer]

Hello everyone! My name is Meg. Until recently, I went by the username CoderGatherer. Last challenge I did a bit of soul searching and realized that I didn't really like coding....not even a little. Instead I rekindled my love of knitting and yoga. So I decided a change was in order. Life is too short to spend wishing I was good at coding or hoping that I would one day become a programmer. Instead, I've decided to focus on things that give me joy. From that feeling, this challenge's goals emerged. I hope you will follow me on my journey to happiness.

 

Goal 1: Post on my knitting blog 3 times a week

 

These posts don't have to be long or exquisitely written. I'm not aiming to be perfect. Instead I'm going to write for the sake of writing on what I love. It's more of a way to share my passion and dig deeper in to my craft.

 

Goal 2: Practice yoga every day

 

Whether its 5 minutes or 5 hours, I will set aside time for my practice. Ideally I will be able to do this in the morning, however I am happy also relaxing last thing at night. As long as I am taking time to breath and remaining aware of my body, the time does not matter. 

 

Goal 3: Publish one new pattern every week

 

This will definitely be challenging, but possible. I have tons of ideas for beautiful creations in my head. I just need to set aside time to draw them out and knit them up. Every pattern that I create during this challenge will be available free of charge on my blog. After all, the purpose of this challenge is to spread my love for knitting. If I inspire only one person I will be incredibly happy. 

 

LIfe Goal: Make new friends on and offline 

 

 

[Wolf]

I love that you knit! Looking forward to seeing your patterns and creations!

[Nikki222]

found you! 

 

Sub'd!

 

Can't wait to see how this goes!

[Odango]

Awesome! Awesome! AWESOME!

Love the goals and super excited to see your creativity bloom

[oldnews]

I really like your goals. I knit on and off... my current favorite is the catnip mouse pattern I bought from KnitPicks. The cats love them, too.

[CoderGatherer]

I love that you knit! Looking forward to seeing your patterns and creations!

Thank you! I'm super excited to share my patterns and ideas. Hopefully you like them!

 

found you! 

 

Sub'd!

 

Can't wait to see how this goes!

Yay! Thanks for the sub! You are awesome, as always!

 

Awesome! Awesome! AWESOME!

Love the goals and super excited to see your creativity bloom

Whoa! That's a lot of awesome. lol

Thanks for subbing and for cheering me on

 

I really like your goals. I knit on and off... my current favorite is the catnip mouse pattern I bought from KnitPicks. The cats love them, too.

Yay another fellow knitter! I haven't tried any KnitPicks patterns yet but they look adorable

[CoderGatherer]

How's everyone's Tuesday going? Mine is going pretty darn well!

 

I practiced yoga both last night and tonight. It's a good way to unwind and relax after a long day. I set my yoga mat out in the middle of the living room so I never have an access not to practice. I also dusted off the old yoga block and strap to help me with more challenging poses. Hopefully I will be able to do the poses without the aids by the end of this challenge.

 

I wrote up and shared my 3rd blog post yesterday. I'm still a little nervous when writing, but I'm working to get past that. For now I'm trying to focus on speaking from my heart and sharing content that excites me.

 

I'm currently working on my first pattern, a slouchy hat. It's based on a hat that I knitted up several years ago that I absolutely love. Just a simple 1x1 ribbed hat with a gradual decrease for the crown. If time permits, I'll be able to post in two sizes; perfect slouch and extra slouch.

 

Well that's the first two days in a nutshell. Back I go to my knitting......

[CoderGatherer]

I posted my first pattern today. Writing patterns is really hard. Major kudos to those knitwear designers out there!

 

I had trouble just writing up a basic ribbed slouch . Hopefully I'll get better with practice.

 

Now I just need to decide what pattern to create for next week. Any suggestions? Possibly another simple hat design?

[Nusuth]

Heys.  Glad for you that you found a true passion (and got rid of faulty one)

 

the writing nervousness will dissipate after continuous writing.  remember the Joker : 'Why so serious?'

[CoderGatherer]

Heys.  Glad for you that you found a true passion (and got rid of faulty one)

 

the writing nervousness will dissipate after continuous writing.  remember the Joker : 'Why so serious?'

Thanks Nusuth! I'm hoping it dissipates soon.

[CoderGatherer]

Week 1 Summary

 

Hi everyone! Last week was extremely busy. Two of my best friends got married over the weekend so the majority of my time was helping them out and working on my steampunk costume. (It was a themed wedding.) Woot steampunk! I normally would have been too shy to dress up but I was asked to be a bridesmaid. Instead of stressing out, I tried to make it in to a contest. It's much easier to have fun when you're trying to be creative and competitive, then worrying about what the people sitting down will think of you. Needless to say, I had a blast! The steampunk/victorian theme was absolutely perfect. About half the wedding guests dressed up so there were tons of corsets and a multitude of shiny gears. One of our friends even created a steampowered arm that glowed and told you the weather. So much awesome!

 

I managed to do 2 of my intended 3 blog posts last week. This week I will definitely be writing 3 posts. I'm thinking a work in progress post, a post about current inspirations and a new pattern. 

 

Pattern writing is much harder than I realized. I made the mistake of posting my pattern before finishing my knit sample.....only to realize that my sample was waaaaaay too long. So I have to unravel it a bit and fix the length. Then I have to edit my pattern to correct it. No worries though. It's a lesson learned. Won't be repeating that one anytime soon. This time I'm going to finish my sample completely and block properly before posting the pattern. I only have 4 days until my deadline though. I have some serious knitting to do. 

 

Wish me luck!

[Odango]

Wow, you are doing so well!!!

 

Great job on blogging and creating your patterns!

If the rhythm you set yourself at first is too intense, remember you can always publish a little less often, especially since you're just getting started. Don't want to burn out all this fabulous energy and motivation

 

Keep it up, you're awesome!

[stupendousme]

I sort of taught myself knitting a few years ago, but I wasn't really good at it.. Well, maybe I just didn't have anything that I really wanted to knit.  I do really want a Weasley sweater, but that is a bit too advance for where I'm at now.  Maybe I'll try out a couple of your patterns and see how they go for me!

[CoderGatherer]

I sort of taught myself knitting a few years ago, but I wasn't really good at it.. Well, maybe I just didn't have anything that I really wanted to knit. I do really want a Weasley sweater, but that is a bit too advance for where I'm at now. Maybe I'll try out a couple of your patterns and see how they go for me!

Omg I would love to make a Weasley sweater one day too. I haven't gotten up the nerve to try making a sweater yet either. Have you thought about house scarves? They're super simple to make. And if you want to start really small, someone designed house scarf bookmarks. You can get them done in a single sitting [emoji2]

[CoderGatherer]

Wow, you are doing so well!!!

Great job on blogging and creating your patterns!

If the rhythm you set yourself at first is too intense, remember you can always publish a little less often, especially since you're just getting started. Don't want to burn out all this fabulous energy and motivation

Keep it up, you're awesome!

Thanks Nol! You're awesome too! Thanks for the encouragement and the amazing gifs. You really help me stay motivated! [emoji1]

[Cathelas]

Sub'd!  You change your name, it takes some of us longer to find you again   Glad to see you are following your passion instead of beating your head into the wall trying to like something you don't.  Good luck with the pattern writing - I can only imagine how hard it is.

[CoderGatherer]

Lots and lots of changes going around in the KnitterGatherer home. We're not moving to Iceland after all. The paperwork never came back from our government so we ran out of time.

 

Sad, but I'm trying to be positive about it. This gives me another year with my family, my dog, my yarn obsession, and all the lovely opportunities in my city. We're still pairing down our possessions, but this allows us to upgrade the essentials while we do so. We've already made some enhancements to our apartment and we've decided to make the most out of this opportunity.

 

Hopefully we'll be able to go next year *fingers crossed* but if not we have a back up plan. 

[Cathelas]

Bummer about the move to Iceland this year.  Fingers crossed for next year.  Everyone I know who has visited loves it there.  It will be a great opportunity for you!  In the interim, keep knitting 

[CoderGatherer]

Hi everyone!

 

Sorry for the hiatus, I've been crazy busy. I've been practicing yoga every day, but blogging less frequently. I've been averaging 1 to 2 blog posts every week. So far I've only missed one pattern post. Since the beginning of this challenge I have added patterns for two hats and a sock blank. I'm also planning out my next pattern (either a lace slouch or cowl). 

 

My focus has shifted recently to my physical health. I stepped on the scale a couple of weeks ago and got a shock. I'm back up to my highest weight....so I've started a weight loss challenge with one of my friends. I'm back to eating paleo 2/3 of the week. I also got a gym membership and started working out almost every day. Three times a week I lift and three times a week I do cardio. So far I haven't missed a single workout.

 

I'm sore and tired, but starting to see progress in my legs and stomach. Won't be too much longer until my body adjusts to the new workout routine. To help it along, I'm going to go pass out now. Time for sleep!

[Odango]

Wow!! You're on fire!

Great job getting back in shape! I'm struggling with low energy and I think I've put on a bit of weight as well. You're an inspiration!!

 

Such a shame you won't be coming to Iceland, but it's really fantastic how you guys take it as an opportunity to make the most of your present life.

You're going to have a great year! Full of yarn and creativity

[CoderGatherer]

Wow!! You're on fire!

Great job getting back in shape! I'm struggling with low energy and I think I've put on a bit of weight as well. You're an inspiration!!

 

Such a shame you won't be coming to Iceland, but it's really fantastic how you guys take it as an opportunity to make the most of your present life.

You're going to have a great year! Full of yarn and creativity

 

Thanks Nol! I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with low energy. I'm fighting that fight right now. Reeeeeeeeaaaallly enjoying my rest day today. zzzZZZZZZzzzzzz

 

I know, I'm really sad about Iceland, but I think it will ultimately make us appreciate it more when we get over there.

[CoderGatherer]

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long time between posts. Lately I've been so tired after workouts that all I want to do is come home and crash. 

 

That's going to change this week though....atleast I hope so. I'm going to switch up my schedule so that I workout in the morning. I'm hoping that this will free up my evenings and possibly help me from feeling so drained by the end of the day.

 

I admit my blogging has taken a back seat this week. I doubled up on posts today to try and make up, but I won't be able to publish a pattern again this week :sadness:

 

I did have some amazing developments the last couple of weeks that I forgot to mention. I set aside a physical space in my apartment for all of my knitting and design work. I utilized shower rods to display all of my yarn and found a GIANT mason jar to put all of my leftovers in. It's super cute and fits with my blog theme

 

I also have gone two whole weeks without missing a single workout! Yay! I also met with a personal trainer to adjust my workouts so I wasn't so drained.

 

Oh and I met with my cardiologist to make sure that I am healthy enough to do cardio and lift. Turns out my heart condition isn't genetic! I always thought it was, but it isn't! So if my husband and I decide to have kids later on, there's very little chance that the condition will be passed on. Crazy, crazy news! Opens up a whole new world of possibilities! I always thought that my various congenital issues were genetic, but after digging deeper it doesn't look like any are. *mind blown*

 

Needless to say, it's been a very crazy, happy last couple of weeks. So very very happy that I've been making these changes in my life and following my passions.

 

Thank you to everyone that has been cheering me on! You guys are awesome!

[Nusuth]

Waterfall of positivism