Category Archives: Blogging

Planning For 2020

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I’m a planner. I’m a color coding fool. I like to keep my thoughts and plans on paper. I get a thrill from making a list and crossing things off the list as they get done. In past years for my work life I have kept a planner that helped me from going insane or forgetting things. I think it has made me a better employee and project manager.

So this year I decided to add one for my personal life. So why wouldn’t it be knitting themed?? I did a lot of research on the internet and settled on The Knitters Planner after I saw how much Megan of the Stockinette Zombies used hers.

It was an investment for sure. There were many other options that would have been more inexpensive. But this one has space for personal tracking, knitting features and a few adds on to help my day to day crazy.

I’m only a few weeks in but I have been tracking my meal planning, downloading all of my to-dos onto paper so my brain has more space and just getting inspired for my 2020 knitting plans. I’m definitely not a full blown bullet journaler, with a full time job and two tiny humans I just don’t have the minutes in the day. And I may not get to all my goals and have to give myself some grace. But for right now I feel energized and more in control of my chaos.

What do you do to corral your chaos?

The Day Has Come

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Seven years and about 1,500 posts and it finally happened….I ran out of free space on WordPress. Like a dunce I couldn’t figure out why my posts and media was failing to upload…..for like two whole days.

This blog has been a source of therapy, community, and joy over the years. And I’m not about to quit now. So I ponied up and paid for extra space and my own domain. Now I’m an accountant and not an IT person (that’s my hubby) so pardon me if my blog has a few kinks in the next weeks.

I think in celebration of this milestone I want to have a giveaway. What sounds better….a free pattern on Ravelry or some yarn from my yarn cave?

 

New Blogging Platform

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The husband did great for my birthday! I have been blogging and Raveling from my laptop perched on my legs. Which does nothing for my ergonomics nor typing skills. So now I have a new platform! (See what I did there….i’m so punny!)

Watch out blog world….all kinds of new knitting content is coming at you! For those interested…we got this one off of amazon.

 

Confessions Of A Knitting Blogger

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I read a post similar to this my one of my husbands favorite video game bloggers. I decided to give it a go:

1: I read most of your wordpress blog posts in the wee hours of the morning while I’m up feeding jellybean. It helps me stay awake, lol.

2: I used the scheduling feature to post most of my own blogs. Jellybean just doesn’t allow for same day writing.

3: My knitting time here lately is slim but I manage to slip it in during long car rides, while pumping on breaks at work, and after jellybean goes to bed.

4: I’m becoming a yarn snob

5: I’m becoming a selfish knitter. I really only have the desire to knit for myself, the hubby, and jellybean.

That’s all I’ve got! Happy Knitting!!

Let Me Reintroduce Myself..

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Hello, my name is Rachelle and I’ve been an absentee knitter and blogger….

It’s been over a month since my last post. Between the winter blahs and some less than fun medical issues I decided to go “dark” for awhile. I read a lot of books, took walks with my pups, worked on some home organization, and lots and lots of time with my beloved husband. I didn’t read any blogs, used my smartphone only when necessary, and barely picked up my needles at all. I’ll pause for your gasps of horror, lol.

Oh my, was it soooo needed! I had seriously lost my mojo for almost everything. It’s not quite all the way back yet. But I am getting there. I think my priorities have shifted a little. (My home is certainly cleaner for it.) And now I have a better idea of what I want to accomplish in 2014. Have you ever taken a step back to rearrange yourself or searched for a new balance? I highly encourage it in this fast paced digital world!

Stay tuned…this is going to get exciting!

A New Balance

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As most of you have noticed….I’m a pretty voracious knitter. I have a perpetual case of “KNIT ALL THE THINGS” coupled with occasional start-itis. This bodes well for me as a blogger. But this can become at odds with the rest of my life.

Recently I have found my stress level too high and my health too low. It has gotten so bad I haven’t knit anything IN DAYS! I literally lost my knitting mojo along with my mojo for pretty much everything else. So in the efforts I’m looking for a new balance. I’m striving to find a dietary mix that better suits my body, I am trying to get my butt off the couch and moving a little more, and not put so much pressure on my knitting/blogging.

What does this mean for you dear readers? Well I might not be so diligent about posting every day. Never fear, my blog isn’t going anywhere and neither am I. I just need to take my speed down a notch or seven. So you will continue to see my original posts as I have them and I hope to give some shout outs on my ‘off’ days to some other awesome bloggers and posts for your viewing pleasure.

Thank you for your patience and I hope you stick around!

Is It Really A Blog If No One Reads It?

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My husband recently dipped his toe into the blogging world. He is a LIFELONG gamer to the core and has made a lot of gamer friends, especially in college. And one of our friends from college called Phil up the other day and asked him to contribute to this great space called Project Nerd. A great space for all things geeky! (Seriously check it out…but don’t blame me if you fall down the rabbit hole!)

The hubby reviewed Battlefield 4 that had come out for the PS4. He worked diligently on it, got it approved by the powers that be at Project Nerd, and it went live last week. I remember sitting next to him on the couch after it went live, he turned to me and asked “what if you no one reads it?” The question struck me as silly because it was a very well written post! (You can find it here if you were curious) Not to mention he is guest blogging on a very well trafficked site and writing about a very popular game. Of course it will be read!

But it brought to mind several posts I have seen on WordPress on the hundreds of knitting blogs I obsessively troll, ahem, I mean read. I see all kinds of bloggers post about how they want to increase their traffic and get more visits to their blog. Now, I had no clue how to blog when I started. I just wanted a place to keep all my knitting adventures and maybe get some feedback/advice/sympathy. I am an organizer and cataloger. I have a strong need to chronicle and archive things. So I started typing my adventures and quickly realized what posts got more hits than others (short posts, good detail, good photos). And organically I began to find my “tone” or “voice” as my high school English teach used to say.  And then I was hooked….

So back to my question, is it still a blog if no one reads it? OF COURSE IT IS! Keep blogging, keep crafting, keep expressing yourself! Get out on the blog-o-sphere and find blogs you love, comment on posts, follow other bloggers, and make friends. That is the fastest way to build a blog. And really if you think about it, its not just building a blog its building a community! A place to share the lovely handiwork you have slaved over to other like minded people who can truly appreciate what you have accomplished!

Keep writing about what you love…and the followers will come….passion breeds excitement!

Happy Knitting (and blogging)